20demayo Chapter 59
Chapter 59
"i am of lowly birth, fit to be bought and sold."
how could that wretched lady ruan become a primary wife? how would she now threaten the lowborn offspring of that palace harlot to find a good marriage for her own daughter?
"do you really think i was appointed as minister of ministry of rites due to my own merits?"
jiang, minister of rites looked at lady zhou and said, "before lord zheng resigned, the name he recommended as his successor in his memorial to the throne was wang vice minister of rites."
the ministry of rites has one minister, and one left and right vice minister each. under them is the office of secretaries with one secretary in charge of document management. the ceremonial and protocol offices each have one deputy director, four ceremonial announcers, and fifty ushers.
he was the right vice minister, and his rival was lord wang who held the position of left vice minister.
this windfall had suddenly landed on his head during the morning court session today. at first, he couldn't quite grasp what was happening, but after the emperor summoned him for a private audience following the court session, the two engaged in a delightful conversation. they found many of their views on state affairs to be in surprising agreement.
during their talk, the emperor mentioned jiang xinyue's concept of "great unity for all under heaven," which left him utterly astonished.
but now that his daughter had presented him with this ladder to advancement, there was no reason not to seize the opportunity.
correspondingly, he would need to repay the favor.
in hexi palace—
jiang xinyue patted the little white dog's head, then took out an apricot-colored handkerchief from her sleeve. she wrapped it around her palm, releasing a rich fragrance of gardenia.
she stroked the little white dog's head with her covered hand, causing it to emit contented "purring" sounds as it lazily sprawled across its mistress's lap, basking in the sunlight.
xi que hurried in from outside: "my lady, we've leaked to concubine su that the emperor will visit the third prince in the princes' quarters today."
jiang xinyue nodded, then tossed the handkerchief wrapped around her palm into the charcoal brazier, burning it to ashes.
shuangjiang opened all the windows, allowing a cold breeze to blow in and dissipate the gardenia scent into the air.
"it just so happens that i had the imperial kitchen send over some fried chicken today. i might as well bring him a little snack!"
she stood up, cradling the little white dog: "come here, would you like to go with sister? if you don't say anything, sister will take that as a yes. be on your best behavior, alright? sister will protect you."
the newly acquired puppy in hexi palace was named "come here."
"my lady?"
"i said leave!"
concubine su suddenly burst into tears. "with consort zhen here, what place is there for me? do you all want to stay and watch me make a fool of myself?"
her words left no room for response.
they were all servants attending to concubine su; how could they dare to mock their mistress?
but when concubine su cried, she refused to listen to anyone. the others assumed she had been upset by consort zhen's presence and wanted to be alone, so they reluctantly withdrew.
with no one else around, concubine su watched the little dog happily bouncing around her. she found it increasingly reminiscent of the detestable consort zhen, and suddenly kicked the puppy far away.
the little white dog let out a piercing yelp, but having landed on the soft, damp earth by the edge of liyu lake, it wasn't severely injured and quickly got back on its feet.
however, the puppy couldn't understand why this "mistress" who smelled like its real owner had suddenly struck it. it crouched in place, trembling, with wet eyes, making pitiful whimpering sounds.
this cruel scene was witnessed in its entirety by jiang xinyue, who had "coincidentally" encountered the xuanwu emperor. she covered her mouth and exclaimed softly, "xi... xi que, quickly rescue come here! she'll... she'll kill come here!"
xi que held back her mistress, who was about to rush forward, her face full of indignation on behalf of jiang xinyue: "your majesty, didn't you want to know why my lady used palace satin to teach concubine su a lesson? perhaps if we follow and watch, you'll understand why."
"xi que, that's enough!" jiang xinyue pushed away her hand and appeared to walk forward without hesitation. in reality, she maneuvered skillfully, pulling the emperor along as they discreetly followed concubine su. with reddened eyes, she said, "i've already failed to protect little ai jiang. i can't fail to protect her child as well."
the xuanwu emperor was left completely bewildered by her words, but still obediently followed her lead: "what do you mean by that?"
"does your majesty think that i'm treating guo lai as a replacement for little ai jiang?"
isn't that the case?
guo lai and little ai jiang might not be exactly identical, but at least to the naked eye, there wasn't much difference between them.
both were pure white and looked adorably sweet.
"guo lai is the offspring of little ai jiang and another small white dog from the rare treasures chamber of the internal affairs department."
she wasn't treating guo lai as a replacement, but rather showing affection by association.