To find out why he had done so, Su Wan'er quickly returned to her seat.
Si Junlin simply said, "I'm willing to try to trust you."
Su Wan'er fell silent.
Was it just "willing to try"?
Si Junlin didn't bother about her anymore and started eating on his own. He found that eating now was much easier than before when their souls hadn't been swapped.
Maybe he hadn't thought much of it back then, but after truly experiencing it, he realized that eating like this was really comfortable. No one would always interfere with what he ate, and he didn't have to wait ages for the dishes to be served.
Perhaps, he could make this way of eating his daily routine in the palace from now on.
After taking a few bites, he looked up and saw that Su Wan'er was still sitting there blankly, as if deep in thought.
Of course he knew what she was thinking about. However, some things couldn't be believed just by saying so. His suspicion of the Su family hadn't been formed overnight. It would take him some time to fully trust the Su family.
During this period, the Su family mustn't make any mistakes. Otherwise...
He had managed to stand out among so many princes. It was already very difficult for him to trust others again. On the contrary, over the years, he trusted power and intrigue more.
However, at present, he needed to ensure the health of his body. "Hey, aren't you going to eat?"
Only then did Su Wan'er snap out of her thoughts. "Ah, okay."
"I'll try to trust your Su family when things happen in the future. But you have to give me some time." Si Junlin originally didn't want to explain, but seeing Su Wan'er's slightly dejected look, he couldn't help feeling gloomy himself.
"Okay." Su Wan'er nodded. She naturally understood what Si Junlin meant, but she still couldn't feel completely okay about it.
Si Junlin put a meatball on her plate. "Eat. Don't think too much."
"Thank you." Su Wan'er lowered her head and started eating.
Seeing that Su Wan'er finally started eating, Si Junlin felt relieved. He didn't know if it was because his body wouldn't be hungry anymore or because Su Wan'er finally started eating.
While eating, Su Wan'er suddenly remembered something. She almost forgot it because of her emotions just now.
"By the way, Your Majesty, didn't I go to the Drunken Red Chamber yesterday?" Su Wan'er suddenly said.
Si Junlin's face darkened. "You still dare to mention it?"
Looking at his face, Su Wan'er immediately remembered what had happened before. She quickly explained, "Your Majesty, please listen to me. I'm not talking about what happened in the Drunken Red Chamber."
"Okay, go ahead." Si Junlin temporarily suppressed his anger and waited for Su Wan'er to continue.
Su Wan'er coughed lightly and told Si Junlin about Mei Hong. "I think it's quite troublesome for you to be the emperor. If people see you when you go out, countless slanderous remarks will follow."
"Humph, now you know why I don't like going to those places?" Si Junlin sneered disdainfully.
Seeing Si Junlin looking so smug, Su Wan'er couldn't help shaking her head.
This emperor... Su Wan'er said she didn't want to pay attention to him anymore. She shook her head helplessly and then lowered her head to continue eating.
Si Junlin was about 80% full at this time. He simply put down his chopsticks and shared his thoughts, which could also serve as a reminder to Su Wan'er. "Since you've brought it up, I'll tell you something too."
Su Wan'er immediately focused her attention on his face.
Seeing her slightly puffed cheeks, Si Junlin somehow thought of the little squirrels he had seen in his childhood. They were a bit cute... He shook his head helplessly. "Don't just stare at me. You eat while I talk. Just listen."
"Okay." Su Wan'er nodded and really started eating while listening to him.
Si Junlin then continued, "Do you know how many brothels there are in the imperial city?"
Su Wan'er was stunned for a moment and then shook her head. "I don't know." She was just the queen. How could she know about such things?
"Right. You've been living in the deep palace, so it's normal that you don't know much about these things. I'll tell you." After saying that, Si Junlin got up and walked to the bookshelf. After some searching, he took out a picture album and put it on the desk.
"Come here." Si Junlin waved to Su Wan'er.
Su Wan'er put down her chopsticks and walked over.
The picture album Si Junlin took out was a map of the imperial city, on which the locations of various commercial stores were marked.
"See?" Si Junlin circled a place on the right side of the map with his finger.
Su Wan'er looked and saw some triangular figures. She roughly counted and found that there were at least dozens of them.
"What are these..." Su Wan'er thought she probably knew what they were, but she still wanted Si Junlin to confirm it.
Si Junlin glanced at her and then nodded. "Yes, these are all brothels. Excluding those unregistered prostitutes, there are already 27 of them."
"And the Drunken Red Chamber was able to stand out among so many brothels, which already shows its extraordinariness. Besides its people and services, of course, it's also about its background."
"Do you mean that a high - ranking official in the court opened the Drunken Red Chamber?" Su Wan'er roughly understood what he meant. But who on earth was it?
"The King of Nancheng." Si Junlin said directly.
As the name suggests, the King of Nancheng's fief was in Nancheng. Although his fief was in Nancheng, he had been living in the imperial city for some reason related to the late emperor.
Su Wan'er sighed helplessly. This king was also under suspicion.
"Do you mean that the King of Nancheng wanted to harm my elder brother?" Su Wan'er asked.
"Maybe yes, maybe no." Si Junlin didn't answer Su Wan'er's question directly. Instead, he continued, "Although the Drunken Red Chamber was opened by the King of Nancheng, since the King of Nancheng has always been indifferent to worldly affairs, he allows other forces to insert their people into it, as long as his interests are not damaged in the end."
Su Wan'er nodded. This was really worth investigating. Who on earth was so dissatisfied with the Su family?
You should know that colluding with a foreign country was a capital crime. The Su family had always been dedicated to the country. How had they offended others?
"What are you thinking about?" Si Junlin asked her.
Su Wan'er came back to her senses. In the end, she didn't say anything. She just said, "No matter what happens, please, Your Majesty, make a fair judgment." This was what Su Wan'er had always wanted to say to the emperor.