Chapter 266: Volume 1, Chapter 266: How Did You Even Think of That

The Empress Dowager gave a cold snort. "That little scheme of the Marquis of Anding and his daughter—they think I don't know? But they can only dream."

Yan Yin breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. At last, Her Majesty the Empress Dowager was no longer fixating on Noble Consort Rong.

It wasn't that she deliberately tried to sow discord against Lady Zhenshen before the Empress Dowager, but Lady Zhenshen had indeed been going rather too far lately. Yan Yin had even run into her once, and Lady Zhenshen's attitude toward her was far more arrogant than before.

"Your Majesty is right, but this servant is only worried that the Marquis of Anding has been running about outside the palace, and he has likely been preparing for this draft well in advance. Your Majesty should still vet the candidates carefully," Yan Yin said.

The Empress Dowager fell into thought and only after a long while said, "Hmph, the Song family's efforts are wasted. The position of Empress..."

Speaking of this only made the Empress Dowager more frustrated. The Emperor was dead set on making Lady Rong the Empress, building her reputation in the court, claiming that both the draw loom and the Luo loom were Lady Rong's achievements—as if she were so capable that even she, the Empress Dowager, hadn't known about it.

"Yan Yin, do you think Lady Rong really made that draw loom and Luo loom?" The Empress Dowager still didn't believe it. How could that be possible? Someone raised on a country estate—how could she understand such things?

"This servant has made inquiries. Though Noble Consort Rong grew up on an estate, she had been studying all along, and the Noble Consort rarely goes out—throughout the four seasons, she basically does nothing but read. This servant doesn't understand those things, but I can't help feeling that with so much reading, perhaps she really could have made them." Yan Yin put it as tactfully as she could.

The Empress Dowager's mood worsened further. "If it's true, once Lady Rong's reputation is established and she has given birth to the Emperor's eldest son, the resistance in the court to His Majesty making her Empress will be much smaller. That is not a good thing."

Yan Yin hardly dared to take up that remark lightly. She paused before saying, "Your Majesty, this servant knows you wish for Miss Su to become Empress, but the last time Miss Su entered the palace, His Majesty's attitude... if this servant may speak a word of disrespect, I fear this matter will not be easy."

The Empress Dowager's expression darkened at once.

Yan Yin dropped to her knees with a thud and said with lowered head, "Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, please calm your anger. But this servant must speak up. If His Majesty has no intention of making Miss Su Empress, then rather than letting the Marquis of Anding and his daughter get their way, in this servant's view it would be better for Noble Consort Rong to take the Empress's seat. Even before becoming Empress, Lady Zhenshen has already shown disrespect to the people of Funing Palace—once she sits on the Empress's throne... Your Majesty, please think thrice."

The Empress Dowager's expression was exceedingly ugly. Her face was ashen, her breathing rapid as she looked at Yan Yin, the hand pointing at her trembling slightly. "You... you really are..."

"Your Majesty, this servant has served Your Majesty for a lifetime. Every word comes from the bottom of my heart. I beg Your Majesty to see clearly." Yan Yin choked up.

She truly could not stand by and watch the Empress Dowager make her own situation in the Hou Gong increasingly dire for the sake of the Su family. The Empress Dowager was thinking of the Su family, but recalling what Miss Su had done after entering the palace... it was truly rather chilling.

Only now Yan Yin didn't dare say these things before the Empress Dowager. She had served Her Majesty for a lifetime—she couldn't watch the Empress Dowager go astray.

Yan Yin's forehead was bruised from kowtowing. The Empress Dowager waved her hand. "Enough, get up. I know these are your true words. It's just that some things put me in a difficult position as well."

Yan Yin supported herself on her knees and stood up, saying in a low voice, "Your Majesty, you must also leave yourself a way out."

The Empress Dowager waved her hand to dismiss Yan Yin and leaned against a soft cushion, her eyes half-closed in a daze.

Leave herself a way out—what way out did she have now?

If the Su family had no successor, what glory would she, the Empress Dowager, have left?

Though Yan Yin was wholeheartedly looking out for her, there were some things she still couldn't see through.

Whether or not it was because of Yan Yin's remark about Lady Zhenshen showing disrespect to Funing Palace, the next day the Empress Dowager summoned Song Huihe and gave her a dressing-down. After all, the Emperor had originally said that Song Huihe was to assist the Empress Dowager in managing affairs.

Previously, the Empress Dowager had thought Song Huihe wouldn't have the nerve, but now she no longer thought so. She simply seized the authority over the draft back into her own hands, and just like that, Song Huihe truly became nothing more than an errand-runner.

After learning the full story, Rong Luoge couldn't help sighing to Han Xinglan. "Yan Yin is truly loyal to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager. Even now, she's still running interference for the Empress Dowager."

Han Xinglan looked at Rong Luoge upon hearing this. "Yan Yin has followed the Empress Dowager for a lifetime. Their bond is naturally deep."

Rong Luoge listened to Han Xinglan's faint words and knew that Han Xinglan's current impression of Yan Yin was also very complicated—knowing she was a loyal servant, but sometimes even a loyal servant wasn't necessarily liked by everyone.

Ultimately, it was still a matter of where one's loyalties lay.

Just like the noble houses and the Emperor—were there no talented young men among the noble houses?

There were, only those talented young men were loyal not to the Emperor but to their own families.

"Tomorrow I need to go to the Glazed Tile Workshop. I won't be back to have lunch with you," Han Xinglan said, changing the subject.

Rong Luoge nodded. "I know. Just go and take care of things. How are things at the Glazed Tile Workshop?"

"Now that Xiao Shen and Prince Liang are stationed there, everything is under control. In the past few months they've caught quite a few people. It's been rather lively over there." Han Xinglan gave a scoffing laugh.

Rong Luoge was amused at this and said with a smile, "They want to get the formula for glazed tiles. By now the glazed tile kilns must have produced quite a lot of goods, right?"

Han Xinglan nodded. "I plan to have Xiao Shen organize a merchant caravan to leave the capital and sell glazed tiles to other countries. What do you think?"

Rong Luoge nodded. "That's a good idea. It's just that transportation is inconvenient now, and a round trip takes a long time. If Xiao Shen leaves the capital, what about the capital's defense?"

Han Xinglan had clearly thought it through carefully. "I intend to promote Rong Yan."

Rong Luoge said, "Rong Yan can't match Xiao Shen in leading troops. I actually think it would be better to have Rong Yan lead the merchant caravan abroad and keep Xiao Shen guarding the capital. Rong Yan has a grudge against Di Yue Nu. If the caravan passes through Qingxuan this time, perhaps he could do something interesting."

"You mean?" Han Xinglan's mind began racing at once.

Rong Luoge said, "The current ruler of Qingxuan's hold on the throne was never very secure to begin with. If he learned that Di Yue Nu's marriage alliance not only failed to strengthen the friendship between the two nations but instead offended people at every turn, what do you think the ruler of Qingxuan would think and do?"

Han Xinglan looked down at Rong Luoge. "How did you even think of that."

Rong Luoge was thoroughly amused and looked at her. "That's right—better to offend a gentleman than to offend a woman or a petty man. I have always believed in returning every grudge. The reason Di Yue Nu can act so arrogantly on our turf is her identity as a princess, but what if one day that princess identity wasn't so important anymore? When that time comes, I'd like to see whether this formerly loving couple can still hold true to each other."

With a selfish wretch like Rong Heng, that would be quite something!

What was the point of killing Di Yue Nu? They should be made to taste the same suffering they inflicted on others!