Chapter 140: Invitation
The three people inside the room were all stunned.
Yue Tang lowered her head to look at her own clothes, then turned to look at herself in the mirror, before turning back to look at Hua Lin.
“What did you just call me? Empress?”
Hua Lin had already come back to his senses, though his face still showed bewilderment. “At first glance, seeing the Princess’s grandeur, I thought my eyes were playing tricks and I was seeing Empress Mu from back in the day.”
Lan Qin also glanced at Yue Tang approvingly: “Yes. The Princess has a heroic appearance, while the Empress had a gentle temperament. This maidservant doesn’t usually notice it, but dressed up so grandly like this, she truly resembles Empress Mu from back when she took charge of the palace by seven or eight points.”
Yue Tang faced the mirror and placed her hand on her own face.
From childhood to now, few people had seen her, and she was always surrounded by guards and maidservants, so almost no one had ever compared her appearance to her close relatives.
She and the Emperor both had the same curved eyebrows and big eyes as the Yue Family.
Her nose was straight, but the Empress and Princess Duan both had outstanding appearances, and their noses were straight too.
As for the shape of her lips, it resembled no one.
The Imperial Clan Court had complete regulations for managing the identities of imperial descendants, so she didn’t need to prove her identity by her appearance.
She had never thought she would be mistaken for Empress Mu.
This was clearly Princess Duan’s attire, so if there was a mistake, it should have been mistaking her for Princess Duan—why connect her to the Empress?
After looking in the mirror for a good while, she took off the heavy crown ornament and looked at Hua Lin: “Your Hua Family had a feud with the Imperial Family, so how have you seen the Empress?”
Back when Yue Tang’s great-grandfather was still alive, the head of the Hua Family had also been an imperial physician in the palace. Because her great-grandfather’s most beloved youngest son had fallen critically ill, and the head of the Hua Family was helpless, he rushed back to Luoyang overnight to bring his old father to the palace and barely saved his life.
Later, out of gratitude, Yue Tang’s great-grandfather had that youngest son personally bring generous gifts to Luoyang to express thanks.
Who would have thought that during the month he stayed with the Hua Family, Yue Tang’s this pampered little granduncle ran off with their newlywed third young madam.
Later, when the Hua Family went to the palace to reason it out, the Imperial Family certainly couldn’t afford to lose such face, so they captured the little granduncle and imprisoned him, separating the two.
But the grudge was formed nonetheless.
From then on, Hua Family members no longer served in the Imperial Medical Bureau and did not enter the palace.
Many years passed, and now both parties involved had long passed away, with the past buried.
But back then, when the young Empress Mu fell gravely ill, she did not seek treatment from the Hua Family, and when the Emperor fell gravely ill, he did not seek treatment from the Hua Family either—this already showed that Hua Lin could not have had the chance to see Empress Mu.
So why did he mistake Yue Tang at first glance?
Hua Lin’s face showed some discomfort: “I saw her at the Empress’s wedding.
“At that time, Prince Duan was still in the palace as a prince. But by then, he already had a betrothal with the Princess Consort.
“The Princess Consort’s father entered the palace to offer congratulations, and I entered the palace with Princess Duan, only I was afraid of getting beaten at home, so I disguised myself as a servant.”
For the esteemed divine physician Hua Family, it was certainly undignified for a direct-line disciple to dress as an attendant and sneak off to watch the wedding of their rival family.
Yue Tang looked at herself in the mirror again and asked: “Then why didn’t you mistake me for my mother? Were you not there when my mother was married?”
This one sentence stumped Hua Lin as well.
His eyes were full of confusion: “Yes, at that first glance just now, I didn’t even think of the Princess Consort.
“Logically speaking, shouldn’t biological mother and daughter resemble each other more?”
Hearing the end, Yue Tang suddenly lifted her eyes, a cluster of light rising from the depths of her gaze.
The three people in the room seemed to be enlightened as well!
Mei Qing was the one who joined the matter latest, yet she reacted the fastest, suddenly widening her eyes: “Could it be that Empress Mu and the Princess are the biological mother and daughter?
“But this, how could this be possible?!”
But none of the three people in the room answered her.
Each had a different expression, but all contained the same shock.
That Empress Mu and Yue Tang were biological mother and daughter was something no one had ever thought of before.
It wasn’t that they couldn’t think of it, but that they dared not think of it.
“Princess!…” Lan Qin walked toward Yue Tang in bewilderment.
Yue Tang stared at the ground without speaking.
Lan Qin then turned to the stunned Hua Lin: “You truly saw the Empress, you’re not lying?”
Hua Lin took a breath, gritted his teeth, and glanced at her: “I have no reason to lie about this. The Empress I saw in the palace back then was almost exactly like this!
