Transmigration: From Farmer To Empress
Chapter 1026 - 1028: Zhao Yang’s Innermost Feelings (5)

Chapter 1026: Chapter 1028: Zhao Yang’s Innermost Feelings (5)

Juhua dragged Cai Wei along, as sticky as taffy, one minute wanting to go shopping with her, and the next insisting on showing her the rabbits she was raising. Although clearly older than Cai Wei, she acted much like a child.

Looking affectionately at her childish daughter, she laughed and said, "You girl, you’re all grown up and still hopping around, just like a little child. Why can’t you be steady like Cai Wei?"

Juhua, unyielding, said, "How am I acting like a child? Have you forgotten? Just the other day when Shen Furong was provoking you, it was I who dealt with her!"

Madam Cui, scoffing, laughed and said, "That was only because you borrowed Cai Wei’s name. What’s there to be proud of?"

Hearing this, Juhua became agitated, "So what if I borrowed Cai Wei’s name? Cai Wei didn’t mind. It was an emergency. Had I not said that the hairpin on mother’s head was a gift from Cai Wei, she would have certainly forced you to pay heavy respects to her. By then, mother, your honor throughout Bianzhou Prefecture would have been lost!"

Seeing her daughter distressed, Madam Cui helplessly laughed and said, "Yes, yes, yes, it was Miss Juhua who made a contribution, Miss Juhua is indeed clever, gentle, and composed. Is that enough now?"

"Hmph, that’s more like it!"

Satisfied, Juhua, with an arrogant lift of her chin, took Cai Wei’s hand, "Come on, Cai Wei, let me take you to see my rabbits."

While going to see the rabbits, Cai Wei curiously asked, "What you just mentioned about dealing with Shen Furong, what happened? I remember Shen Furong was married off to Bianzhou Prefecture, wasn’t she? How did she come back to cause trouble?"

Juhua indignantly said, "That venomous, bad woman, relying on her now being the Prefect’s wife, demanded a month ago during her birthday that the wives of various county magistrates pay their respects to her. When they saw my mother, her maid even commanded my mother to greet her—so shameless!"

Cai Wei, shocked, said, "What? She dared to treat her own stepmother like that, isn’t she afraid of the imperial historians impeaching her husband?"

"She’s not afraid at all. Now that she’s the Prefect’s wife, those magistrates’ wives are too busy currying favor with her. Who would stand up for my mother?"

Gritting her teeth, Juhua’s round, bun-like face swelled with anger, the thought of that day sparking a desire to punch someone.

"Later, it was only my quick thinking that saved the day. I told them the pearl flower in my mother’s hair was a gift from you, as you are the Wife of King Qin, thousands upon thousands of times more honorable than her. Naturally, she didn’t dare require my mother to greet her with your gift, so she gave up!"

Cai Wei shook her head, saying, "A concubine publicly demanding her stepmother to pay respects to her—it’s such a horrific and disrespectful act, probably unrivaled throughout our Great Jin Nation!"

"Exactly, you should have seen her, gloating like a petty villain. It made me so angry I wanted to pull her down from her beauty couch and slap her several times!" Juhua, while speaking, rotated her hand in the air, mimicking slapping Shen Furong’s face.

Cai Wei said, "That Shen Furong is young and beautiful, and comes from a notable family. The Prefect of Bianzhou must really cherish her!"

"Pfft, what good does that do?"

With disdain, Juhua sneered, "That old Prefect is nearly sixty years old, how many years does he have left? Furthermore, the Prefect has grown sons and grandchildren already. Even if Shen Furong does bear him heirs, the old Prefect might not live to see them grow up. What good days can she expect then? If she were wise, she would have behaved kindly and modestly over these years, then perhaps the stepchildren might keep a place for her after his passing. If she chooses to rely on her favor and bullies others, once the old Prefect breathes his last, she’ll have a tough time!"

The notion of securing a fallback for herself and her future children evidently escapes Shen Furong. The louder she is now, the harder she will fall later. However, it has nothing to do with Cai Wei. To her, Shen Furong is nothing but a stranger. Whatever path she chooses for her life, it has no bearing on her by a single copper coin!