On their way back to the palace, Si Junlin walked much faster than usual. Su Wan'er was quite confused. She thought there was no need for him to be so angry.
Along the way, Qingcao followed closely behind her and said, "Your Highness, you should pay more attention to your image in the future. Just now in the post - house, you were running up and down several floors. All the servants were watching."
What? Running up and down several floors? Who did that? I didn't! I've always been following my grandmother's instructions and paying great attention to my image in the palace!
Suddenly, Su Wan'er came to her senses. Oh! It must have been Si Junlin who was running up and down just now.
Si Junlin turned around and stared at her intently.
Su Wan'er felt a chill run down her spine under his gaze, and her voice became softer and softer.
"What are you staring at me for? What do you want? Si Junlin, I'm warning you. You were in the wrong this time, and you still act so self - righteous."
Actually, Si Junlin was just thinking that this woman didn't seem to care about what had just happened at all. Instead, she was questioning him about such trifles.
So it was this difficult to marry her as the queen? So her family cared so much about her image in the palace? So she had been pretending to be extremely dignified every day and living a hard life in the palace.
This feeling of guilt had appeared in his heart more than once.
Now that he thought about it, Su Wan'er might have really had a tough time in the palace in the past few years. Maybe when she first came here, all kinds of people had made things difficult for her. Maybe she had missed her relatives every night.
But she had never mentioned these things to him. Even at the beginning, he had favored the gentle and delicate Concubine Mei instead. He had thought that Su Wan'er was a ruthless and heartless woman who didn't need his pity. Instead, he had joined the empress dowager and others to make things difficult for her.
"Looking at my queen, she is looking particularly charming these days. Our Kingdom of Jin is really lucky to have such a queen. She can be elegant in public and good at housework at home. She can lead troops to fight in battles and win the emperor's heart. She is truly a rare gem." Si Junlin suddenly said such words while looking into her beautiful eyes.
Hearing this, Su Wan'er felt her face flush and her heart race. But after thinking it over, she didn't feel particularly happy. Instead, she was wondering if Si Junlin had some kind of ulterior motive today. It had already happened twice since she saw him. Why was he praising her out of the blue?
"Come on. What do you mean by 'winning the emperor's heart'? I can never guess what's on the emperor's mind." Su Wan'er still thought she was the one who had suffered in this matter.
Just as they were approaching the imperial study, from afar, they saw Concubine Mei waiting there. Her eager and expectant look was clearly waiting for the emperor's arrival.
"Your Majesty, you've finally come. You don't know how much of a wrong I suffered this morning. The queen she..." Concubine Mei still looked as weak as a willow in the wind, with tears in her eyes. Even Su Wan'er felt pity for her when she saw this.
However, as soon as Concubine Mei saw Su Wan'er, she quickly composed herself, as if she was very afraid of Su Wan'er.
Si Junlin was a bit impatient and asked, "What did the queen do?"
The more he looked at her now, the more bored he felt. This kind of act of feigning pity might have worked on him in the past, but now, after getting used to Su Wan'er's sincere way of treating people, Concubine Mei's false pretense seemed so artificial.
"Elder sister, the queen, she..." Seeing Su Wan'er walking in, Concubine Mei quickly changed her words, "She bullied me this morning, Your Majesty. You must avenge me."
Su Wan'er watched as Concubine Mei's tears fell like broken beads, quickly soaking a handkerchief. She couldn't help but feel admiration. The reason she just stood there watching her lodge a complaint without saying a word was that this time, Concubine Mei wasn't accusing her. The one who had bullied her this morning was probably Si Junlin himself.
"Concubine Mei, you said the queen bullied you this morning. How exactly did she bully you?" Si Junlin watched as Su Wan'er not only didn't come forward to refute but also seemed to be watching the show.
"She... this morning in front of the empress dowager, relying on her military - family background... she said that I was of humble origin and unworthy of serving Your Majesty." Seeing that the emperor seemed to believe her words, Concubine Mei immediately grasped this straw and cried even more bitterly.
"Moreover... it doesn't matter that I've suffered wrongs. But the queen, she... she even openly and secretly insulted the empress dowager." The consequence of her intensified slander was... Su Wan'er burst out laughing even louder.
"Concubine Mei, since you want to lodge a complaint, you might as well kneel down and tell me properly." After Si Junlin said this, he even ordered his servants to bring two chairs.
Su Wan'er felt quite uncomfortable. Wasn't this a turn of events? Although it was really satisfying to see Concubine Mei get her comeuppance, there was no need to make her kneel here. There were people coming and going...
As for Concubine Mei, she naturally felt even more aggrieved: "Your Majesty, how could you make me kneel here?"
Didn't the emperor care about their past feelings at all? What kind of bewitching potion had this bitch Su Wan'er given the emperor? Concubine Mei gritted her teeth in hatred.
"Why not? In our dynasty, anyone who lodges a complaint, whether in the yamen or directly to the emperor, has to kneel. Are you the only one who can't kneel?" Si Junlin no longer spoke to her softly as he used to. He coldly ordered her to kneel down.
"Yes... Your Majesty, it doesn't matter if you don't pity me, but you must consider the empress dowager." Concubine Mei would rather kneel than give up this chance to bring down Su Wan'er.
"Concubine Mei, you'd better think clearly. The empress dowager is not someone you can casually use as an excuse." Su Wan'er couldn't hold back her anger and interjected.
It was almost noon now, and the sun was getting hotter. Si Junlin watched as Su Wan'er sat upright even on an ordinary chair that was just brought over. Looking at Concubine Mei, who looked extremely weak and was constantly wiping the sweat off her forehead with her sleeve, Si Junlin felt more and more disgusted.
"Thank you for the queen's teachings. But since Your Highness knows that the empress dowager can't be casually talked about, then why did you say this morning... that the empress dowager believes in Buddhism because she has never been on the battlefield? In other words, aren't you mocking the empress dowager for being inexperienced?"
Su Wan'er looked at Concubine Mei's unreasonable attitude and was almost amused by her. Why was she so stubborn? She was told not to mention it, but she just had to. Now it's all right. She's dug her own grave, and I can't save her.
"Concubine Mei, are you guessing that there is a rift between the queen and the empress dowager just based on a few words?" Si Junlin finally understood how Su Wan'er had been maliciously speculated about by these women in the harem on a daily basis. He had indeed mentioned the empress dowager's belief in Buddhism this morning, but just based on that one sentence, Concubine Mei had managed to frame Su Wan'er with such a serious crime. It was simply absurd.
"It's not just this time, Your Majesty. I've also..."