Unlimited estates for rural beauty-Chapter 436 Feng Xuxu Unleashes Her Power (2)

The ministers burst into cheers, shouting long live the Emperor and long life to the Empress. Feng Xuxu, sitting on the Dragon Throne, was also drawn in by their joy and couldn’t help but drink a few more cups.

Having apparently tired of playing, one child lay sprawled on Feng Xuxu’s thigh, breathing heavily in sleep, while the other half-reclined on the Dragon Throne. Feng Xuxu gently picked up the daughter on her leg and waved for two nannies, who carried the children back to Yangxin Hall.

The next day, Feng Xuxu indulged in a rare lie-in. She opened her bleary eyes and stretched languidly before slowly getting out of bed.

"Empress, you’re awake?" Mei Lenglei was outside working on her needlework; hearing some noises from the bedroom, she put down her sewing, entered the bedroom and saw the Empress had already risen. She went forward and lifted the mosquito netting.

"Mhm." Feng Xuxu nodded, put on a festive dress, and prepared for the ladies with imperial edicts who would come to pay their respects at the palace later.

She had barely finished her morning meal when the eunuch overseer, Eunuch Wei, came to report that the ladies were all assembled and now waiting at Moxuan Pavilion.

Feng Xuxu put down her chopsticks, took a sip of tea to rinse her mouth, dabbed the corner of her lips, and then rose gracefully. She draped a cloak around her shoulders and boarded the palanquin, rushing to Moxuan Pavilion. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"The Empress has arrived!" A sharp-eyed little eunuch, seeing the Empress’s palanquin had stopped at the entrance to Moxuan Pavilion, and Eunuch Wei assisting the Empress, used his duck-like voice to shout to the inside loudly.

The ladies with imperial edicts who had been laughing inside all stopped their jesting upon hearing the eunuch’s announcement, instantly adopting a posture of dignified seating.

Feng Xuxu’s slow footsteps entered Moxuan Pavilion, and from the corner of her eye, she saw they were all casting curious glances her way. She slightly raised an eyebrow, walked to her seat, turned, and elegantly sat down.

The curious ladies with imperial edicts retracted their gazes, stood up, and bowed deeply, heads lowered: "Your servants pay respect to the Empress, may the Empress be auspicious."

"Rise."

"Thank you, Empress." They stood up and then seated themselves again.

Feng Xuxu pursed her lips slightly, just having lifted a cup of flower tea to her lips without having taken a sip, when an over-forty woman kneeled before her, eyes brimming with tears: "Please, Empress, grant me justice."

Feng Xuxu once again set the teacup back down, resting one arm on the armrest beside her, looking somewhat unbothered as she lifted an eyelid: "Rise and speak."

"Thank you, Empress." The woman used the handkerchief in her hand to gently dab away her tears.

The second lady to Feng Xuxu’s lower left saw her kneeling before the Empress begging for justice, and her face turned ugly. She pressed her lips tightly, glaring at her fiercely.

"Tell me, what matter is so pressing that it needs my intervention during the New Year’s celebrations?" She seemed tired of sitting; her whole body leaned casually against the soft cushion to her side.

The Duchess of the Zhenguo, biting her red lips, shed more fierce tears, her voice choked as she spoke: "Empress, the son of Lord Wang has no virtue; for a trivial matter, he joined others and beat my son so severely that he still lies bedridden... Your servant..."

"Empress, what the Duchess of the Zhenguo says is not the truth!" The wife of Lord Wang, incensed to hear her son accused of being amoral, couldn’t help standing up to object.

"Hmph! Many saw your son beating others; my son is still bedridden, and you dare claim this isn’t the truth?" The Duchess of the Zhenguo, Li from the Gao Family, raised her voice suddenly, glaring viciously at Mrs. Wang Lu.

"Humph, your son struck first, and my son only defended himself. Then your son’s servants called a few house servants, and they started punching and kicking my son; the Minister of Rites’ son couldn’t stand to watch this, so he stepped in to save my son, allowing Yan to escape. My son is still lying in bed, and the doctor said it will take at least two more months before he can get up," Mrs. Wang Lu, furious, knelt before the Empress, her face flushed and her chest heaving violently.