A hint of smugness flashed in Yi Weiwei's eyes. No matter how capable Yi Qing was, she would have to endure when facing the Princess Dowager.
The Princess Dowager immediately ordered her carriage and headed straight for the General's Mansion. With both of her daughters in such a state, she had nothing more to worry about.
"Madam, madam, the Princess Dowager is here!" Sang Sang rushed into the pharmacy in a panic.
Yi Qing hadn't expected the Princess Dowager to act so quickly. It seemed that now that her backup plan was gone, she was getting anxious.
"Madam, the Princess Dowager has come with full ceremonial guards. You should go out to greet her," Sang Sang reminded.
"If I don't go out to greet her, can't she come in?" Yi Qing looked at Sang Sang seriously.
Sang Sang was completely dumbfounded. She never thought of such an idea: "According to the court regulations, you must greet her. Otherwise, you'll be charged with disrespect."
"Disrespect?" Yi Qing wanted to laugh. "Just tell her I'm in the pharmacy and it's inconvenient for me to greet her." As she said, she continued to prepare the medicine and start boiling it.
Yi Qing didn't want to see the Princess Dowager, but Sang Sang and the others didn't dare to be negligent. They had no choice but to go and reply to the Princess Dowager as their madam instructed.
"She dares not to see me just because she's in the pharmacy. How arrogant!" The Princess Dowager directly barged into the General's Mansion.
The guards of the General's Mansion had been instructed by Xiao Jinghan that no one was allowed to barge into the mansion without permission. But when it came to the Princess Dowager, they really didn't dare to do anything.
Xue Miao'er saw the Princess Dowager barging into the General's Mansion and excitedly ran to find Yi Qing: "The general said that if anyone barges into the mansion, we should beat them out. Can I fight?"
"If you could fight, would you still come and ask me?" Yi Qing looked at Xue Miao'er's excited look. Xue Miao'er just wanted to fight and then let her take the blame.
"I haven't found my husband in the capital yet. I might as well be back in the mountain stronghold. It was more carefree there," Xue Miao'er said unhappily.
"Okay then. When the Princess Dowager comes later, you can argue with her," Yi Qing suggested as a compromise.
"Fight if you can. Don't just talk nonsense," Xue Miao'er thought it was boring.
Just as they were joking, the Princess Dowager had already barged in with her entourage.
"Yi Qing, why aren't you kneeling when you see me?" the Princess Dowager shouted at the door of the pharmacy.
Yi Qing pretended to fan the small stove in front of her: "Your Highness, I also have a title bestowed by the court. If I haven't committed any crime, why should I kneel?"
"Humph, don't think I don't know. You must have used some despicable means to make Miao'er and Qian'er like that."
"Like what?" Yi Qing looked blank. "Your Highness is coming here to seek accountability. You should at least make it clear what's going on."
"Stop pretending. I'm putting it clearly today. Since the Empress Dowager has issued an imperial edict, no matter what happens to Qian'er, she must marry into the General's Mansion. Don't waste your efforts." The Princess Dowager was always overbearing. Now that things had come to this, she couldn't back down in front of Yi Qing.
Yi Qing wasn't angry, but there was a chill in her eyes: "That's the general's business. Please don't cause trouble in my mansion. If this gets out, people will say that Your Highness has no upbringing."
"How dare you say I have no upbringing!" The Princess Dowager saw that Yi Qing was always looking at the stove in front of her. She walked over and kicked the stove over. The medicinal soup inside spilled out.
Xue Miao'er immediately protected Yi Qing and stood in front of her.
"Today I'll teach you what upbringing is. Smash everything for me!" the Princess Dowager roared angrily.
"Fight then," Yi Qing looked at the overturned medicine pot and sneered at the corner of her mouth. "Don't damage the things in the pharmacy."
When Xue Miao'er heard that she could fight, she became energetic. She rolled her long whip and blocked the people who rushed to the front. Then she lashed out with her whip.
