228 The Two Empress Dowagers

As Nan Hua raised her head, she noticed another familiar face in the distance. Wearing a veil and bangs, it made her countenance harder to look at. However, it was clear that those who knew her would be able to recognize her with one glance.

Long Xu Nian.

After getting married to Wen Family, Nan Hua hadn't heard anything from Long Xu Nian again. However, looking at the veil and the nails of the young woman, Nan Hua knew very well that Long Xu Nian was dabbing in poison so heavily.

It was also very likely that she herself had been poisoned because of carelessness when handling dangerous materials.

The skin in her nail had changed color.

The previous Long Xu Nian would have already swaggered and flaunted whenever she saw other people. But just a few months into her marriage, she had turned into a completely different person.

The previously blooming flower had withered.

The environment where she was staying couldn't support her and even allowed her to die down quietly.

Nan Hua lowered her eyes, no longer in the direction of the young woman. It was not her business what happened to the other party. No matter what happened, she didn't want to have any interaction with her anymore.

However, she came to realization that banquets like this truly brought everyone to meet with each other. Noble ladies rarely went anywhere since there was not many entertainments in the ancient world. However, during party like this, it was clear that they would start to showcase their fangs.

"Princess Yue had arrived with Empress Dowager Yan and Empress Dowager Mei."

The moment the eunuch announced that, everyone quickly stood up before they all kowtowed on the ground.

"(their name) greets Princess Yue! (their name) greets Empress Dowager Yan! (their name) greets Empress Dowager Mei! Long Live the princess! Long Life the Empress!"

As their subjects, they had to greet the royal family properly. It was to the point that they didn't dare to show any sign of displeasure even though they had to kowtowed to the ground.

"Rise." Empress Dowager Mei smiled as she walked inside. Amongst the female, she had the highest status because her son was the Emperor. Since the Emperor didn't have any Empress yet, female with the highest status was naturally his birth mother, Empress Dowager Mei.

Dressed in phoenix dress, she looked extremely stunning. The hem of the dress swayed lightly as Empress Dowager Mei walked inside. The layers of the skirt were decorated nicely, it was lustrous like the moon. Embroidered with pearls and lifelike pattern, it was very eye catching.

Empress Dowager Mei had long been known as the temptress during her time. Even now, she looked exceptionally stunning. Age didn't seem to have any effect for Empress Dowager Mei.

Behind her, Empress Dowager Yan was walking unhurriedly. Even though her dress was not as luxurious as Empress Dowager Mei, she still wore long dress that accentuated her beauty perfectly. If not because she was standing beside Empress Dowager Mei, she would definitely be called as the most beautiful one.

Lightly smiling, Empress Dowager Yan walked inside with light steps.

Behind the two of them was Princess Yue. Unlike the two of them, she was wearing exceptionally thick makeup to cover up the swelling around her eyes. Because of the decision from the ministers and the Emperor, she would be wedded to Zhang Xu Kingdom.

Not only that, she would be the Emperor's Imperial Concubine!

How could she accept it so easily?

She cried, begged, and pleaded a lot, but no one listened to her. In the end, the other princesses even mocked her. And today, they were all excusing themselves from attending because of sickness just to avoid her revenge.

Sickness?

Those annoying women were all very healthy!

However, Princess Yue couldn't say anything to express her grievances. All she could do was to put on a smile as if she was enjoying this party. Only the Heaven knew how much her heart was bleeding.

"Jie Jie," Empress Dowager Yan called. "I'll be sitting at the side."

"Thank you, Mei Mei." Empress Dowager Mei didn't mind in the slightest bit. She was indeed a bit older than Empress Dowager Yan and the two of them acted the play of being good sisters when they were outside.

Even though Empress Dowager Mei didn't like Empress Dowager Yan, she had no other choice but to play with the game and smiled kindly. In the palace, it was unknown how many times they had clashed with each other.

Looking at the crowd of women in front of her, Empress Dowager Mei took a seat naturally. She waved her hand with a smile on the corner of her lips. "There's no need to bother Aijia*. Please enjoy the banquet."

The crowd replied politely and said that Empress Dowager Mei was so kind and so on.

Nan Hua was watching as the noble ladies tried to bootlick Empress Dowager Mei without participating. Because of Empress Dowager Mei's low background, she had been mocked a lot when Emperor Xuan was still a prince. Even when Emperor Xuan reigned, her status has always been very low.

Empress Dowager Hai, who used to be Imperial Concubine Hai, hated her with passion because she was worried that her son would be replaced. It was unknown how many times this woman had made things difficult for Empress Dowager Mei.

Now that Emperor Yang Zhou had taken the throne, it was clear that they would no longer show the contempt.

In fact, many officials had already started their bootlicked methods ever since Emperor Yang Zhou was selected as the Crown Prince. Many people even said that Empress Dowager Mei was a temptress, who could make the Emperor change his words with a flit of her hand.

Now that she was the highest ranking female and Emperor Yang Zhou was only 17 years old, it was clear that she was the one who held the highest power in the entire Fei Yang Kingdom aside from the powerful minister.

With that thought, Nan Hua lowered her eyes once more.