"What did you say? Concubine Mei, don't be so stubborn. Do you think I'll still believe your nonsense?" Si Junlin was also extremely surprised. This woman was simply crazy.
"Your Majesty may not believe me, but I have evidence. Concubine Xi couldn't resist her loneliness and had an affair with a guard a month ago. I've already detained that guard. Your Majesty can go and ask him yourself."
"Concubine Mei, I can overlook the mistakes you've made in the past, whether it was falsely accusing the Queen or harming the Empress Dowager. Considering that your family is now helpless, I'll spare your life. But if you cause more trouble in the palace from now on, don't blame me for being merciless."
Si Junlin was truly fed up with her tricks. Although Concubine Xi was usually overbearing and took advantage of the Empress Dowager's favor to do many bad things in the harem, precisely because the Empress Dowager was watching over her, she didn't dare to go too far. Concubine Mei must be jealous that Concubine Xi was pregnant while she herself had been demoted, so she came up with such a scheme.
"Your Majesty doesn't believe me now, does he? I've been so humble, and Your Majesty still doesn't believe me, does he?" Concubine Mei suddenly wailed shrilly from behind.
Si Junlin didn't want to pay attention to her, but Concubine Mei suddenly brought up Su Wan'er.
"As soon as that slut left, Your Majesty lost his soul, right? Hehe, but Your Majesty misjudged the people. The Queen, that slut, and Concubine Xi, that bitch, which of them truly loves you? Only I do!" Concubine Mei slapped her chest hard. "Only I truly love you. Why don't you believe me?"
With a loud slap, Concubine Mei's face was struck hard. "If you dare to mention her again, I won't spare you."
"Fang Xi, let's return to the Hall of Mental Cultivation."
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty... weren't you planning to go to Concubine Xi's palace? What did Concubine Mei say to you?" Fang Xi felt that he could hardly keep up with Si Junlin and gasped for breath.
"I'm not going anywhere today. I'm not in the mood."
"Then the black-bone chicken soup and old duck soup that this servant just told Xiao Shunzi to get from the imperial kitchen, as well as the medicine from the imperial hospital..."
"Send them! They can just send them themselves. Why did you have to mention my name?" Before Fang Xi could finish, Si Junlin frowned and interrupted him. Fang Xi could only lower his head and agree, but he felt really sorry for Concubine Xi. She had finally conceived the first child in the harem, but was treated like this. However, he didn't know that the first thing Si Junlin did after returning to the Hall of Mental Cultivation was to summon secret agents to investigate how the child in Concubine Xi's belly came about.
At night, Si Junlin tossed and turned in bed, thinking of Concubine Mei's weeping face today.
"Liner, I see that your complexion is not good today. Did you not rest well last night?" Si Junlin went to pay his morning respects to the Empress Dowager after the morning court, but his haggard face couldn't be concealed.
"Aren't there battles going on at the front line? I'm worried, so I went to bed late." Si Junlin had been really unhappy these days, so he was too tired to deal with things. After paying respects to the Empress Dowager, he wanted to leave, but the Empress Dowager stopped him.
"Liner, wait a moment. I've been thinking that although there are quite a few concubines in the palace, there's still a lack of a considerate one. Concubine Xi is pregnant, so it's really inconvenient for her to serve you. I've already chosen a gentle and understanding girl for you."
After the Empress Dowager finished speaking, she waved to the back. Sure enough, a young and charming girl walked up gracefully from behind.
After seeing her, Si Junlin frowned tightly. "Mother, I've already said that these days are very busy. Why are you still causing trouble? I still have a pile of memorials to approve. I'll go back now."
Back in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Fang Xi came up to report that this month was a good season for new tea production in Lingnan, so the new Biluochun tea had been regularly presented as a tribute.
Si Junlin absent-mindedly made a red pen annotation on a memorial and then casually said, "Send it to the Queen."
"Ah?" Fang Xi hesitated and asked. "Has Your Majesty forgotten that the Queen... has already left the palace?"
Si Junlin suddenly looked up. He was very annoyed at his habit of casually giving things to Su Wan'er. Forget it, then store it in the warehouse.
"This is exactly what this servant can't decide. If this new tea is stored for a while, it may lose its flavor. If it becomes old tea, it will lose its original fragrance."
"So what if she's left the palace? Can't we send it to her? This is a reward from me!" Obviously, Fang Xi had touched Si Junlin's sore spot this time. No one in the whole palace dared to mention this, so he naturally suffered. He quickly gave the order and really sent someone to deliver the tea to Su Wan'er on the battlefield.
"By the way, have the secret agents returned?" Si Junlin suddenly remembered what he had ordered yesterday. It was really annoying. Why did these women keep causing trouble for him every day?
"They've returned and are waiting outside for orders."
Normally, whenever the secret agents got any information, they would directly come to report to him. Why were they waiting outside for orders this time?
Fang Xi, entrusted by the leader of the secret agents, pleaded guilty to Si Junlin. "Your Majesty, the leader said that he and his men have found out some treasonous things, so he didn't dare to come up and report. Please forgive him."
Si Junlin had already guessed the answer. Sure enough, according to the leader's investigation, the guard captured by Concubine Mei was actually Concubine Xi's cousin and was also related to the Empress Dowager. So it was no wonder that Concubine Xi was so bold. It turned out that they had been childhood sweethearts.
"Your Majesty, please don't be angry. It's not worth getting angry and hurting your body." Fang Xi led a group of servants and knelt down. He was also afraid that Si Junlin couldn't bear all these annoying things these days.
But Si Junlin didn't seem to be very angry. He just ordered someone to bring Concubine Xi up.
"Your Majesty, if you're really angry, just vent your anger on this servant. Don't hold it in." Fang Xi watched from the side. He was really worried about Si Junlin, who was so calm.
"What's there to be angry about? Concubine Xi was forced on me by the Empress Dowager in the first place. I've been annoyed these days about what to do when she gives birth to the child. Now that this incident has happened, it's clearly solved a big problem for me. She's brought this on herself, so she can't blame me."
Fang Xi was amazed and sighed on the side. The difference was too great. When it came to the Queen, just talking to General Gu could make the Emperor make things difficult for General Gu. But when it came to Concubine Xi, who had cuckolded the Emperor, the Emperor could still handle it so calmly.
When Concubine Xi was brought up, she didn't know what was going on. Along the way, she kept scolding the maids who led her here for being rude. And she kept showing off her big belly and using the imperial heir as an excuse. Si Junlin looked impatient.
"Concubine Xi, I'm asking you, are you going to confess everything about today's incident yourself, or should I find someone to do it for you?"
"What's wrong with me, Your Majesty? I'm now carrying two lives in my body. Your Majesty, if you want to summon me, you can't be so rude." Concubine Xi seemed to sense something and looked around the hall.