My elder sister forced me to become a concubine; I was reborn and remarried into the emperor's

Empress Dowager Jiang's maternal family, the Jiang family, was originally a prominent clan in the court. When she married the late emperor, who was still a prince, it was because the late emperor wanted to use the Jiang family's status and position to become the crown prince.

However, after the late emperor secured his throne, he began to fear the Jiang family's growing power and worried that the maternal relatives would interfere in politics. Consequently, Empress Dowager Jiang also dared not have much contact with her maternal clan.

Later, when the previous emperor passed away and the emperor succeeded to the throne, without the emperor having to intervene, Old Master Jiang wisely resigned from his position in the cabinet.

The Jiang family was left with only the title of Duke's Mansion, and they became low-key and rarely interacted with the royal family in order to protect the future honor and disgrace of the Jiang family.

Therefore, Empress Dowager Jiang did not have much contact with her maternal family, especially after the death of her elder brother, the patriarch of the Jiang family, she had even less contact with the younger generation.

With the younger generation of the Jiang family not coming, her Cining Palace felt rather deserted.

The emperor had mentioned before that he wanted the second prince to serve her, but she refused.

She endured half her life in the struggle for the crown prince position, and even on her deathbed, she had to watch the emperor distrust his own son.

She loved both her son and grandson equally, and simply didn't have the energy to care about them anymore.

Whoever becomes emperor will always be a member of the Pei family. What does it have to do with her, who is surnamed Jiang? She just wants to enjoy her old age.

She had spoken with her daughter yesterday and had also seen how much her youngest son cared for this Wei family girl, so she began to have some ulterior motives.

This young lady from the Wei family is quite well-behaved and sensible. If she can serve in the Cining Palace, Pei Ji will definitely come more often.

Although she had promised her son that she wouldn't get involved in the matter, if the young girl stayed on her own initiative, then it would be none of her business.

Although Empress Dowager Jiang's hair appeared gray and her energy not as strong, her eyes were still clear and bright.

The pressure felt immense on Wei Nanxun.

The Empress Dowager took the initiative to let her stay in Cining Palace to serve, which was a good thing that others would beg for. Although it was called serving, it was actually just keeping the Empress Dowager company and talking to relieve her boredom. In this way, her status would increase several times and she would become a favorite among noble ladies.

From now on, whatever kind of marriage one wants to find will be entirely up to the Empress Dowager.

Let alone her being just a lowly concubine's daughter, even legitimate daughters from other families would be eager to come.

But she was unwilling.

It wasn't that she felt serving the Empress Dowager was hard work or anything like that; on the contrary, she felt that the Empress Dowager was an extremely wise woman, and she might be able to learn a lot about how to conduct herself from the elder.

She was unwilling to stay in the palace, and she did not have the same ambitions as others, nor did she want to marry someone of high status.

Seeing Pei Ji and Pei Yuyan closing in step by step, the palace felt more like a den of dragons and tigers to her.

Her fingers were intertwined tightly, unsure how to refuse.

After all, the Empress Dowager's words were equivalent to an imperial edict, and to refuse would be to disobey the edict. She didn't want to commit suicide.

Wei Nanxun hesitated for a moment, then solemnly knelt down and kowtowed.

Everyone here is intelligent, and Empress Dowager Jiang understood at a glance that she was unwilling.

This was unexpected for her. She knew her son's feelings and thought that the girl was just young but clever and had her youngest son under her control.

But to my surprise, she was unwilling.

She even dared to refuse to serve by her side.

Empress Dowager Jiang sat up slightly, and the look in her eyes as she looked at Wei Nanxun changed: "Raise your head."

She hadn't really looked at the girl closely yesterday, only glanced at her briefly, and knew she was an exceptionally pretty young woman with captivatingly raised eyebrows and eyes.

The little girl trembled slightly, then slowly raised her head.

Her eyebrows resembled distant mountains, her eyes were like autumn water, her nose was delicate and her lips were cherry-like, her skin was whiter than snow, and her black hair was styled into a half-high bun with a jade hairpin inserted at an angle. Without any makeup, she was as stunning as a lotus emerging from the water.

