Chapter 467: The Willful Empress Dowager

Old Madam quickly held back the grievances in her heart and even showed a kind smile on her face. She said soothingly, “Empress Dowager Queen, don’t be sad. Children and grandchildren have their own blessings. Prince Chen will slowly get better. You see, Prince Chen is getting better all these years, isn’t he?”

“This child’s body…” Empress Dowager Queen could not bring herself to continue. She truly loved her grandson. When she went to see this child last night and saw him seemingly so listless, she felt very sad and her heart ached.

Later, when she talked about Shao Wanru, the child perked up a bit. He even occasionally echoed what she said. Although his voice was very weak, she could see that he was in a better mood.

This was also the reason why the Empress Dowager Queen flew into a rage when she heard that Duke Xing’s Mansion had treated Shao Wanru badly this morning.

If the Fifth Miss of Shao’s Mansion could make Chen’er a little more livelier and interested in the future, she would definitely protect this girl well and never allow others to bully her.

“Don’t be sad, Madam Dowager Queen. We have to take it slowly. Prince Chen will gradually get better. We just need him to be obedient for the time being.”

Rui’an Great Elder Princess sighed. Just now, the Empress Dowager Queen had mentioned to her about the conversation between the grandparent and grandchild last night.

“Great Elder Princess’ words are very reasonable. Do not be in a hurry at this time. Prince Chen needs to rest and take care of his state of mind. If there is anything, just do according to what he wants first.”

Old Madam agreed with Great Elder Princess without any traces of grievance and her look made people feel as if she was a kind old lady. “We, as grandmothers, are old. We don’t have much expectations, we just look forward to the younger generation getting better. Otherwise, what else can we do?”

These words touched the Empress Dowager Queen and she repeatedly nodded her head.

The Empress Queen quietly glanced at Old Madam of Duke Xing and frowned slightly. But when she saw Great Elder Princess looking over, she immediately switched to a smile.

“You are right. Let us respect his choice!” Empress Dowager Queen sighed. She had already made up her mind. Yesterday, he had said that his brothers were about to be engaged. And with his current situation, he could only do this. He was so lonely that the Empress Dowager Queen agreed to his request, at his bedside.

His brothers would not be in a hurry to get married. They were still young and the royal family had always chosen carefully. How could they get married at such a young age? If they married the wrong person, they would suffer a lot.

After coming back, she felt a little regretful. She was indeed ready to choose wives for these brothers and the news had already spread. However, she was so distressed that she said such words.

Now what Old Madam and Great Elder Princess said resolved her doubts. Chen’er’s health was such and he was sometimes in despair, so she could not make him agitated.

After thinking about this, the Empress Dowager Queen lifted her eyebrows a little and talked with Rui’an Great Elder Princess and Old Madam. Although Great Elder Princess was not very willing, she still listened to her and promised that as long as the matter of Duke Xing’s Mansion was handled fairly, she would forgive them.

Old Madam Dowager promised to apologize immediately to Great Elder Princess when she got back. In fact, they had not supervised this matter well, since they were not aware that the servant girl in the mansion had evil intentions.

This was a kind of truce. Looking at the Empress Dowager Queen’s tired face, Great Elder Princess, Old Madam and Madam of Duke Xing decided to take their leave.

The Empress Queen also wanted to take the opportunity to leave, but she was stopped by the Empress Dowager Queen. “Empress, please stay here. I have something to tell you.”

“Yes, Empress Dowager Queen!” The Empress replied and sat down again.

When Great Elder Princess and the others left the main hall, Empress Dowager Queen stretched out her fingers and rubbed the space between her eyebrows. “We have said before that we will set engagements for Lian’er, Zhou’er and the others. Let us put this matter aside for now. They are still young and can’t select for the time being. We will just pick for them slowly and wait until they are 17 or 18 years old before they formally get engaged. That is just what we need to do!”

“Mother, won’t it be too late?” The Empress Queen could not believe her ears. She looked up and said in shock. She had already prepared the candidates, but according to the Empress Dowager Queen’s words, it would take another two to three years. The Empress Queen felt that she could not wait any longer.

These two or three years were the best years. How could it be wasted?

“It is not just a matter of time. Of course, we should be careful when it comes to the marriages of the royal family members. Otherwise, if something really happens, it will not affect just one single family!”

The Empress Dowager Queen said this unhappily, as her face darkened.

The Empress Queen hurriedly added, “Empress Dowager Queen is right. It is not suitable for the royal children to get married too early, but it is possible to start choosing slowly now, isn’t it?”

Although the smile on her face was calm, her heart was full of anxiety. They had discussed it well before, but she suddenly felt that it was inappropriate.

She was so upset that she could not remember what Duke Xing’s mother-in-law and Rui’an Great Elder Princess had said to Empress Dowager Queen earlier.

“Of course you can look at them now, but you don’t have to make a formal choice. You can’t restrict the good ones from marrying others. A girl can’t wait for so long.” Empress Dowager Queen said slowly, because the Empress Queen’s gentle face looked a little better.