“She recognized your mother. After the grand ceremony that day, she came out in her wedding dress with the Former Emperor to bestow celebratory wine and money on all the guests—it was truly a sight of utmost grace, unforgettable.”
Lan Qin fell silent and quietly looked toward Yue Tang, who had already sat down.
The room fell silent for a moment, then Yue Tang frowned and said: “Could this be the secret about me that Chu Yan spoke of?
“Born on the same month and day… Could the secret of the day I, my brother, and the Second Prince were born lie with me?
“My mother doesn’t like me, while Empress Mu treated me as her own because I am not actually the Princess of Prince Duan’s Mansion?”
“Princess!”
Lan Qin stepped forward and grasped her hands; this realization left her at a loss for words.
“Don’t rush to judgment; it’s just a guess. This maidservant and Hua Lin might both be seeing things. You’ve always said, haven’t you? Everything needs evidence, not speculation.”
Yue Tang had always been working hard to revive Prince Duan’s Mansion and silently trying to uncover the truth of Prince Duan’s death to avenge him in the end.
She deeply loved her father king and brother; even though her relationship with Princess Duan wasn’t that close, she truly respected this mother from the bottom of her heart.
If her birth truly had an issue and she was indeed the daughter of the Former Emperor and the Empress, that would mean the deaths in Prince Duan’s Mansion were even more complicated!
As the daughter of the Former Emperor and the Empress, why had she appeared in Prince Duan’s Mansion under the name of Prince Duan’s couple’s daughter?
If she was Empress Mu’s daughter, then back then when the Mu Family incited the Chu Family to kill her, it certainly wouldn’t have been because the problem was with Prince Duan!
Then, because of Yue Tang, disaster had befallen Prince Duan—how was Yue Tang, who so revered her father king and brother, supposed to face herself?
Wouldn’t what Chu Yan said back then—that she was the bane of Prince Duan’s Mansion—have come true?
“Princess…”
At this deathly silent moment in the hall, a little eunuch came under the door to report.
He too was shaken by the atmosphere in the room and spoke stutteringly: “Princess, Miss Shen requests an audience.”
Lan Qin let go of her hand and composed her expression.
After a slight pause, Yue Tang also stood up and picked up the crown ornament from the table: “Have her wait in Yuhua Studio.”
……
Shen Yizhu entered Prince Duan’s Mansion with her maidservant. Along the way in, she saw the halls vast and orderly, not at all like a mansion that had just changed masters.
Following the eunuch from the central path turning left, they entered a covered walkway crossing the garden, at the end of which was a refined studio with a plaque reading “Yuhua Studio” above the door.
Inside the wall, an old plum tree’s branches were laden with dense dark gray flower buds. Rounding this plum tree, an open space appeared, with a wooden rack in the corner holding two or three weapons.
The courtyard center was planted with flowers and trees, piled with Taihu rocks, yet space was left for plum blossom stakes.
No need to say, this must be where Yue Tang usually stayed.
Being led to such a place warmed Shen Yizhu’s heart.
After following the eunuch into the hall, a wave of warmth hit her face—turns out the underfloor heating had long been lit in the room, and under the curtain was a large purple copper incense warmer, steam rising.
In the two diagonal corners of the hall were flower stands each; the farther one held a pot of blooming chrysanthemums, while the nearer one held only an incense burner.
“Miss Shen, please wait a moment.”
The eunuch served tea and snacks and left.
Shen Yizhu thanked him, then placed the two pots of orchids she brought—one beside the incense burner, the other temporarily on the tea table between the two grand chairs.
She had just sat down when someone at the door announced, “The Princess has arrived.”
Then someone entered ahead, followed closely by Yue Tang walking in.
She wore no makeup, her hair loosely pinned up. Her loose robe, eight-tenths new, made her not particularly ample figure appear somewhat frail and delicate.
Shen Yizhu went to the door: “Shen Yizhu pays respects to the Princess.”
Yue Tang stopped in front of her, a smile at the corner of her mouth: “How come you’re here?”
“By order of my aunt, I came as messenger.”
Smiling, she presented the invitation with both hands: “The other day, thanks to the Princess’s assistance, Yongfu Palace escaped crisis. My aunt is grateful and has specially prepared a banquet to invite the Princess to the palace for a chat.”
“Is that so.”
Yue Tang took the invitation. After tearing it open and glancing at it, her gaze flickered slightly, then she raised a brow and looked over: “Did the Empress Dowager tell you this?”
Shen Yizhu nodded: “Yes.”
Yue Tang smiled, walked past the curtain, placed the invitation face down on the tea table, then sat on the brocade couch by the window.
Shen Yizhu was momentarily unsure of her intent. After standing there a bit, she slowly followed: “I wonder if the Princess can spare time these days for a meeting?”
Yue Tang looked at her: “Is this the Empress Dowager’s intention, or yours?”
