With a grit of her teeth, Concubine Mei turned to Cuisi and said, "Go and find someone to tell the Empress Dowager about the flood in the South River. Remember, say it word for word."
Cuisi agreed and left.
Soon, the Empress Dowager learned about the flood in the South River.
Ignoring the ban Su Wan'er had imposed on Concubine Mei, the Empress Dowager directly ordered someone to forcibly lift Concubine Mei's confinement and invited her to her palace.
Concubine Mei made her makeup look a bit haggard, and then went to the Empress Dowager's palace in a delicate manner.
With her simple attire and sorrowful face, without saying a word, just standing there, she gave the impression that she could be blown away by the wind at any moment.
In order to get the Rong family to take action, the Empress Dowager got up with a kind look on her face, walked to Concubine Mei's side, reached out and held Concubine Mei's wrist, and asked her to sit beside her.
"You've suffered grievances these days, Concubine Mei." The Empress Dowager's tone was full of pity, making it seem that her decision to confine Concubine Mei in the palace back then was a helpless move.
Concubine Mei just let out a soft "heh heh" laugh, and then replied, "Thank you for your concern, Empress Dowager. I've been doing quite well in the palace."
The Empress Dowager interrupted her, saying, "Silly girl, with your current appearance, do you think I'll believe you've been doing well in your bedroom?"
"Empress Dowager..." Concubine Mei lowered her head and said shyly, as if she was embarrassed to have her thoughts seen through.
But when she lowered her head, there was a glint of triumph in her eyes.
This was really a last - ditch effort. If it weren't for that guy surnamed Lan suddenly running away, she wouldn't have resorted to this method.
Fortunately, the Empress Dowager still cared about the Rong family, so she felt relieved...
"This time, it was also Lin'er who was impulsive and directly confined you in the harem. No matter how much I tried to persuade him, he wouldn't listen. When he has some free time, I'll have a good talk with him." The Empress Dowager continued.
Concubine Mei quickly stopped the Empress Dowager, saying, "Empress Dowager, how can you blame the Emperor for my matter? Moreover, the Emperor has always loved me deeply. If it weren't for the Queen..." She stopped at the right moment. Her purpose was simple, which was to shift the blame to the Queen.
Anyway, no matter what the matter was, the Empress Dowager always liked to blame the Queen.
Just as she had expected, after hearing her words, the Empress Dowager immediately followed her train of thought and said, "Was it the Queen who caused trouble again? This woman is really a headache."
Then, as if feeling that the small talk was enough, the Empress Dowager directly got to the point. "Concubine Mei, let's talk about the main matter now."
Concubine Mei looked puzzled. "What do you want to talk about, Empress Dowager?"
The Empress Dowager then told Concubine Mei about the flood in the South River. Then she asked Concubine Mei, "I know your grandfather is a bit resentful towards the Emperor because you've been confined in the harem. But in the face of national affairs, can you write a letter to your grandfather and ask him to take action to deal with the flood in the South River for the sake of the country?"
Concubine Mei said with some hesitation, "Well... if I'm still confined in the harem, even if I write a letter, my grandfather won't agree."
"Don't worry. I'll ask Lin'er to lift your confinement. Then, I'll trouble you with your grandfather." The Empress Dowager said.
Naturally, Concubine Mei nodded. "Please rest assured, Empress Dowager. As long as my confinement is lifted, I'll definitely write a letter to my grandfather and ask him to petition the Emperor in person to go to the South River to deal with the flood."
Finally, Concubine Mei returned to her palace, while Su Wan'er received an order from the Empress Dowager to go to her bedroom.
Su Wan'er sent Fang Xi to investigate and learned that Concubine Mei had gone to the Empress Dowager's palace first.
Actually, at this time, even without sending someone to investigate, just by asking a maid, one could know who was behind it.
How could an ordinary concubine know or care about such things?
"Do you need me to go with you?" Si Junlin asked her worriedly.
Su Wan'er shook her head. "No need. You'd better spend some time thinking about how to deal with your mother. I think Concubine Mei will blame all the mistakes on me this time."
It was clearly Concubine Mei who had plotted against her first, but in the end, she became the scapegoat. No matter how she thought about it, she was angry.
But what could she do? When someone had an opinion of you, no matter how well you did things, even if you were the victim, you were still in the wrong.
She was already used to it.
Listening to Su Wan'er's calm words, Si Junlin felt as if a tiny needle was pricking his heart, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.
But at this moment, he could do nothing and change nothing, unless he regained his identity...
Watching Su Wan'er's departing figure, Si Junlin was silent for a long time. Finally, with a grit of his teeth and a clap of his hands, he took Qingcao and the others back to the bedroom.
He had to take this opportunity to think carefully about how his mother would question this body of his and how he should answer to protect this body.
Presumably, the Empress Dowager would definitely not allow Su Wan'er to be present this time, so he could only handle it by himself.
Su Wan'er went to the Empress Dowager's palace and found the Empress Dowager looking at her sternly as she entered.
For Su Wan'er, who was already used to the Empress Dowager's attitude, this was no threat at all. She bowed to the Empress Dowager as usual and said, "Your servant pays respects to the Empress Dowager."
The Empress Dowager just gave a faint "hmm" but said nothing.
Su Wan'er straightened up and asked the Empress Dowager, "Did the Empress Dowager hurriedly summon me here for something?"
"I heard that you've encountered difficulties in handling state affairs?" The Empress Dowager didn't answer her but just asked rhetorically.
Su Wan'er smiled. "You're over - worrying, Empress Dowager. I've been handling state affairs for so many years. What difficulties could stump me?"
"For example, the flood in the South River?" The Empress Dowager looked at her expression and said.
Su Wan'er knew she would say this on her way here and had already thought of a countermeasure.
"How did you learn about this, Empress Dowager? Did Concubine Mei tell you?" First, Su Wan'er pretended to be surprised.
The Empress Dowager frowned and said, "I'm still your mother, the Emperor. Do you think it's better to keep this matter from me?"
Naturally, Su Wan'er shook her head. "Of course not. It's just that I think I can handle this matter by myself. It's not time for you to worry about it yet."
"Your so - called ability to handle it is just to casually find someone and let him deal with it, and then he runs away?" The Empress Dowager's tone began to show some anger. "Do you really think you can turn the tide in every matter?"