She had no choice but to suppress the anger in her heart.
"Since Her Majesty the Empress Dowager has said so, I'd better not refuse. Let's go."
Supported by two maids, she walked outside.
The moment she saw Shi Muyuan, she almost wanted to strangle her to death.
Concubine Rui looked pale and walked weakly, as if she would faint with just one more step.
This pitiful sight immediately made the Prince of Li cry out.
"My poor daughter, how could you become like this? If I hadn't come, I wouldn't have known that you've been living so miserably in the palace and being bullied like this."
Hearing this, Concubine Rui seemed even weaker. It took her a while to turn her head and soothe the Prince of Li's emotions.
"Father is here. Come in and sit down. I was waiting for Sister here. I didn't expect you to come so soon."
Just in time. She thought she might miss it.
When no one was paying attention, she winked at her father, and the Prince of Li quickly understood and started to pick a fight.
"I wonder why Her Majesty the Empress Dowager is so haughty towards a sick person. Aren't you afraid of being scolded by outsiders if this gets out?"
Shi Muyuan was calm and looked down at the armor on her hand, as if she hadn't heard a word. This reaction further infuriated the Prince of Li.
He snorted coldly and put it bluntly, "My daughter has been a concubine in the palace for many years. According to seniority, the Empress Dowager should call her sister. If you don't give me an explanation today, I won't leave. I'll let all the civil and military officials see what kind of life my daughter is living, and let the whole world know that my daughter is being bullied to death by you."
The more he talked, the more excited he became. For a moment, he forgot the identity of the person in front of him. He just wanted to help his daughter solve this trouble.
So, when he finished speaking, Xiao Xiao had already scolded, "Prince of Li, how dare you be so presumptuous! Do you know that the person in front of you is the current Empress Dowager? This matter has nothing to do with the Empress Dowager. Concubine Rui just couldn't think it through. Our Empress Dowager came to check on her out of pity. Since Concubine Rui has woken up, she should naturally pay respects to the Empress Dowager. Do you still want to break the rules?"
Concubine Rui looked a bit embarrassed. She didn't expect to be embarrassed by a low - status maid. She was unhappy but helpless.
This Xiao Xiao was sharp - tongued, like a knife in Shi Muyuan's hand. If she couldn't handle it, it would hurt herself.
She opened her mouth, about to say something, when the Prince of Li flew into a rage first.
"You, this maid, are so bold. How dare you offend your superior. Do you believe that I'll execute you right now?"
Shi Muyuan thought the timing was about right. She gave a cold look and protected Xiao Xiao behind her, sneering with a cold smile on her lips.
"The Prince of Li is really bold. He dares to be so arrogant in front of this Dowager. This Dowager is the mistress of the six palaces. Every word and deed of mine is an example. I did all this just to make sure that my sister won't be criticized by outsiders. What? In your opinion, did I do something wrong? According to you, should this Dowager kneel three times and kowtow nine times to pay respects to my sister?"
These words immediately silenced the atmosphere. It was a joke. Who would dare to let her pay respects? Just now, the Prince of Li was just talking big. Now it was too late to regret. He had no choice but to look at Concubine Rui for help.
Originally, Concubine Rui had called him here to put this bitch in her place. But unexpectedly, he had caused her trouble. Now she had to be submissive. She was a bit unwilling.
"Sister is right. Sister did all this for my own good. It was Father who misunderstood. Father didn't do it on purpose. I hope Sister can forgive him."
"Yes, yes. Please don't blame us, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager. People tend to make mistakes when they're old. Please forgive us."
"Heh, the Prince of Li and Concubine Rui are singing in chorus. If I continue to pursue this, it might seem inappropriate, right?"
Her sarcasm made both of them look embarrassed.
Cui Qizhou had been watching the show on the side and had no intention of helping at all.
This really worried the Prince of Li. He had invited the National Teacher here today because the National Teacher had always been at odds with the Empress Dowager. He had hoped that the National Teacher would stand on his side. But unexpectedly, he had just invited someone to watch the show. He suddenly regretted it.
The Prince of Li kept giving signals, which caught Shi Muyuan's attention.
"Heh, the Prince of Li not only entered the palace without permission but also brought others to barge into the palace rashly. Xiao Xiao, go to the palace gate and see who is so disobedient."
She was really angry. The Prince of Li suddenly remembered the means of this Empress Dowager before and felt a bit scared.
How could he forget? This Empress Dowager used to regard human lives as nothing. Even though she had become more approachable recently, she was still not someone he could afford to offend.
For a moment, he felt remorseful. He should have never come in.
No, it was all his daughter's fault. If his daughter hadn't said that they could definitely bring down the Empress Dowager today, he wouldn't have been so impulsive and done such a treasonous thing.
Yes, it was all her fault.
In the face of interests, the Prince of Li didn't even care about his own daughter.
He snorted coldly and quickly begged for mercy, "I hope the Empress Dowager can forgive me. Actually, I didn't intend to barge in. It was just that Concubine Rui sent someone to our mansion to say that she was suffering in the palace. As a father, I was so worried that I made this big mistake."
Unexpectedly, her father had just pushed her out like this. A flash of anger crossed Concubine Rui's eyes, but she couldn't do anything in front of others.
One of the maids beside her couldn't help but speak up for her mistress.
"How could the Prince of Li say such a thing? It was you who came to find Concubine Rui and said that the mansion was in poverty recently. Concubine Rui had no choice but to use this method to invite the Empress Dowager here, hoping to borrow some money from her."
These words immediately reminded Concubine Rui. Yes, how could she forget? Since her father could betray her at a critical moment, she didn't need to be merciful.
She pretended to wipe away non - existent tears aggrievedly.
"Yes, Father. If you hadn't come to me and asked for money, I wouldn't have invited the Empress Dowager here. I haven't even said anything yet, and you've pushed all the blame onto the Empress Dowager. It's really inappropriate. I didn't expect that you would wrong your daughter for that little bit of money. What's the meaning of my life? I might as well just die."
As she said this, she was about to ram into the pillar beside her.
Shi Muyuan was already standing there. Although she didn't like this concubine at all, she couldn't let someone die in front of her. Otherwise, it would be easy for the outside world to have a bad impression of the Shi family, and all the efforts of her elder brothers would be in vain.