The visitor was the nanny from the Princess’s residence. With her hands folded at her abdomen, her eyelids flickered slightly as she glanced at the small gray sedan chair not far away.
Though she said nothing, the sheer authority radiating from her made Dou Minghuai shudder and quickly lower his head.
The Dou family—such ungrateful ingrates! Did they not remember whose favor had brought them their current wealth and status?
Sending this pampered second-generation brat was bad enough, but not a single member of the Dou family had come to the dock to greet them. Truly disgusting.
The nanny’s gaze was cold. She left Dou Minghuai kneeling where he was and turned to catch up with the carriage ahead.
Imperial Palace – Wenhua Hall
Empress Dou tightly clasped Dou Xueci’s hand, her eyes fixed on her without wavering, tears brimming within. This was the only bloodline her elder brother had left in the world, and yet she had failed to protect his child. During those three years in Yongzhou, every report of an assassination attempt felt like an axe splitting her heart.
Dou Xueci, seeing the deep concern in her aunt’s eyes, hated herself for having listened to her mother Madam Zou’s instigation in her past life.
Madam Zou had said imperial favor was unpredictable, and that throughout history, great generals rarely met good ends. Even though her father had died, his military prestige lingered. If the royal family were to feel secure, only by withdrawing from power could they live in peace.
“Your Majesty, Your Highness, this humble daughter dares to beg a favor.”
“Speak freely!” The Emperor’s voice carried no hesitation as his gaze fell upon Dou Xueci.
“Three years ago, Your Majesty assigned four shadow guards to accompany me to Yongzhou. Now that I have returned to the capital, they should by rights be sent back to the Inner Court. But selfishly, I wish to keep them with me. May I be permitted?”
“Is that all? Those four were given to you by me. If you wish to keep them, then keep them!”
Dou Xueci’s face lit up with joy. She quickly knelt to express her gratitude.
The Empress tried to stop her, but Dou Xueci insisted on observing proper etiquette.
The more the Emperor cherished her out of old affection, the more she had to show reverence.
Madam Zou had been right about one thing: imperial favor is unpredictable. Moreover, her father had warned her before his death—never let royal favor breed arrogance or diminish respect for the throne.
If that day ever came, the Dou family as a whole would face its doom.
“Nothing else you wish to ask for?”
A palace maid helped Dou Xueci rise. The Emperor looked at her with a smile.
“Keeping men from the Inner Court is already beyond the rules. I dare ask for nothing more.”
The Emperor’s smile deepened further. “Good child, I am your uncle. Family should not treat each other as outsiders.”
The Emperor spoke of family, but she dared not truly believe herself to be of one family with the Emperor. Frightened, she quickly knelt again.
“Your humble daughter does not dare! Thank you, Your Majesty and Your Highness, for your boundless care. I am deeply grateful.”
The Emperor laughed a few times and personally ordered attendants to help Dou Xueci rise.
When Dou Xueci left the palace, Princess Langhuan insisted on escorting her back to the Duke’s residence, and another person joined them.
Empress Dou released one of her personal maids to accompany Dou Xueci.
Mu He was skilled in medicine. She had long been chosen by the Empress, waiting only for Dou Xueci’s return to the capital before being sent to her side. In her previous life, it had been the same. But alas, later she was swayed by her mother, Madam Zou, and never trusted Mu He. By the following year, Mu He had fallen into the lotus pond and drowned.
On the way back to the residence, Princess Langhuan held Dou Xueci’s hand, asking again and again about her life in Yongzhou—whether those repeated ambushes and hidden arrows had harmed her.
Dou Xueci answered each question, though her gaze lingered on the princess with a trace of distraction. In her past life, as a wandering spirit, she had hovered near Princess Langhuan for a long time. She had watched the once radiant, bold, and imperious princess sink day by day into gloom, becoming timid and shrinking. For the sake of a man, she bent and humbled herself, losing all her proud bearing. All because later, her face was ruined.
“Miss, this servant seems to have seen Madam!” Liu Yun suddenly lowered the carriage curtain and turned back toward Dou Xueci.
The carriage halted. Dou Xueci did not step down, but lifted a corner of the curtain to look toward the street.
In front of Wanbao Pavilion, Zou Nianqiu held Zhuang Wanqing’s hand. “Wanqing, whatever you want later, just choose it. Mother will buy it for you!”
“Thank you, Mother. But today is Eldest Sister’s return to the residence. If we go back late, she may be angry…”
Madam Zou cut her off, a flicker of disdain flashing in her finely drawn brows. “Don’t worry. I have my ways to keep her from being angry. She is not worthy of me waiting at home for her! In Mother’s eyes, she is not half as important as you.”
Speaking thus, the affectionate mother and daughter entered Wanbao Pavilion together.
Inside the carriage, Princess Langhuan furrowed her brows. Though too far to hear their words clearly, she knew they should not have been here.
“Today is your return to the capital. It was bad enough that the Dou family sent no one to greet you, but how could your mother even go out?”
“Perhaps she had urgent business.” Dou Xueci’s smile, falling into Princess Langhuan’s eyes, carried a trace of bitterness.
Princess Langhuan’s escort of Dou Xueci back to the Duke’s residence had already been reported to the household.
No one dared put on airs; the main gates were opened wide, and even the old matriarch—Dou Xueci’s grandmother—came out to receive her.
The men and women of the Dou family, a crowd of dozens, surrounded Dou Xueci as they led her inside. Princess Langhuan only watched her alight from the carriage before returning to the palace.
After Dou Xueci paid her respects to each elder, the old lady stretched out her hands, pulling her into her embrace, tears streaming as she stroked her granddaughter’s thin face.
“My child, come closer and let Grandmother take a good look—how have you grown so thin!”
Liu Yun spoke from the side: “Replying to Old Madam, half a year ago, she fell ill. Her recovery has been slow, but only now is she truly well again.”
Seeing her grandmother weep for her, Dou Xueci felt a dull ache in her heart. Her grandmother loved her, cherished her, yet had not protected her. Did she resent it?
Dou Xueci asked herself—and she did. But in those years after her death, her grandmother had not done nothing. The eternal lamp at Fahua Temple had never once been extinguished. In her later years, she confined herself to her courtyard, praying daily, refusing to see anyone else in the Dou family.
Her grandmother had more than one son, more than one granddaughter. Her heart was divided into too many parts. Dou Xueci was important, but the future and legacy of the Dou family were more important still. And besides, there was that one—truly the treasure at the very core of her grandmother’s heart.
“Why do I not see Mother?” When Dou Xueci asked this, the faces of everyone present shifted—some eager for drama, some worried, some anxious. Truly, all the varied expressions of humanity.