Shen Yizhu’s face flushed slightly: “Naturally my aunt’s, but also mine. We both very much hope the Princess will grace us.”
Yue Tang smiled and pushed the tea and snacks that the maidservant had moved toward her: “Sit.”
Shen Yizhu sat down.
Yue Tang picked up her tea and took a sip: “Those two pots of orchids, did you bring them?”
Hearing this, the already somewhat reserved Shen Yizhu stood up again, said “Yes,” then gracefully walked to the side and brought in the pot of orchids that had been on the tea table.
“This pot of Yu Tan Imperial Tribute was dug from the deep mountains of Fujian by someone dispatched a few months ago—a mother plant. Originally there were three, but after the long journey, only this one remains, fortunately the best among the three.”
The orchid had two blooms. Leaves a vibrant green, semi-pendant at the waist, graceful and elegant.
Yue Tang nodded: “Large blooms, pure color, overwhelming fragrance—indeed no ordinary thing.”
Shen Yizhu smiled lightly: “Only such extraordinary orchids are worthy of the Princess.”
With that, she carefully moved it to a plain spot and placed it.
This place was originally where Yue Tang read and relaxed daily; with this pot of orchids, it gained even more refined elegance.
The girl’s figure was lovely too, graceful and slender.
Yue Tang withdrew her gaze: “Have you seen the content of the invitation your aunt gave you?”
Shen Yizhu paused, glanced at the letter face down on the table: “I haven’t. Is there something improper?”
Yue Tang didn’t answer but asked: “You’re so attentively flattering me—what do you want?”
Shen Yizhu composed her expression: “Princess…”
The corner of Yue Tang’s mouth twitched: “Out with it. You specially came as messenger—what’s the matter.”
Watery light welled up in Shen Yizhu’s eyes.
Yue Tang frowned: “No crying! I don’t fall for that.”
Shen Yizhu bit her lower lip, then lifted her skirt and gently knelt before her: “The Princess is supremely intelligent and the foremost model of womanhood Yi Zhu has ever seen. Yi Zhu has one matter to beg!”
Yue Tang glanced at her: “What matter?”
Shen Yizhu’s face reddened slightly: “The Princess must have already seen that my aunt is set on marrying me into the palace.
“But Yi Zhu is foolish, deeming herself without virtue or ability to benefit the Shen Family, yet unwilling to see the Shen Family fall into straits—please, Princess, guide me out of this dilemma!”
The cup was still in Yue Tang’s hand; she stared fixedly at the girl on the ground struggling not to cry, and after a long while, chuckled and set the cup down.
“Does Miss Shen know that back then, the Empress Dowager and Empress Mu were not close?”
Shen Yizhu bit her lower lip hard and hesitated before nodding.
Yue Tang laughed freely: “Then you should also know that with the current disputes between the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, even if our two sides don’t become enemies, I—who received such great favor from Empress Mu—would absolutely not betray the Emperor to scheme for the Empress Dowager’s family?”
Shen Yizhu’s white-jade-like face paled to ashen.
Yue Tang gave a look to Zixia under the curtain, and Zixia came forward to help her up.
Shen Yizhu slowly inhaled, dabbed her eyes, and with a face flushed red, murmured: “It was Yi Zhu’s presumption—please forgive me, Princess.”
Yue Tang handed her the invitation from the table: “Please go back and tell the Empress Dowager that for such a small matter, how dare Yong Jia claim merit from her?
“I gratefully accept the Empress Dowager’s kind intentions. Afterward, I will surely enter the palace to pay respects.
“However, if the Empress Dowager believes Yong Jia had some small merit in this matter, then please ask her to arrange time for the Grand Tutor—who so confidently promised in Zichen Hall that day to come personally apologize afterward—to quickly come to Prince Duan’s Mansion and fulfill his word.”
That day in the main hall, Mu Chang had personally said that if Yue Tang could prove her innocence, he would definitely come personally to apologize.
Mu Shuyun’s sudden death had let the matter pass for many days without anyone mentioning it again.
Originally, Yue Tang didn’t care.
But Hua Lin’s cry of “Empress” had changed her mind now.
Shen Yizhu understood. She nodded and said: “My aunt has been slightly indisposed these past days and likely hasn’t had time to remind the Grand Tutor. Yi Zhu will surely relay the message upon returning.”
After speaking and easing, she stepped back two paces and walked toward the door.
Yue Tang instructed: “Zixia, have Lan Qin see her out on my behalf.”
Xiao Huo was standing at the door with arms crossed waiting. After the people left, he poked his head out for a look, then stepped in: “What did the invitation from Empress Dowager Shen’s side say?”
Yue Tang smiled faintly, rose and went out: “Two things for me to enter the palace: one, to thank me; two, to sit down and discuss establishing an empress.”
