Chapter 197
She wasn't acting out of kindness, but Qi Roufu dared to punish someone in her palace in front of her, the empress. Where did that leave her dignity as empress?
Qi Roufu stared intently at her, a slight smile playing on her lips. Suddenly, a charming smile appeared on her face: "Your Majesty's temperament is still so impatient. No wonder Your Majesty stays in Yaohua Palace every night."
These words were like a sharp knife stabbing directly into her tender heart, revealing in front of everyone the fact that she was not valued and did not win the emperor's favor.
Qi Roufu wanted to make her, the mother of the nation, a laughingstock in the eyes of the public.
The Empress's face immediately turned extremely ugly, her eyes filled with anger. After all, they were in front of everyone, and it wasn't the time to tear off the mask of civility.
She took a deep breath, forced a smile, and said, "The time is perfect now. Ladies, please come with me to admire the flowers outside."
She chose to ignore Qi Roufu's attempt to appease the situation and walked outside. The ladies and young women on either side glanced at the princess in the center and quickly stepped forward.
"Wait a moment!"
At this moment, Qi Roufu called out to her and then quickly walked forward.
The Empress stopped in her tracks, her face darkening, a hint of murderous intent flashing in her eyes. The veins on the back of her hand, gripping her sleeve, bulged as she struggled to suppress her anger and murderous intent.
She turned around angrily, expecting Qi Roufu to come looking for trouble again, but instead saw her standing in front of a woman.
Qi Roufu reached out and lifted Lin Wange's delicate chin with his fingertips, scrutinizing her from head to toe with a look of intense scrutiny. He smiled and said, "I see that you are as beautiful as a flower, and you must be an unmarried young lady."
Lin Wange immediately held her breath, lowered her eyelids, and avoided eye contact, not daring to look directly at her. Her pale face showed uncontrollable panic.
Madam Lin, who was standing to the side, did not understand what she meant, so she quickly stepped forward and said, "This humble woman greets the Princess. This is my daughter, Lin Wange."
"Lin, Wan, Ge." Qi Roufu pronounced her name slowly and deliberately, his expression unreadable.
She nodded, her smile deepening: "It is a good name."
Madam Lin thought that Lin Wange had won the favor of the Princess, and she smiled.
Hiding behind Lin Wange, Li Miaomiao breathed a silent sigh of relief, thinking that since the princess had been looking at Lin Wange the whole time, she must have forgotten what she looked like.
She was just feeling relieved when Qi Roufu immediately pointed it out.
"May I ask who this young lady is? And from which family does she come?"
Li Miaomiao lowered her head, and it was unclear who was calling her. Qi Roufu was about to reach out to her when she was stopped.
Madam Li's expression was slightly unfriendly, and she stared at her warily. Unlike the others, she did not show any fear. Instead, her brows were filled with arrogance and disdain.
"Your Highness, my husband is Li Xihua, a fourth-rank official in the current court. Our family is the Li clan of Longxi. This is my daughter, Li Miaomiao. May I ask what you wish to do for me?"
What advice do you have?
These words, though seemingly humble, carried a hint of provocation in her expression and tone, as if to say what right she had to stop them.
However, when she revealed her family background, people were no longer so surprised, because she certainly had the right to treat a princess with no real power with such a cold and hard attitude.
The Li family of Longxi was one of the four great aristocratic families of the Celestial Empire, but it was only subordinate to the Duan family. Even the Empress had to speak to them with gentleness and politeness.
Seeing her like this, Qi Roufu could easily guess what she meant, and his smile deepened, but there was no hint of amusement in his eyes.
"I wondered who dared to speak to me in such a tone. It turns out to be someone from the Li family of Longxi."
"It's alright, Your Majesty. You should spend some time with them. I'll take my leave now."
After saying that, she turned around and left gracefully.
The Empress stared intently at her departing figure, her face slightly distorted, her chest heaving, clearly furious.
She is the mother of a nation, yet this vile woman used the word "accompany" to describe her. This contemptuous tone was clearly mocking her for trying to please others like an actress.
Qi Roufu came here just to spite her, making things difficult for her at every turn. The Emperor shouldn't have let her come back!
Tao Tao remained hidden in the crowd, quietly observing what was happening. She remained silent throughout, like a hunter watching his prey's every move from the shadows, waiting for the right moment to capture them all.
Lin Wange and Li Miaomiao didn't see her, so they hadn't reacted yet. In fact, she had seen everything she shouldn't have seen.
Despite trying to convince herself not to care about Qi Roufu's words, the Empress was still in no mood for them. After a few hurried strolls around the garden with her entourage, she had the ladies and young women escorted out.
Lu Shuqing looked at Tao Tao beside her, frowned, and asked, "Where did you go for so long?"
Tao Tao said calmly, "I didn't go anywhere, just wandering around."
Seeing her nonchalant attitude, she warned, "The palace is not like the common people's palace; it's not a place to play around. If you offend any noble person, don't bring trouble to the Prince's mansion."
Upon hearing this, she abruptly turned to look at Lu Shuqing, her eyes cold, then suddenly laughed: "Don't worry, if anything happens to me, I'll drag the Prince's Mansion into it, and no one will escape."
Upon hearing this, Lu Shuqing's expression changed. She had intended to outdo her, but unexpectedly, she was rendered speechless by her sharp retort.
As she boarded the carriage, Lin Wange suddenly spotted Tao Tao and rushed over, calling out, "Tao'er! Wait a minute!"
Tao Tao stopped in her tracks, turned around, and waited for her to come over, looking at her with a puzzled expression: "What's wrong?"
Lin Wange looked troubled, glanced around, then pulled her wrist and led her to another spot, asking nervously and in a low voice, "Did you...did you see it?"
She frowned, her almond-shaped eyes slightly opening, revealing a hint of confusion. "What?"
Seeing her like this, Lin Wange's heart skipped a beat. In her haste, she grabbed her arm and asked again, "Didn't you see that? It's...it's the flower bushes..."
But she still looked at her with a puzzled expression, shook her head, and didn't understand what she meant.
Suddenly she realized something and said, "You want to ask me how I got back? When I turned around, you disappeared. So I went to look for you, but I got lost. I had to ask a palace maid by the roadside to find my way back."
Hearing this, Lin Wange became even more anxious, "No, no, didn't you really see the Princess and..."
"I really don't know what you're talking about." Tao Tao interrupted her directly, her gaze clear as she looked into her eyes, a hint of helplessness on her face.
No, no, how could she not know? It was clearly the three of them who saw it together. She is a county princess. If the princess were to retaliate, she wouldn't be able to place all the blame on the two of them.
But... but she said she didn't know. Lin Wange looked at Tao Tao's innocent face, her eyes so clear and bright, and she couldn't help but believe that her words might be true.
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