Chapter 252: Revised - 221 The Empress’ Lesson
The words were spoken plainly, without twists or turns, without sidelong insinuations. The palace maids within the building were as silent as cicadas in winter. The room was eerily quiet, and the old, nameless matron stood motionless, her gaze fixed on the ground, her composure unbroken. Even the snow outside seemed to grow hurried in pace under the tension wrought by the elegantly dressed woman’s words.
The plump, slug-like figure of the woman quivered uncontrollably. Her body, soft and fleshy, now resembled the ceaseless waves of the sea. The wine cup in her hand fell to the ground with a sharp crash.
She hurriedly picked up the wine cup, her body nearly stiffened in its chair.
Cold wind swept in from outside, carrying with it an imperial majesty. Min Ming didn’t even dare to shrink back. Her head hung low, bowed so deeply that if not for Empress An forbidding her to kneel days earlier, she would’ve already dropped to her knees and prostrated herself flat against the ground to beg forgiveness.
Common folk cannot withstand even the dragon chariot of the Heavenly Family. As for her—a woman whose life was as fragile as paper—facing such questioning from Empress An, how could she remain unmoved?
Empress An cast an icy, disdainful gaze upon this woman, who was so weak as to lack even a shred of dignity. Little wonder the lustful wretch wouldn’t lay a finger on her.
"A fine woman famed throughout Capital City—why, can’t you even respond?"
Empress An sneered, her gaze wandering over her body, pausing at the soft, plump flesh that even she herself could not compare to. Then, in a cold voice, she said:
"What an alluring shell you have. It’s a pity about what lies within. Why don’t you tell me..."
Min Ming raised her delicate face slightly and presented it before Empress An. She was not unlovely—in Empress An’s eyes, she might have been comparable to herself in her youth, albeit falling short by two or three degrees. But this woman’s figure, it was especially ripe and matured. If not for the calamity that had befallen the Min family, it was likely that at fourteen years of age, the streets would have been crowded with carriages and horses of suitors coming to propose marriage.
Seeing Min Ming’s prolonged silence, the old matron finally spoke in a deep voice: "Reply!"
Under the gaze of both women, Min Ming’s hands trembled violently. Clutching the jade wine cup tightly, she dared not remain silent any longer: