The emperor snapped out of his daze and looked at her dirty clothes, but he felt no disgust at all. Instead, he found her rather charming and lovely.

"Your Majesty, you've come to see your sister, haven't you? I'm covered in mud, and it would be disrespectful for me to come before Your Majesty. Perhaps I should go back and change my clothes before I come to pay my respects?"

The emperor did not agree, but instead asked, "Did Consort Gu send you to plant the trees?"

Gu Jiangli said frankly, "Yes, when I was in the Gu family, I was very good at arranging these flowers and plants. Last night the wind was strong and the small garden was damaged, so my sister asked me to come and help these palace servants with some things I could do."

Gu Jiangli cleverly used the word "help".

The emperor immediately sensed a hidden meaning in the words, "You, a mere concubine, are helping these palace servants?"

"Oh!" Gu Jiangli seemed to realize something, half-covering her mouth, and quickly corrected herself, "Shouldn't it be called 'guidance'?"

Her words were a blatant attempt to cover up the truth, and the emperor's gaze fell on Gu Jiangru, who stood there in shock.

"Your sister is very capable, but it's a bit of a waste to use her talents in these areas."

Gu Jiangru froze on the spot, then hurriedly denied it, "Your Majesty! I didn't ask my sister to come here! My sister is of noble birth, how could I ask her to work with these vulgar and lowly servants? My sister must have come here of her own accord."

She originally intended to accuse Gu Jiangli, saying that she had voluntarily lowered herself to work with these lowly servants, but unexpectedly, it backfired.

The emperor sensed the undisguised contempt in her words towards the servants and frowned slightly.

As soon as she said that, the expressions of all the palace maids and eunuchs turned rather unpleasant.

They were chatting and laughing with Gu Jieyu just now, and although they were doing hard labor, they were happy.

But with just one sentence from Consort Gu, they were rendered utterly worthless.

Gu Jiangli naturally knew that Gu Jiangru's words would displease everyone present, especially the palace servants.

If it were any other day, they would be used to Gu Jiangru scolding them.

But today, they suddenly encountered a concubine who was approachable and had no airs of a master. She was even willing to lower herself and do these dirty chores with them, speaking softly and gently as if she were a friend.

With such a direct comparison, they would feel resentful towards the master who looked down on them, and their mindset would be quite different.

Gu Jiangli pressed her advantage, adding, "Sister, your words are a bit too harsh. Fine, just as you said, I wasn't asked to come and do things for them. I did it myself because I wanted to save the flowers, plants, and trees in this yard."

“But I don’t feel that working with the palace servants lowers my status. On the contrary, I have learned a lot of tips on how to take care of flowers and plants from them. Why do you look down on them in your words?”

"This little garden was built because you liked it back then, sister. These palace servants have been working tirelessly since sunrise, without a moment's rest, all so that they can return a beautiful and intact garden to you as soon as possible."

"Now you look down on their status, isn't that a bit unreasonable? This isn't how your sister usually teaches you."

Gu Jiangli appeared to be earnestly advising her younger sister, who, to outsiders, seemed like a well-mannered older sister educating a younger sister who lacked manners.

Even the emperor thought so.

Only Gu Jiangru was seething with anger.

She could easily tell that Gu Jiangli was deliberately criticizing her in front of His Majesty!

A group of servants are nothing to fear, but she cannot allow His Majesty to change his opinion of her.

"Sister...why are you getting angry with me over these palace servants? I just want to say that if I hadn't asked you to come here to do the menial work, how could I have the authority to order you around?"

Her words still conveyed a sense of disdain for these palace servants.

Gu Jiangli was secretly overjoyed. Didn't Gu Jiangru notice that the emperor's face was as black as coal?

She sighed, clearly indicating that she didn't want to fight anymore. "Fine, if you say it's not true, then it's not true. I don't want to have any more unpleasantness with you over this matter."

"But you must never look down on people in the future. After all, these palace servants are very respectful to you and are loyal to you."

At the end of her speech, she didn't forget to give Gu Jiangru a lecture.

"I..." Gu Jiangru didn't know how to answer, her face was even more unpleasant than a bitter cucumber.

Gu Jiangli had no intention of stopping there and made a gesture as if he was about to take his leave.

"Your Majesty, please allow me to go back to my room and change my clothes, so that I won't be an eyesore to you."

The emperor's expression softened slightly, and he countered, "You want to go back to your room to change? Do you even have clean clothes in your room? They're probably all gnawed through by insects, aren't they?"

He couldn't forget how dirty and messy that room was; the thought of it still made him feel disgusted.

He couldn't understand how such a beautiful woman could live in a place like that.

Gu Jiangli was overjoyed; they had finally gotten to this point.

She looked puzzled and asked, "Your Majesty, have you misunderstood something? Although the side hall is damp and dark, your servants and I clean it every day, and the clothes are stored properly. There won't be any insects."

The emperor immediately seized on the key phrase, "A side hall? You mean, you live in a side hall?"

Gu Jiangru, standing next to her, nearly popped her eyes out. When did she let Gu Jiangli live in the side hall? That was clearly where the maids and eunuchs lived!

Gu Jiangli replied with a calm and composed expression: "Yes, Your Majesty. A few days ago, I told my sister that there were always insects crawling in the main hall. I am a light sleeper and I can never sleep soundly with those things around."

"But my sister said that the main hall is maintained by palace servants every day, so there could not be any insects. It must be that I am in a bad mood, which is why I can't sleep. No one has come to my room to drive away the insects."

"I feel that it is already good enough to be able to stay in Lanfang Palace for the time being, and I don't want to trouble my sister any further, so I moved to the side hall on my own and lived with my maid Hehua."

"I've already discussed this matter with my sister. Why didn't she tell Your Majesty earlier?"

The emperor looked at Gu Jiangru with a questioning gaze.

Gu Jiangru was completely stunned.

Every word Gu Jiangli uttered felt utterly unfamiliar to her!

She found it difficult to even speak, and didn't know where to begin in defending herself.

"Sister...when did you say there were insects in the main hall? When did I say that you couldn't sleep because of your own mood? When did you tell me you were moving to the side hall?"

She didn't say a single word!

She had never heard Gu Jiangli say that before!

How could Gu Jiangli be so shameless as to make up such things?!

Gu Jiangli's surprise was no less than Gu Jiangru's. She said:

"How could there not be? The palace servants all know about these things!"

She turned her head, as if to prove herself, and asked the palace servants who had just helped her tend the garden:

"Are you aware of the insect infestation in the main hall?"