Chapter 119: Princess Consort (II)
Dou Xiyin was trembling with anger, and Yang Yan also cried for several days before running back to complain to her parents. Yang Fucheng obviously felt sorry for his eldest daughter. When the eldest daughter got married, his official position was still low. Yang Yan married Dou Da, who was mediocre in everything, while her younger sister married an emperor and became the Empress. The gap between the two sisters was indeed too big. Therefore, Yang Fucheng always felt that he owed his eldest daughter. If he could marry Dou Xiyin to the Second Prince, not only would it consolidate the power of the Yang family, but he could also make it up for the eldest daughter, which was the best for everyone.
However, Yang Fucheng did not expect that Empress Dowager Yang actually went back on her word and stab her own family in the back.
Madam Yang cried all day long and wanted to get justice for her eldest daughter. Yang Fucheng couldn’t bear it and was furious with his sister. Empress Dowager Yang’s son was dead, and she had no other children under her knees. It was all up to the Yang family to continue her wealth and honor, but she repaid them like this. Yang Fucheng was now the Senior Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, his youngest daughter was the Empress, and the Second Prince was Empress Yang’s own son. But Empress Dowager Yang proceeded with the matter of choosing the Second Prince’s wife all on her own, not even letting Empress Yang interfere.
Year by year, Empress Dowager Yang had been growing increasingly rampant, and this last misconduct of hers had become too much.
Yang Fucheng was full of anger, and the dissatisfaction that had been backlogging over the years slowly began to trickle out. Empress Dowager Yang had become more and more arrogant in recent years, exalting only one’s own self. Relying on the assistance she had provided to Yang Fucheng in the past, she wantonly ordered him to do various things and also frequently spoke in public about all the great favor she had bestowed to the Yang family. If not for this incident, Yang Fucheng wouldn’t even realize how much dissatisfaction he actually harbored towards Empress Dowager Yang.
But Empress Dowager Yang was his elder sister after all, and she was also the Emperor’s nominal mother, the one with the highest seniority in the palace. Both Yang Fucheng and the Emperor couldn’t do anything against Empress Dowager Yang and had to listen obediently to her. Therefore, even when Yang Yan returned to her natal home in tears, making a lot of ruckuses and threatening her parents with her death, Yang Fucheng was unable to change the situation and could only provide his eldest daughter with some materialistic things in private.Yang Yan was unwilling to give up and ran to her natal home every day, but Dou Xiyin’s heart was already cold.
At this moment, Dou Xiyin looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar red wall and couldn’t help being slightly dazed, totally at a loss. Probably because she had stopped there for so long, the people on the other side of the wall thought no one was around and started talking presumptuously.
“Why did the Second Prince suddenly go to Lingyuan Pavilion?”
The Second Prince? Dou Xiyin’s interest was piqued, and she couldn’t help holding her breath and listening carefully.
There was a connecting corridor on the other side of the wall. The two palace maids did not expect someone was standing behind the wall and eavesdropping on their conversation. Dou Xiyin heard another voice say: “The Second Prince doesn’t want others to know. Today’s the Lantern Festival. The Emperor is happy and has fun feasting with court officials. The Second Prince is drunk and doesn’t want to affect the Emperor’s mood, so he went to the Lingyuan Pavilion to sober up and sent his eunuchs to fetch hangover soup.”
“Doesn’t that mean that there is currently no one around the Second Prince?” The voice who spoke first sighed, “The Second Prince is alone in Lingyuan Pavilion, and even drunk on top of that. What if something happens?”
“We are in the palace, so how can something happen?” The other voice didn’t take it seriously. She suddenly lowered her voice and said mysteriously: “Have you heard that the Empress Dowager is going to choose a wife for the Second Prince?”
“I’ve heard about it. It is said that Empress Dowager has summoned many young misses into the palace today. Would the future Second Princess Consort be chosen from among these people?”
“Of course. Let’s hurry up and return to the main hall. Maybe we’ll be able to curry favor to the future Second Princess Consort.”
“But… don’t they say that Miss Dou is the future Princess Consort?”“You, ah. Stop mentioning her. She is now just a joke. Don’t see how she is still dressed in fine clothes and expensive jewelry now, but she cannot even secure a good marriage. Now is still the most beautiful period of her life, but just wait — she will go downhill from the hereafter. After two years, maybe even her daily life will be hard. Who will still remember who she is then? She is now falling hard and soon will not even be eligible to enter the palace to kowtow to the Second Princess Consort. Why should anyone fear her?”
“You’re right. After all, she’s not even a real daughter of the Yang family. The Yang family only pampers her because she was said to be the future Second Princess Consort. Now that’s no longer the case, how long can her glory last? With only the Dou family behind her, what kind of splash can she make?”
“…”
The voices gradually faded away as the two palace maids left. Dou Xiyin hadn’t even seen their faces from the beginning to the end, but she was trembling with anger.
Just two lowly palace maids, how dare they say such a thing about her! But after Dou Xiyin’s fury subsided, she found out in despair that they were right.
Dou Xiyin clenched her hand tightly. Her nails buried deep into her palm. No, she wouldn’t accept that. She must find a way out for herself.