Chapter 573-574: Feng Wu’s First Meeting with Her Future In-Laws; The Moon Empress’s Extremely Annoying Maiden Family |
573: Feng Wu’s First Meeting with Her Future In-Laws
“Prince Ming Xi overdrew his strength and his foundation suffered. There are no other problems. There is no need for anything like special elixirs. Prince Ming Xi will slowly recover after bathing in the Imperial Moon ointment.” The high priest stroked his beard.
“What?! Isn't his foundation being damaged a serious problem?! How could Ming Xi have overdrawn to the point of damaging his foundation? How could this happen? My poor son!” The empress held a handkerchief to her eyes. Her crying was so pitiful, you would have thought Ming Xi was on his deathbed.
The high priest looked at the empress speechlessly while the corners of his mouth twitched feebly.
For ordinary people, damage to the foundation was indeed a serious issue, but this was Prince Ming Xi. He grew up bathed in the Imperial Moon ointment and had the protection of divine blood in his body. How was he an ordinary person? This latest injury wasn’t even as serious as the arm injury from last time!
The high priest complained in his heart, but he didn’t dare say it out loud. He was afraid if he did, Her Royal Highness would drag him away and cry endlessly, complaining that he wasn’t taking her son’s injury seriously.
The Moon emperor wrapped his arm around his wife’s shoulders and tried to soothe and comfort her. Even though his schedule was busy, he needed to find time for someone to prepare medicinal soups for Ming Xi.
It didn’t alleviate the Moon empress’s tears. She was still crying like a waterfall. But as she cried, she saw a beautiful girl with black hair walk up. The girl held Ming Xi’s hand and touched his head. She looked at Ming Xi expressionlessly, but her concern for Ming Xi was clear in her eyes.
“You are...?” Just now the empress was solely focused on her Ming Xi and had failed to notice there was another person in the room. The empress suddenly had a good guess who the girl was.
The Moon emperor looked at the girl whom his son loved, and he could tell from a glance that she was pure and clean. It turned out his son liked this type of girl! No wonder he didn’t like Hua Jin. But what about Diane? The youngest daughter of the Dai house was also lovely and pure, plus they had grown up together. Why didn’t Ming Xi fall in love with her but fell in love with this girl named Feng Wu instead?
He felt both girls belonged in the same clean-minded people category. Why his son took a fancy to one but not the other the emperor couldn’t figure it out.
“I am Feng Wu and I will marry Ming Xi in the future. Are you Ming Xi’s parents?” Feng Wu blinked her big eyes and asked. With her completely blank expression, she exuded cuteness to the extreme.
What kind of introduction was this? Was this what young people say when meeting their boyfriend’s parents for the first time?
The Moon emperor and empress were both confused. Young people these days, what a mystery. Or maybe this girl was a special case?
“I am Ming Xi’s father. I did not expect us to meet so soon.” The emperor sighed. He had asked Ming Xi to bring his future daughter-in-law back so they could meet, but Ming Xi only said he would naturally do so when the time was right.
Unexpectedly, they met in such a way.
“Hello, I heard that you need to prepare a gift when you visit someone’s house for the first time. This fruit is for you.” Feng Wu took out the fruits she thought were the most delicious from her dimensional space ring and handed them to the emperor and empress.
Back when Sister Tian Yue found out she and Ming Xi were dating, Sister Tian Yue told her she needed to prepare a gift because it wouldn’t look good to visit empty handed. Bringing a gift would leave a good impression on the elders and the elders would be less likely to oppose her marriage to Ming Xi.
Feng Wu had firmly remembered the advice, but she wondered what to do if she had no gift prepared. Feeling uneasy, she decided to use her favorite fruit and hoped Ming Xi’s parents would like her gifts and agree to let her marry Ming Xi.
She didn’t understand why she needed their consent since she was the one marrying Ming Xi, but Sister Tian Yue had to have a reason for saying what she did, so Feng Wu followed her words obediently.
Feng Wu handed the gift over with some trepidation. These were her favorite kinds of spiritual fruits and were a gift from the beasts she met in the god tombs.
