The daily struggles of divorced women in ancient times

Princess Tong'an was already very unhappy because she was humiliated by the Concubine Dowager, but the Concubine Dowager gave Princess Tong'an such a high evaluation. How could Princess Tong'an not be angry?

"Her Majesty the Concubine!" Princess Tong'an pouted unhappily.

The Queen Dowager did not indulge Princess Tong'an. If the Queen Dowager did not indulge Princess Tong'an, others would also see her expression and would also look up to Xia Mianwan a little more.

Madam Pei is so amazing that even the Queen Mother praises her so much.

After a while, the Ninth Princess and Madam Pei also came back. Madam Pei was worried because the Ninth Princess was dragging her around here and there and she couldn't get away for a while, so she couldn't help feeling anxious.

When he returned to the flower hall, he was relieved to see that Xia Mianwan was fine and was drinking with his girl with a calm expression.

The Ninth Princess was a little confused when she saw Princess Tong'an sitting next to the Concubine Dowager with an unhappy look on her face.

"You are here, Your Majesty the Dowager, but did Tong'an's ignorance make you unhappy?" The Ninth Princess walked up to the Dowager and spoke to her with a smile.

The Ninth Princess was just being polite, but the Dowager Concubine was really not polite. She smiled and said to the Ninth Princess, "Tong'an is indeed a little spoiled. Before she got married, she was naturally pampered by her family. But now that she is the mistress of the Zhuang family, she can't be like this anymore. You are a mother, you should keep an eye on her more."

Upon hearing this, the Ninth Princess almost lost the smile on her face, and in her heart she couldn't help but resent the Concubine Dowager for not giving Tong'an face in such an occasion.

The Concubine Dowager knew the Ninth Princess's temperament, but it was not appropriate to explain it in detail in this situation.

Zhuang Sasa and Madam Zheng both thought that they would be in trouble at this summer sleeping party, but who would have thought that a concubine would suddenly show up halfway through. She was a completely unrelated person and no one knew how the two of them knew each other.

When the banquet started, the Ninth Princess invited the Queen Dowager to take a seat. When the Queen Dowager saw Xia Mianwan's seat, she frowned, shook her head to reject the Ninth Princess' invitation, and walked straight to Xia Mianwan's side.

"Madam Pei, I'm an old lady and don't like crowds. Since you're in a quiet place, I'll sit next to you." The concubine smiled and sat down next to Xia Mianwan.

Princess Tongan had naturally planned to place Xia Mianwan in such a position long ago. She wanted to embarrass Xia Mianwan on purpose.

But when the Concubine Dowager came over...

Princess Tong'an's plan failed. She put down her wine glass angrily, with anger growing in her eyes.

The Ninth Princess was afraid that Princess Tong'an would displease the Concubine Dowager, so she put on a smile and took Princess Tong'an aside to coax her.

Princess Tongan was born into a royal family and there was nothing she couldn't accomplish since she was a child. She had never suffered such a great humiliation before. Now she not only lost face in front of Zhuang Sasa, but also in front of all the guests. How could she not be angry and embarrassed?

Xia Mianwan had no idea how angry Princess Tong'an and the Ninth Princess were, or how resentful Zhuang Sasa and Madam Zheng were.

For Xia Mianwan, the most difficult days were over. Was she still afraid of the so-called royal relatives? The worst that could happen was that she would suffer a loss in the present moment. If she suffered a loss today, she could get it back in the future. She really wasn't afraid.

After the Concubine Dowager sat down, Xia Mianwan raised her wine glass and toasted her, "Concubine Dowager, you were the lady of the bookstore that day, right?"

The Dowager Concubine smiled and nodded, "I don't have much to do on weekdays. I have been locked up in the palace for most of my life. Now that I am out of the palace, I naturally want to go out and have a look. That day in the bookstore, I saw something lively, so I came in to take a look, but I didn't expect to see you."

Xia Mianwan smiled and said, "That's such a coincidence. If Her Majesty the Concubine doesn't mind, you can just call me Mianwan."

"Mianwan, when I met you that day, I never thought that there would be a woman like you in this world. I admire you very much. When I was young, I never thought that women were inferior to men. Before I entered the palace, I had been talking about becoming a female official, but others laughed at me for overestimating my abilities. Later, I was trapped in the palace. Although I had fine clothes and delicious food, I also lost my freedom. I didn't expect that at this age, I could still meet you." There was regret on the face of the Queen Mother. She did have relative freedom now, but she was no longer young and had no ambitions in her heart anymore.

Xia Mianwan said: "My Lady Concubine, I heard that when you were in your boudoir, you were an excellent poet and a famous talent in Dachen. If..."

As Xia Mianwan spoke, she felt that she had overstepped her authority and for a moment she didn't know whether she should continue.

Seeing this, the Concubine Dowager was a little curious. She held Xia Mianwan's hand lovingly and said, "But what's the problem? It's not easy for me to meet a woman with such a strong will as you at my age. If you are willing, just tell me. If I can help you, I will definitely help you."

Xia Mianwan was deeply shocked by the Queen Mother's frankness.

"Mrs. Dowager Concubine, I would like to ask you to write a column for our Manyuehua Newspaper if you have time." Xia Mianwan said.

"What is a column?" The Concubine Dowager became interested.

"A column is something you want to write. You can think of a pen name and then you can publish anything you want, poetry, songs, or policy insights," Xia Mianwan explained.

The Queen Mother was a little excited. The identity of the Queen Mother was not allowed, but if she wanted to hide her identity, then why not?

"Are you serious?" The Queen Dowager's eyes sparkled, as if she had returned to her girlish appearance.

Xia Mianwan nodded and said, "Of course I am serious. Is the Concubine Dowager interested?"

The Concubine grabbed Xia Mianwan's hand and said excitedly, "I promise."

Afterwards, the Concubine Dowager looked at the palace maid who was accompanying her. The palace maid immediately took out a sign and handed it to Xia Mianwan. Xia Mianwan took the sign and looked at the Concubine Dowager curiously.

"This is the badge I gave you. With the badge, you can enter the palace. But... I usually live outside the palace, so you don't need to inform me when you go to Shuiyue Temple." The concubine explained.

Xia Mianwan smiled and replied, "That's great, Madam Concubine. I will bother you from now on."

"Why so polite?"

Nothing unusual happened at the banquets that followed. However, because of the Dowager Concubine's special regard for them, many ladies set their sights on the girls from the Pei family.

I have heard of these girls from the Pei family a long time ago. Two of them are Pei Yanxu's biological sisters, and the others are girls from the clan.

Xia Mianwan was afraid that the girls would feel bored staying with her and the Concubine Dowager, so she said, "Ayue, if you feel bored, you can go and chat with the girls you are familiar with, but don't leave the flower hall."

"Yes!"

Pei Yanyue did have a few familiar little sisters not far away, so she bowed to the Concubine Tai and Xia Mianwan and took her sisters to play with the little sisters.