With that, the Empress wasn’t able to formulate a reply. She opened her mouth, but couldn’t say anything to rebut him. For a moment, all the women were embarrassed, especially since there were a bunch of people in front of the stands that were pointing in their direction.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThe thing that Empress Dowager Lu hated the most was being pointed at. She was raised out of the official room(3), so she always suspected that others were laughing at her behind her back. Upon being scolded by Xie Xuanchen in front of everyone, Empress Dowager Lu became furious and couldn’t help but retort, “Prince An, I’m still your elder. Even if the law isn’t present in your eyes, there should be a limit to that.”
(T/N: When the concubines or side wives of men give birth and have children, the kids are raised in the side rooms. The official room was used only by children who were born under the legitimate wife)
Empress Dowager Lu was very self-aware of her status, so she didn’t dare to deem herself a mother, but she didn’t expect to offend him even with her careful phrasing. Xie Xuanchen sneered and slowly looked at Empress Dowager Lu, “Elder? What kind of elder are you to me? They recognized you, but I have never acknowledged you. For Xie Yi’s sake, I never cared about what you did. I thought I have already given you enough leeway, but in the end, you just had to be so shameless to order my wife around as if you’re a mother-in-law?”
Empress Dowager Lu’s complexion suddenly changed. Ever since she became the Empress Dowager, no matter what background she used to have or what history she had in the past, everything else didn’t seem to matter all of a sudden. After all, no one dared to hold on to what happened to her back then. Since then, Empress Dowager Lu had been admired for a long time, which made her feel like she was an actual noble person who was inlaid with gold and jade. One sentence of hers was capable of determining someone’s life, death, honor and disgrace.
Empress Dowager Lu never expected that one day, she would be shamelessly ridiculed by a young man in front of all the women of the clan.
At this time, the Emperor had already sent a eunuch over as other people also came over to persuade them to stop the commotion, “Prince An, Empress Dowager, please calm down. Please, keep the discussion postponed till later. As a family, there is no need to hurt each other.”
Mu Mingtang also tugged onto Xie Xuanchen’s sleeve, “Calm down, I’m really fine, let’s go.”
Seeing Mu Mingtang’s face, Xie Xuanchen reluctantly held back his anger. He took one last look at the Empress Dowager Lu and the Empress before saying coldly, “To me, she is my family and you are all outsiders. My orders to kill have never excluded women and children, so if I ever find out that someone is picking on her behind my back once more, I will have you pay with your life—no matter who you are.”
After Xie Xuanchen finished speaking, he took Mu Mingtang and strode away. Mu Mingtang staggered from being pulled away, so she hurriedly glanced at the Empress Dowager, bowed hurriedly and left with Xie Xuanchen.
Only Empress Dowager Lu was left behind as her face turned red, feeling extremely embarrassed.