Chapter 239: Pei Yan, You Are a Dog
"Did she really say that?"
"It’s the absolute truth!" Mrs. Feng said with a smile. "You’ll be able to see the Little Prince tomorrow!"
Empress Dowager Gu was indeed pleased.
She paced back and forth a few steps. "Tell the Imperial Kitchen to prepare all the foods children love. What does Ling like to play with? Think quickly, and get everything ready for her..."
Finally getting the chance to see her granddaughter, Empress Dowager Gu was both happy and excited.
Her displeasure with Mei Wanying vanished without a trace.
She only wanted to prepare more things to make her granddaughter happy and keep the little one around for a while longer.
Empress Dowager Gu only had one biological child, Pei Yan. After giving birth, mother and son were forcibly separated.
She had been deceived back then, truly believing she had delivered a stillborn baby.
Devastated by the blow, she couldn’t bear to see anything related to small children.
Later, as more and more children were born in the palace, the Crown Prince was adopted under her name.
Everyone praised her as a good mother, saying she treated the Crown Prince as her own flesh and blood and doted on him endlessly.
’In truth, she was just playing a part.’
’She genuinely didn’t know what little children liked to play with or eat.’
Empress Dowager Gu was vexed. "I should have gone to the Princess Mansion myself to ask what Ling likes."
It was a bitter thought. When had she ever tried so hard to curry favor with someone?
But she was afraid.
She was afraid Ling wouldn’t like her.
’And wouldn’t acknowledge her as a grandmother!’
That was her own son’s only child. Although Empress Dowager Gu had never met Ling, not a day went by that she didn’t think of her.
’How wonderful it would be if she could keep Ling in the palace for a short stay.’
Seeing Empress Dowager Gu’s reaction, Mrs. Feng felt a pang of bitterness.
Her mistress was of noble birth—a treasured daughter of a prestigious family, then the Crown Princess Consort, then the Empress...
Now she was the Empress Dowager, the Emperor’s birth mother, the most revered woman in the Harem.
Yet this very same revered Empress Dowager had to read Mei Wanying’s mood just to see her own granddaughter.
It was truly heartbreaking!
Mrs. Feng said, "That girl, Ding Xiang, is one of the Mei Family’s trusted handmaidens. She often takes care of the Little Prince. Why don’t we send someone to ask her?"
At this hour, the Emperor had not yet returned to the palace. He was likely staying the night at Mei Wanying’s place.
Now that the Little Prince had been born, Mrs. Feng didn’t believe their interactions would be purely platonic.
Just now at the Princess Mansion, the Emperor and Mei Wanying had stood together. Though they made no intimate gestures, the atmosphere between them was subtly charged.
Without saying or doing a thing, anyone could tell they were a man and a woman in an intimate relationship.
The Harem was empty, and the Emperor didn’t even have an attendant by his side.
With Mei Wanying back in the Capital City, it was impossible that the Emperor would stay at her residence and do nothing.
Sending someone to ask Mei Wanying might disturb the Emperor’s good mood.
Asking someone close to her was the most appropriate choice.
Empress Dowager Gu composed herself. "Forget it. We won’t ask. It will save Mei Wanying from overthinking things and assuming I want to steal the child from her."
’If it were the old her, she would have certainly brought Ling over to be raised by her side.’
But Ah Yan’s attitude had made her abandon the thought.
’If she actually did that, wouldn’t that brat raise hell?’
’He might even sever their mother-son relationship.’
Empress Dowager Gu said resentfully, "That rascal. I must have owed him in a past life, and now I’m here in this one to repay the debt!"
There’s no lasting grudge between a mother and son. Although she was disheartened that her son had placed her under house arrest...
...with time, Empress Dowager Gu came to feel his actions were understandable.
It was the Mei family who had raised Ah Yan.
Setting all else aside, for that debt of gratitude alone, they ought to treat Mei Wanying well.
Empress Dowager Gu sighed. "A grown son is his own man. Ah Yan is not a weak-willed person. If I interfere too much, I will only push him and Ling further away."
"Fortunately, he holds all the power, and no one dares to stir up trouble. Since he is capable, I’ll just let him be."
