"What did you say?!" Si Junlin instantly rose from the dragon throne. The murderous look in his eyes was as if he wanted to devour someone alive.
"Your Majesty, please discern... Your subject... Your concubine dare not lie." Ling Bin was so frightened that her whole body trembled, but she still firmly insisted on the matter of Su Wan'er having an affair with someone.
"How do you know?" Si Junlin gritted his teeth and asked.
"It... It was something I heard with my own ears. Just now, when I was just out of the Imperial Study, I sprained my foot. While waiting for the sedan chair to pick me up, I heard Her Majesty the Queen and her maid planning to go out of the palace to find General Gu. And... And she also said..."
Si Junlin instinctively grabbed her collar without any pity, as if she would be silenced if she said one more word.
"What else?! Speak! Tell me everything!"
Ling Bin calmed down at this moment. As long as the emperor was angry, that was good. That was exactly what she wanted. "The Queen also said that she would drink with General Gu... all night... Ah!" Before she could finish her words, Ling Bin was slapped to the side.
"Someone! Ling Bin has gone mad in the middle of the night. Drag her out and flog her twenty times, then confine her to her palace." Si Junlin's anger spread throughout his body, and even his hands were shaking.
He didn't believe it. He absolutely didn't believe that Su Wan'er would say such things or do such a thing! However, a thought that kept lingering in his mind made him even more angry. Gu Jingtian seemed to have grown up in the Su family since childhood and had always gone to the battlefield with the Su father and son. Then... wouldn't he and Su Wan'er be childhood sweethearts?
Unexpectedly, Ling Bin didn't panic and beg for mercy. Instead, she struggled to get up by herself.
"Your Majesty! The Queen has done such immoral things. Why are you still protecting her? Your Majesty..." Things had come to this point. It was better to go all the way. Otherwise, if she couldn't bring down Su Wan'er, she would be flogged, lose the emperor's favor, and have no way out in the future. Ling Bin thought this through and shouted to Si Junlin even more ruthlessly.
"Protect?" Si Junlin glanced at her.
"I am the Son of Heaven and never protect anyone. Ling Bin, think it over clearly. If you spread rumors today and it is exposed, I will make your life worse than death!" As the king of a country, he hated the word "protect" the most. He never needed to protect anyone. But... was he really protecting Su Wan'er?
"Your concubine is willing to bet her life. If this matter is true, please, Your Majesty, for the sake of the royal family's reputation, depose the Queen." Ling Bin's face showed an almost ferocious expression. Since Su Wan'er had gained favor, there had hardly been any place for her in the harem. She hated this Queen extremely!
"Your life? Do you think I will investigate the Queen just to take your life?" Si Junlin sneered. Who gave her the courage? His previous actions had really made these women in the palace go wild. They all thought he valued them so much!
"Hehe..." Ling Bin also sneered, as if she had torn off her false mask. She looked at Si Junlin desolately and venomously.
"Your Majesty, you keep making excuses. Why are you so reluctant to lead people to General Gu's mansion to investigate now? Isn't it because Your Majesty is afraid?" If he led people out of the palace now to see if the Queen was really at General Gu's place and what she was doing there, wouldn't everything be clear?
Ling Bin wished that Si Junlin would depose the Queen right now!
Si Junlin tightened his lips and ordered everyone to retreat. Then he told Fang Xi to summon a team of secret agents.
"What are you doing? Your Majesty, Your Majesty... spare my life..." Two secret agents came up and grabbed Ling Bin as soon as they received the order. Ling Bin was extremely frightened when she saw this team of black - clothed people she had never seen before. Did this mean they were going to kill her to silence her?
"Now you know to beg me for mercy? Weren't you willing to risk your life just now?" Si Junlin looked coldly at her as she was already scared and paralyzed.
"However... I don't want your life for now. Didn't you say I was afraid to go? Then I'll send people to go with you and have a look." After saying that, he waved his hand and told the secret agents to take her away.
When Ling Bin was reporting the matter to the emperor, Su Wan'er had already arrived at Gu Jingtian's mansion.
However, Qingcao vaguely felt that if anything went wrong with this matter, not only would the Queen be punished, but Gu Jingtian would also be implicated. Therefore, she stopped Su Wan'er outside the door.
"Your Majesty, just now in the palace, this maid really heard someone following us. Although it's rare to meet General Gu, it's really too dangerous tonight. Let's go back." Qingcao heard that she had been chatting all the way about how to comfort General Gu and how not to alarm his family, as if she was completely unaware of the danger.
"It's definitely too late to go back now." Su Wan'er looked at Qingcao mysteriously, as if she had everything under control.
"Ah? So Your Majesty also knows it's too late? Then now..."
"Now you just go in and have a good chat with Brother Jingtian." Don't think she couldn't tell. Usually, this girl knew more about Brother Jingtian than she did. She didn't know how much effort she had put into him.
"What? I... Then what about you?" It was too late to go back to the palace now, but how could she leave the Queen alone?
"Look where this is?" Su Wan'er pointed forward.
Qingcao looked and saw that not far away was the Su Mansion. Gu Jingtian had grown up in the Su family. It was only after he passed the imperial examinations that he brought his family here and set up a separate mansion. Naturally, the Su Mansion wasn't far away.
"I'll walk towards my home and wait for them at the main gate of the Su Mansion. I'd like to see who's eavesdropping on me again this time and trying to harm me." Su Wan'er had known from the beginning that someone was following her when she left the palace. She had already planned to let only Qingcao go. She hadn't practiced martial arts for a long time and was a bit itchy.
"Ah... Your Majesty, you must be careful." Qingcao still looked worried.
"Go quickly, go quickly." Su Wan'er threw her over the wall of the Gu Mansion. With Qingcao's skills, she might have to climb over it.
With her skills, ordinary people couldn't hurt her. If she really met a master, her light - footed skill was also quite good.
However... the person she met now made Su Wan'er unable to fight or run away.
Just as she walked to the door of the Su Mansion, sure enough, she ran into... Si Junlin?! Su Wan'er thought it was someone in the palace who wanted to harm her secretly while she was out of the palace, but how could it be Si Junlin?
Behind a team of secret agents, two people were even holding a woman.
When she got closer, Su Wan'er could see clearly. Wasn't it Ling Bin whom she had just met tonight?
However, Ling Bin's expression was far from being as kind as before.
"Your Majesty, look, look. The Queen is really here." As soon as Ling Bin saw Su Wan'er, she immediately shouted excitedly.
Only then did Su Wan'er understand that it was Ling Bin's people who had been following her just now. She thought it was Concubine Mei who wanted to find a deserted place to kill her. It turned out that Ling Bin had reported the matter to the emperor.