The empress dowager was currently sitting down with a few maids holding trays of jewelry while she was selecting which one to wear for the Harvest moon festival the next day. Song mama came in and the empress dowager glanced at her, "So?"

"The emperor has returned to the royal study." Song mama informed.

"And Prince Yi?"

"Prince Yi was not with him." Song mama answered and then seemed a bit hesitant.

The empress dowager narrowed her eyes at her, "Who is he with now?"

Song mama glanced at the empress dowager and responded, "A noble consort."

"Oh? Which one?" The empress dowager asked with keen interest, raising her eyebrows.

Song mama glanced at the maids in the room and then said, "Noble consort Lei."

...This girl again?...

The empress dowager frowned, "What is she doing there?"

"It seems the emperor sent for her."

"Sent for her?" The empress dowager asked with a sneer.

Song mama looked at the maids and motioned for them to leave. The maids bowed and then left the room. Song mama then walked up to the empress dowager's side and poured some tea for her, "Your highness, maybe we can use her?"

The empress dowager scoffed.

...I can tell from her attitude that she's the stubborn sort...Kai'er is already like this, someone like her will only make the situation worse...she is no good...how can he not see this is an attempt to control him?...

 She took the tea that Song mama offered and sipped it, "Any progress with any of the others?"

"Noble consort Zhao has gone over to the royal study a few times but the emperor refused her every time saying he was busy. Yesterday night, she even went to wait for the emperor at the front of his palace till his return with the hope to serve him for the night. The emperor told her to go back without even sparing a second glance." Song mama finished with a snicker.

The empress dowager sneered, "It seems she learned well from her aunt, but if she thinks it would be that simple, then she is too stupid. He is after all my son."

Song mama snickered again, "Naturally. Perhaps she is feeling confident because the late empress raised the emperor for some time."

The empress dowager scoffed, "Raised him? If she did a good job of it, she wouldn't be dead now, so where is that confidence coming from?" She finished with raised eyebrows and then smiled, "She is just a naive fool, but a fool is much better than that sneaky witch."

Song mama nodded, "She is indeed different from the late empress."

The empress dowager's expression straightened, "What about Chen You?"

"Noble consort Chen went over to the royal study with some snacks and health tonic a few days ago. The emperor declined her visit with the same excuse of being busy but at least he accepted the snacks and tonic."

The empress dowager frowned.

...Can that be considered as progress?... What is he being so difficult for? -_-)...

The empress dowager frowned and then suddenly remembered something, "What about the other one?"

"Noble consort Li has not made any movements. She mostly keeps to her palace and occasionally goes to the Imperial garden."

The empress dowager scoffed, "Good, at least she knows her place."

...Even if the minister of works was making a desperate attempt for power...couldn't he have found someone better than a maid's daughter...idiots...but this Lei one is the main problem...

Song mama continued, "Some concubines have also encountered the emperor around the palace but other than responding to greetings, he doesn't stay around for conversations."

The empress dowager knit her brows in contemplation, "So what is she doing there?"

"It seemed they are having a conversation, but the emperor sent everyone away so we're not able to find out the details."

The empress dowager frowned and Song mama continued, "...It should be about the archery competition the other day...the wish..."

The empress dowager scoffed again.

...Archery and wishes...Why would he play such a stupid game?... That stupid witch ruined the child I worked so hard to raise...now he is even wasting time on such stupid pointless actions...How ridiculous!...

Song mama looked at the empress dowager's expression and then carefully said, "Your highness, it may not be so bad that the emperor has taken a liking to her...if we can bring her to our side..."

"Does she seem like someone who will obediently listen? The Lei family have always been a stubborn lot." The empress dowager spat out and clenched her fists.

...When I decided to be gracious and reach out a hand to him despite his role in everything and suggested for his son to be Kai'er's playmate, he looked down on me...but then turned around and offered him up when that witch asked?... He is that demon's goon and is definitely not a good thing, even from the grave he is still trying to control everything... Of course, his daughter is definitely not any good...I can tolerate the son since he has accompanied Kai'er all these years, but that girl is a problem that needs to be handled...

