Su Ningde entered the palace hall and saw Rong Xun still buried in trivial matters, looking extremely frustrated. He whispered, "Your Majesty, Concubine Wen is asking for an audience outside the door."
At the mention of Concubine Wen, Rong Xun's already furrowed brows knitted even deeper. He waved his hand impatiently and said, "Send her back."
Having received the reply, Su Ningde was about to turn around and convey the message. However, Wen Ruxue completely ignored the guards at the door. She forcefully pushed aside the guards' spears with her small hands and strode into the hall.
She paid no heed to Rong Xun's gloomy face nor the terrified expressions of the servants beside her. She walked straight up to Rong Xun on her own and gently placed the soup she had cooked on the desk piled high with memorials.
Wen Ruxue seemed to think the desk was too crowded. With a wave of her small hand, she swept all the memorials off the desk.
She showed an obsequious smile and spoke in a voice she thought was charming, "Your Majesty, look, I braved the heavy rain to come and see you. I even brought you some hot soup. Why are you still driving me away?"
Her words were full of complaints, while Rong Xun's patience was reaching its limit once again. It seemed that Wen Ruxue was determined to push things to the extreme today!
Rong Xun calmly observed her abnormal behavior and slightly raised his eyebrows.
This was the first time he had seen someone so recklessly testing the boundaries of death.
Perhaps he was extremely angry. A bloodthirsty smile appeared on his nearly heart - less face. "You... are simply unreasonable!"
However, Wen Ruxue today seemed to have no sense of propriety at all. She kept pushing Rong Xun's bottom line. She picked up the bowl on the desk and was about to force - feed Rong Xun.
But the next moment, the spoon in her hand was knocked away by Rong Xun. The soup spilled all over the floor. Rong Xun just glanced at it lightly and said, "You, clean up the mess on the floor right now!"
Hearing this, Wen Ruxue refused without hesitation, "I won't do this! Your Majesty doesn't care about me. You even knocked over the things I cooked with great effort on the floor. If Your Majesty doesn't care about me, then I won't accept Your Majesty's order either."
At this, Rong Xun finally got angry. He slightly raised his eyebrows and stared fixedly at Wen Ruxue, who was acting willfully, with his cold, icy eyes.
"I'm ordering you to clean up the mess on the floor!"
However, Wen Ruxue continued to make a scene, while in Rong Xun's eyes on the other side, there was already full - blown anger.
Rong Xun said coldly, "Su Ningde, pass on the order. Concubine Wen is ignorant of etiquette. Punish her with fifty big boards!"
Hearing this, Wen Ruxue, who was still excited just now, immediately froze.
Fifty big boards! This was tantamount to beating her to death! She was so frightened that her legs went weak. She quickly knelt on the ground, her eyes filled with tears as she looked up at Rong Xun.
She cried, "Your Majesty, how could you be so heartless to me? I did all this for Your Majesty!"
Looking at her tear - streaked face, Rong Xun felt no pity at all. Instead, he felt even more disgusted. "Crocodile tears. Guards, drag her out and execute the punishment!"
At this, Wen Ruxue said, "Your Majesty, fifty big boards could kill me! I know I was wrong. I just blindly believed in the advice of the Queen. That's why I thought being coquettish would make Your Majesty like me."
Indeed, Tang Youyou was a rather coquettish person.
Hearing this, Rong Xun fell into deep thought again. He opened his mouth with a low voice, "Then give her twenty big boards as a warning!"
With Rong Xun's leniency, Wen Ruxue had no choice but to accept her fate.
From the very beginning, what Tang Youyou had said was nonsense, but she still believed it again and again.
Finally, after receiving twenty big boards, Wen Ruxue was carried back to her own palace. Su Nian'e, who had been wondering why Wen Ruxue had been going to the Administrative Hall and the Hall of Mental Cultivation repeatedly, now saw this person being carried back.
She pretended to be concerned, with a smile in her eyes but a sobbing tone in her voice. "Oh, isn't this our noble Concubine Wen? Why don't you take the sedan chair back now? Instead, you're being carried in lying down?"
After being taunted by Su Nian'e like this, Wen Ruxue immediately lost all her face. She blushed with embarrassment but couldn't say a word.
By default, Su Nian'e became even more arrogant. Her eyes looking at Wen Ruxue were full of sarcasm.
Wen Ruxue endured the pain and pretended to be nonchalant. "It's just a small incident. It's none of your business. Wait until you can gain the Emperor's favor before you start criticizing me."
Touching on Su Nian'e's sore spot, Wen Ruxue's complexion improved a bit. She returned to her palace. Looking at the servants in front of her, she felt unhappy again.
She looked at Fuzi beside her and said, "Don't tell anyone about today's incident. Spread the word that the Queen is unchaste and has a bad influence on other concubines in the palace. She is unworthy of being the head of the harem!"
Hearing this, Fuzi was slightly stunned. Looking at the serious - faced Wen Ruxue, she felt a little scared. She didn't know if Wen Ruxue would do something stupid in a fit of impulse.
Fuzi nodded and quickly spread the news.
People in the harem all liked to hear such nonsense, and they were also quite active in spreading rumors.
This incident soon reached Tang Youyou's ears.
When Yiran went out to fetch water, she accidentally saw two maids by the well. She heard the two maids talking about Tang Youyou with great interest.
Maid 1: "Have you heard that our Queen is an unchaste woman?"
Maid 2: "Who said it? The Queen has an affair with someone else. She is so shameless. This matter is a certainty!"
Maid 1: "Yes, she is really shameless!"
Maid 2: "Well, let's not talk about this. We don't want to get ourselves into trouble."
...
Hearing this, Yiran felt something was wrong. These things they were saying were not true!
Yiran walked up to the two maids angrily, hands on her hips, scolding loudly, "What are you talking nonsense about here! She is the Queen. How can you talk about her like this!"
Hearing this, the maids sneered, "Who do you think you are? We can say whatever we want. So what if she is the Queen? Didn't she do something she shouldn't have? She has done all the shameless things. Can't others even talk about it? She is really shameless."
After saying this, Yiran was at a loss for words.
She rushed back to the palace hall and told Tang Youyou in detail what she had just heard and seen.