Unless the interested girl was too young like Shao Wanru as she would still not come of age even after three years. The Empress Dowager Queen became even more satisfied with Shao Wanru.

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Otherwise, it would not be a big deal for the Empress Dowager Queen to let her grandson hold on to one for such a long time after three years. Even if her grandson was satisfied, the Empress Dowager Queen would not be satisfied with it.

At this time, she was thinking about Chu Liuchen’s health and marriage wholeheartedly. She thought that it was not bad if the others were to follow Chu Liuchen in this way.

It was not late to marry girls who would be adults in three years. Chu Liuyue, Chu Liuzhou and Chu Liuchen were of the same age. Now they were only fifteen years old. There was no need to hurry. As for Chu Liuxin, the youngest one, he was only a child. A thirteen-year-old child would not know how to choose a concubine.

“It’s too early!”

“What about those girls we looked at before?” The Empress Queen’s face turned pale. She had met them secretly for a few times, and then secretly passed messages to them.

“Those you favored before were inappropriate because they will be too old in a few years! Now those who were not at the marriageable ages are more suitable!” The Empress Dowager Queen waved her hand. She would not forget the banquet that she held previously for her grandson to choose wives. But most of the people who came were only interested in Chu Liuyue and Chu Liuzhou, which made her very angry.

Her grandson was so good, but he had been rejected by others. The Empress Dowager Queen even had an idea that since they did not like her favorite grandson, then they should not even think of marrying into the royal family.

At that time, those who came to the palace were all the young ladies from aristocratic families. There were none who were too young. It would be better to weed out this group of women who were not interested in her grandson.

“But there are a few who are really good…” The Empress Queen was shocked by Empress Dowager Queen’s willfulness. She stammered for a while before she said it clearly, “If there are some really good ones, they will be suitable for Prince Yue and Prince Zhou.”

“If they are willing to wait, then let them wait. But even if they wait, they may not be chosen!” Empress Dowager Queen waved her hand impatiently. “You can leave now. I have to rest for a while!”

Then she stood up with the help of the palace maid and went to rest in the inner hall.

Only the Empress Queen stayed in the hall in a state of panic. She stomped her feet and turned around to leave. She had to find the Emperor. What the hell? It was not the royal family’s style to go back on their words. How could the Empress Dowager Queen be so willful?

In the imperial study, the Emperor put down the official booklet in his hand when he heard that the Empress Queen wanted to see him. He said, “Let the Empress Queen come in.”

The Empress Queen was quite law abiding and followed the rules. She would not come to the Imperial Study on her own if she had no cause to.

A eunuch went out to usher her in. After a while, the Empress walked in respectfully. She curtsied to the Emperor before she stood up.

“Please take a seat, Empress.” The Emperor said calmly, “Is something wrong?”

“Thank you, Emperor. I have something important to discuss with you.” The Empress was not in the mood to sit down and talk about family affairs at this time, so she said this urgently.

“What happened?” The Emperor asked with a frown.

“Prince Yue, Prince Zhou and Prince Chen are now 15 years old. Although Prince Xin is young, he is already 13 years old. This is a good time to choose their wives. This kind of thing cannot be done so soon. There are rules for choosing a period of time. It will at least be one or two years after the selection, engagement and other procedures.”

The Empress said with a serious look.

The Emperor did not understand the Empress’s meaning. His face darkened and he said unhappily. “Shouldn’t you discuss this with my mother? What is the use of talking to me about it?”

“Your Majesty, this matter was originally discussed with our mother. She also said that they would be chosen in good time. I have already taken a fancy to some of the girls and secretly sent people to inquire about them. I was afraid that it would not be good if they got engaged too early. But our mother just said that it was too early and we would not talk about it until a few years later.”

The Empress said in an aggrieved manner.

What she meant was that since she had spread the news, it would not be appropriate for her to go back on her words, which would damage her reputation as a member of the royal family.

“Mother wants to put it off?” The Emperor pondered for a moment and asked.

“Yes, she just said that it will be postponed. What our mother meant was that even if we had chosen earlier and we had already chosen before, it does not mean that we are done with the selection.”

In order to highlight the seriousness of the situation, the Empress Queen brought up the previous concubine selection banquet.

She had indeed chosen and more than once. Previously, she had selected for Chu Liuchen himself, but after that, she had chosen for all the princes.

Unfortunately, something had happened to Chu Liuchen at that time, so the imperial concubine selection banquet also ended up with nothing definite. In the end, no one was selected.

With these examples, and suddenly no choices being made, the Empress Queen believed that the Emperor would definitely think about it carefully. The royal family’s credibility could not be questioned.

After thinking for a while, the Emperor picked up the booklet and continued to read it. Then, he said casually, “Since that is the case, let’s do it again. Tell them, if they are not selected, they can wait until we choose a wife for the princes after a period of time!”

The Empress Queen was so angry that she almost could not catch her breath…