tkworld Chapter 181 The Empress Dowager Has Gone Mad
Chapter 181 The Empress Dowager Has Gone Mad
When the Empress Dowager saw the Emperor arrive, she was furious. She hadn't even thought about what to do with Shen Shixi yet, and the Emperor had already come over, treating her like a thief. What did that mean?
"The Emperor arrived so quickly! Is he afraid I'll devour Consort Chen?"
The emperor, always thick-skinned, didn't care. "Your subject hasn't come to pay respects to the Empress Dowager today. Hearing that Consort Chen had arrived, I rushed over to keep the Empress Dowager company and have a chat."
Shen Shixi was always too lazy to listen to veiled insults. "If Your Majesty has no further instructions, I will take my leave now!"
The Empress Dowager wouldn't let her leave, saying, "I've heard that Consort Chen has also fallen ill these past few days. Have you had the imperial physician examine her?"
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. I have already examined you. You caught a cold, took a few doses of medicine and you are fine. It's nothing serious."
"It's just that you fell ill at the right time. Anyone who didn't know better would think you fell ill because you didn't want to take care of me."
The Emperor frowned and said, "Why do you say that, Mother? Who would curse themselves to fall ill?"
But there was one such person.
Shen Shixi said, "Your Majesty is overthinking it. Even if I were not sick, Your Majesty's health is not good. Even if I were extremely filial, it would not be my turn to serve you. I am aware of this."
[The Empress Dowager has gone mad! What kind of indiscriminate attacks are these? Old age is truly terrifying. Not only is she confused, but she's also taking advantage of her age. I'm not a filial person either; my father never expected me to be filial. She wants to use filial piety to pressure me? Dream on!]
Li Yuanke glanced at her.
What nonsense is this bastard spouting? Only this dog would dare to think like that.
The concept of filial piety has weighed heavily on people for thousands of years. From emperors to commoners, no one dared to be unfilial, and some were even blindly obedient.
The Empress Dowager was speechless after being rebuked by her. "Everyone says you don't study, but it seems you do understand the principles you should know. It's a good thing that you have self-awareness."
Shen Shixi said, "Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty. I may not have much else, but I do have some self-awareness. It is precisely this self-awareness that has allowed me to live a few more years than Yang Tingyue."
Although the Shen family has a grandfather, they are ultimately of noble birth and rely on their reputation for a living, so they must be careful in everything they do. They are not like Yang Tingyue, who comes from a wealthy family and has the Empress Dowager's backing; naturally, she is much bolder and more prone to arrogance.
[Who are you cursing? Do you think I wouldn't dare curse you, Empress Dowager? Believe me, I'll curse you to death!]
Li Yuanke glanced at her again. In that instant, he felt a little worried about his mother. With Yang Tingyue dead, his mother had lost her mind as well.
"I don't need you to teach me!" The Empress Dowager was so angry that her heart ached.
Shen Shixi was afraid that she might actually get seriously injured, so he bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I dare not. I take my leave!"
The emperor also intended to go out with her, but the empress dowager stopped him, saying, "Your Majesty, please stay. I have something to say."
He stayed behind and remained silent for a long time. The emperor dared not drink the tea in Cining Palace anymore; he was terribly thirsty but could only endure it.
The Empress Dowager couldn't help but shed tears, saying, "Before Yunyang left, he entrusted Tingyue to me. It's so pitiful that her body was barely cold before Tingyue followed her. I don't blame you for disliking her, but why did you target her?"
"You still dare to say it's not because of the Shen family? Look at the Shen family, how much they hate Tingyue! She's already dead, and they haven't said a single good word to her. Aren't these words just stabbing me in the heart?"
The Emperor was speechless. "Xi'er always speaks frankly, but what she said isn't without reason. As the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Ying's family, and with the Duke of Ying still alive and well, why would her mother entrust Yang to the Empress Dowager?"
The Empress Dowager had witnessed her son's heartlessness before, and it was no wonder she doted on her youngest son. Enraged, she shouted, "Get out! Get out! Get out!"
The emperor then got up and left.
The Empress Dowager was so angry that she had a heart attack again. She rubbed her chest and said, "Look at him! When has he ever been considerate of my feelings? I finally made it to this point today, but I never thought that I would have to suffer like this in my old age!"
What did Tingyue do wrong again? She was certainly wrong about the First Prince's affair, but how could the First Prince be treated like paper? And this Shen Shi, enjoying exclusive favor in the Emperor's quarters, doesn't the Emperor care about the gossip in the court and harem? This is hardly the behavior of a wise ruler!
Aunt Qingruo was startled. "Empress Dowager, please don't think like that. The Emperor is your own son after all. Please don't say such things. The Emperor has always been filial."
