After ruling the country behind the scenes for nearly ten years, the Empress Dowager returned power to the Emperor and retired to Qingning Palace for more than twenty years. During these years, she rarely went out, and at most summoned some familiar ladies and daughters. The only time she left the palace was ten years ago when the Emperor ordered the completion of the Da Ci'en Temple, and the Emperor personally invited her to burn incense. The grand procession of that time is still talked about by the old people in the capital.
Today, the empress dowager did not ride in the two-elephant jade carriage for her most formal trips, nor did she ride in the carriage she used to burn incense at the Da Ci'en Temple. She also did not have palace servants on both sides of the carriage holding walking and sitting barriers. Instead, she simply rode in a carriage that was very simple and solemn for her. Only the carriage was covered with a relatively luxurious red gauze and gold silk enclosure, and was escorted by a group of plainclothes soldiers from the Ruiqi Battalion.
If the doormen of Duke Zhao's mansion were not well-trained, they would have known at a glance that the group of people were of extraordinary origin. Otherwise, it would undoubtedly have caused a lot of confusion that guests arrived when the wedding banquet had already begun.
Because the doorman reported that the person coming might be a female member of the royal family, the doorman Zhu An hurried out in person. When he saw Yuquan got off the car first, he was immediately delighted.
Although this Shang Gong of Qingning Palace did not go out often, she had occasionally come to Zhaoguo Mansion over the years to meet the Taifu or Zhu Jing on behalf of the Queen Mother, and of course, she had also been awarded. Therefore, when Zhu An saw her, he thought that the Queen Mother had also sent her to watch the ceremony today, and perhaps there would be additional rewards. However, when he went forward to ask, he was dumbfounded to learn that the Queen Mother was in the car.
This was a serious matter. When he learned that the Empress Dowager was going to Qing'an Hall to meet the Dowager, he immediately ordered someone to inform the two young masters Zhu Jing and Zhu Tingfang, and at the same time ordered someone to go to Qing'an Hall in advance to inform the Dowager and the wife and eldest daughter who might be there. He then respectfully opened the middle door and let the carriage in.
After all, even if the Queen Mother didn't want to make it public, the proper courtesy still had to be shown.
Although they took a narrow passage that avoided the wedding banquet area, there were too many guests coming and going that day. Even though most people had never seen the Queen Mother, Zhu An was still afraid of problems, so he sent his son to personally gather all the guards who were originally scattered around.
Even though someone had sent a message early, when the empress dowager arrived at Qing'an Hall, the group of female guests who were originally there did not disperse. After all, there were many male guests in the front yard, and there were also many female guests in the back yard. Although the lady was a little surprised that the empress dowager's sister came in person, since the empress dowager did not order all the outsiders to leave, she could not be too excessive.
Faced with this unprecedented situation of the Queen Mother coming in person, the Princess of Jiangdu, the Lady of Qin, the Lady of Chu and other top ladies from outside the royal family were initially caught off guard, but when they actually faced the Queen Mother and paid their respects, none of them showed the slightest bit of surprise. Their greetings and compliments were warm but not chaotic.
However, Mrs. Wu, who was specially invited by the lady to accompany her to Qing'an Hall today, was not so calm.
She was not originally a member of this circle of noble ladies. If Jiu Niang had not accompanied her personally and helped her to block any open or hidden attacks, she would have wanted to escape long ago. And when the Queen Mother came, she felt even more uncomfortable when she followed the others to pay her respects. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it was like a thorn in her back.