When facing others, Mei Hong wouldn't speak like this. But the person in front of her was different, so she naturally had to change her approach and try the strategy of playing the underdog.
She thought Duan Qiyun had been charmed by her beauty, but she didn't know that the man in front of her actually had a woman's soul inside. Although Su Wan'er was initially stunned by her beauty, being a woman herself, she quickly regained her composure.
Now Su Wan'er was no longer affected by her charm.
As for the story Mei Hong told, Su Wan'er showed a timely look of pity.
However, Su Wan'er's pity came from a woman's perspective. She deeply felt that in this world, everything seemed easy except for women; everything could be managed except for the matters related to women. Even she, the mother of the nation, couldn't escape this fate.
"You're a poor thing too," Su Wan'er said.
Mei Hong sighed. "In this world, who isn't a poor soul? Floating and sinking in this world, no one knows where they'll drift to the next moment."
Seeing that Su Wan'er was moved, Mei Hong told her sad story of a hard - luck life even more sorrowfully. While telling the story, she kept pouring wine for Su Wan'er.
Seeing that Su Wan'er seemed a bit tipsy, a charming look flashed across Mei Hong's eyes. Then she started to speak according to the instructions of her mastermind.
"Sir," Mei Hong said, lying on Su Wan'er's body and breathing out sweetly.
Su Wan'er felt as if she were in a fragrant flower field. Her body felt light, and her whole body was warm.
"Sir, let me tell you. I saw the eldest son of the General's Mansion today. He's so handsome and imposing. But I don't know why he was drinking with people from the Jin Kingdom. It's really strange."
However, upon hearing Mei Hong's words, Su Wan'er's body trembled slightly.
Having been in the harem for many years, what kind of schemes to frame others hadn't she seen? Although Mei Hong's words were full of praise for her elder brother, the last sentence was deadly. If she hadn't swapped souls with the emperor and it was the emperor who came here today, even if her elder brother wouldn't be questioned by the emperor, the emperor would still start to suspect her elder brother and the Su family.
Who on earth was this woman? A thoughtful look quickly flashed across her eyes. Then she stood up angrily, grabbed Mei Hong by the neck, and said, "Is what you said true?"
"I, I wouldn't dare to hide anything," Mei Hong said, showing a pitiful look that was really endearing.
Taking advantage of her pretended anger, Su Wan'er left the Drunken Red Chamber.
"My lord, are you okay?" Fang Xi followed behind Su Wan'er. He felt that Su Wan'er's mood was a bit off after leaving the Drunken Red Chamber.
Su Wan'er shook her head. "I'm fine. I just don't want to stay in such places for long."
Su Wan'er really didn't expect that someone would try to frame the Su family even in a place like the Drunken Red Chamber. What about in the court?
Just thinking about such things, how could Su Wan'er stay there any longer?
Seeing her angry look, Fang Xi thought that after staying in the palace for so long, she wasn't used to and didn't like staying in such dirty places as brothels. So he advised, "My lord, if there are places you don't like to go in the future, just refuse. I think the Prince of Luo won't force you to go in."
"Okay," Since their thoughts were going in different directions, Su Wan'er could only give a perfunctory answer.
It was already late at night when she returned to the palace. Su Wan'er was still thinking about how to face Si Junlin, but unexpectedly, Si Junlin had already gone to bed. Moreover, he had even finished approving the memorials for her before going to bed.
Su Wan'er took a short nap for less than an hour and then went to the morning court.
Just after Fang Xi announced, "Those who have matters to report may do so; if not, the court is adjourned," a courtier stepped forward. "Your Majesty, I have something to report."
As soon as Su Wan'er saw the man, she immediately knew who he was. It was Zhang Yelin, the deputy minister of the Ministry of War. "Minister Zhang, what is it that you want to report?"
"Last night, I led people to patrol the imperial city. I saw the eldest son of the Su family talking with people from the Jin Kingdom in an alley. I suspect that the eldest son of the Su family is colluding with the people from the Jin Kingdom. Your Majesty, I beg you to allow me to thoroughly investigate this matter."
The deputy minister of the Ministry of War spoke so sincerely that if Su Wan'er weren't a member of the Su family and didn't know her elder brother's character, she would have believed his words.
At this moment, she fully understood why the emperor had always been suspicious of the Su family. It turned out that it was all the work of these court officials.
As she thought about it, Su Wan'er inexplicably felt that the Su family was really pitiful.
The Su family was clearly the most loyal among all the court officials. Even when she was very young, her grandfather and father had instilled in her the idea of being loyal to the emperor and loving the country. If the daughter was like this, how could the sons betray their own country?
Although Su Wan'er really didn't want to pay attention to the deputy minister of the Ministry of War and even wanted to drag him out and behead him.
But now she was the emperor and couldn't act on her own will. She took a deep breath to calm herself down and then said to the deputy minister of the Ministry of War, "Present your memorial."
The deputy minister of the Ministry of War naturally knew that the emperor had recently been obsessed with memorials. So he had prepared the memorial at home early. Now he just needed to hand it over to Eunuch Fang Xi.
His purpose in saying this wasn't to make the emperor do anything to the Su family right away. He just wanted to plant a seed of suspicion in the emperor's heart. No, maybe it wasn't a seed because the emperor had already been wary of the Su family a long time ago. What he was doing now was just to make that seed of suspicion grow bigger.
After returning to the imperial study, Su Wan'er sat on the chair with a headache. Then she asked Fang Xi to invite the queen.
When Si Junlin slowly pushed the door open and entered, Su Wan'er heard the footsteps and looked up. As soon as she looked up, she found that Si Junlin's face was very ugly.
"What, what's wrong?" Su Wan'er quickly stood up and walked up to Si Junlin with a puzzled look on her face.
Si Junlin didn't even look at her. He just bypassed her and walked straight to the imperial desk.
Su Wan'er could feel that Si Junlin was extremely angry. Thinking about her visit to the Drunken Red Chamber last night, she coughed a few times nervously. Then she showed a flattering look and walked up to Si Junlin. "What's wrong, Your Majesty? Why are you angry?"
Si Junlin still buried his head in dealing with the memorials and completely ignored Su Wan'er.
Su Wan'er had no choice but to force herself to lie on his body and constantly pester him so that he couldn't deal with the memorials.
Finally, Si Junlin couldn't bear it anymore. He looked up angrily. "What on earth do you want?"
Su Wan'er looked at him pitifully. "Who are you angry with? Who has offended you?"