Her little hands kept wiping the tears off her face. She sobbed intermittently as she spoke.
"The little stool by the door told this maid. Last night, the Empress was... terribly beaten by the Emperor."
...
Hearing this, Tang Youyou felt that there was a saying that was quite apt: silence speaks louder than words at this moment.
This girl was too innocent. She didn't even know how to respond.
Meanwhile, Ye Yue at the door was still frowning, deep in thought. Tang Youyou spoke again, "Ye Yue, come here."
Hearing this, Ye Yue quickly came to Tang Youyou's side and asked in confusion, "Your Majesty, this subordinate is here."
Seeing Tang Youyou looking so solemn, Ye Yue was too scared to say a word.
Tang Youyou said, "This girl is in a bad mood. Take her out and comfort her well. I'm not feeling well, so I won't say much."
As soon as she finished speaking, Tang Youyou turned around and left, leaving Ye Yue and Yi Ran looking at each other. Ye Yue saw that Tang Youyou had left, then smiled at Yi Ran.
"Your name is Yi Ran, right?"
Hearing this, Yi Ran nodded. Not knowing what to say, she remained silent for a long time.
Ye Yue said, "Let's go somewhere else to talk. Judging from the Empress's expression, I'm afraid you've brought up a rather tricky problem, right?"
Just as he was speaking, he saw Ye Bai at the door looking over at them.
Seeing this, Ye Bai said, "When did the two of you start hanging around together?"
When Yi Ran heard the word "hanging around", her face instantly turned bright red. She said with an ugly expression, "I don't know who you are, but how could you use such a word to casually describe others?"
She was just a teenage girl. How could she bear such comments from this person?
Ye Bai looked at the girl in front of her. Despite her frail appearance, she had a stubborn temper, just like her mistress, which made Ye Bai dislike her.
"You're just a subordinate, yet you're so temperamental. Do you think that just because your mistress is the Empress, you can do whatever you want in the harem?"
Falsely accused by Ye Bai, Yi Ran's clumsy mouth couldn't utter a single word.
She couldn't say a word for a long time and just shook her head to deny Ye Bai's words. But the latter kept accusing her. "Girls like you usually want to find a powerful backer in the palace. Don't tell me you've hooked up with Ye Yue because of this?"
Such malicious speculation made the inexperienced Yi Ran feel extremely aggrieved.
At the same time, Ye Yue rubbed his forehead and said helplessly, "Ye Bai, don't be so malicious towards her. The Empress has assigned me some tasks. If you keep being so unreasonable, don't blame me for being ruthless."
Ye Yue knew that she harbored ill feelings towards the Empress. He originally thought that she was just being playful, but now it seemed that she was being unreasonable.
Being told this by Ye Yue, Ye Bai instantly blushed.
This was the first time she had seen Ye Yue arguing with her because of an insignificant person.
Thinking of this, Ye Bai snorted and sneered, "Since you value this person so much, then have a good catch-up with her."
After saying that, she left.
At this moment, Yi Ran had already forgotten what had just happened, and she almost forgot what the little stool had said before.
Seeing Ye Yue frowning, she waved her hand and explained, "Although this maid doesn't know who this girl is, my attitude just now was indeed inappropriate. I'm sorry for causing you trouble."
Hearing this, Ye Yue stiffened. Looking at Yi Ran's considerate appearance, he felt a warmth in his heart. "It's okay. Ye Bai has always been like this. You'll get used to it."
In the blink of an eye, the little stool came slowly from afar. Seeing Yi Ran looking unhappy, he asked in surprise, "Sister Yi Ran, are you still feeling sad because of the Empress's matter?"
Hearing this, Ye Yue looked at the little stool and grabbed him just as he was about to slip away after speaking.
"Did you say something before?"
The little stool saw Ye Yue looking fierce and instantly shrank his head, carefully glancing at the people around him.
"Guard Ye is finally free today. This servant still has some things to do, so I'll take my leave first."
As soon as he finished speaking, the little stool was about to quickly leave the scene, but the person beside him still tightly grabbed his collar and refused to let go.
Seeing this, the little stool helplessly turned to Ye Yue and said, "Guard Ye, do you have any other instructions? If not, this servant will take his leave."
Hearing this, Ye Yue sneered, "Did you tell Yi Ran something you shouldn't have before?"
At this, the little stool's panicked face became even uglier. He turned his head and forced a smile. "Guard Ye, this servant didn't say anything. This servant doesn't know anything. This servant really doesn't understand what you're asking!"
Seeing his obvious attempt to cover up, Ye Yue grabbed the person in front of him and pulled him to one side. He whispered a warning in his ear, "Yi Ran is still young. If you don't know how to speak, say less and do more. That's the Emperor and Empress's matter. If you keep talking nonsense next time, your head won't stay on your shoulders."
Receiving such a warning, the little stool was so scared that he didn't dare to breathe loudly. He nodded repeatedly and promised, "This servant won't do this again in the future. Guard Ye is right. It was this servant's mistake. This servant will definitely be more careful in the future."
After saying that, he looked at the person behind him with a pleading look in his eyes, afraid that he would draw his sword and kill him.
Seeing that the little stool had calmed down, Ye Yue nodded and then let go of his collar. After giving him a disdainful glance, he came to Yi Ran.
Seeing the little stool walking slowly, Ye Yue turned around and gave him a kick, urging him, "Remember what you told me just now. Now go do what you should do. Don't come out and disgust people!"
Hearing this, Yi Ran understood what the two of them had just gone to do.
But at this moment, Tang Youyou, who should have been taking a nap, was dressed in plain white and opened the door to leave.
Seeing Yi Ran and Ye Yue at the door, she tilted her head and looked at them.
"What are the two of you doing here? Have you done what I told you just now?"