Jier told her the fruits were rare, high-level type of treasures that would attract people to fight for them.
In short, Jier was telling her the fruits were precious and she should not casually give them away.
Feng Wu thought about it seriously. Since these were Ming Xi’s parents, then it was not casually, and therefore was OK.
The Moon empress was at a loss. The fruits seemed to be eighth-order spiritual fruits. There were many exceptional and rare things in the Moon kingdom so it was natural she wouldn’t be shocked to see them. She was just speechless because Feng Wu’s way of presenting it caught her off guard.
Was there anyone who gave away things in such a manner? Although the gifts were good, why did it feel so awkward?
“Don’t you like them?” Feng Wu blinked her big eyes, her expectation clear and easy to see.
Neither the emperor nor the empress wanted to disappoint Feng Wu. They nodded their heads like they were pounding garlic and expressed their pleasure at receiving the fruits.
“Of course, we like them very much.”
“Yes, these are lovely.”
“Then why aren’t you eating them?” Feng Wu asked suspiciously.
Eat?! You want us to eat these on the spot? When did this become a rule? The emperor and empress widened their eyes in astonishment.
“Eat, eat! We’ll eat them right now.” The couple had no choice but to hold the fruits up and bite into them.
The high priest watched the entire show gleefully. It was rare to see the emperor and empress be so helpless. If he had some melon seeds, he would have definitely grabbed a stool and sat down munching.
The husband and wife chewed away on the fruit helplessly but they had no ill will towards Feng Wu. She was so innocent and touching; it was almost certain their son was going to suffer a lot of heartache in the future.
“Ming Xi! Ming Xi! Auntie and Grandmother have come to see you. Why did my poor child get hurt so badly! What happened? Who would be so cruel to hurt him like this?!”
Before the people in the room could react, two gorgeously dressed women rushed in and threw themselves on Ming Xi’s bed while crying loudly. Those who didn’t know would have thought Ming Xi was about to die...
574: The Moon Empress’s Extremely Annoying Maiden Family
“Mother! Elder Sister! Why are you here?!” The Moon empress was startled by the two of them rushing in and was only able to awkwardly ask them this after recovering from the surprise.
The Moon empress understood she wouldn’t be able to satisfy the desires of her mother and elder sister, so she had given up on trying. She avoided them as much as she could while maintaining a firm stance on Ming Xi's marriage. She never expected to be caught up with them now of all times. Helplessness overwhelmed her again.
She had been taking care of her maiden family all these years. She even loved her niece, Hua Jin, like her own daughter. She never expected her considerations for her maiden family would raise their expectations so much. Perhaps she had done it wrong from the beginning.
“Why? Are we not allowed here? Something happened to my precious grandson. Is it that I, his grandmother, is not allowed to see him?! The two of you are too shameful! My grandson is lying here and all you care about is eating fruit!” The Moon empress’s mother, Old Madam Cuiya, pointed at the Moon emperor and empress with an incredulous and disappointed expression, as though she was talking to two cruel parents who didn’t care about the lives of their children.
The corners of the emperor’s mouth twitched. He didn’t know what to say to this old lady who had nothing to do every day other than try and make her presence known.
“That’s right, little sister and brother-in-law. While Ming Xi isn’t your only son, he is the successor to the throne. He is precious and you must take care of him so that there are no accidents.” Madam Hua, the Moon empress’s eldest sister rebuked the husband and wife team.
The emperor sneered in his heart. This woman didn’t regard herself as an outsider at all. She was his wife’s elder sister, but he was the emperor, and as such, it was impossible for him to refer to her as elder-sister-in-law.
But she seemed to forget his identity as emperor. Every day it was brother-in-law this or brother-in-law that. She behaved too familiarly with him and rarely addressed him with the proper respectful address as emperor.
Don’t think he didn’t know. Madam Hua relied on her status as his wife’s elder sister and never showed the proper respects to the empress or his children. He remembered every faux pas Madam Hua made against them. Unfortunately, instead of being grateful for his patience and forbearance, the other party took it for granted and became even more entitled.
