Su Wanyan was still paying attention to the situation outside. After hearing her words, she turned around and asked, "What's your name?"
The little beggar shook his head: "I have no name."
"No name?"
"Your Majesty, you can call me whatever you want. Your Majesty, will you take me in?" A glimmer of light appeared in the little beggar's eyes.
Su Wanyan had no time to dwell on this. She said to her, "To tell you the truth, I don't know if I'll live or die after I sneaked out of the palace today. But I promise you, if I survive today, I will definitely take you in if you come looking for me again."
After saying that, Su Wanyan took out the money bag she had scavenged from Xu Si and stuffed it directly into the little beggar's hand: "Take this. Even if you don't come to me for help, the money in here is enough for you to live on for a lifetime."
The little beggar opened it and looked slightly surprised.
She had never seen so much silver before.
"Your Majesty...these..."
"I'm leaving. Take care of yourself."
"Wait, Your Highness! Where are you going? I know this capital city very well. I can take you wherever you want to go." From Su Wanyan's wandering around the alley just now, she knew that the Princess Consort was not familiar with the roads here.
Su Wanyan's eyes lit up: "Go to the palace gate, do you know how to get there?"
The little beggar nodded repeatedly, handing over the silver: "Then these..."
Su Wanyan pushed it over: "I told you, you can take it."
The little beggar had no choice but to clutch it in his hand and crawl out of the pile of miscellaneous goods: "Your Majesty, please come with me."
Su Wanyan quickly followed.
The little beggar seemed very familiar with the area around the capital. He not only helped her evade the soldiers' pursuit, but also successfully led her to the palace gate.
The soldiers guarding the palace gate stood ramrod straight, and the huge grievance drum was placed on one side of the palace gate.
Su Wanyan looked at the peaceful street; the riots hadn't affected this area yet.
She ran straight out of the alley, picked up a drumstick without saying a word, and started banging away, shouting as she did so: "I am Su Wanyan, the principal wife of Prince Gong. I am accusing the servants of the Prince's mansion of insubordination, disrespecting the Prince, deceiving the Emperor, and selling off the Prince's mansion's property for personal gain. I beg Your Majesty to see the truth!"
"I am Su Wanyan, the principal wife of Prince Gong. I am filing a complaint against the servants of the Prince's residence for insubordination, disrespecting the Prince, deceiving the Emperor, and embezzling the Prince's property. Prince Gong has fought for the Great Jin Dynasty and has made great contributions in battle. Now he is seriously ill, yet he is being abused by his servants. I beg Your Majesty to uphold justice for the Prince Gong's residence and to see the truth!"
Wasn't the emperor afraid of damaging his prestige?
Then she would make a bigger scene and expose the matter to the public. Under the public eye, even if the emperor intended to suppress the Prince's Mansion, he would have to maintain the mansion's dignity on the surface.
As long as she shifts the blame onto the servants and doesn't commit treason, the emperor cannot sentence her to death.
At least on the surface, he's not good enough.
As soon as the drum was struck, the people on the street were immediately surprised and gathered around in twos and threes: "Prince Gong's Mansion? What happened to Prince Gong's Mansion?"
"Didn't you hear what she said? The servants are abusing and oppressing Prince Gong."
"No way? How could this be! Didn't the Emperor bestow many gifts upon the Prince's residence this morning? How could a servant be suppressing the Prince? Who is she?"
"Didn't they just call out that? That it was Princess Gong's wife?"
"If she were a princess, how could she be dressed as a maid? I think she's just trying to attract attention."
"This is in front of the palace gates. Who would dare to make a scene in front of the Emperor? Wouldn't that be courting death?"
For a time, the people were filled with doubts and discussions.
Meanwhile, in the Imperial Study.
Just after the Emperor finished his morning court session, Eunuch Liu stood in the Imperial Study and recounted to the Emperor everything that had happened that morning at Prince Gong's Mansion, adding a few embellishments.
The more Emperor Yuanhe listened, the more his brows furrowed: "Did she really say she had a backup plan?"
“Absolutely true.” Eunuch Liu said, looking aggrieved, “When this servant said he would tell the Emperor about what she had done, Princess Gong was not afraid at all. She meant that even if the Emperor came, she would definitely protect Xu Si.”
He looked at Emperor Yuanhe: "Your Majesty, Princess Gong is incredibly audacious. She is defying your wishes and going against you! She doesn't respect Your Majesty at all!"
Emperor Yuanhe took a deep breath of anger. Back then, when Yu Nanqing returned to the capital paralyzed, he went to great lengths to eliminate the remaining followers of Yu Nanqing.
In the past two years, Yu Nanqing seemed to have resigned himself to his fate, and those people in the shadows stopped making any moves. He originally thought that he had almost finished cleaning them up, but now that Su Wanyan said this, does it mean that Yu Nanqing's remaining followers are still waiting for an opportunity to make a move?
It's all the fault of those idiots! How come they can't even keep an eye on a woman!
"Your Majesty!" At this moment, a young eunuch rushed in to report: "Your Majesty, at the palace gate... someone wants to file a complaint with the Emperor and is beating the drum to appeal for justice! The person who came to report said... it seems to be the Princess Consort of Prince Gong. She said... she said that the servants in the Prince's mansion are abusing the Prince, deceiving the Emperor, and selling off the Prince's mansion's property for their own enrichment. Right now, the palace gate is surrounded by people, and they are all talking about it, Your Majesty."
Emperor Yuanhe's face darkened: "What did you say?"
Eunuch Liu's heart skipped a beat: "That's impossible. The Prince Gong's mansion is completely surrounded right now. She can't even leave the mansion. How could she possibly go to the palace gates to lodge a complaint with the emperor!"
"It's true," the little eunuch replied timidly. "The person beating the drum said she was Princess Gong."
"Impossible!" Eunuch Liu insisted. "Your Majesty, it must have been her who instigated this complaint, trying to escalate the matter."
Eunuch Liu sneered, "She dares to accuse others first! Your Majesty, if the person crying for justice at the palace gate is truly instigated by Princess Gong, then that is a great disrespect to Your Majesty!"
"Shut up!" Emperor Yuanhe pointed at Eunuch Liu and roared, "I ordered you to do something, and this is how you do it for me?"
Eunuch Liu trembled and knelt down with a thud: "Your Majesty, please calm your anger, this servant deserves to die."
Emperor Yuanhe ordered the eunuch, "Bring her up to me first! I want to see what she has to say!"
"Yes," the little eunuch replied tremblingly, and hurriedly ran out.
Su Wanyan dared to disobey his decree. Emperor Yuanhe took a deep breath in anger, his narrowed eyes already showing murderous intent.
Chaos had broken out at the palace gate. Su Wanyan was being held captive by soldiers who had chased after her from the Prince's residence. As she struggled, she shouted, "How dare you! Right here in the capital, before the Emperor himself, you dare to arrest a princess! If the Emperor finds out, he will surely seek justice for me!"
"Stop!" Just then, a burly leader, gripping the hilt of his sword, stepped out from inside the palace gate and shouted.
The soldiers who were holding Su Wanyan quickly released her and bowed their heads respectfully, saying, "Greetings, Commander He."
"This is the palace gate. Who gave you permission to make noise here!" The man called Commander He was about thirty or forty years old. He had a stern face with a furrowed brow, and looked very serious.
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