Chapter 224 – I Am The Empress Dowager, Who Am I Afraid Of? (part 17)

Just as Zhao Yuanqi came out after changing his clothes, he happened to hear Ruyi’s words. He was lost in thought, but before he could think clearly, he smelled fried chicken and his eyes suddenly lit up. He couldn’t care about anything else now.

“Imperial grandmother, your grandson is here.”

The eldest maid glanced over there and instructed, “Keep an eye on that Cola. Don’t allow her to get close to His Highness.” Then, she hurriedly escorted Zhao Yuanqi.

“Yes.”

Li Su also knew that Empress Jiang had sent a palace maid to Zhao Yuanqi, but she didn’t take it to heart. She only told Wet Nurse Xu that she was optimistic about the maid, and she was not allowed to go to Zhao Yuanqi’s side for anything. That was all.

The grandmother and grandchild had fried chicken, their faces and hands covered in oil.

When Emperor Long’an came in, this was what he saw. He was a little speechless. Although there were no outsiders in the hall, they still had to pay attention to their appearance.

“The emperor is here. Come here and sit down. Get another pair of bowls and chopsticks for the emperor. There is still a chicken leg that empress mother hasn’t touched. Would you like to try it?” Li Su asked while holding up the remaining chicken leg.

Emperor Long’an had eaten so-called fried chicken, and it tasted good, but he was not very interested in this. He also didn’t understand why empress mother and Yuanqi liked fried chicken so much. The table was full of dishes, and the two of them barely ate the rest. They just ate fried chicken.

“Your son greets father emperor!” Zhao Yuanqi stood up and paid his respects.

“There’s no need for ceremony. Sit down!” said Emperor Long’an.

Li Su noticed Emperor Long’an’s gaze, put down the chicken leg, signalled to the palace maid to get some green vegetables, and then ate them under Emperor Long’an’s gaze. She then gestured to the palace maid to give Zhao Yuanqi some green vegetables.

Emperor Long’an felt a little helpless. “Empress mother, you are getting old. You should eat more vegetables and less fried meat and fishy things. It is good for your health. The imperial doctor also said the same thing.” Then, he personally served Li Su a bowl of three delicacies soup.

“You think I’m getting old!” Li Su said quietly.

Wet Nurse Xu couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Why did this sound so wrong?

Emperor Long’an quickly smiled and said, “That’s not what your son meant. Empress mother will always be young and in your prime. No matter how old you are, you are not old at all.”

Then, he cast a glance at Zhao Yuanqi. Extensive preparation eventually paid off!

Zhao Yuanqi immediately jumped off the stool, threw himself on Li Su, and stretched out his two small oily hands to hug Li Su. “Imperial grandmother is not old at all! Imperial grandmother is the most beautiful!”

Li Su smiled and wanted to avoid Zhao Yuanqi, but she couldn’t do it. She watched his two little oily hands touch her new dress, and finally touched Zhao Yuanqi’s forehead helplessly. “I really don’t know what to do with you! Imperial grandmother is not angry anymore. Let’s eat quickly!”

Zhao Yuanqi leaned forward with a grin and kissed Li Su on the face.

Li Su looked at Zhao Yuanqi’s oily mouth, felt the grease on her face, and wanted to cry without tears.

Wet Nurse Xu held back her smile and wiped Li Su’s face with a handkerchief soaked in warm water.

Emperor Long’an couldn’t help but laugh. He patted Zhao Yuanqi’s butt, and scolded with a smile, “Naughty!”

There were bursts of laughter from time to time in the hall, and the palace people who were serving outside also had smiles on their faces. Cola was standing in the corridor.

The mother and son in the room were the most honorable mother and son in the world, but they were also the most ruthless. How many people’s lives had been ruined because of their unintentional words?

She thought of the past events that her mother said with tears and blood that day. A trace of hatred flashed in Cola’s eyes. Her older sister whom she had never met, who was smart and kind like a fairy, was killed horribly because of a few passing remarks. Her cruel father, who afraid of imperial power, wanted to kill the mother and daughter to flatter the emperor.

In desperation, her mother took her to escape from home. She was displaced and lonely, and suffered a serious illness on the way. In order to cure her, her mother had to sell her as a slave. She never expected that the person who bought them was actually from the Jiang family, the maternal family of the Empress. What a coincidence.

She didn’t know her background at first, but after her serious illness, she somehow lost her memory. Her mother never told her about the past.

After being sold into the Jiang family, she stayed in a courtyard with a bunch of girls and studied together. Because of her good looks, she was especially valued by the wet nurses, and she was willing to endure hardship and work hard, so she gradually came ahead of the other girls.

Later, the Jiang family suddenly said that they would choose a girl to enter the palace to serve His Imperial Highness. After the wet nurses considered it, they chose her.

After her mother heard that she was selected to enter the palace, she was stunned for a while. Her mother then hugged her and cried a lot. After crying, her mother told her about the past.

At that time, she was stupid. She didn’t expect her mother to have such a sad past, and that she also had an older sister she had never met.

But after she recovered, her heart was full of hatred. It just so happened that Madam Qin called her away and explained the purpose of sending her into the palace. Madam Qin said that, as long as she was obedient, the empress and the Jiang family would be her biggest support.

At that time, the only thing on her mind was revenge! She wanted revenge! She wanted to avenge her mother and older sister, and herself! She wanted to take revenge on the most honorable mother and son. Although she was just a small weak woman, no one should underestimate her. She even had the support of the empress and the Jiang family. She would turn the imperial family of Daliang upside down herself!

With such ambition, she entered the palace.

On the first day of her entering the palace, she hit a wall. Her original name was Qiao’er, but Madam Qin renamed her as Ruyi. Ruyi, huh, they would never be happy in this life.

