"Yes, Her Majesty the Empress must have a bad relationship with Su Liluo. Otherwise, if Su Liluo could find a divine physician to treat the Crown Prince's leg, why wouldn't she treat Her Majesty the Empress?"
Jiang Qinshu followed up with her guess.
It was common knowledge among the noblewomen of the entire Liang Dynasty that the Empress was seriously ill. If Su Liluo had invited a divine physician to cure the Empress's illness, how could the news not have spread?
Since there is no such thing, it must mean that the Empress dislikes Su Liluo and has a bad relationship with her.
"Second Aunt, it's been a long time since I've seen Her Majesty the Empress. I'll write a visiting card and send it to the palace tonight."
Su Wanshi nodded.
Compared to Consort Liu, who disliked her, the Empress was far superior.
Thinking back, the Empress never made things difficult for her or looked down on her, nor did she ever feel that her status was too low to be worthy of the Crown Prince.
Although Su Liluo is now the Crown Princess, who says the Crown Princess can't be changed?
If she goes to the Empress and lets her know that all of this was Su Liluo's scheme, perhaps the Empress will get the Crown Prince to depose Su Liluo as his Crown Princess.
Then she would have the opportunity to marry the Crown Prince again and become the Crown Princess!
Su Wanshi became more and more excited as she thought about it, so she quickly ran back to her room to write a visiting card.
The next day.
Although the Empress was displeased with Su Wanshi's invitation, she didn't want to be too harsh on her because of her relationship with the eldest branch of the Su family, and agreed to let Su Wanshi come to the palace to pay her respects.
Although she couldn't become in-laws with the eldest branch of the Su family, she shouldn't become enemies either, since Jiang Ruan had saved her life back then.
After receiving the Empress's response, Su Wanshi dressed up carefully and went to the palace by carriage.
When she followed the palace maid into the Empress's palace and saw the cold and plain Phoenix Palace, she couldn't help but feel disgusted.
The Empress is such a failure as a queen; her room is not even as luxurious as her own courtyard in the Su residence.
The Phoenix Palace has practically nothing of value; it's incredibly shabby!
If I were to become Empress in the future, I certainly wouldn't be as unsuccessful as her, not only losing the Emperor's favor to Consort Liu but also failing to attain the wealth and status of an Empress.
If it weren't for the fact that she still needed the Empress's help, she wouldn't have been willing to step into the Phoenix Palace.
"Your humble servant, Su Wanshi, pays respects to Your Majesty the Empress!"
Su Wanshi entered and obediently gave a bow.
The Empress had already sat up from the couch, wearing a thick red peony cloak. Because of her illness, her face looked somewhat pale.
"Get up. It's been a long time. What brings you here to visit me today?"
The Queen spoke softly, her tone tinged with a hint of reproach and bitterness.
She used to treat Su Wanshi quite well. In order to cultivate the relationship between the Crown Prince and her, she often invited Su Wanshi to the palace to play and would give her gifts from time to time.
But ever since the Crown Prince injured his leg and she fell ill and lost favor, Su Wanshi has never come to see her again.
She was still somewhat disheartened by Su Wanshi.
"Your Majesty, it's not that I didn't want to visit you, but..."
Su Wanshi naturally sensed the blame in the Empress's tone, so she put on a wronged look and choked up.
It seemed as if she had some unspeakable secret.
The Empress frowned, displeased, and asked, "And what is it?"
“My second aunt and my sister Luo’er wouldn’t let me come; they locked me up! I only recently regained my freedom.”
Su Wanshi said, feeling wronged.
This was something she had conspired with Jiang Qinshu and the others to make the Empress believe her and shift all the blame onto Su Liluo, so that Jiang Qinshu and the others could only temporarily take the fall.
"What?"
As expected, the Empress was quite surprised when she heard this.
"What exactly is going on?"
Didn't the Crown Prince tell him that Su Wanshi disliked his disability and didn't want to marry him, so he had Su Liluo marry in his place?
Su Wanshi looked at the Empress's astonished and angry expression, a hint of triumph flashing in her eyes.
She continued to wipe the corners of her eyes with her handkerchief. "Now that Sister Luo'er has become the Crown Princess, they feel that the matter is settled, so they feel at ease releasing me."
"Your Majesty the Empress should know that I am just an orphan in the Su family, while my younger sister Luo'er is the biological daughter of my second uncle and aunt. Luo'er is in love with His Highness the Crown Prince, so naturally they..."
As she spoke, Su Wanshi began to sob again.
The Empress was both confused and angry. Logically speaking, Su Liluo was the legitimate daughter of the second branch of the family, and it was indeed possible that the second branch of the family would do such a thing for her.
However, she also believed that her son would not lie to her, so she was conflicted for a while.
"Are you telling the truth?"
The Empress asked again.
"Your Majesty, I dare not lie to you, but what is done is done. It is not my destiny to be with His Highness the Crown Prince. However, I have admired the Crown Prince since I was a child. If I cannot marry His Highness the Crown Prince in this life, I would rather live alone for the rest of my life than marry again."
Su Wanshi said sadly.
When the Empress heard her express her deep affection for the Crown Prince, she felt a pang of pity.
Just as I was about to say something to comfort her, a familiar female voice suddenly came from outside.
"Do you really intend to grow old alone for my husband? Don't you even want His Highness the King of Chu anymore? I wonder what His Highness the King of Chu would think if he heard such words from you!"
Su Liluo and Xiao Ye walked in from outside, followed by a palace maid.
When Su Liluo first entered the Phoenix Palace, the palace maid originally wanted to go in first to report to the Empress, but she vaguely heard Su Wanshi crying outside.
So, without having anyone report it, he and Xiao Ye eavesdropped outside for a while.
Little did she expect to overhear such a good show; Su Wanshi was having her cake and eating it too!
Su Liluo felt it was a real pity that Xiao Churen didn't witness this scene.
"Too...Crown Princess!"
Su Wanshi looked at Su Liluo's smiling face in horror, feeling guilty and cold.
Why did she come in at this time?
The Empress did not pay attention to the King of Chu that Su Liluo mentioned, but instead saw Xiao Ye standing up and was extremely excited.
"Ye'er, is your leg really healed?"
Although I had heard that Xiao Ye was able to stand up and that he had defeated Bei Mo and regained the emperor's trust, seeing it with my own eyes was still different.
Xiao Ye quickly went up to her and helped the trembling empress.
"Mother, I am truly healed."
The Empress looked Xiao Ye over from head to toe, her eyes filled with tears of emotion and relief.
"Okay, okay, that's good!"
Su Liluo also stepped forward and bowed.
When the Empress saw Su Liluo, she remembered what Su Wanshi had just said, as well as the King of Chu that Su Liluo had just mentioned.
She asked in confusion, "Luo'er, Wan Shi said that you and the second branch of the Su family conspired to steal her marriage. What exactly happened?"
"Me, scheming against her marriage? Su Wanshi, your skin is thicker than the walls of the palace!"
Upon hearing this, Su Liluo gave Su Wanshi a sarcastic look.
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