Concubine Shu snorted coldly and slapped away the hand of the palace maid who was handing her the grapes.
The maid was panicked and knelt on the ground in fear: "Your Majesty, calm down."
"Hmph!" Concubine Shu glared at the palace maid in frustration.
Knowing that Concubine Shu must be furious, the maid tentatively looked up and offered a suggestion, "The people over there gave you a message. Go check. They've been searching for the Empress for so long but haven't found her. If the Empress is busy with something important, it's impossible that no one knows."
Concubine Shu raised her eyebrows and asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"
"It seems to me that the Empress is busy with something that cannot be known to anyone."
Concubine Shu suddenly sat up: "That's right! Why didn't I think of that?!"
Thinking of her suspicions, Concubine Shu became more and more excited, and the anger on her face disappeared. "Humph, in broad daylight, the Queen suddenly disappeared. Who knows if she's gone to do something shameful?"
"No one has ever been able to find evidence of the Queen having an affair before. This time, she won't be able to argue. She will definitely be convicted of adultery!"
Holding the hairpin on her head, she put on a calculating smile and said, "Let's go to the imperial study!"
Imperial study.
"Your Majesty, I have something to report!"
Concubine Shu walked in quickly and ran anxiously to Xiao Shengxing, her face full of anger.
"What on earth is it that makes you so anxious to find me?"
Xiao Shengyun said.
"Your Majesty, I went to look for the Empress, but she wasn't in the bedroom. The maids didn't know where she was. Could it be that the Empress was doing something shameful?"
"How dare you! Do you know what you are saying?" Xiao Shengxing frowned and looked at her with a hint of anger.
"Your Majesty, if you don't believe it, why don't you go and see for yourself?"
Concubine Shu looked aggrieved and said, "There have always been rumors about the Queen cheating on her. Flies don't bite cracked eggs. This time she disappeared inexplicably, so something must be wrong! I just don't want Your Majesty to be kept in the dark."
She spoke earnestly, and seemed frank and loyal.
Xiao Shengxing's expression was indistinguishable, his dark eyes deep and unfathomable. After a moment, he stood up and said, "I'll go take a look."
Seeing this, the excitement in Concubine Shu's eyes was about to overflow.
Humph, I caught the adulterer together with the emperor, I don’t believe you can still fool me.
Concubine Shu thought with glee in her heart and hurried towards the Queen's bedroom.
After a while, the two arrived.
"Where is the queen?" Xiao Shengxing asked.
The palace maids looked at each other and knelt on the ground in panic: "Your Majesty, the Empress..."
Xiao Shengxing said in a low voice, "Tell me, what happened to the Queen?"
Concubine Shu snorted coldly, "Don't cover up for your master. She's not in the bedroom at all. I've already looked for her."
"Is the Queen really not in the palace? Tell me the truth, otherwise, I will deal with you according to the palace rules."
The palace maids kowtowed hurriedly: "Your Majesty, please calm down. The Empress is indeed not in the palace."
Hearing this, Xiao Shengxing's dark eyes moved slightly, and his voice remained low: "Where did she go?"
"Your Majesty, we don't know where the Empress has gone. She didn't tell us."
"Your Majesty, am I right? The Queen is sneaking around. Is she trying to steal..."
Concubine Shu paused and didn't say anything else.
"Everyone, go search everywhere in the palace now!" Xiao Shengxing glanced at her and ordered.
All the palace maids and eunuchs followed the order and went to look for them. After a while, someone came back hurriedly.
"Your Majesty, I discovered that the Empress was in the Imperial Garden."
Xiao Shengxing walked directly to the Imperial Garden.
The group came to the Imperial Garden in a grand procession. Many palace maids and eunuchs from other palaces were attracted over when they heard that the emperor was going to catch an adulterer.
There is a pavilion in the imperial garden, which is covered with gauze on all sides. The situation inside cannot be seen clearly, but one can vaguely see that there are people inside.
"Go and lift the curtain." Xiao Shengxing ordered.
The palace maids and eunuchs obeyed the order, but Concubine Shu rushed to the front and said anxiously, "Your Majesty, it is better for me to uncover it than to let others know and hurt the Empress's reputation."
Her mind was filled with the queen and the man's disheveled, panic-stricken appearance, and she suddenly pulled the curtain open!
Everyone craned their necks to look.
Swish!
The curtain was pulled open, revealing what was inside.
Concubine Shu was stunned: "Where is the adulterer? Where did the adulterer go?"
There was no man in the pavilion. Only Su Lijin was leaning on a chair and resting.
"What kind of adulterer do you want to see, Concubine Shu? I am resting here alone, and this is how you are going to disturb me?" Su Lijin's voice rang out.
When Concubine Shu turned around, Su Lijin was looking at her with a knowing look on her face. Her face immediately flushed and she glared at her: "Who knows if she left early because of something..."
Xiao Shengxing frowned: "Enough!"
"Shufei is guilty of insubordination and spreading rumors about the Empress. She is ordered to remain under house arrest for three days."
As soon as this oral order came out, Concubine Shu was frightened and her face turned pale: "Your Majesty..."
"You think my punishment is too light, right?" Xiao Shengxing said.
Concubine Shu immediately shut up and glared at Su Lijin fiercely.
Su Lijin was too lazy to pay attention to her and glanced at the emperor: "Your Majesty, please stay here by yourself. Some people are too noisy. I am going back to sleep."
Xiao Shengxing said lightly, "The maids around the Queen are too unruly. If they fail to serve the Queen well, they will be dragged out and beaten to death."
Su Lijin stopped in her tracks abruptly, breaking out in a cold sweat.
She instantly realized that she had been exposed. She didn't have any palace maids with her. Xiao Shengxing was calling her!
As the queen, she is always accompanied by palace maids wherever she goes and it is impossible for her to appear alone.
Seeing her appearance, Xiao Shengxing raised a barely perceptible smile at the corner of his lips, and a hint of teasing interest appeared in his eyes.
Three days later.
After stuffing the dummy prepared in advance into the bedding, Su Lijin changed into Shiqi's clothes and quietly left the palace again.
Su Lijin entered the brothel in the red-light district with familiarity and walked into a side room. When she came out, she was wearing a light pink gauze dress embroidered with flowers and birds.
"The Flying Fairy is coming out today!"
"Yeah, I didn't expect that the fairy would still appear after disappearing for so long!"
Those who had received the news early arrived at the front hall of the brothel, crowded under the platform and talked excitedly.
After a while, the sound of a piano was heard, and a melodious melody came out. Everyone couldn't help but look up, and saw a woman wearing a mask, with a flowing cloud bun and a light gauze dress, descending from the sky like a fairy.
Everyone's faces were filled with astonishment, their eyes widened, and the hall fell silent in an instant.
Su Lijin looked at the audience with an indifferent expression.
On the high platform, she flicked her sleeves and danced gracefully. Her posture was like a slender willow and like a gentle breeze, attracting everyone's attention.
"It really is a flying fairy! This is her famous dance, 'Flying Fairy'!"
Someone shouted.
Everyone suddenly realized.
The music of the piano became more and more urgent, and the dance became faster and faster. Su Lijin spun around, her sleeves fluttering, and she looked graceful and elegant.
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