It was said that Xue Miao'er used to play around everywhere and didn't have much time and energy to practice martial arts. But now in the General's Mansion, she was so bored that she was about to grow mold. All she could do was practice martial arts. Her skills had improved by leaps and bounds.
"Rebellious! Rebellious!" The Princess Dowager didn't expect Yi Qing to dare to let her people fight back.
Xue Miao'er quickly whipped a group of people until they howled. Then she turned to the Princess Dowager who was standing there. She had never whipped the Princess Dowager before. If she could whip her once, she might be able to brag about it for the rest of her life.
The Princess Dowager saw Xue Miao'er's eager look: "Yi Qing, control your subordinate."
"I have no upbringing myself. I can't control her," Yi Qing wanted to laugh.
When Xue Miao'er heard what Yi Qing said, she lashed her whip in front of the Princess Dowager. The Princess Dowager was so scared that her face turned pale. She took a step back and fell to the ground.
"Crazy! Crazy! They're all crazy. I'm going to the palace!" The Princess Dowager fled in a hurry with her entourage.
Xue Miao'er looked at her whip with a bit of regret. She thought she was too timid. Such a good opportunity, but she didn't dare to whip the Princess Dowager.
"Madam, you should send someone to call the general back quickly. If the Princess Dowager goes to the palace to complain, it will be bad for you," Sang Sang was worried.
Yi Qing looked at the medicinal dregs on the ground: "Clean this up. We'll go too."
The emperor was discussing matters with his ministers in the imperial study. When he heard that the Princess Dowager had come crying, he had a headache. He asked the ministers to leave first.
"What's going on, sister?" the emperor looked at the Princess Dowager's disheveled appearance.
"Your Majesty always trusts General Xiao. Now even his wife is getting arrogant because of your favor. She has no regard for the law and ordered her subordinate to whip me. How can I show my face in public in the future?" the Princess Dowager cried.
"Is there such a thing?" the emperor didn't believe it. Yi Qing wasn't stupid. How could she blatantly let someone beat the Princess Dowager? Even if she wanted to beat her, she would do it secretly.
"Your Majesty doesn't believe me?" the Princess Dowager was angry.
"Xiao Dezi, go and summon Lady Xiao to the palace immediately," the emperor ordered.
"Your Majesty, just now I saw Lady Xiao go to the Empress Dowager's place," Xiao Dezi said carefully.
"She must have gone there to accuse me first," the Princess Dowager looked at the emperor.
The emperor also wanted to know how Yi Qing was going to solve this matter: "Prepare the carriage. I'm going to the Hall of Happiness and Longevity."
Yi Qing was kneeling obediently for once, looking wronged. Xue Miao'er was kneeling beside her, and Sang Sang was standing behind them holding the medicinal dregs.
"Since the death of the eldest prince, there have been no heirs in the harem. The noble ladies have always been grateful for Your Majesty's kindness and have been trying their best to find a medicinal recipe that is beneficial for having heirs. Today, when I was in the critical moment of boiling the medicine, it was inconvenient for me to greet the Princess Dowager. But the Princess Dowager led people to barge into the General's Mansion and directly went to the pharmacy. She knocked over the medicine I was boiling. That medicine is very precious and it's not easy to collect all the ingredients. Now..." Yi Qing couldn't continue.
"Is there really such a thing?" The Empress Dowager immediately got angry.
The Empress Dowager was an easy - going person and was willing to discuss things. But when it came to the matter of the royal heirs, there was no room for negotiation. Although after the death of the eldest prince, the emperor didn't confer any posthumous title on him, saying that it was not suitable to confer a title since the crown prince had not been determined yet, anyone could see that there was a problem. The Empress Dowager was still very sad.
Especially since there had been no heirs in the harem for such a long time, it made her even more anxious. The emperor had favored many women, but none of them had conceived. She was so worried that she couldn't sleep at night.
The queen rolled her eyes. Before, she had shown kindness to Yi Qing, but Yi Qing always pretended not to know. How could she get involved in this matter? It was probably because of the Empress Dowager's order to marry the Princess Dowager's second daughter that Yi Qing got angry and had a conflict with the Princess Dowager.