How could Mo Liujin possibly let Chu Qingmeng keep standing and offering formal greetings? Such petty tactics were hardly worth bringing out into the open; he directly supported Chu Qingmeng to a seat—and furthermore, seated her in his own seat of honor. Chu Qingmeng did not notice that Mo Liujin had seated himself below her, as he sometimes sat on her left and sometimes on her right in their everyday life, and thus she paid no attention to the seating arrangement.
"Hmph! Even if I am not her elder, I am still my son's birth mother. Princess Anning, don't be so arrogant. Since the Princess values propriety above all else, she ought to know that a woman who has married into a family should honor her husband as her lord, with the husband as the guide for the wife. To sit above your husband—is that not trying to turn the heavens upside down?" Concubine Liu looked at Chu Qingmeng with mockery.
Chu Qingmeng was somewhat bewildered. Had she seated herself above Mo Liujin? Reaching out, her hand brushed against Mo Liujin's, and only then did she realize that he was indeed seated below her. Before she could speak, however, Mo Liujin sighed helplessly and began, "Mother, the Grand Princess Anning married downward. She holds noble rank, while I am merely a subject. According to protocol, she need not bow; she may even take the seat of honor."
Chapter 241