Chapter 36: The Empress Dowager Commands You to Kneel and Wait

Shen Ning did not speak and turned to walk out.

Her slender and upright figure exuded a sense of cold and decisive determination, lacking the softness that women of the time should have. She looked like a piece of cold iron, hard and difficult to chew.

During their conversation, Shi Qi had silently left without a trace, leaving only Shi Qin to follow Shen Ning.

The imperial palace was not a den of dragons or a lair of tigers, at least not for the Regent.

However, if the Empress Dowager and His Majesty wanted someone dead, then entering the palace would be easy, but leaving would be difficult. With so many imperial guards in the palace, Shi Qin and Shi Qi alone would obviously not be their match.

After all, two fists are hard to fight against four palms.

Therefore, Shi Qi had returned to the Regent ‘s residence to seek reinforcements.

They knew that the Empress Dowager’s intent to kill Shen Ning was real.

No Empress Dowager would tolerate a subject’s daughter publicly humiliating her, let alone one who had audaciously attacked a princess and killed their servant. Even being torn apart by five horses would not be too severe a punishment.

Regardless of whether the Regent’s Consort was fearless like a newborn calf or had some clever trick up her sleeve for self-preservation, as her close guards, they could not be negligent. They must prioritize their mistress’s safety.

Shen Ning rode the Regent’s carriage into the palace. After getting off at the palace gate, she stepped into the palace and saw an old maid waiting there, looking at her expressionlessly, her eyes filled with scrutiny.

“This is the Consort of the Regent.” The eunuch who had delivered the message said in a gloomy voice, “We have kept Mama Wei waiting for a long time.”

Mama Wei nodded and was about to say something when she looked up and noticed the eunuch’s face was red and bore several fingerprints, causing her to be slightly surprised: “What happened to your face, Eunuch Hu?”

“I offended the Consort of the Regent, and the consort punished me by making me slap myself.” Eunuch Hu said with a strange smile, “It’s no big deal. We servants have thick skin. If the master wants to punish us, we must endure it. That’s our duty and the rules.”

Mama Wei, upon hearing this, gave Shen Ning a meaningful look and turned to say: “Please follow me, Consort.”

Shen Ning followed her fearlessly along the palace path, noticing that the guards on duty were all eunuchs.

Her tone was indifferent: “This is the path to the inner palace.”

“So what if it is?”

Mama Wei frowned, her tone filled with authority, “The Empress Dowager wishes to see you. Could it be that the consort intends to defy the imperial edict?”

Shen Ning glanced at her expressionlessly and said no more.

Arguing with a maid was pointless.

Empress Dowager Qin resided in the Longevity Palace. When the current Emperor ascended to the throne at the age of fourteen, Empress Dowager Qin, a woman who had fought her way out of the harem and successfully ascended to the position of Empress Dowager, was inherently strong and had a strong desire for power.

After her son’s enthronement, she had expected to rule from behind the curtain and take the opportunity to elevate her maternal clan, making the Qin family the most prosperous family in the Yong Kingdom, passing down its legacy for centuries, with enduring glory and favor.

However, she never expected that the late Emperor would appoint Ji Yucang, who was only twenty-one years old at the time, as the regent.

This young war god had always been regarded as a prodigy of the Yong Kingdom. He went to the border at the age of twelve and created one legend after another.

The Yong Kingdom’s current prosperity was in no small part due to Ji Yucang.

However, too much merit was also not good, as it threatened the Emperor’s position, something the Empress Dowager could not tolerate.

Moreover, Ji Yucang had never been on good terms with the Qin clan. During the late Emperor’s reign, the Empress Dowager had suggested several times to send the Qin family’s descendants to the border to train under Ji Yucang.

But Ji Yucang had refused seven times in a row, with the exact same reply each time.

He said that the Qin family’s descendants were dull-witted, and sending them to the border to fight would be sending them to their deaths. Making them generals would be tantamount to burying the soldiers’ lives.

Even when the late Emperor tried to persuade him, he remained unmoved.

At that time, the Empress Dowager harbored a grudge against him in her heart.

Before the Emperor’s enthronement, the Empress Dowager had planned to reduce Ji Yucang’s military power by half once she held the regency, allowing members of the Qin family to lead the troops.

Then, no one would be able to threaten her son’s throne.

However, the late Emperor did not play by the rules.

Before his death, he drafted two edicts. One appointed Ji Yucang as the Regent to assist the Emperor in governing the country, while the other strictly prohibited interference in politics by the inner palace, directly cutting off the Empress Dowager’s idea of supporting the Qin family.

The Empress Dowager was so angry that she almost couldn’t resist the urge to whip the corpse.

But the late Emperor was also a suspicious man. He understood that Ji Yucang, who held military power, as the regent, would certainly deter the court and prevent anyone from harboring ill intentions. However, Ji Yucang’s military power was also a threat to the new Emperor.

