Chapter 294. V4C294: Leading Character and Supporting Character (III)

Minglan, startled by those words, regretted her own negligence just now. It must be because her married life had been too easy that she had already forgotten how cautious she had been in the Sheng’s family. It seemed that she needed to train herself after she went back home. Her past experiences told her that it would be better for her to act naturally instead of remaining calm.

“I, I, I, how dare I laugh at our Empress Dowager?…” Minglan even started to stammer with a scared look on her face.

As expected, that gesture worked very well. Empress Dowager De and Princess Consort Yu both looked at Minglan smilingly, seeming to be very pleased.

After the subject had been changed, Little Shen shi let out a sigh of relief. Seeing that, the Empress said hurriedly, “Princess Consort Yu, please don’t say that. Madam Gu is a sensible woman and would never act rudely. Don’t be so intimidating, she’s not like my tough sister. Behave yourself, don’t scare her!”

The Empress reproached that in a half-joking tone. Except for the two Empress Dowagers, she dared to scold any woman in the world.

With an awkward look on Princess Consort Yu’s face, she stopped saying anything. As Empress Dowager De opened her mouth and wanted to say something, Madam Zhang turned around smilingly and said to Minglan, “What were you laughing at just now?”

Since there was a way out, Minglan then said right away,

“Our Empress Dowager said that this is a happy event, how can I make a joke about this? It’s just…” Minglan covered her mouth with her sleeve and chuckled bashfully, “I felt that the god who unites persons in marriage should be quite busy now, there are lots of young men and women waiting to get married. I will have to act as a matchmaker several times lately.

“What do you mean?” Empress Dowager De seemed to be quite intrigued.

Minglan answered respectfully, “Your Highness, a few days ago, Master Gu said that our country needs to station troops in the northern border and that it would be better if the soldiers could bring their families there in order to raise the morale of the troops. Therefore, he hoped that the soldiers who haven’t got married could all have wives. Then he asked me to match the unmarried maids in our mansion with the soldiers who would go to the northern border, unluckily…”

She tried to make herself sound quite hesitant and weak.

Little Shen shi who was like the ant on the hot pan suddenly widened her eyes and said loudly, “I’ve heard of that too. Most of the soldiers who have been assembled this time would go to the northern border. That place is full of chaos caused by war. Almost all the houses there are empty, there is no way the soldiers would find wives there. Most of the parents would already be very unwilling to let their daughters leave their hometown and go far away, not to mention letting those girls marry the soldiers who would bring them to the northern border.”

That was true and Little Shen shi wasn’t lying now. However, the situation wasn’t that serious now.

“That’s right.” Minglan said with a worried look, “I can’t force the girls from others’ families to marry the soldiers, so I could only ask the maids of my own family. Even so, I still couldn’t solve the problem. That really gives me a headache lately.”

The Empress couldn’t help but ask, “Are those girls willing to marry the soldiers?”

She had lived in the remote and poor area before, so she knew that not so many people would be willing to leave the prosperous capital.

Minglan spoke haltingly, seeming to be super bashful, “Your Highness, I have added some silvers into the dowry of the girls who are willing to go to the northern area, then some of them finally agreed.” However, those were all the maids in the low class.

Madam Zhang looked at Minglan and said with a smile, “Girl, it’s really difficult for you.” Then she turned to her daughter, “No wonder you asked me if there are any maids who will stop serving in our mansion soon. I didn’t know you were thinking of this.”

The Empress kept nodding while Zhang shi only chuckled without saying anything.

Hearing their chitchat, Empress Dowager De frowned slightly and did not know how to change the subject. In the meantime, Little Shen shi already stepped forward excitedly. Perhaps the excessive stress had stimulated her potential. Little Shen shi suddenly thought of something, turned to the Empress and Empress Dowager De and said loudly, “I’m sure your Highness understands, why don’t we let those girls who are over the marriageable age marry the soldiers?”

“Nonsense!”

“Rubbish!”

Empress Dowager De and Princess Consort Yu rebuked at the same time. Little Shen shi looked mutinous and wanted to say something, and the Empress who was afraid that Little Shen shi would bring trouble to herself said in a hurry, “Don’t talk nonsense! Those maids have served our Empress Dowager, how dare you interfere in the arrangement of their marriage?”

With tears in Little Shen shi’s eyes, she wanted to say something again. Suddenly, an old voice suddenly sounded behind her back, “What do you mean by nonsense! I think that’s a great idea!”

