"Yes." Wu Tailiang had no choice but to turn around and leave.
Si Junlin looked at her and asked her somewhat helplessly, "What exactly did you say to my mother yesterday?"
Su Wan'er said innocently, "I just said that I was running on the palace path in the middle of the night to exercise."
Si Junlin's face immediately turned as black as charcoal. "Su Wan'er, haven't I told you not to do anything with my body that will damage my reputation?"
"Ahem, it seems... you did?" Su Wan'er smiled awkwardly.
"It seems you didn't take my words to heart." Si Junlin's face darkened even further.
"No, no. I remember. It's just that I was so worried about your being angry at that time, so I chased after you." Su Wan'er scratched her head. "Come to think of it, it's still your fault..."
Si Junlin couldn't hear clearly what Su Wan'er said after that. He only felt a warm feeling in his heart. Listening to her words and looking at her expression, everything was telling of her worry and concern at that time.
Si Junlin softened his heart and couldn't bear to be angry with Su Wan'er anymore.
"Em... Empress? Are you okay?" Su Wan'er quietly looked up and found that although Si Junlin's face had returned to normal, he was in a daze.
Si Junlin then came to his senses. To cover up his embarrassment, he coughed and said to Su Wan'er, "Forget it. Actually, I was wrong first this time. I won't argue with you. But if there's a next time, don't blame me for being rude to you."
The use of "I" shows how angry the emperor was.
In order not to make the emperor even angrier, Su Wan'er chose to agree. But who knows when she'll act on impulse next time?
Just as Si Junlin was constantly warning her because he thought her expression seemed a bit perfunctory, a figure suddenly rushed over from afar. When the owner of the figure saw the scene in the pavilion, she was immediately stunned, and her voice couldn't help but tremble. "Emp... Empress, you're so bold!"
The two of them turned their heads at the same time and found that it was Concubine Xi who was rushing over on the palace path.
Si Junlin couldn't help but frown.
Su Wan'er looked at Si Junlin with an inquiring look: What should we do?
Si Junlin immediately took a few steps back to distance himself from Su Wan'er, then turned to look at Concubine Xi. "What are you doing here?"
Concubine Xi came up angrily, grabbed Si Junlin's wrist, and raised her hand to hit Si Junlin. "You ignorant woman. How can you treat the emperor like this? Aren't you afraid that the Empress Dowager will punish you?"
Looking at her overbearing appearance, some pent - up anger in Su Wan'er flared up. She stepped forward and grabbed Concubine Xi's wrist. "Luo Xi, do you think I don't exist? Or do you think that with the support of the Empress Dowager, you can ignore both me and the Empress?"
Si Junlin, who originally wanted to teach Concubine Xi a lesson, restrained his impulse when he saw Su Wan'er defending him.
Well, sometimes it's nice to have a little woman defend him. Although on the surface, it was he, the emperor, who suddenly protected the Empress...
"Your... Your Majesty... This concubine is terrified." Concubine Xi looked at Su Wan'er, or rather Si Junlin's face, full of anger, and was immediately frightened.
Looking at the way Si Junlin treated the emperor, she thought she had found a handle to restrain Su Wan'er.
In her excitement, she forgot that the emperor was still there.
She also forgot the Empress Dowager's reminder that she shouldn't provoke the Empress during this period. Although she didn't know why the Empress suddenly received the emperor's favor, if she wanted to regain the emperor's favor, she had to be patient enough to wait.
She just forgot about this in her moment of pride.
"You're terrified? Don't you always look down on the Empress? Even the act of offending one's superior can be resolved just by you calling the Empress Dowager. You thought you were acting well and no one could see, but you don't know that my spies are all over the palace, and I know your every move."
Su Wan'er poured out all her grievances over the years.
After hearing this, Concubine Xi's expression became even more flustered. "No, no. This concubine didn't do it."
After shouting angrily, Su Wan'er gradually regained her senses. She rolled her eyes and continued, "You didn't? Do you remember that you had a personal maid named Qinghe last year? Because she accidentally broke your favorite glazed lamp, you directly ordered people to whip her to death. That day, the Empress happened to pass by your palace, and you complained to the Empress Dowager, saying that it was the Empress who whipped your maid. If it weren't for the fact that the Empress's grandfather returned to the capital in victory that day, the Empress might have been demoted to the Cold Palace."
Hearing Su Wan'er's words, Concubine Xi was greatly shocked and kowtowed repeatedly. "Your Majesty, please forgive me. This concubine had no choice."
Si Junlin slowly walked to Su Wan'er's side, put his arm around her, and whispered in her ear with a bit of heartache, "I'm sorry." He had misunderstood her at that time.
But Su Wan'er ignored him. She just looked down at the person kneeling on the ground and scolded, "Concubine Xi, do I still need to tell you all the crimes you've committed? Not only did the Empress take the blame for you, but also many other concubines. Just because you're my distant cousin and the favorite niece of the Empress Dowager."
Concubine Xi didn't dare to say anything at this moment. She could only keep kowtowing on the ground, hoping to get the emperor's forgiveness.
Su Wan'er really wanted to punish her severely, but thinking of Si Junlin's usual style, when she was about to punish Concubine Xi, she still turned to look at Si Junlin. "Empress, you're the mistress of the harem. You should decide on matters in the harem."
Si Junlin looked at her deliberately indifferent attitude and felt a dull pain in his heart. He put his arm around Su Wan'er and said, "I'll follow all the emperor's arrangements."
Su Wan'er looked at him in surprise. She didn't expect him to talk to her like this. It was the first time he had said such a thing when she was dealing with Concubine Xi.
Si Junlin sighed helplessly. "What? Do you think I won't make such a decision?"
Su Wan'er shook her head. "No, how could I? " The main reason was that she didn't want to make him angry like last time. It would be really troublesome for her to coax him later.
"Come here." Su Wan'er turned around and asked Fang Xi to bring a few old nannies to take Concubine Xi back to her palace and confine her there so that she could reflect on her mistakes. As for when the confinement would be lifted, it would depend on when she realized her mistakes.
Seeing that Su Wan'er just asked her to reflect on her mistakes in the palace, Concubine Xi breathed a sigh of relief. She thought Su Wan'er was going to order her execution. Fortunately, it was just confinement. As long as she was still alive and in the palace, there was hope of regaining the emperor's favor.