Empress Dowager Jiang had been in a foul mood lately. Not a single eunuch or palace maid in Benevolence Garden had escaped her scolding. Even Eunuch Dong, who had served at her side for decades, had received a vicious tongue-lashing from the old Empress Dowager yesterday for breaking a cup. The palace attendants now approached her with utmost caution, avoiding contact whenever possible. No one wanted to invite bad luck and suffer punishment, or even lose their life for nothing.
"Little Dongzi?" Empress Dowager Jiang called sharply. After several calls went unanswered, she flew into a rage. "Have you all gone deaf? Can't you hear me calling?"
Several palace attendants dropped to their knees with a thud. One eunuch summoned his courage and answered, "Reporting to Old Buddha, Eunuch Dong has gone out..."
Empress Dowager Jiang gave him a cold look and said in a pinched voice, "Ill-mannered wretch. Slap his mouth!"
A eunuch beside him raised his hand and delivered a resounding smack! across the face of the unlucky fellow who had dared to speak. Terrified, the eunuch kowtowed like a pestle pounding garlic, repeatedly confessing his fault.
Just then, a string of silvery laughter drifted in from outside. "What is going on here? All this crying and commotion. They say Benevolence Garden is a place to cultivate the mind and nurture the spirit, but it certainly doesn't look that way to me." The Eldest Princess, Xue Lingjun, had arrived. The palace attendants secretly breathed sighs of relief at the sight of her. Everyone knew how dearly Empress Dowager Jiang loved this princess, and that she was the old Empress Dowager's source of joy. Whenever she came to her side, all the old woman's troubles vanished.
Sure enough, the sight of her daughter instantly turned Empress Dowager Jiang's anger