"Yes, I'm just this despicable. I'm not as noble as your Brother Jingtian, right? That's why you look down on me, isn't it? But let me tell you, when the king orders a subject to die, this subject, Gu Jingtian, has to obey!"
Su Wan'er took several deep breaths to calm her anger before speaking patiently, "Do as you please, Your Majesty. It's just a matter of issuing an imperial edict." She was truly disappointed in this man, more disappointed than ever before. "However, if you lay a finger on him, in a few days, I'll go and fight to the death on the frontier. Even if it's just to add a heroic spirit to the border between the Jin Kingdom and the Southern Border."
"Su Wan'er!" Si Junlin roared, but he still couldn't stop Su Wan'er from leaving.
Are you willing to die for him now? How could you even say such things? Then what am I to you? I'm your husband! Don't you love me?
When Su Wan'er dashed out of the last palace gate, she took a deep breath and thought the weather was especially nice today.
"Miss, what happened just now with the emperor?" Qingcao wasn't sure if she should ask, but she was really curious.
"Nothing." Su Wan'er gave her a smile. Qingcao just felt that this smile wasn't real. It seemed like the miss had something on her mind but didn't want to talk about it.
"I won't die." Su Wan'er added a few more words.
From now on, she had nothing to do with this palace. It was still better outside. There was nothing she disliked anywhere.
"Huh?" Although Qingcao was confused, she didn't dare to ask anymore.
But inside the palace, Si Junlin wasn't idle.
"Fang Xi." Si Junlin's eyes were bloodshot. None of the servants around him dared to even breathe loudly. When Fang Xi heard his name being called, he jumped like he'd been electrocuted and walked over nervously.
"Y-your Majesty."
"Call all the secret agents to me. Also, I'll be staying in the Hall of Mental Cultivation for the next few days. Tell those women that without my summons, none of them are allowed to come in front of me." After saying that, he swept the mountain - high memorials on the table onto the ground.
"Yes---" Fang Xi felt as if he'd been granted amnesty. After receiving the order, he scurried out of the door. The maids and eunuchs left behind picked up the memorials on the ground nervously as if a great disaster was coming.
"Y-your Majesty, Concubine Xi is here. She says she wants to see you." Fang Xi had only taken a few steps when he came back.
What bad luck he had today! The emperor had just said not to let the women come, and the imperial edict hadn't even been passed on yet, but now he had to deal with Concubine Xi.
But everyone in the palace knew that Concubine Xi was pregnant. Even if they didn't consider her face, they had to consider the unborn child. After all, this was the first imperial heir in the palace. If it was a prince, he would be the eldest son.
"Can't you understand what I'm saying? Drive all these women out for me."
Fang Xi endured his storm - like roar. He felt a chill on his neck. It seemed like the emperor was about to wring his head off.
"Yes... But, Concubine Xi is pregnant. I'm afraid, I'm afraid..." Fang Xi still stammered out the words. The one outside wasn't easy to deal with. If you told her to go back, would she really go obediently? She must be lingering there with her not - yet - prominent belly and might not leave.
"If she's pregnant, go back and take good care of herself! Why is she still running around? Someone, pass on my imperial edict. Concubine Xi is confined to her own palace until she gives birth." Si Junlin was extremely impatient. This was the first time he had issued such a hasty imperial edict.
Concubine Xi was immediately carried back in a sedan chair outside. She felt very wronged that she was inexplicably confined until she gave birth.
She had thought that since she was pregnant and the queen had been deposed, she would sooner or later be the mistress of the harem. But now, the emperor treated her like this?
"Your Excellency." The leader of the secret agents appeared upon receiving the order.
"How many men do you have under your command now?"
"There are thirty - six men on standby in the palace, five have been sent out, and three are injured." The leader answered crisply.
"Good. Now I order you to lead twenty men and follow... Su Wan'er!" That woman, relying on her martial arts skills, just left like that without thinking about her own safety.
"This... Your Excellency, my duty is to protect your safety. Now that you're in the palace, how can I leave?"
"I said go. I don't trust anyone else but you. Then take ten men. Too many people will be a hindrance." Now the Yuwen family in the Southern Border was at the end of their wits, and the Su family had been frequently targeted. At this time, Su Wan'er ran out of the palace. She had offended that girl from the Yuwen family who wanted to be the saintess not long ago, and the matter of the deposed queen had been making a lot of noise. How could he rest assured?
"Yes." The leader had no choice but to take the order and leave.
Fang Xi was completely confused. He had witnessed with his own eyes how cold the queen had been to the emperor today, and the emperor had been very angry. But now, why was he sending people to protect her? And it seemed like he had planned it all along.
"Your Majesty, aren't you angry anymore?" Fang Xi waited for a while before tentatively placing a cup of fire - reducing tea beside him.
"Fang Xi,"
"Huh?"
"She didn't take anything with her when she left, did she?" Si Junlin remembered that he seemed to have rewarded Su Wan'er a lot of things recently. Although they seemed to be just tributes from below, he had personally selected them. Any one of them could be carried around.
Like that string of agate beads and that pair of ivory chopsticks...
"Probably not. The lady... uh, cough, Miss Su specifically instructed when she left that after she left, the items in the middle palace could be inventoried, and those that should be transferred to the warehouse could be transferred. Also, she handed in three thousand taels of silver, saying that due to the current war, the national treasury was in short supply." Fang Xi chose his words carefully, fearing that any wrong word would bring disaster to himself.
"It's not easy for her. It's almost her monthly salary during her time as the queen, isn't it?" Si Junlin seemed to be praising her. After all, she was the only one in the palace who could think about the national treasury and the common people. She was also the only one willing to take out her own silver for the country. But then again, she was also the only one who was willing to be deposed voluntarily!
"Yes. Speaking of which, the queen was really a good queen." Fang Xi sighed, but then immediately came to his senses. "Oh, look at this mouth of mine. I said the wrong thing again."
"You just reminded me. It'll probably take Su Wan'er three days to get to the front line from here. Bring me a writing brush."
Si Junlin wrote vigorously on a blank imperial edict and without hesitation, wrote an imperial edict.
"...There is Su Wei, the third daughter of the Su family. She is naturally gifted and good at fighting. Considering that the two commanders of the Su family are injured, she is hereby specially appointed as the acting commander of the Southern Army. The original commander, Gu Jingtian, will still be the deputy commander. She is promoted to the second - rank general of the heavy cavalry..."
"Your Majesty, should this be announced now?" Fang Xi was even more confused. Didn't he plan all these things long ago? Then what was the point of stabbing himself with a knife and then not letting her go just now?
"No. It only takes two days for a carrier pigeon to deliver the message. Wait... until the day after tomorrow. After she arrives at the army and settles down, it's more appropriate for the imperial edict to arrive."