Phoenix in the Moonlight

"Mother, son has brought his consort to greet you." Grand Imperial Concubine pressed her lips together and gave a forced smile. The others did not seem to notice her true thoughts.

"Come, sit. It is getting late. We must have breakfast now." The pair took their respective seats and proceeded to eat. "Jia Lixue, I hope the servants are treating you well?" she asked, stirring her hot soup. She gazed down at the slivers of smoke rising from it.

"Mother, everyone in the wangfu has treated me well. They have given me everything that my heart desires," Jia Lixue commented. She wanted to have good relations with her mother-in-law, knowing that this woman would be her support in the future even if her husband took a legal wife.

'Mother?' Xia Jingfei could only roll her eyes internally. 'You remember me now? Where were you the morning after your wedding?'

"Mother is glad that you have taken this wangfu as your own." Though said politely, the implication was clear. Jia Lixue stiffened and looked towards Wang Yifeng for help only to find the other ignoring them. She had been accused of running after luxury.

She wanted to bite her lips and act pitiful, but a woman from the harem would never fall for the tricks that worked on her parents.

"Lixue is fortunate that wangye and mother have accepted me. I have been spoiled since young. I hope mother will teach me in the future." She could only say this much. If it had been her own home, she would have lashed out and given this old woman a piece of her mind, but here, she had to appear gentle and virtuous. That was the only way to survive until this old woman passed on to the next world.

"Mother has always wanted a daughter. How can I bear to teach you when I wish to spoil you?" 'Of course I am not going to teach you how to be glib tongued, I don't want you to surpass me.'

Lixue remained silent. It seemed that this mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship was doomed to be strained. She could only believe in her husband and hope he would protect her.

"Daughter, come pour some tea for mother," Xia Jingfei commanded. This was a ritual, and it had been postponed for too long in this case.

Gathering her courage, Jia Lixue stood up and moved towards the front of the hall. The old servant who had been serving her since she came to the wangfu produced a pot of tea and a cup. She nodded at this servant and grasped the cup, conjuring her inner strength.

"Jia Lixue greets Mother. May mother live for thousands and thousands of years." Grand Imperial Concubine shot her son a look and saw him looking towards the other direction, paying them no mind. It seemed that she and this daughter-in-law had been left to bicker by themselves. He wouldn't meddle.

Good. She wouldn't mind as long as Wang Yifeng didn't side with the girl and remained unbiased.

Xia Jingfei accepted the cup of tea and drank it in one gulp. The servant by her side produced a green jade hairpin, which she took and placed it personally on Jia Lixue's hair. She kept her tone light and breathy as she muttered the next words, "I do not ask much of you. Just remember that you must never say or do anything that will lose the face of this wangfu."

"Lixue will remember this," she replied sincerely.

"Good. You may rise," Xia Jingfei said. Jia Lixue took the opportunity to retreat and take her seat. She sighed in relief and leaned in for a cup of water. She suddenly felt very thirsty.

"Feng'er, when do you leave for the South?" Xia Jingfei asked after a long silence.

"I leave in two days, mother. I will bid you farewell before I leave." His simple words made her brows knit.It gave her little to no assurance. This son of hers was secretive and never opened his mouth to tell her what he was planning. She knew that the Emperor was sending Wang Yifeng into perilous waters to punish him and she couldn't help but loath that girl Lixue for it.

Rationally, she knew that it was her son who pursued this marriage, but she couldn't afford to be angry at the boy whom she had raised with her blood and tears. She had killed to protect him and place him where he was today. How could she be angry at him? He was a projection of her success. If only the previous empress and crown prince hadn't poisoned the previous emperor, she would have successfully placed her son on the throne and ruled on her behalf. Taking care of the other princes would have been easy.

She gritted her teeth as she thought back.

"I have promised Jia Lixue that I will bring back silk for her. Mother, do you want something from the South?" So this stinky girl had already made her demands. What face did she have demanding gifts when her husband was going to fight for his survival?

"I only want Feng'er to come back safe. Mother cannot bear to see you suffer." She dabbed the corner of her eye with her handkerchief.

"Son is merely going on a diplomatic trip. I am honored that the Emperor thought me sufficient." Grand Imperial Concubine curled her fingers into a fist and bitterly looked at her distant son. She simply nodded and asked the servants to prepare well for the trip.

The next two days, the wangfu was busy preparing for the wangye's impending trip to the south. Clothes, food, dried edibles and his most trusted servants were collected in one place. The edict from the emperor came. He had granted fifty soldiers to Qinwang for his travel. The emperor had wished him a safe trip.

Wang Yifeng accepted the edict with grace and replied kindly.