Song mama furrowed her brows in thought and then quietly said, "Then in that case, should we try again?"

The empress dowager narrowed her eyes and was quiet for a while and then, "I've been thinking...it's suspicious."

"What is?" Song mama asked confused.

"Have you ever heard of that sort of condition before?" The empress dowager asked calmly still deep in thought.

Song mama raised her eyebrows, "But it is true that she was gravely ill for a while before she entered the palace, the doctor even verified that it was a miracle that she could survive, they had thought it was already too late...not many people to escape death like that, it is not unreasonable that the experience may have...left some aftereffects."

The empress dowager narrowed her eyes, "But she drank the same blend of tea on other occasions with no problems..."

Song mama rationalized, "Perhaps she has an aversion to the extra that was added in..."

"But she didn't even drink it before collapsing, what sort of aversion has her faint just by being near it, it barely even has a smell and definitely cannot be perceived in the orange brew...it's odd."

Song mama quietly contemplated for a while and then said, "If she knows...then if she tells the emperor, it will affect the relationship between both of you..."

The empress dowager knit her brows and calmly sipped her tea. "If she wanted to raise alarm about it, she would have done it already." 

Song mama looked at the empress dowager perplexed, "Then what is she waiting for?...perhaps she may be trying to curry favor with you..."

The empress dowager knit her brows, "It doesn't seem so, she has never come here without being summoned to show that she is implying that..."

Song mama nodded, "That is true, Noble consort Chen has come over multiple times..."

"Exactly, even that Zhao brat also knew to come over to show me deference to get on my good side. If that was her intention, she would have also come to see me at least once." The empress dowager said with a smile.

Song mama was even more confused, "In that case, what is she waiting for then?"

The empress dowager laughed, "Nothing, she has no evidence so what can she do?...she should have at least drank it and then maybe, just maybe she would have something...she must also be lacking confidence, at least she knows not to overstep her boundaries..." the empress dowager said while laughing.

Song mama frowned and interrupted the empress dowager's reverie, "But your highness, she may be lacking confidence now, but what about in the future? If the emperor keeps showing her more attention...she may become troublesome, isn't it best to handle it now?...hm, if she has an aversion to that one, we can try something else, something more subtle...and if that fails, we can always find someone to..."

"No, we can't do something so obvious." The empress dowager interjected, "The Lei family currently hold a lot of power, not to mention Kai'er seems to treasure them. If their daughter is blatantly attacked in the palace, it will be too troublesome..."

...This level of power is what I am most worried about...the Zhao family has finally moved to the side, but now the Lei family wants to implant themselves on all sides to blind him...I can't just sit by and let that happen...

Song mama worriedly looked at the empress dowager, "So do we leave her alone then?"

The empress dowager sipped her tea and smiled, "I was too impulsive before. In a case like this, it is best to wait and an opportunity will present itself when it is time. More importantly, there are other things that need to be sorted out...I was too impulsive before."

...I really was too impulsive before, even though it wouldn't have killed her immediately, with a little more here and there, it would have just slowly eaten away at her system over a couple of months...but in retrospect, even that could still have been found to be suspicious...But could she really sense it...or am I just being paranoid...could it really be just the luck of "illness"?...

The empress dowager sighed.

...I had thought life would be easy once I left that wretched place...but there's still a lot of chaos that needs to be sorted through...there's also that Prince Yi hovering around...as to why he's even a problem at all for Kai'er to handle confuses me...What's even more baffling is why he is still alive -_-)...He is definitely not so simple...

The empress dowager frowned deeply and tightly gripped the cup in her hand.

..If they were going to raise him, couldn't they have raised him well, or at least taught him how to properly discern and handle enemies, I thought it was their strong points - yet they failed to teach him that or were they just setting him up to fail? That is definitely a possibility... If they couldn't do it properly, then they should have left him with me!!... Yet they took him away to turn him into this weak and useless person, to just sit there to be used and deceived by others, blind and unreasonable!!!... All my hard work in raising him is ruined!!...but it's okay, it's not too late, I can still save this situation...

 

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