Therefore, he poisoned Ji Yucang, with the antidote left in the hands of the young Emperor. If there was no antidote when the poison acted up, it would cause unbearable pain.

Those antidotes were enough to last until the Emperor could govern on his own.

However, the Empress Dowager was too impatient. She was eager to have members of the Qin family enter the court, to have them grasp power, and to make them an omnipresent force in the court.

Therefore, even though the Regent was poisoned, she was still dissatisfied and wished she could kill the Regent immediately. That was why she came up with the idea of having Qin Yanshu marry Princess Pingyao.

Upon arriving at the Longevity Palace, Mama Wei went in to report.

Shen Ning stood silently outside the palace gate, her face calm and undisturbed, without a trace of the nervousness that should be expected when meeting the Empress Dowager.

After a short while, Mama Wei came out, her tone somewhat condescending: “The Empress Dowager is not feeling well and commands the Consort of the Regent to kneel and wait.”

“Kneel and wait?” Shen Ning seemed to smile but didn’t, her dark eyes filled with a cold and mocking look, “Mama Wei, why don’t you go in and ask the Empress Dowager who carries more weight in their words, and who has greater power—her or the Regent?”

“You!” Mama Wei’s face darkened, “You are nothing but the legitimate daughter of the Duke of the State’s residence, yet you dare to openly defy the Empress Dowager’s orders?”

“I am not only the legitimate daughter of the Duke of the State’s residence, but also the wife of the Regent.” Shen Ning’s tone was cold, “The Regent has given me the right not to kneel before the sovereign. Mama Wei, are you openly defying the Regent’s orders?”

Mama Wei’s expression changed, and a hint of concern flashed in her eyes, clearly wary of the Regent.

Of course, no one dared to ignore the Regent’s words.

She just hadn’t expected that Shen Ning, who had only been married to the Regent for a few days, would already know to use the Regent’s name to suppress others. For a moment, her momentum weakened, and she snorted coldly before turning back into the Longevity Palace.

Shen Ning leaned against the palace gate, silently counting in her heart. If the Empress Dowager truly intended to make things difficult for her, she didn’t have time to stay here and play along.

Fortunately, the Empress Dowager was not foolishly limitless and understood that it was not easy to get Shen Ning into the palace. These low-level attempts to intimidate were better off avoided.

Mama Wei quickly returned, her attitude slightly more restrained than before: “Her Majesty the Empress Dowager invites you in.”

Shen Ning said nothing and walked into the palace gate.

Shi Qin followed closely, not falling behind even half a step.

Entering the Longevity Palace, Shen Ning looked up to see Princess Jiahe sitting next to the Empress Dowager, her expression displeased, with the stance of waiting to catch a turtle in a jar to put Shen Ning to death. Her eyes seemed to say, “Once you’re in the palace, there’s no escaping. Let’s see if you dare to continue being arrogant and domineering.”

However, Shen Ning merely gave her an indifferent glance before quickly withdrawing her gaze to look at the Empress Dowager sitting on the phoenix couch.

The Empress Dowager before her appeared to be in her early thirties, with a bright and beautiful countenance, exuding an air of elegance and nobility. She wore a grand phoenix robe and sat in the main seat, her demeanor commanding without the need for anger.

Women in the inner palace generally entered the palace at a young age, usually between fifteen and eighteen. If they conceived early, it was not uncommon for them to give birth at seventeen or eighteen.

The current young Emperor was fifteen years old, and Princess Jiahe was twenty.

Calculating the ages of entering the palace and having children, the Empress Dowager’s true age should be over thirty-five. Being so young and already sitting on the position of Empress Dowager, if it weren’t for the Regent’s intervention, she could have logically ruled from behind the curtain. The rest of her life could have been as comfortable as she pleased, doing as she wished, without having to serve the Emperor or look at anyone’s face.

She would have become the most revered woman, with the country and its people beneath her feet.

Unfortunately, the existence of the Regent shattered her dream of ruling from behind the curtain. Therefore, the Empress Dowager had always wanted to get rid of the Regent as soon as possible.

Ideally, the day the young Emperor took full power would be the day the Regent met an untimely death.

“Regent’s Princess Consort.” Mama Wei spoke with authority to remind her, “You may have refused to kneel and wait outside, but now, when facing the Empress Dowager, according to etiquette, you should kneel down to pay your respects.”

Shen Ning’s tone was indifferent: “The Regent said I don’t need to kneel before anyone.”

The Empress Dowager’s gaze was calm, with a hint of killing intent: “What if I insist that you kneel?”

Shen Ning looked up at the Empress Dowager, her eyes deep and mysterious, with a soft voice: “You won’t.”

“You…” The Empress Dowager’s gaze was taken aback, and the visible anger on her face subsided, followed by a nod of resignation, “You’re right, I won’t.”

“Mother?” Princess Jiahe turned her head in surprise, “What did you say?”