Everyone looked back, and then they saw two old noble ladies, one of whom was Empress Dowager An. She walked inside the Palace while holding hands, followed by two long groups of maids.

“Aunt, mother-in-law!” The joyful tone in the Empress’s voice could hardly be hidden.

Then, all the women in the Palace except for Empress Dowager De all stood up to give obeisance to the Great Grand Princess and Empress Dowager An.

“Since you got great tea, why didn’t you invite us and only drank it by yourself? Tell me, why is that?!” Great Grand Princess, having sat down, looked askance at her surroundings and chuckled vigorously.

Empress Dowager De seemed to feel a bit embarrassed and apologized at once, “If I knew you were here, I would have invited you for sure.”

‘Judging from her manner and behavior, she must be Qing Ning Grand Princess.’ Minglan guessed.

After they chatted for a while, Qing Ning Grand Princess suddenly pulled a long face and said to Princess Consort Yu, “I heard you scolding the Empress’s sister from the outside just now. What’s so wrong about her proposal?”

Princess Consort Yu stood up in fear and said with her teeth gritted, “The private maids of Empress Dowager can’t condescend to marry the soldiers. It’ll be so humiliating for our Empress Dowager.”

“So, that’s what’s on your mind. Don’t worry.” Qing Ning Grand Princess waved her hand, “There must be lots of officers in the army. I guess marrying those men wouldn’t be a disgraceful thing to those maids, right? If those men could gain great merits, the girls who marry them would enjoy happy lives for sure. Isn’t it better than being others’ concubines?”

Those straightforward words made Empress Dowager De and her daughter-in-law speechless.

Since Emperor Wu’s later years, Qing Ning Grand Princess had been the most powerful princess. It had to be admitted that she had been favored by God.

She had been given birth by a maid. However, in that year, a few days after her blood mother passed away, the Empress at that time happened to lose her daughter. In order to soothe the grieved Empress, Emperor Wu decided to let the Empress raise Qing Ning who had only been three years old. Qing Ning was a very clever and sensible girl and the way in which she dealt with people was brilliant and favored by Empress Jing An. At last, the Empress was truly fond of Qing Ning.

Because of the love Emperor Wu had for Empress Jing An, he treated Qing Ning as his legal daughter and loved her a lot. The former Emperor Wu treated Qing Ning as his blood sister and respected her a lot. The other princesses whose mothers had been the Consorts should all be nobler than her, but were actually in lower status than her at last.

After Qing Ning had grown up, she married a handsome noble childe from a wealthy family. She and her husband were a couple in love and had lots of children together. For decades, she nearly had no difficulties in her life.

The only thing which troubled her was her foppish son whom she had given birth to at the age of forty. In the year when the new emperor ascended the throne, her son was arrested and sent to the labor camps because he had hung out in the red-light district during the mourning period of the former emperor. However, Qing Ning Grand Princess truly was a tough woman. She could live a pleasant life for decades not only because of her bond with the former emperor, but also her certain abilities.

After the emperor had invited her to the Royal Palace to have a chat, she changed her attitude at once. Then, the aunt and the nephew reconciled with each other very quickly.

The Empress suffered a great grievance just now, so she, having someone backing her up right now, said in a hurry, “Aunt, you are right. Just now, mother-in-law also said that those girls were from the countryside and already lost their parents.”

“That’s perfect.” Qing Ning Grand Princess thumped on the table and said cheerfully, “Let’s talk about this with the Emperor later. Actually, when our former Emperor has passed away, some of the servants in the Palace should be sent out. Now we have a perfect opportunity to do that. For them, this will be better than having no man to marry. What a great way to satisfy both sides! What do you say?”

Empress Dowager An said gently, “You always do things in a rush, even at an old age.”

The two old ladies almost settled the matter by chatting with each other leisurely, making the others stunned.

Empress Dowager De was a bit irritated and said with a sullen face, “The girls in the Palace are all delicate like the flowers. Sending them to the norther border is no different from sending the lamb to the tiger’s cave. That’s impossible!”

Qing Ning Grand Princess stood up with her chin up while saying in an excited tone, “If none of us contributes to the country’s affair, who will? Now, there are girls who don’t have parents and are above the marriageable age in the Royal Palace and there are boys who garrison the border for our country and want to get married. This is a wonderful marriage, what’s so wrong about it?”

The atmosphere got extremely tense. Minglan stood by the wall silently with her head lowered and kept saying inwardly, ‘I am just a walk-on player here, I’m not the leading character…’