If Su Wan'er was like this, would Si Junlin be any different? He was the monarch of a country, and this nation belonged to him. Naturally, he also cared about state affairs.
"Let's handle it together," Si Junlin thought this was the solution. In this way, the time needed would be more than halved, and he could also embroider in peace...
"Okay," Su Wan'er nodded in agreement.
As the Empress Dowager's birthday drew nearer, with the cooperation of the two, the embroidered handkerchief was getting closer to completion.
Under Su Wan'er's guidance, Si Junlin's embroidery skills became more and more exquisite. At first, Su Wan'er had to give him a lot of pointers, but later, she just watched from the side.
One day, a woman from the southern region came to lodge a high - level complaint. As there was a local official's guarantee, Su Wan'er had to go there in person.
Before leaving, Su Wan'er hesitated for a moment but still said hello to Si Junlin: "Empress, I'm leaving first. If you feel tired, you can take a walk around."
After saying that, Su Wan'er left.
Si Junlin didn't pay much attention to her words. His attention was all on the handkerchief, and he didn't have much energy to care about other things.
As the sun gradually became stronger, Qingcao quietly came to Si Junlin's side and said to him, "Your Majesty, the sun is getting stronger. Do you think you should go into the room first?"
Si Junlin looked up at the sun outside, nodded, put down the embroidery frame, and planned to go into the room to rest.
He thought that at this time, all the palaces were busy preparing gifts for the Empress Dowager's birthday, and no one would come. However, just as Si Junlin stood up, someone suddenly came to report from outside: "Empress, Concubine Su and Concubine Yu are asking for an audience."
Si Junlin couldn't help frowning. Why would someone come at this time? However, no matter how reluctant he was, to avoid being criticized, Si Junlin still had to meet them.
"Let them come," he sat down in the pavilion and waited for them.
After a while, Concubine Su and Concubine Yu came.
These two seemed to be well - behaved. After seeing Si Junlin, they first saluted: "Concubine Su (Concubine Yu) pays respects to the Empress."
Si Junlin nodded: "Get up."
The two sat down opposite Si Junlin. Then Si Junlin said, "Two... sisters, what brings you here today?" Since they were so polite as soon as they came in, he couldn't speak rudely to them.
But somehow, he felt a bit awkward when he said the word "sister".
Concubine Su and Concubine Yu nodded at the same time: "We..."
"You go first," Concubine Yu gave way to Concubine Su.
Concubine Su then said, "It's like this, Your Majesty. We were only recently made concubines. This is the first time we're preparing a birthday gift for the Empress Dowager. We've discussed it a lot but haven't come up with anything. So we've come to ask Your Majesty for advice."
"Ask me for advice?" Si Junlin's look was a bit strange.
This was the first time he was giving advice to others. But could these two really be trusted?
"Is that not okay?" Concubine Yu asked carefully. With her delicate look, someone who didn't know better might think the Empress was bullying the little concubines.
A look of disdain flashed in Si Junlin's eyes.
These women were really good at pretending. Clearly, their eyes showed disdain and resistance, but they put on a "mask" and came to ask him for help just to please the Empress Dowager.
He wasn't stupid. Why should he share his... Su Wan'er's ideas with others?
"It's not that it's not okay. But since you don't have a standard for what to give, even if I want to help you, I can't do anything."
"Actually, we originally planned to embroider handkerchiefs. But somehow, everyone in the palace seems to have gone crazy. Everyone is embroidering handkerchiefs. Should we do the same thing as them, or something else?" Concubine Yu looked at Si Junlin with a look of eagerness for knowledge.
Si Junlin had to talk to her nicely: "If you want to embroider handkerchiefs, you should need patterns, right?"
Hearing Si Junlin's words, the two immediately lowered their heads.
Because Si Junlin was right. They didn't have patterns.
"Do you have a way to get patterns?" Si Junlin asked calmly.
Concubine Su and Concubine Yu looked at each other, then both shook their heads pitifully. If they had a way, they wouldn't have come here.
Si Junlin saw the well - hidden look of expectation in their eyes and roughly understood.
Although these two seemed to be well - behaved, they were no different from other concubines.
They came here this time just to get the patterns from the Empress. With their embroidery skills, they would definitely win first place.
But unfortunately... Si Junlin wouldn't let them have their way.
"Since you can't get the patterns, you can do something else, like dancing or cooking. These are all options for you," Si Junlin said.
"But..." Concubine Yu wanted to say something else, but was stopped by Concubine Su: "Empress, these things can indeed be prepared, but they're not as easy to make as embroidered handkerchiefs. Please be kind to us. If we can gain the Empress Dowager's favor, we will never forget Your Majesty's great kindness."
They said it so pitifully. If Si Junlin hadn't swapped souls with Su Wan'er, he might have softened his heart and agreed to them. But perhaps apart from Su Wan'er, others could only sigh in vain.
So, in the face of their words, Si Junlin just said coldly: "To put it bluntly, you're just my opponents. Why should I ruin my good life and create an enemy for myself?"
"You, do you just want to monopolize the Emperor's love all by yourself?" Concubine Su showed signs of anger.
Si Junlin sneered: "If you put it that way, I'll admit it."
"Yes, I just want to be the Emperor's only favorite. So, don't expect to get anything from me." After saying that, Si Junlin directly shouted, "See the guests out!"
The palace guards immediately came out and said to the two concubines, "Two ladies, this way, please."
"You! How can you be so unreasonable?" Concubine Su struggled to break free from the two maids' restraint.
Seeing that she was about to be taken away from the pavilion, Concubine Su, for some unknown reason, suddenly bit the guard without caring about her own image.
"Ouch!" The guard, in pain, quickly let go.
When he let go, it was a big deal. Concubine Su suddenly rushed towards the pavilion, or rather, towards the embroidery frame on the stone table.
This scene happened in the blink of an eye.