"Oh? General Su is so self - aware? Don't worry. As the one who snatched the bride, I'll surely find a good place for you. Otherwise, how could I bear to let such a beauty wander outside?" Si Junlin didn't stop for a moment on the way. Su Wan'er was utterly helpless and could only let the horse carry her into the palace. The horse galloped so fast through the busy streets, and she was dressed in a wedding gown. Even if she dismounted and fled at this moment, she would probably be arrested by the patrolling constables on the street.
Moreover, she couldn't bring herself to do such a disgraceful thing. So, she could only let a group of secret agents surround and protect her. The whole group galloped past, heading straight for the palace gate, attracting much discussion and sidelong glances from the people on the way.
How unlucky! She had fallen into his trap. If she had escaped earlier, it would have been easy for her to find a horse in the Gu Mansion. Besides, she was very familiar with the layout of the Gu Mansion. She wouldn't be at the mercy of others like this now.
"May I ask why Your Majesty has brought me into the palace?" The palace was not a place where an outsider like her could enter at will. Was the emperor crazy? He had managed to snatch the bride and bring her into the palace within an hour, secretly and smoothly.
"Please dismount, General. You'll have to stay in the side hall of the Yangxin Hall for the next two days. After the morning court tomorrow, you'll have a new identity." Si Junlin, together with a group of secret agents, half - coerced and half - lured her into the Yangxin Hall. As soon as Su Wan'er entered the palace, she felt a strange headache. Now, entering the Yangxin Hall, the headache became even more unbearable.
This place shouldn't have been visited by a female general who had never been to court. But why did every blade of grass, every table and chair here seem so familiar to her?
Maybe because she had been taught since childhood to be loyal to the monarch. She had an inborn sense of awe towards the palace and naturally didn't dare to act rashly. So, she entered the side hall obediently.
But after the door closed behind her, she realized that things were not so simple. This was not a short stay at all. Once the door was closed, wasn't it equivalent to being under house arrest?
"Get out of the way! Let me out!" Sure enough, two maids blocked her as soon as she approached the door.
Strangely enough, these two maids also gave her a sense of familiarity, especially the one wearing a pink flower on her head.
"Your Ladyship, oh no, Miss, don't waste your energy. There are imperial guards outside. You can't get out." The one wearing the pink flower was none other than Xiaotao. When Su Wan'er was the queen in the central palace, besides Qingcao who served her closely, it was her.
Su Wan'er was just angry at the moment and didn't notice the slip - up in her address.
"Do you know why the emperor has imprisoned me here?"
Seeing that she had calmed down, Xiaotao poured her a cup of tea, helped her sit down, and then slowly said, "We slaves naturally don't know the inside story. Please don't make things difficult for us. We dare not say much. The emperor has ordered that you're ill these two days and need to recuperate in the palace. He has also told us to serve you whole - heartedly. Please rest well and don't get angry."
"What nonsense! I'm not ill! I'm perfectly fine. I was snatched, no, captured by the emperor." Su Wan'er had always been straightforward and outspoken since childhood. She had never suffered such grievances. If it were in other places, she would have caused a big fuss and fought her way out. So what if there were imperial guards? She was probably invincible in the whole Jin Kingdom. But now in the palace, it involved the reputation of the Su family. Shouting and fighting here would probably be useless. So, she could only sit down angrily and let these little maids serve her.
The rules in the palace were so complicated that she was dazzled. For example, when eating, two maids had to prepare the dishes beside her, and the chopsticks used by the maids should be separate from those used by the master. One couldn't pick up a dish more than twice. If she took a third bite, the dish would have to be tested with a silver needle again and again, and then it would be placed farther away or directly removed.
Su Wan'er was angry and annoyed for two hours. She paced back and forth in the room. Moreover, she had been preparing for the wedding all day and was so hungry after riding the horse that she started to eat. She was especially fond of the crab - roe soup dumplings. She had only eaten two small ones, which were not even enough to fill her teeth. When she wanted to pick up a third one, Xiaotao stopped her.
"Miss, you've probably been used to living outside the palace and forgotten the rules in the palace. You can't eat this dish anymore. If you want to eat it, we can ask the cooks to make a new one."
Su Wan'er frowned. She was so hungry at the moment that she didn't blame them. She thought it was really unnecessary to trouble the cooks to make a new dish just because she wanted to eat a few more. So, she waved her hand and turned to attack the crab - roe cakes.
Unexpectedly, after eating only two pieces, this dish was also removed. Su Wan'er angrily poked around on the more than twenty dishes with her chopsticks.
She had been practicing sword - fighting for so many years. A small chopstick was so light and flexible. With her skill, couldn't she outwit two maids? If they wanted to stop her from taking a third bite, they had to remember which dish she had taken one bite of and which one two bites.
Xiaotao and the other maids frowned and watched her eat randomly in a flurry. They were really helpless and knelt down one by one. "Please bear with it, Miss, and stop eating for now. For your safety, we're afraid we have to remove all the dishes on this table and make new ones."
Su Wan'er threw down her chopsticks. "How dare you! The people of the Jin Kingdom work hard from dawn to dusk to grow the food. Are you just going to waste it like this?"
Originally, this rule was passed down from the ancestors to prevent assassins from poisoning the noble people in the palace. That's why they stipulated that one couldn't eat more than two bites of a dish and then the dish would be given to the servants. There was nothing wasteful about it. But today, when she said this, it seemed to be related to caring about the country and the people. The maids trembled and didn't dare to refute.
Looking at these timid maids who didn't even dare to breathe loudly, Su Wan'er almost laughed. She was just a person who had entered the palace a few hours ago and didn't know anyone. Why were they so obedient?
But she didn't know that these maids were all the old servants who had served her in the central palace when she was the queen. Originally, Si Junlin had told Fang Xi when selecting them that he was going to bring General Su into the palace to recuperate and asked him to pick some reliable people to serve her.
Fang Xi was so shocked that he thought Si Junlin meant to bring Su Wan'er back to the central palace. Who would have thought that she would be placed directly in the side hall of the Yangxin Hall? So, he nervously arranged Xiaotao and the others here.
These people had been well - trained by her before. Coupled with the fact that Qingcao used to lead them and was very good at training the little maids, they were naturally very obedient.