Long Live the Empress

Noon

Yue Jinghao was eating a meal made with leftovers, without any oil or grease. The rice was left at the bottom of the pot, only half a bowl of black rice. But she ate it with gusto...

Suddenly, the gate was kicked open and Yue Hanwen came in angrily, "Where is that beast? Get out now!"

After all, it was the first time for Manou to encounter such a thing, and she was a little panicked. Yue Jinghao grabbed her hand to comfort her. Manou took a deep breath and stood beside Yue Jinghao.

The dilapidated courtyard was full of people, and even the old lady was startled.

Yue Jinghao ignored the pride of Aunt Su and Yue Yuyan, and politely greeted the elders, "Greetings, grandma, and father. I have been feeling unwell these days and have not been able to greet you, grandma. I hope you can forgive me."

Yue Hanwen snorted coldly, and looked his eldest daughter up and down. She looked skinny and shabby, "No need to pay respects, I'm afraid you'll piss me off. A maid reported that you and the servants had a secret affair, do you admit it?"

Yue Jinghao's eyes suddenly turned red, and she knelt on the ground, "Father, which maid framed my daughter's innocence like this? I want to confront her right here and now!"

The maid Xiaoju stood up at the signal from Aunt Su and said timidly, "I saw it with my own eyes. The man gave the young lady a jade pendant, saying it was a token of love. The young lady treasured it so much that she put it under her pillow so that she could look at it from time to time..."

Agate was so angry that he started to curse: "You little bitch, I serve the young lady every day, and I have never seen a jade pendant before. And you, a maid, actually looked at it so carefully. What on earth are you thinking?"

"How dare a servant be so arrogant in front of the master? Someone, shut her mouth!" When Aunt Su heard Manju's rebuttal, she was a little annoyed for a moment, so she had someone shut her mouth.

Yue Jinghao shook her hand, her voice choking with sobs, "Grandma, my granddaughter has never seen any jade pendant, let alone given it to anyone privately. Please help me clear my name!"

Although the old lady disliked her granddaughter, she couldn't let such a bad reputation ruin the reputation of the Prime Minister's Mansion, so she asked Xiaoju, "Do you know the man you saw?"

Aunt Su stared at Xiaoju, who was frightened and immediately looked at a servant, "It's... it's him..."

The servant had a sly look. When Xiaoju pointed him out, he was not afraid. Instead, he bowed to his masters and said, "The young lady and I have long admired each other. Please help us, Master and Madam!"

The old lady was so angry that she almost passed out. She pounded the ground hard with her cane and was speechless for a long time.

Yue Hanwen stepped forward and slapped Yue Jinghao, knocking the already frail Yue Jinghao to the ground. Manjushri, who was standing beside her, cried out in pain, but she was held down by two old women and could not break free.

Yue Jinghao was hit so hard that the corner of her mouth bled and half of her face became swollen immediately. The servant wanted to grab her hand when he saw this, but Yue Jinghao dodged him.

"Master, please don't hit the young lady. The young lady and I are truly in love. Please help us to be together!" The servant knelt on the ground and kowtowed with a look of heartache on his face.

Xiaoju also said at the right time: "If the master doesn't believe it, you can send someone to look under the eldest lady's pillow, and you will definitely find the jade pendant!"

Aunt Su cried and held Yue Hanwen's arm, "Master, please send someone to check it out. I don't believe that the eldest lady would have an affair with someone!"

The word "adultery" hurt the old lady's heart. Such a scandal could not happen in her Yue family! "Madame Zhang, go and see for yourself!" Madame Zhang was the person the old lady trusted the most. Only if she went would the old lady feel at ease.

Nanny Zhang nodded and when she entered the room she saw the unfinished meal on the table. She couldn't help but frowned, but said nothing and went straight to the bedroom.

After only a moment, Nanny Zhang came out. She didn't have a jade pendant in her hand, but she had a letter.

Aunt Su was shocked and looked at Xiaoju fiercely. Seeing that she also had a confused look on her face, she knew it was not her who did it.

Yue Hanwen snatched the letter and became furious after reading only a few words. "Someone, send this beast to a nunnery! My Yue family doesn't have such a shameless daughter!"

"Father! Can you let your daughter see the letter?" Yue Jinghao was still kneeling, not panicking at all. Seeing her like this, the old lady began to doubt the matter.

Aunt Su also glanced at the contents of the letter and immediately blushed. Even without the jade pendant, she could be convicted of the crime with this letter! "Miss, you should admit it now... This letter is really disgusting!"

"Miss, this is a private letter I wrote to you. It's better not to read it in public!" The servant was still a little proud at this time.

Yue Hanwen threw the letter in front of Yue Jinghao, wanting to see what she could say!

Yue Jinghao glanced at the letter and asked the boy, "You said you wrote this letter, so what did you write in it?"

"I have written so many letters to the young lady, how can I remember the contents? Anyway, they are all private words..."

"Can you guarantee that these letters were all written by you?" Yue Jinghao raised the letters in her hand.

"Of course! The eldest lady has been secretly having an affair with me because she admires my good poetry writing!" The servant stuck out his neck and said with a smug look on his face, as if he was going to become the son-in-law of the Prime Minister's Mansion in the next moment!

Yue Jinghao threw the letter to the ground and said, "Since you are so talented, read this letter in front of your father and grandmother!"

Yue Hanwen's forehead twitched with anger. Yue Jinghao actually wanted to recite such obscene lyrics in public? It was simply embarrassing! "You..."

"Madam Zhang, give him the letter. If he makes a mistake in writing a word, cut off one of his fingers!" After all, the old lady was the winner in the house fight, and now she understood what was going on today.

