"Your Majesty, is it really a good idea to do this? If the Emperor finds out that you've been scheming against the Empress Dowager, and there's any mishap, the punishment won't just be stripping you of the title of Empress. All our efforts could go to waste."
"Don't worry about this. I'm a daughter of the Su family after all. If I can enter the palace, I can surely get out of any trouble."
The power of the Su family was enough to make the royal family wary. If the Emperor dared to do anything to the daughter of the Su family casually, the soldiers of the entire Su family's army wouldn't spare him. If he fancied her, he'd marry her as the Empress. If not, she'd return intact. They wouldn't even harm a single hair on her.
"Your Majesty, hurry! Concubine Mei is coming. Quickly move the other bait over there." Qingcao was actually more nervous than her. Usually, their relationship wasn't very good. If they greeted each other when Concubine Mei came to pay respects, it would seem too fake.
"Qingcao, I've lost my bracelet. Help me look for it quickly." Su Wan'er deliberately looked around on the ground. She was betting that Concubine Mei would come over, so it wouldn't seem like she was deliberately approaching her. Now it was up to whether Concubine Mei had learned her lesson. If she really had and didn't dare to get close, she'd have to think of other ways.
Sure enough, Concubine Mei still hadn't learned her lesson. Seeing Su Wan'er looking around, she arrogantly said, "Empress Sister is here too. What are you busy with?" Then she waddled over.
"I've lost my bracelet," Su Wan'er naturally ignored her as usual. This only made Concubine Mei even angrier. How dare she act so high - and - mighty as the Empress!
"Then let me help Sister look for it," Concubine Mei deliberately fixed her hair. She thought her hair was combed especially nicely today, but little did she know that this would lead to trouble.
"No need. Sister came to pay respects to the Empress Dowager. Go in quickly," Su Wan'er deliberately showed that she didn't want to get close to her. In fact, she was trying to arouse her anger so that she could sprinkle the bait on her. Finally, unable to stand Su Wan'er's arrogant aura, Concubine Mei walked over.
"Ah, I found it. Isn't this it?" Su Wan'er took the opportunity to sprinkle the bait on her sleeve. Finally, everything was done perfectly. Su Wan'er didn't stay any longer and walked out.
This way, Concubine Mei shouldn't suspect her. Then she'd get a few more people involved, gather the four concubines and the like, arouse public outrage, and let the Empress Dowager depose her openly.
Sure enough, before she even had breakfast after returning to her palace, she heard the interesting news from the Empress Dowager's palace. It was said that the Empress Dowager had smelled a strong odor, but this time she wasn't as scared as last time. Instead, she caught the bug herself and immediately detained Concubine Mei.
"Your Majesty, we should go over there. After all, you're the Empress. At this occasion, the Emperor is in court. If you don't go over to take charge, it won't look right," Qingcao, who clearly knew that she and Su Wan'er had done this, still put on an act in front of the eunuch who came to deliver the message.
The Empress Dowager's incident could better show how filial the Emperor was. So Si Junlin naturally got the news in court. However, he actually issued an edict for Su Wan'er to take charge of the situation in her capacity as the Empress.
Si Junlin's intention was to boost Su Wan'er's prestige, but the court officials were now discussing it. The fact that the Empress had been in favor recently had already caused dissatisfaction among the court and the public. Now they were even complaining that the Emperor trusted the Empress too much. Si Junlin always knew the ways of these censors, so he ignored them and still sent the edict.
So Su Wan'er inexplicably received this edict. Was she supposed to go over and judge the case? Wasn't this like a thief crying "Stop thief"?
"Fine. Then I'll go and take a look."
The Empress Dowager's palace was in a complete mess. Su Wan saw Concubine Mei crying on the ground. The Empress Dowager, on the other hand, seemed to have gained some experience. She wasn't afraid of the bug at all. She sat there majestically, looking coldly at Concubine Mei, just like she used to look at Su Wan'er.
Su Wan'er was trembling nervously. After all, she had done something bad and felt a bit guilty. After going over to pay respects, she pretended not to know and asked what had happened.
The Empress Dowager didn't even look at her directly. She was quite annoyed that Si Junlin had issued an edict to summon her.
"The Empress is here. Sit aside then. This venomous woman actually came to harm me with a bug again today. Let's see what she has to say. I'll surely depose her in front of all of you," which meant that she would judge this case herself. Even if the Empress was here, she had to sit on the side and not interrupt.
"Mother, please calm down. We should interrogate first. Will Mother interrogate in person or hand it over to the Punishment Department?"
Of course, an interrogation was necessary. If they just ended it like this without an interrogation, wouldn't this matter be over too easily?
"I'll interrogate in person. All of you watch me," the Empress Dowager naturally didn't want to hand over the power to Su Wan'er at this time. Su Wan'er was happy to be idle and just watched from the side.
"You venomous woman. You used the same trick last time. Why did you come to harm me again?" Did she think the Empress Dowager couldn't tell? This Concubine Mei was really too bold.
"Your Majesty, please be discerning. This time it really wasn't me. I don't have such bugs anymore. Besides, Long Xiaojiu is no longer in the capital. I'm not from the Southern Border. Where could I get such bugs?" Concubine Mei was really speechless. She was so wronged. This time her crying seemed much more real than last time. Su Wan'er couldn't help but feel guilty watching from the side. It seemed that she really wasn't cut out to be a bad person. She was already a bit restless.
"May I ask how Your Majesty found out that it was Concubine Mei who cast the spell?" Su Wan'er finally couldn't stand it anymore. The Empress Dowager was so erratic. It wasn't like an interrogation at all. It was more like scolding first and then convicting.
"Ask her what's in her sleeve. I was very suspicious of that powder last time when Concubine Ling came. As soon as that powder was sprinkled in the room, the bug just crawled onto me," the Empress Dowager said.
"I see. No wonder... I was also very suspicious last time that Concubine Ling and Concubine Mei used the same method to harm me," Su Wan'er slowly led the topic towards her goal.
"Concubine Mei, actually I believe you. After all, one wouldn't use the same trick twice," Su Wan'er suddenly looked at Concubine Mei.
Concubine Mei seemed to have grabbed a life - saving straw. Since she was speechless now, she might as well grab onto Su Wan'er. As long as she could save her, anything was okay.
"Your Majesty, please be discerning. It really wasn't me. How could I use the same trick to harm the Empress Dowager again?"
"Your Majesty... How about this? I think there's really a miscarriage of justice in this case. Since this powder is the key, the real culprit must still have some of this powder left. How about searching everywhere in the palace to see who still has this powder?"