They became greedier and more ambitious, wanting Hua Jin to be the next empress. Ha! Don’t even think about it. Even if Ming Xi hadn’t fallen in love with anyone, he would never approve a marriage between Ming Xi and Hua Jin. That girl was never going to be the next Moon empress.
“Who is this? Why did the person serving Ming Xi change? This court lady is too unruly. She does not even know to properly salute when she sees Mother and me come in. How can someone who doesn’t know proper etiquette have the right to serve Ming Xi? She looks dishonest. Little Sister, you should replace her as soon as possible so Ming Xi doesn’t have to be troubled with this kind of lax behavior.”
Madam Hua stared at Feng Wu vigilantly and with disdain, wishing that her little sister would immediately send her away out of the palace.
She had already dismissed all the other more attractive court ladies around Ming Xi. How did another one sneak in? Her own daughter had not won Ming Xi’s heart yet, and the little vixen who seduced Ming Xi hadn’t been taken cared of either. They couldn’t allow more problems in.
“What did elder sister say? This is the girl Ming Xi likes. Her name is Feng Wu and she is the daughter of Feng house from the ancient eastern countries. The emperor and I have already agreed to the marriage. We only need to wait for Xiao Wu to graduate from Xingguang Holy academy to hold the wedding ceremony.”
The Moon empress took a deep breath. Her elder sister was getting more and more bold. Her elder sister didn’t have to salute her, she didn’t care, but the emperor was a different story.
He was the most noble and honorable person in the empire. Her mother and sister actually relied on their relationship to her to disregard proper etiquette and disrespect him.
One had to know, even the emperor’s own uncles had to salute when they met, never mind his in-laws! How could her mother and sister be so bold?!
The Moon empress had a headache trying to understand her relatives. How did they become so entitled? Maybe they were like this before and she just never noticed?
Thinking about this, she couldn’t help but turn to look at the emperor with an apologetic face. It was because of her ambition to raise up her maiden family.
The Moon empress felt guilty so it was hard for her to meet the emperor’s eyes.
The emperor’s expression looking back at her said it was nothing. He didn’t bother to deal with women like Old Madam Cuiya and Madam Hua, so he tolerated their rudeness and let things be.
He hadn’t reprimanded them before because it would have impacted his wife. They were her maiden family and if he reprimanded them, then rumors about him and his wife not getting along would start. The emperor didn’t want to damage his wife’s reputation so he had refrained.
But now, the emperor felt that he may have approached it wrong. He should have communicated with his wife properly instead of enduring the entire time.
They were trivial matters, but if it weren’t for his repeated concessions in such matters, how could the Hua family dare think they had a say in the next Moon emperor’s marriage?
Fortunately, though he didn’t care about trivial things, he never gave in on larger matters, and hadn’t let the Hua family take advantage.
“She is that Feng Wu girl? I have heard a lot about her. Little Sister, don’t let her deceive you. She has already given birth to a child, and at such a young age too! The father is unknown as well. It can be seen that this girl is wild and unruly, to already have intimate relations with men at her age. Her private life is too complicated. How can she be empress of the illustrious Ancient Silver Moon kingdom? Such a shameless woman can not marry Ming Xi. I won’t allow it,” said Madam Hua decisively and sharply.
The emperor and empress exchanged a look. When did they say they needed her to agree to Ming Xi’s marriage?
“Your sister is right. This marriage is unacceptable. I can not agree to it either. As Ming Xi’s grandmother, I can not watch my precious grandson marry such a dishonorable woman. Our Ancient Silver Moon kingdom will be a laughingstock.”
Old Madam Cuiya spoke indignantly to the emperor and the empress. She knew her status was because of her relationship with her daughter. She dared be presumptuous in front of her daughter but she didn’t dare confront the emperor. . . yet anyway.
“Your name is Feng Wu, right? If you really want what’s best for Ming Xi, you should leave him. How can a woman like you, with a ruined reputation, be the next empress of our Ancient Silver Moon kingdom? For your own good, and for Ming Xi’s sake, you should leave.”