The servant was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat. He couldn't read at all, so how could he read it? He secretly looked at Aunt Su, who was also a little panicked at this time, and was thinking about how to deal with it.

The old lady sneered, "Why? Aren't you a very talented person? How come you can't even pronounce a single word? Come on, chop off one of his hands!"

Two servants held the boy down and were about to chop off his hands. "Madam, I can't read, so I can't read it. Please spare me, Madam!"

Boom! Everyone seemed to be struck by lightning. How could he write to the young lady if he couldn't read? He even said that the young lady admired his talent... Aunt Su was also stunned. She had never expected that he couldn't read!

"Auntie Su, please save me. I have heard everything..."

"Someone, drag this evil slave out and beat him to death with sticks! He actually dared to slander his master's innocence, how audacious!" Seeing that the servant was about to bite her, Aunt Su immediately interrupted him and had him dragged away.

How could the old lady not understand? She glared at Aunt Su fiercely. It was all her fault!

Yue Jinghao saw Yue Hanwen's sudden realization and sneered in her heart. Her father couldn't even understand such a small matter. She didn't know how he got the position of prime minister! "Grandma, my granddaughter has some doubts. I hope you can make the decision."

At this point, the old lady could only make a big deal out of a small matter. If the news of favoring a concubine over the legitimate wife spread, the Prime Minister's Mansion would be finished. "Jing'er, that evil slave has been beaten to death. You are not feeling well, go back and rest!"

Yue Jinghao knelt down and said yes. As a grandmother, she regarded the reputation of the Prime Minister's Mansion as more important than anything else. Today's incident was not enough to bring down Aunt Su, so it was better to follow her wishes. "Yes, grandmother. My granddaughter just wrote a piece of calligraphy yesterday, and I would like to ask you for some advice."

Seeing that she was so well-behaved, the old lady did not make a fuss about demanding the truth, and followed her into the house.

However, as soon as the old lady entered the room and saw the lunch on the dining table, she immediately gnashed her teeth and said, "Are all the people in the kitchen dead? How dare they let the prime minister's daughter eat this! This is outrageous!"

Yue Jinghao quickly supported the old lady, bit her lip and said softly: "Every time the maid goes to get food, the kitchen staff says that the mansion is saving money and the masters are eating these, so my granddaughter..."

Yue Yuyan was a person who enjoyed watching the fun and did not mind getting involved. Looking at the meal that even dogs wouldn't eat, she covered her mouth and laughed secretly, "Grandma, it looks like someone is bullying the master, so they let Big Sister eat this dog food!"

The old lady was so angry that she was dizzy and couldn't even stand up. Aunt Zhang quickly helped her sit down. The old lady panted and looked at her two granddaughters. Yue Jinghao was obviously two years older than Yue Yuyan, but she was half a head shorter than Yue Yuyan. Look at Yue Jinghao's clothes, which were short and small, but Yue Yuyan was wearing the finest Shu brocade. The old lady looked around the dilapidated room and saw that some windows were still exposed to the wind... This is the fate of the concubine and housekeeper! What would happen if the prince knew that the Prime Minister's Mansion treated Yue Jinghao so harshly?

"Come here, give each of those bullying servants in the kitchen 50 lashes and sell them off!" The old lady was really angry. She stared at Aunt Su and said, "Sell off all the maids in the eldest lady's yard as well. Have someone bring some good ones tomorrow so that the eldest lady can choose them herself!"

Aunt Su knew that this was a warning from the old lady, so she didn't even dare to raise her head, let alone object.

"Grandma, mother left a few servants to me. I would like to ask you to transfer them to Jinyu Garden. After all, they are all old people who have served mother. They will be able to get the hang of it. When the new maids arrive tomorrow, they can help me train them a little bit."

"No!" Before the old lady could say anything, Aunt Su refused first, "I think they are too vulgar, how can they serve the young lady? When you buy a new maid tomorrow and give her to me, I will definitely train her well."

Su Jinghao's eyes were red, and the half of her face that was beaten was now purple. "Grandmother, since Auntie said so, then I will listen to you! I just hope that among the maids selected tomorrow, there won't be any evil slaves like Xiaoju. A few days ago, my granddaughter was not feeling well, and there were maids in the courtyard saying that she didn't want to marry the prince, so she committed suicide. This time... If the prince knew about it, I wouldn't be able to explain it even if I had a mouth full of mouths."

The old lady was already unhappy with Aunt Su's plot, and after hearing Yue Jinghao's words, she could no longer hold back, "How dare a mere servant to commit treason and interfere in the affairs of the eldest daughter?"

Aunt Su's tears of grievance welled up in her eyes. She looked at Yue Hanwen delicately and artificially, "Master, I am just..."

The old lady felt sick when she saw her concubine's behavior, "Shut your mouth! How can you interrupt the masters? Jing'er, do whatever you want! Aunt Zhang, go and have someone replenish the eldest lady's room with what she deserves, and the monthly allowance should be twice as much as that of a concubine's daughter! A master should act like a master. Humph, some people always fail to see their own status and want to give orders to their masters! They are simply ignorant!"

All these words were an accusation against Aunt Su's status as a servant, and even Yue Jinghong was scolded. No matter how good a concubine's daughter is, what's the use? The legitimate daughter will always be superior to her!

Aunt Su was so angry that she clenched her hands, and her sharp nails dug into her palms... How dare this damn old woman belittle her like this, and even said that her Jinghong was not as good as that bastard, just wait! When Jinghong ascends to a high position, she will make these people kneel at her feet...