If this gets out, it will cause a huge uproar in the government and among the people!
If the emperor is unfilial, can he still hold onto the throne?
"Filial piety what? Look at how he protects Shen! No wonder no one likes Shen. I used to pity her because she was young, and I didn't hold it against her for her words and actions. But look at her unforgiving and arrogant behavior today. It's clearly all because the Emperor spoiled her."
Even the Empress can't control her, how can this be allowed? The harem will be hers forever! My poor Tingyue, I had hoped she would have a place in the harem, but who knew she would be gone so young.
The Empress Dowager had no daughters, and Yang Tingyue had been raised by her since childhood. Now that Yang Tingyue was gone, the Empress Dowager was in a daze.
She dared not hate Consort De, whose eldest son had died directly at the hands of Yang Tingyue, so she became obsessed with this and vented all her resentment on Shen Shixi.
Shen Shixi understood this perfectly well, but she couldn't be bothered to take it to heart.
As for whether Li Yuanke would help his mother, Shen Shixi didn't care. It was normal for him to help or not.
She never expected that as a concubine, she would have to deal with such a complicated mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship.
In both her past and present lives, whenever she hears someone complaining about how difficult it is to get along with their mother-in-law, she feels annoyed that they are not assertive enough. She thinks it's not that hard for a woman to live an easy life.
The principle is simple: be invincible when you have no desires. Don't have such deep attachments to men, children, or family. If you can make it work, great; if not, so be it. There's always another opportunity.
What you gain by enduring grievances is not complete happiness, but a host of illnesses, such as nodules, breast hyperplasia, and uterine fibroids. Aren't these all diseases caused by suffering too much?
If a man truly loves you, he will never let you bleed and cry, or suffer the hardships of life and then have to put up with your in-laws' bad temper.
So what if Li Yuanke is the emperor? Should she just swallow her pride and compromise in front of the empress dowager?
Go dream!
As long as she doesn't commit adultery, does Li Yuange dare to punish her and exterminate her entire clan?
Li Yuanke came out of Cining Palace and heard that Shen Shixi was strolling in the Imperial Garden, so he came over. He saw her chatting happily with several concubines, laughing loudly.
What a bastard! He flirted with him, had his fun, and then didn't care whether the other person lived or died!
"What are you saying?"
"I'm listening to Yuan Meiren tell funny stories, it's so entertaining." Shen Shixi found it really interesting; she hadn't expected Yuan Meiren to be so funny when she told jokes.
As soon as Li Yuanke arrived, the concubines all knelt down to pay their respects. Shen Shixi also planned to make a show of it, at least to give this man some face. After giving him a beating, she was determined to give him a sweet treat.
Men are like three-year-old children, easily fooled. That's not called being innocent and naive, it's called being manipulative.
Li Yuanke didn't make her kneel; instead, he took her hand and pulled her to sit down.
Lin Guiyou, Yuan Shi, and Li Sihe were talking when Shen Shixi joined them. There were originally four seats, but with Li Yuanke's arrival, some people didn't have seats.
Lady Yuan was a beauty, while Lady Li was a talented woman. Lady Li was of lower rank, so she should stand. However, Lady Li had given birth, and Lady Yuan had long lost favor with the emperor, so she naturally dared not sit and let Lady Li sit instead.
Yuan and Guo were such humble women, born into the palace as maids, without children to rely on, living in constant fear in the inner palace, their lives even more difficult than those of the palace maids and eunuchs.
Li Yuanke held Shen Shixi's hand tightly, saying, "What's so funny? I could hear your laughter from far away. Tell me about it too."
Shen Shixi looked at Consort Yuan, but the Emperor was looking at Shen Shixi, clearly wanting to hear what she had to say, so she didn't dare to open her mouth. "I'm afraid what I say isn't as interesting as what Consort Chen says."
Shen Shixi kicked Li Yuanke, saying, "What Consort Yuan said was so nice, I'd like to hear it again."
Li Yuanke then said to Yuan, "Tell me what you have to say!"
(Emperors throughout history have touted that they govern the country with benevolence and filial piety. It's not that emperors lacked means, but rather that when dealing with any matter, they could only strive to maximize the interests of the court, even at the cost of sacrificing their own interests. For example, why did Fat Orange keep Yixiu and favor Consort Hua?)
The difficulties of being an emperor are far greater than those of ordinary people. It's not as simple as sitting on the throne and doing whatever you want, or favoring whomever you please. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many puppet emperors and rulers who brought about the downfall of their dynasties. An emperor has to contend with the schemes and even plots of almost everyone—his officials, his concubines, and so on. This is what it means to be a lonely and isolated ruler.
As for those who think it's just a novel and should be entertaining, well... everyone has different opinions, so let's agree to disagree!