The Empress Dowager got up to greet her as Consort Dowager Liu was helped in by the maids. Tears welled up in her eyes as soon as she saw her. It was none other than the feeling of being sincerely surprised to see her close kin after experiencing such an inexplicable disaster. Hence, she rushed towards the Empress Dowager, almost about to cry.
Seeing Consort Dowager Liu being frightened to this state, the Ninth Princess felt a little guilty. She subconsciously glanced at Li Weiyang, who was also looking at Consort Dowager Liu with a solemn expression, but she didn’t know what she was thinking about. The Ninth Princess gritted her teeth— she was not trying to plot against the Crown Prince and her Third Brother, but it was done to help the weak Seventh Brother. This time, her Seventh Brother had personally asked her to do the job well and she must obey Li Weiyang’s arrangements throughout the plan. She had to be determined, unable to fall short from a momentary twinge of soft-heartedness. Besides, whether it was the Crown Prince or Tuoba Zhen, they were both planning her marriage with no good intentions. This was something that her Consort Mother had repeatedly warned her about. From now on, she could no longer be foolish and treat those two people as her relatives. Although the Ninth Princess was a simpleton, she was not a fool. She suppressed her guilt and hurriedly added, “The Consort Dowager is back! This is wonderful news!”
Li Weiyang looked at Consort Dowager Liu. Indeed, she wasn’t injured, so Li Weiyang couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief. Although she felt a bit sorry for Consort Dowager Liu, she merely needed to be frightened instead of her life being at risk.
Consort Dowager Liu wanted to cry, but when she saw that there were outsiders present, she couldn’t help but choke up her neck and tried her best to swallow the tears that gushed from her heart. Even so, the area around her eyes was reddening.
“Greetings, the Empress Dowager,” Although she had been tamping down her emotions, her voice was still trembling.
The Empress Dowager hurriedly said, “Thank goodness you’re back safe and sound! Luckily, nothing happened to you. Sigh, how could this kind of thing happen-“
Consort Dowager Liu couldn’t help it anymore as her tears fell like broken beads. In fact, she hadn’t experienced that much of a fright. After the carriage was robbed, the other party rushed all the way down the mountain before she even had the time to see what was going on as she passed out not long after. Upon waking up, she heard the Crown Prince’s soldiers outside the carriage, so she bravely shouted for help and was rescued. But if she didn’t cry now, how else could she show that she had suffered? Therefore, she started sobbing even louder.
Watching her fall into a pit of sorrow, the Ninth Princess was very sorry towards Consort Dowager Liu. After all, she was not as ruthless as Li Weiyang. She lowered her head in shame, “It’s all because I have troubled Consort Dowager Liu…”
“No,” Consort Dowager Liu stopped crying immediately. Her eyes were about to burst into sparks as she spoke with righteous indignation, “It’s this face of mine that caused trouble! If I had known, I would not have gone out to the banquet that day, lest I would be seen by that shameless person and nearly ruin my reputation!”
Everyone was stunned, including Li Weiyang. For a moment, everyone was almost speechless; what was Consort Dowager Liu talking about?
Consort Dowager Liu didn’t notice the change in their expressions as she continued sadly, “I’m already an old woman, so why won’t they let me go?” She said bitterly as her teeth chattered, “This Mo Bei Prince is too wicked! At that time, I thought to myself, if he was to do anything impudent towards me, I was going to end my life right there and then to prove my innocence…”
The Empress Dowager looked at her in amazement, feeling infinitely absurd for a moment. Could it be that… Consort Dowager Liu thinks that the other party was after her?
Li Weiyang was also very surprised as she suddenly realised what Consort Dowager Liu was talking about. She clearly felt that Mo Bei’s Fourth Prince took a fancy to her beauty, which led to him blocking off the road and robbing her. Wasn’t that too…narcissistic of a thought?
The Empress Dowager coughed lightly before she said, “No matter what, all is well as long as you are able to come back safely! Let’s not talk about other things.”
Consort Dowager Liu became even more angry when she heard this and she almost yelled, “He actually dared to claim that the one in the carriage was his new wife; what courage and ambition! I have never seen such blatant rudeness before! Empress Dowager, you must have His Majesty apprehend him back and cut him into pieces! You must cut him into pieces!”
The Empress Dowager was dumbfounded, but after comforting her for a long time, she sent Consort Dowager Liu away. Then, she glanced at the Ninth Princess and said, “Send County Princess Anping(1) out.”
(T/N: County Princesses refers to girls who were part of the royal family. Only the direct daughters of the Emperor were given the title of Princesses)
The Ninth Princess nodded, and after bowing to the Empress Dowager, she retreated with Li Weiyang.