"Yu'er, don't be rude. This is your aunt," the Empress said to her son with a smile.

"Mother!" Zhu Hanyu stomped his feet in dissatisfaction.

"Mother, could it be that Aunt has gotten into trouble again and came here to seek refuge?" Zhu Hanyu asked, seeing that the Empress was not on his side. He suddenly remembered that every time Cheng Qingli came to stay at the palace, she had caused trouble. Zhu Hanyu felt that this time would be the same.

"You're talking nonsense!" Cheng Qingli retorted somewhat guiltily.

Who is the Empress?

She knows her younger sister best.

Sometimes, I just like to play pranks on people.

However, each time, she only did some harmless little things, so she turned a blind eye.

Originally, she was happy, thinking that her sister really missed her and wanted to come and stay with her for a few days.

Now it seems that what my son said was probably true.

"Mother, look, she's acting guilty. She must have done something bad and gotten herself into trouble!" Zhu Hanyu said smugly.

"Qingli, what have you done now?" The Empress asked Cheng Qingli with a stern face.

"I...I didn't do anything..." Cheng Qingli felt a little guilty upon hearing this. She wasn't sure if her sister would punish her if she told the truth.

After all, this incident seems to have gone a bit too far.

"Speak!" Although the Empress doted on her younger sister, she would never indulge her; otherwise, she would not have gained the Emperor's deep trust.

"I...I lied to Miss Li and went to Qingfeng Tower." Cheng Qingli saw her sister's stern face and felt a little scared, so she told the truth.

"What else did you do?" The Empress had a bad feeling as soon as she heard the name Qingfeng Tower, because Qingfeng Tower was a male-only brothel.

Miss Li, could it be Li Zhiwei?

Thinking of this, the Empress's gaze toward Cheng Qingli grew even colder.

If word gets out that someone tricked a girl into going to Qingfeng Tower, she'll ruin her reputation.

Moreover, Li Zhiwei's reputation was already the subject of much discussion among the people of the capital because of the previous marriage to the Marquis of Ru'an and the subsequent bestowal of a marriage upon the Prince of An.

If visiting Nanfeng Pavilion were to become another famous attraction...

The Empress simply couldn't imagine what the consequences of this would be.

"I...I left her alone at Qingfeng Tower and ran away." Cheng Qingli said, while secretly observing the Empress's expression, feeling a little uneasy.

Oh no, my sister seems to be really angry.

In the past, when I got into trouble, my sister would always laugh and say it was nothing.

But this time, it seems different.

Cheng Qingli felt a little flustered. Had she really gotten herself into big trouble?

"Cheng Qingli! Who taught you all this?" the Empress angrily rebuked.

"I...I just thought it was fun, it was just a spur-of-the-moment thing!" Cheng Qingli was as obedient as a kitten in front of the Empress, not daring to tell a single lie.

"You're making fun of a young woman's reputation? Cheng Qingli, is this how your parents raised you?" The Empress angrily picked up a whip and lashed it across Cheng Qingli.

"Sister, I was wrong, I won't do it again next time!" Cheng Qingli quickly admitted her mistake.

“Mother, she definitely didn’t think that way. She was probably thinking to herself, ‘I’ll do it again next time!’” Zhu Hanyu said from the side.