Greetings, Ninth Uncle-Novel2

Chapter 125: Flood (II)

After Cheng Yujin left, Empress Yang’s face was completely darkened. She turned to Dou Xiyin and glared angrily: “How old are you? How can you still be so brainless? Is it your turn to point your finger at the founding emperor?”

“I didn’t mean it.” Dou Xiyin felt very aggrieved, “I didn’t say anything. It was Cheng Yujin who threw the dirt on me.”

Empress Yang ignored Dou Xiyin’s plea. She was indeed angry with Cheng Yujin, but she also wanted to teach Dou Xiyin a lesson. Yet Dou Xiyin dared to talk back? Empress Yang scowled with a sullen face, “If not for your brainless nonsense, would she have the chance to bite you back?”

Dou Xiyin bit her lip, feeling aggrieved by Empress Yang’s attitude. Empress Yang was defeated by Cheng Yujin, but why did she use her to vent her anger? Dou Xiyin dared not to retort again, so she lowered her head and said, “It’s indeed my fault. Your Majesty, please calm your anger.”

After scolding Dou Xiyin for a while, the anger in Empress Yang’s heart lessened a bit. She glanced at her niece and said sternly: “Cheng Yujin is already pregnant, yet you still don’t have any result. You must serve Jun’er well and get pregnant with a dragon descendant as soon as possible. Stop wasting your time with those lowly tricks.”

Lowly tricks? Dou Xiyin’s anger suddenly erupted, but she was afraid of Empress Yang and forcefully held back her temper. Empress Yang had been an Empress for almost 20 years but had achieved nothing. She couldn’t win against Empress Zhong before, and she couldn’t win against Cheng Yujin now. Except for having a good father and a good aunt, what ability did Empress Yang have?

All Empress Yang did was just rely on the Yang family, yet she still put on the air of an empress in front of her.

Empress Yang herself was helpless against the Eastern Palace, and it was Dou Xiyin who gave her an idea. However, such a good plan was smashed by Empress Yang herself, yet she was still complaining, blaming Dou Xiyin for not doing her job properly. How could Dou Xiyin bear this injustice? She was very angry, but her current power was not enough to oppose Empress Yang, and she still needed Empress Yang’s help in the future. Thinking like this, Dou Xiyin barely held back her displeasure.

After Dou Xiyin left, Empress Yang held her aching forehead, feeling deep helplessness. She was very tired. Son, daughter-in-law, aunt, father…

Why did the Yang family become like this? Previously, their family was united and worked together very closely. They trusted each other and could entrust their back to one another without reservation. But since when did they fall apart and sink into the situation today?

Empress Yang also had another problem, which was Dou Xiyin’s wedding. In order to compensate her elder sister and niece, she forcefully pushed forward Dou Xiyin and Jun’er’s marriage. Empress Yang thought that she was doing a righteous thing, but the Emperor had a lot of complaints as a result. Not only that, her aunt Empress Dowager Yang sneered at her, scolding her for being a white-eyed wolf, and her son blamed her for sacrificing him for her natal family. Now, even Dou Xiyin resented her.

Dou Xiyin’s wedding was done in a hurry, causing some people to maliciously speculate whether Dou Xiyin was pregnant. In fact, it was Dou Xiyin’s fault. Although she had a skin-to-skin relationship with the Second Prince, it was no more of getting caught in disheveled clothes. The Second Prince was drunk at the time and couldn’t do anything, and it was Dou Xiyin who unbuttoned her clothes on her own. On top of that, they were discovered too quickly and had no time to do anything.

It would be better if Dou Xiyin was really pregnant. Now, she bore the stigma but had nothing in her stomach to make the price worthwhile. Empress Yang was caught in the middle and full of headaches.

Empress Yang let out a long sigh and looked up at the sky outside the eaves. It had already started to rain again. The rain was continuous, blending with the dark sky above with no end in sight.

Looking at the gloomy sky, Empress Yang felt inexplicably depressed and uneasy.

…

The rainy season in the capital was extraordinarily long this year. At first, people said that the harvest would be better with more rain, but after ten days of consecutive rain, everyone began to worry.

At this time, the area in Jiangnan¹ issued emergency reports one after another. There were heavy rains and floods in Jiangnan. More than 500 people were killed and injured due to the flood, and countless others were displaced. The flood damage was severe, and the affected area was in urgent need of disaster relief.

After the imperial court received the urgent reports, both the monarch and courtiers were shocked. Li Chengjing had just returned to the Eastern Palace and taken a seat at the dining table when a eunuch hurried in with an urgent report. After receiving the report, Li Chengjing immediately got up and walked out. Cheng Yujin knew that the situation was critical, so she quickly arranged for the palace servants to prepare rain gear and sent Li Chengjing out in person. The rain seemed to be pouring down like a water bucket, covering the silhouettes of Li Chengjing and his attending eunuchs. Soon, their figures were blurred and disappeared into the rain.

Lian Qiao, who was by Cheng Yujin’s side, couldn’t feel at ease: “Crown Princess, is something serious happened?”

Cheng Yujin pursed her lips, rarely giving the servant girls no reassurance. In the end, she just shook her head and sighed at the rain outside: “We rely on mountains to eat mountain grace, and we rely on water to drink water. We can only wait for His Highness and other courtiers to discuss countermeasures.”

1. Jiangnan: Region on the south of Yangtze river.