Chapter 389: Meeting Empress Jia

Chapter 389: Meeting Empress Jia

"I stayed out too long in the imperial garden last night, enjoying the cool breeze. When I returned, I caught a cold."

"Cough, cough..."

"Did you call for the imperial doctor?" Madam Shen asked with concern.

She was a bit upset with the Empress for not standing up for her and Rong'er.

But after all, the Empress was her sister, and she had treated her well over the years.

Moreover, the Jia family relied on the Empress's support, so she certainly didn't want anything to happen to her.

Empress Jia looked up and smiled at Madam Shen.

"I have. He prescribed some medicine for the cold."

"But I found it too bitter and didn't drink it."

"That's not acceptable!" Madam Shen quickly said.

She stepped forward to personally support Empress Jia.

"Bitter medicine is good for you when you're sick. Your health isn't the best to begin with. How can you recover quickly without taking the medicine?"

"Haha..." Seeing her elder sister's concerned expression, Empress Jia's mood improved a bit.

Facing Madam Shen's reproachful gaze, Empress Jia smiled and patted her hand.

"I'll take the medicine, but only if you feed it to me," she said.

When she was young, she also disliked the bitterness of medicine.

Every time she fell ill and the family prepared the medicine, she would secretly pour it out.

It wasn't until her elder sister discovered it and coaxed her into drinking it.

Time flies so fast; decades have passed in the blink of an eye.

Both she and her elder sister have married and had children.

With the changes in their status, their relationship has also changed somewhat.

It's no longer as pure as before, but now it's mixed with many other things.

Madam Shen glanced at Empress Jia, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

"Alright," she agreed immediately.

Then, she had the servants bring the medicine and personally fed it to Empress Jia.

Empress Jia cooperated, drinking the medicine. Although she frowned from time to time, disliking the bitterness, she continued sip by sip without stopping.

The servants, seeing this, were all delighted.

They marveled inwardly at how effective the Empress's sister was, able to make the Empress take her medicine obediently.

Madam Shen noticed the servants' reactions and glanced at Empress Jia.

"You, at this age, still so headstrong," Madam Shen began.

Empress Jia turned her gaze back to Madam Shen, not angered by her disrespect, but instead smiled even more warmly.

"No matter what age, I am always the sister that my elder sister dotes on the most," Empress Jia said with a laugh.

As if recalling the past, a softness crept into Madam Shen's eyes.

"Rather than saying I dote on you, it's more like you've been taking care of me."

"Since you were young, you've been clever, able to have a say in all matters big and small at home."

"Father and our brothers all listened to you."

"If it weren't for you, my life wouldn't have been so easy."

Her care for Empress Jia was more evident in daily life.

But Empress Jia's care for her had changed her life.

The Jia family was not always powerful and influential.

Before Empress Jia entered the palace or was made a consort, the Jia family was just an ordinary official family.

Their father was a seventh-rank county magistrate, and they had no influential relatives.

It was Empress Jia who brought the Jia family to the capital, making them a highly sought-after noble family.

And she, with Empress Jia's support, avoided being forced into a marriage alliance by her father and brothers, eventually marrying Shen Hongyu.

Looking back now, marrying Shen Hongyu might not have been the best choice. But at that time, Empress Jia had indeed been a great help to her.

Empress Jia said it was her, as the elder sister, who took care of her.

But she knew clearly that it was she, as the younger sister, who took care of her more.

Since that's the case, why doesn't her dear sister take care of her a bit more?

To seek justice for Rong'er, to help her keep what belongs to Rong'er.

Empress Jia smiled and patted the back of Madam Shen's hand again.

She asked Madam Shen to help her up.

Madam Shen complied.

She helped Empress Jia to the soft couch and sat her down.

After sitting down, Empress Jia patted the spot beside her, inviting Madam Shen to sit next to her.

Madam Shen glanced at Empress Jia and complied once more.

Empress Jia waited until Madam Shen had sat down before continuing to speak with her.

"Recently, I haven't been feeling well, so I didn't summon you to the palace."

"You, sister, are quite heartless, not even coming to see me," Empress Jia said, a flicker of resentment in her eyes.

Madam Shen was startled, and as she looked at Empress Jia, a flicker of emotion crossed her eyes.

Was it that she didn’t want to enter the palace? Clearly, she just didn’t want to see her...

On the day of Rong'er's funeral, she wanted to find her, but was stopped by her lady-in-waiting.

She could easily make excuses, claiming she didn’t come to the palace to see her...

Empress Jia noticed Madam Shen's emotions and, without getting angry, reached out to take Madam Shen's hand.

"We’ve been close since we were kids. In my heart, big sister means the world to me," she said earnestly.

Madam Shen felt a pang in her heart.

Looking into Empress Jia's eyes filled with sincere emotion, the bit of anger in her heart finally dissipated.

"If Your Majesty truly thinks so, then help me one more time!" she said, suddenly rising and kneeling before Empress Jia.

"What are you doing, big sister?" Empress Jia quickly steadied her. "Sit down and speak properly."

Madam Shen glanced at Empress Jia and then obediently sat back in her seat.

Then she began to wipe her tears.

"Your Majesty, I thought—I thought you didn’t care about me anymore. Wuwu..."

"Why say that? No matter who I might overlook, I’d never ignore my big sister," Empress Jia quickly reassured her.

She even let Madam Shen lean on her shoulder and cry.

"Big sister, tell me what’s troubling you. I’ll make sure to stand up for you," Empress Jia said.

Madam Shen's heart immediately felt much more at ease.

She even began to suspect that being stopped might have been the lady-in-waiting’s own doing, unrelated to the Empress.

"Wuwu... Your Majesty—" Madam Shen suddenly felt overwhelmed with sorrow and collapsed into the Empress's arms.

The Empress quickly patted Madam Shen's back to comfort her.

At the same time, she dismissed the servants.

Only after all the maids and eunuchs had left, with only her personal attendant remaining, did the Empress continue speaking with Madam Shen.

"Alright, big sister, stop crying now."

"Tell me, what exactly has happened to you."

Madam Shen then sobbed and rose from the Empress's embrace.

Then she began to speak of Shen Rong's matter.

"Your Majesty, Rong'er is my only daughter... Shen Hongyu, Shen Hongyu has killed her."

"Wuwu... Not only did he kill my daughter, but now he also wants to bring his illegitimate daughter into the Prime Minister’s residence and seize everything that belongs to Rong'er."

"Wuwu... He has almost bullied me to death..."

Upon hearing this, the Empress's face darkened.

"Did Minister Shen really drive Rong'er to her death?" she asked, her voice heavy.

She had long suspected that Shen Rong's death was not straightforward, but she never expected it to be for this reason.

Shen Hongyu really crossed the line this time.

But Shen Rong wasn't blameless either. She turned down a good man like Song Rui and instead got entangled with another man, even ending up pregnant.

"Yes! Shen Hongyu couldn't bear anyone going against him! That's why he drove my Rong'er to her death!" Madam Shen said angrily.

Empress Jia gave Madam Shen a glance and nodded.

"This time, Rong'er really went too far," she then spoke.

Madam Shen looked anxious, and she was about to speak, but Empress Jia stopped her with a raised hand.

"But even if the child was wrong, Minister Shen shouldn't have been so cruel."