Empress Dowager Gu now fully understood the situation. Her son was not like other men.
Using filial piety to pressure him would only backfire.
Mrs. Feng couldn’t be happier that Empress Dowager Gu was able to come to this realization.
The Emperor’s methods were severe. She truly didn’t dare to offer the Empress any more suggestions.
She then brought up Ling again, telling Empress Dowager Gu about the kinds of food and toys a small child might like.
Empress Dowager Gu said, "Prepare one of everything. As soon as possible!"
...
Mei Wanying and Ling’s luggage was at the General Mansion. Although the Princess Mansion had new living supplies, Ling was attached to her old things and insisted on going back to sleep with her little blanket.
So, after dinner, Pei Yan followed Mei Wanying and Ling back to the General Mansion.
And once there, he didn’t leave.
Mei Wanying was the apple of the Emperor’s eye, and all factions were paying close attention to her movements.
The moment they saw the Emperor staying overnight at the General Mansion, they understood that Mei Wanying’s favor with him was at its peak.
Who knew when—if ever—she would fall out of favor.
The Capital City had no shortage of opportunists. In order to curry favor with Pei Yan, some people set their sights on Mei Wanying and Ling.
After just one night, Mei Wanying had received a pile of invitation cards.
Some wanted to visit her at the General Mansion.
Some said they wanted to come and pay their respects to the Princess.
Others were hosting banquets at their homes, inviting her and Ling to grace them with their presence.
They were too numerous to count.
Mei Wanying had grown up in the Capital City and had received many invitations before, but never to this absurd extent.
Her best friend had gone to Jiangnan, and her old acquaintances in the Capital City were just that—nodding acquaintances.
After her father passed away, some of those people had even kicked her while she was down.
Mei Wanying had no intention of showing off, nor did she want to waste her energy putting on an act for them.
She casually glanced at a few cards, then handed them to Ding Xiang. "Just set them aside."
Ding Xiang took the invitations, and Mei Wanying continued with her toilette.
Since she was going to the palace to see the Empress Dowager, her attire was more formal than usual.
She wore a smoky purple, cross-collared ruqun and sat before the vanity by the window. She gathered her dark hair up herself, revealing a fair, slender neck.
Mei Wanying looked at herself in the mirror from one side, then the other.
Pei Yan, having finished washing up and changing his clothes, returned to the bedroom. "What’s wrong?"
Thinking she was unhappy with her hair or makeup, Pei Yan studied her carefully and concluded, "You look beautiful."
Mei Wanying was exceptionally beautiful; even without a trace of powder or paint, she was stunning enough to make one unable to look away.
Now, with her makeup done, she looked even more radiant and bewitching. Compared to a few years ago, she had a more mature charm.
Pei Yan looked at Mei Wanying and thought to himself: ’Thankfully, I had the foresight to send Gu Xun away.’
’If he saw Ah Yin like this now, Gu Xun would get improper ideas again.’
’His Ah Yin is too beautiful. Every time she leaves the mansion, she draws so many stares.’
The man’s gaze suddenly sharpened. "If anyone dares to look at you, I’ll make them pay!"
Mei Wanying spat at him, "You’re insane!"
Not wanting to indulge Pei Yan’s "madness," Mei Wanying tilted her neck up for him to check.
"There are no marks, are there?"
Her snow-white neck was right before his eyes, exuding a sweet fragrance. Pei Yan’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
He reminded himself not to fool around anymore.
Ling was already awake and had been taken to wash up. She would be back soon.
Pei Yan restrained himself, ready to do Mei Wanying’s bidding.
’A girl’s skin is delicate. Ah Yin is always reminding him not to leave marks.’
But in the heat of the moment, he would still occasionally leave a trace.
He knew Mei Wanying was sensitive about her reputation, and those marks couldn’t be seen by others.
If there were any, she would have to change her clothes or cover them with powder.
Pei Yan checked carefully and actually found a faint mark on the back of her neck, half-hidden by her collar.
Catching the guilty look in his eyes, Mei Wanying huffed, "Pei Yan, you’re an animal!"