Even among all the beauties she had seen in her life, Wei Nanxun was still one of the most beautiful.

What's most remarkable is that she is charming without being coquettish, and her gaze is clear and firm, not the kind of person with despicable methods that I imagined.

Empress Dowager Jiang's voice softened somewhat as she said, "Young lady, you don't want to?"

Wei Nanxun pursed her lips and said earnestly, "To be appreciated by the Empress Dowager is the greatest honor of this humble woman, a good thing that I could only dream of."

Her appearance was sincere and her tone was firm. Even Empress Dowager Jiang, who was used to flattery, did not think that she was sucking up, but that she was speaking from the bottom of her heart.

But after she finished speaking, she touched her forehead to the ground and said respectfully and humbly, "But before I entered the palace this time, I had never learned any etiquette, and I was completely ignorant of music, chess, calligraphy and painting. I am both happy and apprehensive to have the Empress Dowager's favor."

"I fear that I am too clumsy to serve Your Majesty, and that I am ignorant of the rules and will tarnish Your Majesty's reputation. I earnestly hope that Your Majesty will understand my sincere heart."

He then kowtowed again.

Empress Dowager Jiang was genuinely surprised this time. She thought the young girl was either feigning retreat or genuinely unwilling to serve her, an old woman.

She wanted to hear what kind of stories this little girl could come up with.

Unexpectedly, every word she said was serious and sincere. It didn't seem like a sophistry or explanation, but rather like she was dissecting herself, letting people see her vulnerability and fear.

This made Empress Dowager Jiang forget her anger and only feel curious.

"Haven't you learned etiquette? Don't know music, chess, calligraphy, or painting? But I've met the Crown Princess before. She's well-mannered and has a refined appearance. The Wei family doesn't seem like a small, humble household."

Although prominent families in the capital cared a great deal about the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate sons, it was more of a concern for illegitimate sons.

Even if a daughter is born out of wedlock, at most it's just a matter of adding some dowry. Once she gets married, she can always bring benefits to the family. If you really mistreat a daughter born out of wedlock and don't even bother to teach her manners, then when she gets into trouble, it's your own family that suffers.

The Duke of Wei's mansion doesn't seem like a family with such short-sightedness at all.

It is said that family scandals should not be aired in public, but when the father arrives, they will separate from the eldest son's family, and then it will no longer be considered a family scandal.

Wei Nanxun hesitated for a moment, then said truthfully, "Your Majesty, you may not know, but my father was born to a concubine in the second wife's family. He did not enter the officialdom but went into business. My mother was also the daughter of a merchant. My grandmother has disliked my mother and me since childhood."

There's no need to embellish the rest.

Empress Dowager Jiang was such a shrewd person; she immediately understood the intricacies of the situation.

It must be that the old lady of the Wei family disliked her illegitimate son, and also looked down on him because he was a merchant and not respectable enough, and because he had married a wife who was not content with staying at home, so she disliked his children as well.

She had met Madam Wei a few times before, but they were not close. She never expected her to be such a rigid and conservative person.

Looking at Wei Nanxun again, Empress Dowager Jiang understood her a little better. Growing up without being valued in her family and without having properly learned any manners, it was no wonder that her personality was so different.

However, the fact that she wasn't raised to be timid, cowardly, or mercenary in that environment is, in a way, a testament to her own strength.

Empress Dowager Jiang began to understand somewhat why Pei Ji liked her.

It's rare to see a girl who is so beautiful and has such a strong and resolute personality.

Wei Nanxun was unaware that the Empress Dowager had already forgiven her in her heart. She remained kneeling respectfully, her mind racing as she considered what to do next.

Then the Empress Dowager at the head of the table suddenly laughed.

"Alright, get up now."

"I just want to see what kind of girl can make that arrogant brat who never takes the world seriously suffer a setback."

"Now that we see, he is indeed a good child."