"What, don't you want to go and see Brother Jingtian? Maybe we can drink and talk all night long." Su Wan'er thought quite simply. The inexplicable charge given by Si Junlin would surely hurt Brother Jingtian. As the Queen of the Jin Kingdom, how could she turn a blind eye? Moreover... she had been pent up in the palace for so long and really hadn't had a good time outside.
However, she overlooked one thing. There were ears everywhere in the palace. At this moment, the little maid deliberately left behind by Concubine Ling was quietly listening to everything.
"I do want to, but... Your Majesty clearly forbade you from leaving the palace." Qingcao was also quite yearning.
"It's just a palace gate. Can it stop the two of us?" Su Wan'er smiled meaningfully.
After returning to the palace and changing into light clothes, the two immediately came to the nearest city wall of the palace. Naturally, with Su Wan'er's skills, she could leap over it in a few steps, and Qingcao could barely manage it too. But the difficult part was that there were imperial guards patrolling here all the time. As soon as they heard any noise, they would rush over to investigate as if they had found a treasure.
"Bang--" Su Wan'er threw a medium - sized stone into the distance. Sure enough, the imperial guards swarmed over. While the two were snickering, they found that there was another team standing not far away, separated by two guard posts, as if they were ready to support at any time.
Why were there so many people on guard in the middle of the night? Su Wan'er was very annoyed. Now she couldn't even leave the palace.
"What are you doing, Your Majesty?" Qingcao suddenly found that Su Wan'er was openly climbing up.
"Qingcao, hide well." Only her voice could be heard, but not her person. With her light - body skill, Su Wan'er instantly moved to the place where the group of imperial guards had gathered.
"Assassin—Quick, there's an assassin---" Sure enough, the imperial guards soon discovered her.
However... there were probably very few people in the world who could catch Su Wan'er.
Qingcao watched with full worry as her mistress seemed to be like a gust of wind, circling around the city wall a few times. After that, almost all the imperial guards in the vicinity went to chase her.
"What are you standing there for? Hurry up."
"Ah--" Qingcao was startled by her. Somehow, Su Wan'er had already come behind her.
"Oh, Your Majesty is really smart." It seemed that the imperial guards really had no way to deal with her.
"Ah, I haven't been out for a long time. The air outside smells better than inside." After the two successfully left the palace, Su Wan'er was quite emotional and couldn't help but slow down.
"Your Majesty, let's go quickly. I always feel... as if someone is following us." Qingcao said and looked back.
"Who are you scaring, Qingcao? I'm most afraid of this. Don't talk nonsense." Su Wan'er was also startled and looked back.
"Ah, Your Majesty, I'm not talking about ghosts. I mean there's someone. I just seemed to see a black figure, sneaky." Qingcao was extremely vigilant.
"Don't scare yourself. It took us so much effort to get out of the palace. Who else could get out?" Su Wan'er was very confident at this moment. After all, the imperial guards were not to be trifled with. It was estimated that not even a bird could fly out of the palace tonight.
But what she didn't know was that it was precisely during the moment when she distracted the imperial guards that the little eunuch of Concubine Ling had been following them and then took the opportunity to run back to report.
"What? Say it again." At this moment, Concubine Ling was annoyed that her visit to the imperial study tonight had been in vain. When the little eunuch came back, he brought the news that the Queen had left the palace.
"Yes... Your servant followed them all the way to the foot of the city wall. There's no mistake." The little eunuch originally wanted to curry favor, and now he even boasted about himself.
"What is she doing out of the palace in the middle of the night?" Like most women in the harem, she would never miss any opportunity to compete for the emperor's favor. But now the emperor doted on the Queen exclusively, so they all hated the Queen extremely.
"Your servant... Your servant doesn't dare to say." The little eunuch seemed to know that he was holding some earth - shattering secret, but in fact, he couldn't wait to say it out to get a reward.
"Say it quickly. I'll take responsibility for whatever happens." Concubine Ling also vaguely felt that she was about to catch hold of Su Wan'er's handle.
"Yes... Your servant just heard with his own ears that the Queen left the palace to meet General Gu, and she also said that they would drink and talk all night long."
"Ah?" Concubine Ling was so excited that she stood up. Good, good Queen. She even dared to climb over the wall at night to meet her lover. Isn't this adultery? Let's see how you can still have the face to be the Queen.
"Your Majesty, do you still want your hair combed?" The maid beside her was so shocked that she dropped the comb.
"Comb what? Hurry up, prepare the sedan chair. I'm going to see the Empress Dowager." Concubine Ling first thought that the only one in the palace who could deal with Su Wan'er was the Empress Dowager.
But then she thought that every time the Empress Dowager wanted to punish the Queen, the emperor would defend her in every possible way. Moreover, the Empress Dowager was sleeping at this time. If they waited until tomorrow, wouldn't Su Wan'er get away?
"No, go to see the emperor. Hurry up and say that I have something important to see him." Concubine Ling rushed to the Yangxin Hall in a hurry, not at all like the weak woman who had sent the ginseng soup just now.
"Your Majesty---Your Majesty—Your concubine has something important to report."
Fang Xi saw that the emperor was still bothered by the fact that the Queen hadn't ground ink for him, so he ignored Concubine Ling's report. Who would have thought that she would start shouting outside the hall by herself.
"Is it Concubine Ling? Why is she here again?" What a nuisance in the middle of the night.
"If Your Majesty doesn't want to see Concubine Ling, Your servant will go and turn her away?" Fang Xi finished cleaning up the pieces of rice paper that Si Junlin had torn to shreds and quickly stepped forward to wait for orders.
"What important matter is she shouting about? Let her come in and ask." Si Junlin looked impatient.
As soon as Concubine Ling heard the summons, she didn't even need the maid to support her and walked right in.
"It's already this late. What are you shouting about outside?" Si Junlin's tone returned to its usual coldness, as if the "my love" he had said just now had never existed.
But at this moment, Concubine Ling was only thinking about how to catch Su Wan'er red - handed.
"Your Majesty—Your concubine is terrified. Your concubine just learned of a heinous thing, but doesn't dare to say it." Concubine Ling quickly knelt down there. This scene made Si Junlin can't help but think of Concubine Mei a few days ago. She also knelt down like this and seriously accused Su Wan'er in front of him.
Could it be... that Concubine Ling was also here to accuse today?
"If you don't want to say it, don't. Go back and rest." Weren't they tired of acting these plays? He was tired of listening.
"Your concubine... has to say." Concubine Ling gritted her teeth: "Your Majesty! The Queen... "
"Again with the Queen. Who do you think you are to talk about the Queen? Tomorrow I'll issue an imperial edict. From now on, anyone who slanders the Queen at will will be dragged out and beaten... eighty big boards!" Si Junlin thought about a number of boards that wouldn't kill the person.
"Your Majesty..." Concubine Ling was surprised that the emperor doted on the Queen so much now. She hesitated.
But after much hesitation, she suddenly realized that as long as the Queen was around, she would never receive the emperor's favor. It would be better to take this opportunity... She didn't believe that the emperor could tolerate the Queen's adultery!
"Your Majesty, this matter is of great importance." Concubine Ling gritted her teeth: "The Queen... she is having an affair with General Gu. Now the two of them are having a tryst outside the palace!"