The daily struggles of divorced women in ancient times

The marriage of Pei Yanshu and Li Yaoyuan was settled. Before the wedding, the Queen Mother issued an edict to summon Xia Mianwan to the palace.

Pei Yanxu was a little worried, but the Queen Mother's order could not be refused, and she was afraid that the Queen Mother would make things difficult for her.

Xia Mianwan thought for a moment and said, "I can't be too careless. I'll send a letter to the Concubine Dowager and ask her to come back to the palace and help me with this, okay?"

"You know the Concubine Dowager?" This surprised Pei Yanxu greatly.

"We have met several times before. The Concubine even wrote storybooks in our bookstore under a pseudonym." Since Xia Mianwan met the Concubine that time, the two became close friends. After that, Xia Mianwan would often go to see the Concubine and chat with her for a while.

Pei Yanxu was very surprised by Xia Mianwan's circle of friends, but it was a good thing to be on good terms with the Concubine Dowager. "That's fine. When I get to the palace, I will say hello to Eunuch Chen again. If the situation is not right, the Emperor and I will come to rescue you."

Xia Mianwan smiled and agreed.

On the second day, Xia Mianwan entered the palace wearing the imperial robes and dressed quite formally.

Because it was the Queen Mother who summoned Xia Mianwan, as soon as she entered the palace, she was led to the palace where the Queen Mother lived by the female historian in the Queen Mother's palace. When she first entered the hall, Xia Mianwan felt that it was very majestic.

The Queen Mother sat at the top, looking very majestic.

The day before entering the palace, a special nanny from the palace taught Xia Mianwan the etiquette. When Xia Mianwan saw the empress dowager, she knelt down and kowtowed without daring to look at her closely.

"Your Highness will be here to see the Queen Mother in the evening."

The Queen Mother responded with a smile, but did not ask Xia Mianwan to stand up. Xia Mianwan cursed the Queen Mother in her heart, this old thing. When Xia Mianwan finished cursing the Queen Mother's ancestors in her heart, the Concubine Dowager arrived.

"Empress Dowager, the Dowager Concubine is outside asking to see you." The palace maid came to report.

The queen mother showed displeasure, "Why is she here?"

The palace maids did not dare to speak at this time, and the Queen Mother said, "Please invite the Queen Mother in."

Until this time, the Queen Mother still did not ask Xia Mianwan to get up. Fortunately, Xia Mianwan secretly tied knee pads on her knees, otherwise it would have been very painful.

"Sister, I haven't seen you for many days, and I miss you so much. I got a pure red fox fur outside. I knew that you always liked these furs. Seeing that the color of this fire fox fur is really pure, I took it here early." The concubine smiled and handed the fire fox fur to the palace servant.

The Queen Mother touched the fire fox fur and couldn't let it go. "You are so thoughtful." The Queen Mother smiled and asked the palace servant to put the fire fox fur away.

The concubine smiled and said, "I am naturally thinking of my sister."

At this time, the concubine looked at the kneeling Xia Mianwan and asked curiously: "Can I see which family's lady this is?"

"Replying to the Queen Concubine, my husband is the Prince's Junior Tutor Pei Yanxu." Xia Mianwan raised her head slightly and said to the Queen Concubine with a smile.

The concubine hurriedly greeted her, "So it's Master Pei's wife. Why are you still kneeling? Hurry up and get up. If you continue kneeling, Master Pei will be distressed."

Xia Mianwan helped the palace maid beside her to stand up without hesitation, "Thank you, Queen Concubine Dowager, thank you, Queen Mother."

The Queen Mother thought to herself, I didn't ask you to get up, and then looked at the Concubine Dowager unhappily, "Why are you here at this time? Yaoyuan is going to marry into the Pei family, and I was just having a few private words with Madam Pei."

The Queen Dowager smiled and said, "Then I came at a coincidence. I heard that Yaoyuan was going to get married, so I came to find you. Yaoyuan grew up with us, so she must be decent."

As the saying goes, one should not hit a smiling person. Since the Concubine Dowager was so polite, the Empress Dowager couldn't say anything more. She asked the palace maid with a cold face to give Xia Mianwan a seat.

Xia Mianwan laughed in her heart, but sat down straight.

When the concubine saw that Xia Mianwan had a seat, she found a seat and sat down without waiting for the queen mother to speak. She said with a flattering face, "Sister, I also watched Yaoyuan grow up. I want to listen too."

I haven't heard that the Concubine Dowager has any friendship with Madam Pei. The Queen Mother thinks that the Concubine Dowager is protecting Xia Mianwan, but she is not sure.

"Madam Pei, you heard it too. Our Yaoyuan was raised by the Concubine Dowager and I, so her status is naturally nobler. Originally, her status is not worthy of your uncle's. But this is because we value Master Pei. Your reputation in the capital... I have also heard about it. Yaoyuan, you have to be more tolerant for my sake." said the Queen Mother.

"That's natural." Xia Mianwan smiled slightly, his eyes full of sincerity.

The concubine was silent at this time. Seeing that the concubine was silent when she should speak, the queen mother asked, "Sister, aren't you worried about Yaoyuan? The reputation of this Madam Pei in the capital... makes me very worried."

The Concubine Dowager actually didn't understand whether the Queen Mother wanted to find a marriage for Li Yaoyuan or make an enemy. The mistress of the Pei family was Xia Mianwan, and the Queen Mother couldn't wait to summon Xia Mianwan to the palace, which embarrassed Xia Mianwan. It wouldn't be the Queen Mother that she would be living with in the future. If she lost Xia Mianwan's face first, how could they get along with each other in the future?

"What kind of reputation?" the concubine asked.

The Queen Mother laughed and said, "She is fierce and ruthless. I heard that Madam Pei went to the restaurant with a rolling pin to look for Master Pei."

Xia Mianwan just smiled slightly but said nothing.

The concubine looked at Xia Mianwan and said, "I think the rumors in the capital are not all true. Madam Pei seems gentle and polite. Sister, your children and grandchildren will have their own blessings. I think you don't need to worry too much. Besides, who doesn't know that Yaoyuan grew up under your care? Those who dare to bully Yaoyuan in the capital are probably not even born yet."

The Queen Mother was flattered by the Concubine Dowager and her unhappiness felt better. After all, the Concubine Dowager had been with the Queen Mother for decades and knew how to control her very well.

"You have a point. If there is anyone in the capital who is so blind as to bully Yao Yuan, I will make sure she is in trouble." The empress dowager was making an indirect complaint, but Xia Mianwan still sat upright with a proper smile on her face.

"Mrs. Pei, are you dissatisfied with something?" The empress dowager saw Xia Mianwan silently nodding or smiling, like a ball of cotton, which made people feel indescribable discomfort all over.

"Why would I be dissatisfied?" Xia Mianwan was a little surprised.

"Then why don't you speak?"

Xia Mianwan smiled and explained, "The Queen Mother's advice to me is all for my own good, how could I have any objection? I am overjoyed that Miss Li is going to marry into our Pei family, and I will only treat her well, but in this kind of situation, time will tell. I am a bad talker, and I don't know how to express my respect for the Queen Mother and my joy for Miss Li. I can only prove it to the Queen Mother with my future actions."

There was absolutely nothing wrong with Xia Mianwan's words, so the Queen Mother could only nod and say, "It's good that you know what's going on."

When the concubine saw that the empress dowager had nothing to say, she pulled her aside to talk about something else. Xia Mianwan listened and agreed with her. Then the empress dowager asked Xia Mianwan to leave the palace.