The Empress Dowager asked in confusion, "What's going on?"
Su Wan'er reached out to help Si Junlin up. Before the Empress Dowager could say anything, she said to the Empress Dowager, "Mother, this really isn't the fault of the Empress. I've already had the imperial physician examine Concubine Mei's body. During her confinement, Concubine Mei somehow took some medicine that left her in an extremely weak state. What she did this time after coming out was actually just to get the Empress punished."
"Are you telling the truth?" The Empress Dowager simply couldn't believe that this was true.
Although she knew about and had experienced the fierce struggles in the harem, the concubines she had known usually took tough measures against others. It was the first time she had seen someone take such extreme measures against herself.
Su Wan'er naturally nodded. "I had the imperial physician investigate this, and with the testimony of the maid beside Concubine Mei, I can be completely certain about this matter."
"This Concubine Mei..." The Empress Dowager didn't know what to say.
"Mother, do you still insist on punishing the Empress?" Su Wan'er looked directly into the Empress Dowager's eyes.
The Empress Dowager rubbed her forehead and said helplessly, "Forget it. Since this isn't the Empress's fault, let's just leave it at that."
Su Wan'er turned to Si Junlin and gave a victorious smile, then turned to the Empress Dowager respectfully and said, "Thank you, Mother, for your wise judgment."
After chatting with the Empress Dowager for a while, Su Wan'er left with Si Junlin.
Si Junlin was very curious about how she had arrived in time. "Weren't you with Concubine Mei? How did you manage to come here so timely?"
When he was summoned by his mother, he had already prepared himself for punishment.
He never dreamed that Su Wan'er would arrive so timely. Moreover, she had even discovered Concubine Mei's scheme. How could he not be surprised?
Su Wan'er shrugged. "I went there because of you. I didn't want you to gain a reputation for being heartless."
"Then why did you come here?" Si Junlin pressed on.
Su Wan'er gave him a disdainful look. "I just went through the motions with Concubine Mei. What did you expect me to do to my love rival? Or... do you actually not want me to come and save the day?"
"Of course not!" Si Junlin looked at her helplessly. "If you hadn't arrived in time, I might have suffered physical punishment."
Su Wan'er let out a scoff. "Since you're so grateful, why don't you give me something practical?"
"What do you want? Don't forget, you're the emperor now, and I'm just the empress. I don't have as much power as you. What can I reward you with?" Si Junlin said with a smile.
Su Wan'er also smiled at him. "Of course there's something."
"Tell me." Why did he feel that Su Wan'er's smile was a bit malicious?
Su Wan'er grinned. "Your Majesty has learned embroidery, right? Then embroider a handkerchief with the theme of 'Autumn' for me."
After hearing her words, Si Junlin's face turned extremely ugly. "You mean you want me to embroider for you?" Although he had embroidered before, it was with Su Wan'er's help and under special circumstances. It had been so many days, and now she still wanted him to embroider. Wasn't she just making things difficult for him?
Seeing his suddenly darkened face, Su Wan'er quickly explained, "I'm not making things difficult for you. I have my reasons for this."
"Speak." Si Junlin was so angry that his words were reduced to just one syllable.
Su Wan'er coughed lightly and explained to him, "This is mainly related to the matter of the imperial merchants."
It turned out that since the fall of the Hua family, the title of imperial merchant had become a highly coveted position, and everyone was eyeing it.
To prevent these merchants from fighting fiercely over the title of imperial merchant, Su Wan'er decided to start with the embroidery industry.
To serve as an example, Su Wan'er planned to have the "Empress" embroider a piece.
"Set an example? Is this the reason you want me to embroider?" Si Junlin grabbed her shoulders, and the anger in his eyes couldn't be hidden at all.
He was the emperor, and she didn't even appreciate his embroidery properly. Instead, she planned to use it as an example? She was really bold.
Su Wan'er coughed lightly. "There's nothing I can do. Your embroidery is really not up to par." Saying it was not up to par was already being polite. To be more accurate, it was a mess.
Although the final embroidery looked okay, it was still far from the work of the embroidery ladies.
"Do you really want me to embroider so much?" There was full of anger in Si Junlin's eyes.
A look of embarrassment flashed across Su Wan'er's face. "Well, maybe."
"Fine." Si Junlin suddenly said.
"Wh, what?" Seeing his previously angry expression, Su Wan'er had thought he would definitely not agree. Who would have thought that he would suddenly change his tune?
"What? Don't you believe I said this?" Seeing her surprised face, Si Junlin suddenly felt a sense of satisfaction.
Su Wan'er nodded. "This really doesn't sound like something you would say."
Si Junlin sighed. "I've changed a lot. You should also change your opinion of me once in a while."
"Okay, I'll try to change my opinion of you." Su Wan'er said casually.
Just by looking at her attitude, Si Junlin knew that this woman didn't take his words to heart at all.
However, this woman had helped him today. If it weren't for her, he might still be in the Empress Dowager's palace, waiting for the Empress Dowager's judgment.
"By the way, I'll give you a reminder." Su Wan'er suddenly said.
Si Junlin turned to look at her. "What?"
Su Wan'er gave him a disdainful look and then said to him, "Actually, you should know what this is about, right?"
As she said this, she deliberately glanced at Si Junlin and found that there was still a look of confusion in his eyes. She had no choice but to continue, "This is actually about Concubine Mei. When you lifted her confinement, you should have thought about this, right? Concubine Mei is not an easy person. She was even willing to sacrifice her own body. Who knows if she's just trying to gain favor or has other motives?"
After she said this, Si Junlin's expression also became serious.
This was indeed a very important matter. However, when he first lifted Concubine Mei's confinement, he hadn't thought about this problem. He had thought that after the confinement, Concubine Mei would be a bit more subdued. Who would have thought that instead of being subdued, she had even been scheming about getting out of confinement before it was officially lifted.