Su Zhiruan followed the palace maid into the Cining Palace.
The Cining Palace was very quiet at this time. After walking in, Su Zhiruan saw the empress dowager and the imperial concubine.
She was very calm, then bowed, "Your servant greets the Empress Dowager and the Imperial Concubine."
The Queen Mother did not ask her to get up immediately, but looked at her for a while with the teacup in her hand.
Su Zhiruan was very good-looking. She had seen her own appearance in a bronze mirror when she traveled through time. To use modern terms, she had a face that symbolized peace and prosperity.
Her appearance was different from that of the imperial concubine, who was more glamorous. She knelt upright, giving people a clear and pure feeling.
It has to be said that the Queen Mother's favorability towards her soared. This kind of person who is neither humble nor arrogant will make people like her at first sight.
"Susu, why are you so proud and happy eating the cakes His Majesty gave you?" The imperial concubine started to scold her directly. She was not polite at all. Her tone was sarcastic and she even wanted to throw her into the death row right now. "I think a lowly servant like you should be--"
She was halfway through her words when she was stopped by the Queen Mother, who raised her hand slightly. The Imperial Concubine had been secretly observing the Queen Mother. After all, the Queen Mother was her greatest support now.
"Susu, as your name suggests, you don't look like someone who would cause trouble," the Queen Mother warned first, then smiled and picked up a grape from the colorful glass plate with clusters of flowers, and said slowly, "I won't hide it from you. Before I saw you, I thought you were a disaster that caused the emperor to neglect his political affairs, but--"
The Queen Mother's tone of voice was long enough to make people's hearts beat fast. If a person was not in good mental condition, he might have been frightened by this sudden shock. However, Su Zhiruan knelt upright without any emotion on his face.
The Queen Mother nodded with satisfaction, and then said, "However, after I met you in person, I realized that this rumor might be a misunderstanding. You are a good child, and it's okay for you to stay with the emperor, but you must persuade the emperor to treat everyone equally. If the emperor still doesn't go to the harem this month, then I will not tolerate you."
This is a trap.
Su Zhiruan had been a worker in her previous life, so she naturally knew that these seemingly ordinary orders were a trap set for her.
The emperor didn't like the harem in the first place, so how could he let a little palace maid decide his decision?
The Queen Mother naturally had this in mind. She slowly waved her fan and continued with a smile, "Of course, I am not a cold-blooded person. There is another choice."
"Aunt! What choice do you give her? In my opinion, the one just now should be chosen. If it is completed, she will be kept. If it is not completed, she will be thrown into death row! I think it is a good choice!" When the imperial concubine heard that the empress dowager had a second choice, she immediately glanced at Su Zhiruan with disdain, and then looked at the empress dowager.
"Don't worry, Concubine." The Queen Mother smiled like a kind old woman, not at all like when she gave Su Zhiruan an order just now. "The second option is to get pregnant with an heir. If you can do this, you will be a great contributor to the dynasty."
Upon hearing this condition, the imperial concubine immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
She is not worried now.
The current emperor has been in power for five years, and there are more than 300 concubines in the harem, but not a single concubine has been pregnant in these years.
Asking Su Zhiruan to complete it within a month is basically like asking the goldfish in the imperial garden to learn court etiquette in a month. It is simply impossible.
At this moment, the old maid at the door came in and saluted, "Empress Dowager, His Majesty has sent someone."
The Queen Mother later showed some interest.
Bringing her here was a plan that killed three birds with one stone. The first was to let the imperial concubine vent her anger, the second was to see what Su Su was capable of, and then find a way to get rid of her, or to whisper in the emperor's ear, and the third was to see her position in the emperor's heart.
"Let someone in." The Queen Mother said to the old nanny, then turned to look at Su Zhiruan, "You stand up first."
Su
Zhiruan stood up as he was told and stood aside, without even shaking his body.
She learned etiquette very well, and it
can even be said that she was among the best in the entire dynasty.
The young eunuch walked in from the
doorway and came to the outer hall some distance away from the empress dowager.
He knelt down and saluted, "Your servant greets the empress dowager and
the imperial concubine."
"Get up." The Queen Mother
waved her fan and said with some authority, "What did the Emperor tell you
to say?"
"Your Highness, the Emperor asked
me to tell the Empress Dowager that he knows Miss Su Su is with you. If you are
unhappy, you can kill her at will. There is no need to test Your Majesty."
After hearing these words, Su Zhiruan
did not burst into tears or feel sad and desperate. Instead, he admired them in
his heart.
As the saying goes, no one knows a son
better than his mother, and vice versa, no one knows a mother better than her
son. The person who knows his mother best must be Shen Qi.
Although this was her first time meeting
the Queen Mother, she could tell something from the few words she spoke.
If Shen Qi wanted to take her away with
great fanfare, the mother and son would definitely feel resentful, and she
would definitely not be happy about it. On the contrary, after saying such
words, the empress dowager would think that she was an unimportant and
transparent person, and might forget about it after a while.
After hearing this, the imperial
concubine was delighted. She glanced at Su Zhiruan triumphantly and began to
play with her armor. "It turns out that the emperor doesn't care about
you, a little bitch. It's really a waste of worry. Go back."
The Queen Mother knew her son's
character. The words he sent someone to convey might be true or they might be
lies he told to save Su Su.
There is no mistake in the poem, post,
content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!
But it could also be his true attitude.
Both of these speculations left the
Queen Mother confused.
After thinking about it, she felt that
she was really idle. Now she was the Queen Mother, not the previous palace
fight. How much trouble could a lowly servant make? Thinking of this, she waved
her hand and said, "Okay, go back and serve the emperor well."
The young eunuch and Su Zhiruan bowed at
the same time, "I will take my leave."
Su Zhiruan followed the young eunuch out
of the front gate of the Cining Palace.
After walking for a long time, the young
eunuch finally spoke, "Miss Susu, please go back to His Majesty as soon as
possible. In fact, His Majesty wanted to come in person just now, so he walked
for a while before sending a servant over."
"Thank you, eunuch." Su
Zhiruan didn't expect that Shen Qi decided to come in person at the beginning.
This was beyond her expectations. After all, their relationship was only a
one-night stand last night. Logically, as the emperor, there was no need to
make a big fuss to rescue an ordinary palace maid.
Soon, they arrived at the imperial
study.
The young eunuch's mission today was in
the back hall, so he left first.
Su Zhiruan walked into the imperial
study quietly, then bowed, "Your Highness."
Shen Qi knew it was her, he just rolled
up his sleeves, raised his eyes slightly and glanced at her indifferently,
"Are you back? Grind ink for me when you come back."
Su Zhiruan stood up, walked to his side
and began to grind ink skillfully.
When no one noticed, Shen Qi quietly
breathed a sigh of relief.
(End of this chapter)