The Grand Princess of Chun'an pursed her lips, her gaze unfriendly, and only recited the last few lines:

"When the osmanthus blooms next year, you will be at Yuhuatai. Birds from Long will carry messages, and carp from the river will send letters."

Princess Rong frowned, searching her memory:

"Yuhuatai, is that the Yuhuatai in the legend where the high monk preached and heavenly flowers rained down? I seem to remember it being in Jinling?"

The Empress Dowager smiled kindly: "The Empress has lived in Jinling for three years, so it seems this poem was written for her."

Princess Chun'an raised an eyebrow: "Who composed this Guihu Song?"

She looked at the two characters "Yuexi" at the end of the poem with a puzzled expression. "Judging from the handwriting, the strokes are vigorous, so the person who wrote the poem must be a man."

The Empress Dowager squinted her eyes teasingly.

"Could it be that Yuexi is the emperor's pseudonym?"

Everyone laughed.

It's understandable that the emperor and empress, being newly married and young, would write love poems.

Princess Rong chimed in:

"It seems that the Emperor has long been deeply in love with the Empress. The fact that he wrote this love poem and hung it in his living room shows that the Emperor and Empress are in perfect harmony and love each other."

The Empress Dowager appeared to be deep in thought.

"How could I recall that His Majesty's other name wasn't this?"

She beckoned to a palace maid: "Go and ask the Emperor if he wrote this poem, 'Osmanthus Lake Song,' and if 'Moon Creek' is his pseudonym."

Su Wanwan helped Empress Dowager Zhang outside the door and happened to hear these words.

Su Wanwan said respectfully:

"Your Majesty, you are overthinking this. This Guihu Qu is a gift from Miss Yanruo to me, and it has nothing to do with the Emperor."

Yanruo, who followed behind, smiled and said:

"This calligraphy and painting were not done by my daughter."

As she spoke, she turned to the maid beside her and said, "Yunqing, tell me, how did you come to know this calligraphy and painting?"

After bowing, Yun Qing clearly explained:

“This servant was ordered by our young lady to go out of the palace to buy gifts for the Empress. A scholar offered this painting to me, saying that he would not sell it for a thousand pieces of gold, but only to someone who is destined to have it.”

After speaking, he looked at Su Wanwan with a meaningful gaze.

Princess Chun'an frowned impatiently: "What do you mean? Are you saying that this scholar is destined to be with the Empress?"

Su Wanwan lowered her eyes, concealing the hint of annoyance in them.

They keep using her reputation as a pretext; don't they have any new tricks up their sleeve?

Empress Dowager Zhang sneered: "That's a rather far-fetched interpretation."

"Yun Qing bought the calligraphy and paintings, and Yan Ru paid for them. In the end, this fate ended up with the Empress?"

Princess Chun'an immediately turned cold.

Last time, I offended the emperor by speaking up for Empress Dowager Zhang.

As a result, his son was implicated in a major treason case and only managed to escape after months of fear.

Now she has no choice but to be dragged into the arena by the Empress Dowager, but the down-on-her-luck Empress Dowager Zhang is going against her.

Empress Dowager Wang frowned, her expression turning grim.

Unexpectedly, Empress Dowager Zhang, who had always disliked Su Wanwan, stood up to speak for her.

The situation has become complicated.

Yanruo, however, spoke calmly and unhurriedly:

"Your Majesty, please don't be angry. Yunqing said that this scholar claims to be the eldest son of Grand Secretary Yang, named Yang Zhen. He heard that Yunqing was buying gifts to present to the Empress, so he specially presented this calligraphy and painting."

"It is also said that he and the Empress addressed each other as fellow disciples, and that he could not forget their past feelings, so he could only express his feelings through this calligraphy and painting."

Su Wanwan didn't even bother to lift her eyelids.

These flawed and fabricated accusations actually came from the mouth of Yanruo, a beauty who prides herself on her poetic talent.

It's truly speechless.

However.

The next moment.

Maggie came in from outside and went to bring over the silk rabbit lantern that was placed on the table.

His tone was smug:

"Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, the craft of making these silk lanterns is unique to Yongchang, Yunnan, which is also where the maternal grandfather of the great scholar Yang Zhen served as an official."

"This lamp was a gift from Yang Zhen to the Empress."

“They had been seeing each other long before the wedding, exchanging glances and flirting, which the Emperor himself witnessed.”

The Empress Dowager's face instantly darkened, and her tone became stern: "Is this true?"

Maggie's assist was a timely boon.

Ma Ji said firmly, "Not long ago, Grand Secretary Yang's wife came to the palace and specially covered up their private dealings."

Su Wanwan glanced at Ma Ji.

Ma Ji seems to know so much about the affairs of Kunning Palace; it appears she has spies there.

The Empress Dowager looked at Su Wanwan with icy eyes:

"Su, the royal family has treated you well, yet you still have an affair with another man?!"

Su Wanwan's tone was low and melancholy:

"Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, you drink bird's nest porridge every day. If I were to accuse you of having an affair with the bird's nest gatherers of Qiongzhou, would you accept it?"

The Empress Dowager's pupils constricted sharply, and she slammed her fist on the table in anger:

"How dare you!"

"You, you..."

She wanted to scold Su Wanwan for talking nonsense and showing no respect for her elders, but she was so angry that her chest ached and she couldn't speak for a while.

Empress Dowager Zhang, who was watching the spectacle, raised an eyebrow.

He watched all of this with a cold, ambiguous smile.

Wang had lived a life of luxury for too long and had never been criticized to her face like this before.

So useless, Su Wanwan got angry with just one sentence.

Su Wanwan went forward to personally comfort the Empress Dowager and then hurriedly ordered someone to summon the imperial physician.

At the same time, he earnestly offered words of comfort:

"Your Majesty was so angry just hearing such nonsense, so you should be able to understand how I felt when I was slandered."

"Your Majesty, please rest assured, I have never believed such nonsense."

"Even if someone presents evidence that Young Master Xing of Qiongzhou has an affair with the Empress Dowager, I will not believe a single word of it."

The Empress Dowager immediately clutched her chest, her face turning pale and then flushed, and she fainted.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!