Receiving praise from the Empress Dowager, Concubine Mei's face immediately showed a smug look. This was an honor that none of the other concubines, not even the Queen, had ever received.
She had already outshone the other concubines, and now she could even outdo the Queen. She was quite pleased with herself.
As she turned back to her seat, she gave Si Junlin a triumphant look, as if declaring her victory.
Si Junlin ignored her. His eyes were fixed on Su Wan'er beside him.
He could hardly accept the Empress Dowager's attitude, let alone Su Wan'er, who had almost become incapacitated while mending the embroidered handkerchief.
Even now, she dared not hold a pen because her hands were still trembling. The characters she wrote were all crooked.
Su Wan'er was barely holding chopsticks to eat when she suddenly felt the gaze of the person beside her. She turned her head and smiled at him, indicating that she was fine.
Si Junlin of course didn't believe her words. "I'll rub your hands for you when we get back," he said.
Su Wan'er said with a bit of amusement, "Are you sure you know how?"
"Of course. You've helped me so many times. Even if I've never done it before, I should have learned it from your service," Si Junlin replied to Su Wan'er.
Su Wan'er nodded. "Okay, then I'll rely on you, Your Majesty the Queen, tonight."
She deliberately emphasized the word "Queen" to remind them that they had swapped identities.
Si Junlin smiled and said nothing more, for by this time the concubines who had presented gifts had finished, and it was time for the concubines who would perform songs and dances.
"Concubine Hua and Concubine Yu pay their respects to the Empress Dowager," the two said in unison as they bowed to the Empress Dowager.
Su Wan'er looked at Concubine Hua with a surprised look in her eyes. She whispered in Si Junlin's ear, "Didn't you say that Concubine Hua got your fake pattern?"
Si Junlin looked at Concubine Hua who was already standing in the middle of the field, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Maybe she's aware of the flaws in that pattern," he said.
Looking at her appearance, Su Wan'er felt that he didn't really care whether Concubine Hua had known about the flaws in the pattern.
"You seem to have anticipated that she might not use that pattern?" Su Wan'er asked tentatively.
Si Junlin nodded. "Yes. I actually don't care whether she uses the pattern I gave her. If she does, I'll have one more way to restrain her. If she doesn't, it doesn't make any difference to me."
"You really have a scheming mind," Su Wan'er admitted that in some matters, she was indeed no match for Si Junlin, who had been sitting on the dragon throne for years and had learned the way of being a king since childhood.
The dance of Concubine Hua and Concubine Yu began. Although there were only two people on the stage, there were seats for three.
The Empress Dowager didn't say anything while they were performing. After they finished, the Empress Dowager asked them, "From what I've seen of your performance, this dance should be for three people, right?"
Concubine Hua and Concubine Yu glanced at each other, then carefully looked at Si Junlin. They said to the Empress Dowager fearfully, "Your servant doesn't dare to say."
"What? Is this matter related to the Queen?" The Empress Dowager glared at Si Junlin, then said to Concubine Hua and Concubine Yu, "Just say it. If the Queen has done something wrong, the Emperor and I will stand up for you."
Concubine Hua pushed Concubine Yu. "You were the one involved in this matter. Tell the Empress Dowager," she said.
Concubine Yu originally wanted to refuse, but after receiving a cold look from Concubine Hua, she had no choice but to bow to the Empress Dowager and tell what had happened that day with a slight twist.
According to her version, she and Concubine Su had kindly gone to discuss the Empress Dowager's birthday gift with the Queen, but the Queen had ordered her servants to drive them out with sticks. Concubine Su had been accidentally injured by the sticks while trying to protect her and had to stay in bed for recuperation, which was why she couldn't attend today's banquet.
After hearing this, the Empress Dowager's gaze immediately turned to Si Junlin.
"Queen, you're becoming more and more disrespectful of the palace rules. Do you think that just because you're the mistress of the palace, you can ignore the laws of the palace and punish whoever you want?" The Empress Dowager looked at Si Junlin with cold eyes.
Si Junlin was immediately filled with anger. He didn't expect his mother to be so partial to others.
Although he himself had seemed to do such things in the past... But now that he had experienced it himself, he really felt quite aggrieved.
Before he could say anything, Su Wan'er spoke up first. "Mother, it's not appropriate for you to do this, is it?"
The Empress Dowager didn't expect her son to say such a thing. Immediately, the rumors in the palace came to her mind, and a thoughtful look flashed in her eyes. "My son, tell me, why isn't it appropriate?"
Su Wan'er didn't even take the time to think. Or rather, this was what she had been thinking for years. "Mother, I think we can't just listen to the one - sided words of Concubine Hua and Concubine Yu. There were many people present on that day. Moreover, I believe that the Queen's character is such that she would never do such a thing as taking human lives casually."
"Besides, no normal person would beat others for no reason. There must be some hidden reason why they were driven out. In my opinion, they must be hiding something," she added.
The Empress Dowager was quite unhappy to see her son defending the Queen so much. But after all, he was her son, and she had to give her son face in front of the concubines.
She shifted her gaze to Si Junlin. "Queen, do you have anything else to say?"
Seeing that Su Wan'er had bought him a chance, Si Junlin of course had to seize it well. "Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, the situation that day was not like that," he said.
Si Junlin told exactly what had happened that day, including the matter of the sticks mentioned by Concubine Hua.
"If Your Majesty doesn't believe me, you can summon the person who carried out the punishment that day for confrontation, or you can have Concubine Su brought here to check her wounds," Si Junlin added at last. With both witnesses and evidence, there was no need to be afraid of Concubine Yu and Concubine Hua's groundless slander.
After hearing Si Junlin's words, the Empress Dowager's face turned very ugly. She felt as if she had been played with. She turned to look at Concubine Yu. "Concubine Yu, do you have anything to say?"
Concubine Yu was stunned at this moment. The reason she dared to slander the Queen like this was entirely because Concubine Hua had told her that the Emperor didn't care about the Queen.
Although she had some doubts, Concubine Hua had told her many things, each of which seemed to prove that the Emperor disliked the Queen.
Now that such a thing had happened, she subconsciously turned to look at Concubine Hua. To her surprise, Concubine Hua was just hanging her head at this moment, as if she hadn't been the one who had collaborated with her just now.
"Concubine Yu..." the Empress Dowager urged again.
Concubine Yu had no choice but to reply, "Your servant only heard about it. In the future, when I encounter such things, I will definitely investigate clearly before taking action."