You Certainly Put on Airs, Keeping Me Waiting So Long!

Madam Lu sobbed, "Master, master, save me! It's not like that, someone is trying to harm me, Liu Su'e, it must be her, waah..."

Zhou Wanwan looked at her and said, "Enough, that's utter nonsense. My mother is with the Princess right now."

Then they saw the eldest princess leading Liu Su'e in.

The eldest princess looked at them and said:

"Your family is really bullying people."

They actually pinned all the blame on my daughter-in-law. Do they think I'm easy to bully?

Lord Lu knelt down with a thud. "I dare not, this humble subject dares not."

The eldest princess snorted coldly and said, "He brought it on himself."

After saying that, the eldest princess took Zhou Wanwan and Liu Su'e and left.

The eldest princess sat in the carriage, trembling with rage. "The Lu Family is truly ruthless. If this succeeds today, your mother won't survive either."

Zhou Wanwan smiled faintly and said, "I'm afraid Madam Lu is no longer alive."

Upon arriving at the princess's residence, they heard Lu Lan outside pleading for an audience. Lu Lan looked at Zhou Wanwan and said, "Zhou Wanwan, Princess, please, please save my mother. She knows she was wrong, please!"

Zhou Wanwan looked down at Lu Lan and said:

"You asked me to spare your mother, but did your mother ever spare my mother?"

You know perfectly well what happened; it was your intention to harm others that led to this, so don't blame others.

Lu Lan knelt on the ground, pleading, "But that's a human life! Please, spare her!"

The eldest princess smashed her teacup. "What are you doing causing trouble in my house? This was done by your mother, who forced her? Get out!"

Lu Lan was pulled out by the old woman.

Lu Lan shouted, "Zhou Wanwan, you'll get your comeuppance! I'll watch you grow old alone in the cold palace, and you'll never get out!"

The eldest princess took Zhou Wanwan's hand and said, "Wanwan, how about I go and plead with the Emperor? He is, after all, my brother. Even if we don't care about him, we should at least consider the Emperor's feelings."

Zhou Wanwan shook her head:

"It's no use. Your younger brother only cares about eating, drinking, and having fun; he completely ignores state affairs."

Normally, Consort Noble Consort Ning handles all the court affairs, and now the court is full of Noble Consort Ning people; your brother can't even get them to do anything."

The eldest princess was also furious. "I've already written to my mother, and she'll be back in the palace soon. She wants to see you, her granddaughter."

Zhou Wanwan nodded. "With the Empress Dowager here, that's wonderful."

The eldest princess patted Zhou Wanwan's head and said, "However, the Empress Dowager is usually quite strict, so... you should be prepared."

"Ah?"

Zhou Wanwan didn't know if the Empress Dowager was easy to get along with. When she returned to the Cold Palace, she saw all the concubines waiting for her at the door.

"Wanwan, you're back! We've been waiting for you to play cards!"

"Wanwan, have you eaten yet? We're waiting for you to eat!"

Life in the Cold Palace was incredibly boring, so Zhou Wanwan taught them to play leaf cards, and these concubines and palace maids became increasingly addicted to it.

Now I have to play cards in the Cold Palace every night.

There was nothing in the Cold Palace; everything was brought in from outside by Zhou Wanwan.

In the past, people would probably freeze to death in this winter.

But now Zhou Wanwan has transported a lot of Silver Frost Charcoal and distributed all sorts of benefits to the people in each palace.

A wide variety of cosmetics.

Since they were all her own employees, Zhou Wanwan treated them quite well.

These concubines and palace maids doted on Zhou Wanwan immensely.

Zhou Wanwan quickly waved her hand and said, "I've already eaten, ladies, go and have dinner!"

"Wanwan, how about you sleep with me tonight?" Consort Zhen looked at her expectantly.

The others objected. "Why should she sleep with you?"

"Yeah, shouldn't we take turns? Sleep with me tonight!"

Zhou Wanwan looked at them and said, "Actually, I'm not a big fan of different beds, so maybe I should sleep alone!"

After the concubines had finished eating, Zhou Wanwan was taken directly to the card table and played cards with them that night.

Zhou Wanwan didn't actually like playing leaf cards, but she played for a while anyway, and then she got bored.

She has a lot to do every day, and in the evening she also has to practice kung fu, write calligraphy, and read books. Before she knows it, it's late at night.

Zheng Xing'an looked at Zhou Wanwan and said, "Master, why don't you rest early? We have to get up early tomorrow!"

Everyone thought Zhou Wanwan was very good at kung fu, but only Zheng Xing'an knew that Zhou Wanwan had to practice for an hour every day, which was still very hard.

Zhou Wanwan nodded and said, "Okay, go to sleep!"

The next day, as soon as she woke up, she heard Eunuch Hai calling from outside, "Wanwan, the Empress Dowager says she wants to see you."

Zhou Wanwan put on her clothes and looked at Eunuch Hai outside, asking, "Is the Empress Dowager easy to get along with?"

Eunuch Hai shook his head, and the ladies of the palace rushed over and said:

"Let me tell you, the Empress Dowager always has a stern face, as if someone owes her money."

You'd better watch your words."

"Yes, I haven't seen her smile since I came to the palace."

"Didn't she go out to worship Buddha? She basically never returns to the harem, so why did she suddenly come back?"

Everyone shook their heads.

Zhou Wanwan followed behind Eunuch Hai and soon entered Palace of Compassion and Tranquility, where she saw an old lady with a stern face sitting in the main seat.

Holding a string of Buddhist prayer beads, she coldly looked at Zhou Wanwan and said, "It's really difficult to get you to come all this way. It took you half an hour. You certainly have a high and mighty attitude. I've been waiting for you!"

Zhou Wanwan looked up at her. Why did this Empress Dowager seem to have such ill intentions?

That's impossible! She didn't offend the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager glanced at Zhou Wanwan indifferently and said:

"I heard that after you arrived at the palace, you caused chaos and disorder throughout the palace."

Girls should behave themselves.

Zhou Wanwan was taken aback for a moment, then saw Old Madam Zhou walk in from inside and say, "Empress Dowager, this is the Zhou Wanwan I told you about. This child is really quite disobedient."

The Empress Dowager patted her hand and said:

"Don't worry, sister, you're my savior. You don't need to be so polite with me."

This child definitely needs to be disciplined. As for whether she's the princess's granddaughter, that's still hard to say!

Old Madam Zhou suddenly said, "Actually... Zhou Fusheng is not the eldest princess's child at all. I've never dared to say it, for fear that the eldest princess wouldn't be able to accept it."

The Empress Dowager looked at her and said, "You... what did you say?"

Old Madam Zhou sighed and said:

"I didn't want to say it at first, but she and Liu Su'e framed me, I... sob sob sob..."

I really have no other choice, so I'll tell the truth.

My third son, Zhou Fuyu, is the eldest princess's child. That jade pendant was always on Zhou Fuyu's body, but Zhou Fusheng snatched it away.

I figured they were all my own children, so I didn't worry about it too much.

The Empress Dowager gritted her teeth and said, "How dare these people bring in Zhou Fuyu, Zhou Fusheng, and that other girl, what's her name?"