She didn’t expect that when she met His Imperial Highness, the crown prince changed her name again. What kind of name was Cola?! It was a horrible name!

But she wasn’t worried. This was just the beginning. His Imperial Highness was still young, and so was she! Cola’s eyes shone brightly.

After eating, rinsing his mouth and washing his hands, Emperor Long’an threw the handkerchief away. “Empress mother, your son still has some business to attend to, so I will leave first. Empress mother, please rest early. Yuanqi, don’t pester your grandmother. Finish your homework and rest early.”

Zhao Yuanqi was leaning on Li Su, pestering Li Su to chat. He jumped down when he heard those words. “I know, emperor father.”

Li Su glanced at Emperor Long’an and pulled Zhao Yuanqi to herself. “Our Yuanqi is obedient. You don’t need to say such things.”

Emperor Long’an smiled helplessly. “Now that empress mother has a grandson, she has forgotten her son.”

Li Su smiled and said, “You know it!”

Emperor Long’an came out with a smile, and Wet Nurse Xu sent him out in person.

Emperor Long’an suddenly stopped. “The empress has awarded a palace maid today?”

Wet Nurse Xu nodded. “Yes.”

“Keep an eye on her.” Emperor Long’an’s tone was cold.

“Yes, don’t worry, Your Majesty.” Wet Nurse Xu understood.

Cola’s career as a palace maid didn’t start smoothly. On the first day after she entered the palace, the three giants in the palace ordered people to keep an eye on her.

Wet Nurse Xu said that she was young and did not learn the rules well, so she was not assigned any errands. She was only made to learn and follow the rules first. She couldn’t leave Peaceful Age Palace without authorisation, and Cola couldn’t pass news to the empress either. She kept calm and learned the rules slowly.

She wondered if Peaceful Age Palace would make her learn the rules for a lifetime. She would see what kind of excuses they would come up with once she finished learning the rules!

As a result, Cola ended up learning the rules of Peaceful Age Palace for five years. In the past five years, there were 7-8 more princes and princesses in the palace. Even Princess Consort Bao gave birth to a daughter last year. The matter of His Imperial Highness moving to the East Palace had been put on the agenda, and Cola still had not made it.

No matter how well she learned, the maids could always pick out her shortcomings and therefore called her back to continue her studies.

Coke did not agree and wanted to create an opportunity to get close to His Imperial Highness. However, every time she tried to get close to the crown prince, she was stopped by someone. She was then locked in a small dark room. After a couple of times, the time spent in the small dark room also changed from half an hour to longer.

Cola was full of confidence from the beginning, but then became very anxious. She also quietly contacted the empress’ people, but the other party saw that she was useless and ignored her. Instead, a few more people came in.

Fortunately, the people who were sent in were basically the same as her. They were all stuck learning the rules. These people were not even as good as her.

So Cola felt a little better. It wasn’t that she was useless, it was just that the people from Peaceful Age Palace had their guards up high!

Cola wouldn’t stop there. The yellow sand everywhere couldn’t hide the light of gold. One day, the crown prince would find her good. She had the patience to wait.

“Cola, sweep the courtyard. What are you doing?!”

Cola frowned slightly, but began to wave the broom in her hand, raising a cloud of dust.

“Oh, why are you so stupid? How many times have I told you that when you sweep the floor, the broom should be close to the ground so as not to raise sand and dust. So stupid!”

Cola had endured everything. This was unreasonable!

Not far away, Zhao Yuanqi saw this scene and was a little puzzled. “How can such a stupid palace maid stay in Peaceful Age Palace? Wet Nurse Xu doesn’t care?”

“Your Highness has forgotten that this is the palace maid that the empress gave to you. Wet Nurse Xu must give the empress face. Because she is too rough, she has been learning the rules and doing some rough work. We didn’t expect that she couldn’t do rough work well,” the eldest wet nurse said respectfully.

Zhao Yuanqi nodded when he heard the words, and looked at her with contempt in his eyes.

The eldest wet nurse asked, “Your Highness, in a few days, you will be moved to the East Palace. Are you going to take the palace maids that the Empress gave to you?”

Zhao Yuanqi shook his head. “Forget it, I’m not as rich as imperial grandmother, and I can’t afford to support idlers. Wet nurse, you have to take good care of the people who are serving in the East Palace. Such idiots shouldn’t be around.”

The eldest wet nurse bowed her head respectfully and said, “Yes, this servant knows.”

On Empress Jiang’s side… When Empress Jiang saw that none of the palace maids sent over the past few years were of any use, she was a little anxious. Madam Qin thought about it. It was obviously too late for the childhood sweetheart idea, so they should get straight to the point! The crown prince was ten years old this year, and he had reached the age to know about human relationships, so why not…

Madam Qin told Empress Jiang about this plan, but Empress Jiang did not agree at first. There was no mother in the world who was happy to see her son addicted to a woman’s body, especially when Zhao Yuanqi was so young. Empress Jiang was worried that he would be seduced by sluts and hurt his body.

Madam Qin was helpless. “Let’s not do this. When His Imperial Highness is a little older, the palace will arrange things. We will just seize an opportunity. His Imperial Highness is also my grandson and is the hope of the Jiang family. Do you think that I will harm him? Are you worrying about the person chosen by your mother?”

Empress Jiang revealed doubts on her face. The ones who were sent to the palace were chosen by her mother, and what was the end result?

Madam Qin flushed. “Those were accidents. I used to think that the empress dowager did not covet power and was detached from the world, but now it seems like she is just trying to gain fame. But His Imperial Highness is about to move into the East Palace, out of the control of Peaceful Age Palace. Can the empress dowager still extend her reach here? You are the mother of His Imperial Highness, and it is perfectly normal for you to give someone to His Imperial Highness!”