"Empress Dowager, I just learned about this matter. And why am I being arrested right now? How can you say it was me who released the venomous insects?"
The Empress Dowager was still gasping for breath, having been greatly frightened. Su Wan'er was extremely anxious. The female officials and eunuchs on the side swarmed forward and pinned her to the ground. Although they were just ordinary servants without martial arts skills, it would have been effortless for Su Wan'er to deal with one or two of them. However, she couldn't fight back in the Empress Dowager's palace. So, she could only resign herself to being pinned down and knelt there.
At this moment, Concubine Hui pleaded for her again. "Empress Dowager, you should at least find out the truth first. How can you just punish the Empress like this? I don't think the Empress did this deliberately."
"Concubine Hui, why don't you tell me exactly what's going on? Why does the Empress Dowager insist that it was me?"
"Your Majesty, it's like this... Just now when I came to pay my respects, I happened to meet the Emperor and Your Majesty. But when I was about to pay my respects, I already heard some unusual noises in the Empress Dowager's palace. So, I bid farewell in a hurry. Judging from Your Majesty's situation at that time, you probably didn't notice." Concubine Hui seemed quite willing to tell her all this.
"Who would have thought that when I came in from outside to pay my respects, I saw that bug clearly crawling on the Empress Dowager's arm and even reaching her neck. I didn't care about my fear and grabbed it from her neck. Then I quickly asked the female official to put it into the venomous insect container."
"The Empress Dowager was so frightened that she called all the palace servants for interrogation. But then she thought that it couldn't have been the palace servants who did it. There must be a villain. Then she remembered that only the Emperor and Your Majesty had been in this palace just now. So..."
"So you suspected me?" Su Wan'er looked at the Empress Dowager. "Empress Dowager, please be discerning. I came with the Emperor. How could I dare to put that bug on you in front of the Emperor?" Su Wan'er thought it was absurd. Someone was trying to harm her again! But this method was really clumsy!
"Not you?" The Empress Dowager snorted coldly. "If it wasn't you, then who could it be?"
"Empress Dowager, you have no evidence. How can you just assume it was me?"
"Yes, Empress Dowager, I believe it wasn't the Empress who did it."
"Concubine Hui, you've always been honest. Don't speak for this witch anymore. Fang Ping, tell me. Should I believe this witch?"
A first - class maid who often stayed by the Empress Dowager's side stepped forward. Su Wan'er knew something was wrong. Usually, it was this maid and the Empress Dowager who disliked her the most. She definitely wouldn't speak up for her at this moment.
"Yes." Fang Ping stepped forward in a serious manner. "Early this morning, when Concubine Mei was here, the Empress came to pay her respects. At that time, she wanted to please the Empress Dowager with Buddhist scriptures. But instead of succeeding, she was scolded by the Empress Dowager. Then she left with a resentful look on her face."
A resentful look? This was simply nonsense. Su Wan'er gritted her teeth secretly. Fang Ping didn't know that the person who came to pay respects this morning was actually the Emperor, Si Junlin. If Si Junlin was scolded by the Empress Dowager, how could he have left with a resentful look?
"Your humble servant dares to guess that perhaps the Empress didn't mean to harm the Empress Dowager on purpose. Maybe she just took a venomous insect from somewhere and deliberately put it on the Empress Dowager first, and then came to rescue her to gain the Empress Dowager's trust."
Nonsense! Su Wan'er was so angry at this malicious speculation that she just wanted to punch Fang Ping.
But the Empress Dowager got angry even before her. "Bold! Su Wan'er, do you still want to be presumptuous in front of me? You actually used such a vicious method on me. Even if Lin'er protects you, I will execute you today."
"Empress Dowager, you should take good care of your health first. Even if the Empress has made a mistake, we should interrogate her before convicting her." Concubine Hui immediately stepped forward obsequiously to support the Empress Dowager.
What mistake? What conviction? This was simply groundless slander.
Because she was used to the Empress Dowager's methods, Su Wan'er suddenly calmed down.
This must be a conspiracy. Although she didn't know where the venomous insect came from, it must be related to Concubine Hui, who was as good at feigning weakness as Concubine Mei.
Since she entered the room, Concubine Hui had been sparing no effort to plead for her. But on the surface, it seemed like she was pleading for her, but in fact, she was adding fuel to the fire and helping the Empress Dowager.
Su Wan'er had seen many such people in the harem, especially those who were associated with Concubine Mei. They were definitely not good people. How could they really plead for her? But now the Empress Dowager seemed to be out of breath again. She ordered people to take Su Wan'er away and call the imperial physicians.
In her nervousness just now, Su Wan'er didn't notice when Qingcao had disappeared. This girl must have seen that the situation was not good and gone to call Si Junlin.
Why couldn't these people stop causing trouble? Concubine Mei's arrogance had already subsided a lot. Who was going to harm her this time?
Being taken to the Cold Palace again, obviously, Su Wan'er was no stranger to this place.
However, the attitude of the people here really surprised her. It seemed that because she had come here so many times, the eunuchs and maids were sure that the Emperor would rescue her. So they treated her respectfully. They even cleaned a room for her to live in and still treated her according to the specifications of the Empress.
Sure enough, Qingcao came back soon.
"How about it? You went to find the Emperor. What did he say?" Somehow, Su Wan'er seemed to have gotten used to the fact that Si Junlin would come to rescue her whenever something happened.
"The Empress Dowager seems to be really overly frightened this time. The Emperor said that if he came to rescue Your Majesty now, it would be difficult to clear Your Majesty of the charge in the future. So he took all the imperial physicians from the Imperial Hospital to visit the Empress Dowager first." Qingcao seemed a bit aggrieved for her.
"It doesn't matter. There must be a conspiracy behind this. Anyway, I won't be in any danger staying here for a while. Qingcao, you go out and help Si Junlin first."
"That's not possible, Your Majesty. There are many capable people around the Emperor. He doesn't need me. It's more appropriate for me to stay here with you."
"No, I always feel that Si Junlin doesn't understand what tricks these women will play. I think this matter must be related to Concubine Hui just now. You go and tell Si Junlin that he must investigate Concubine Hui thoroughly." Su Wan'er was certain that Concubine Hui's appearance there was no coincidence.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Qingcao knew what was more important and left in a hurry.
The people in the Cold Palace were really like wall - flowers. Su Wan'er's treatment this time was obviously much better. It was almost the same as in her own palace.
Only when she occasionally looked out of the window at the white clouds floating in the sky, Su Wan'er suddenly felt that all the scenes in the palace were like a blur. The people and things in the palace seemed to replay like a play in her mind.