Upon hearing this, Emperor Yuanhe understood that she intended to finalize these two matters at the flower-viewing banquet.
With the help of palace maids, Su Wanyan changed into a very gorgeous dress, so gorgeous that she felt it was a bit too heavy on her shoulders.
Her hair had been restyled, and the gold hairpins and pearl ornaments on her head were so dazzling that they almost blinded her.
Su Wanyan felt it was too formal, but because she was in the palace, she didn't dare to say much.
After all, the more you say, the more mistakes you make. Besides, she was a modern person. If she said something unpleasant and it reached Emperor Yuanhe's ears, it could be a capital offense.
So until the palace carriage left the palace gates, Su Wanyan kept her mouth tightly shut and didn't say a word.
If the palace maids or eunuchs asked her anything, she would just reply with "um" or "oh".
This time, Eunuch Liu didn't dare to make things difficult for Su Wanyan again and obediently sent her back to Prince Gong's Mansion.
Meanwhile, the Prince Gong's Mansion was filled with wails and cries of anguish.
As soon as Su Wanyan stepped off the carriage, she saw the maids, servants, and servants of the manor being led out, bound hand and foot, crying out, "Your Majesty, spare us! We are innocent! Your Majesty, spare us!"
The emperor was far away in the palace, and no matter how loudly they shouted, he wouldn't hear them.
"My lord, spare me! My lord, spare me! I only dared to disobey the Emperor because I believed the Princess Consort! It was all the Princess Consort who bewitched me! My lord, please have mercy... spare me, my lord!"
Just then, Xu Si was also brought out from the main gate, bound hand and foot.
Its plump body and bruised face made it impossible to ignore.
Upon seeing Su Wanyan return with her exquisite makeup and Eunuch Liu standing respectfully beside her, Xu Si's eyes widened. He limped and struggled to shout at Su Wanyan, "Your Highness! Your Highness! Help me, Your Highness... I'm willing to go through fire and water for you, you must save me!"
"You just said that I bewitched you!" Su Wanyan sneered.
"No, no, no!" Xu Si quickly changed his tune: "It was my own choice, I deserve to die, it's all my own fault, Your Majesty, please have mercy and save me!"
Su Wanyan pointed at Xu Si and looked at Eunuch Liu: "Release him."
Eunuch Liu was impatient. He thought the traitor had nothing to offer.
But at this moment he still dared not disobey Su Wanyan's wishes. With a flick of his whisk, a sharp voice slowly rang out: "Release him."
As soon as Xu Siyi was released from his grip, he scrambled to his knees before Su Wanyan and cried out, "Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you, Your Majesty! This servant will serve you like a slave to repay Your Majesty."
Eunuch Liu sneered inwardly and looked at Su Wanyan with hostility: "Since there's nothing else, I'll take my leave now. Princess Consort Gong, please take care of yourself."
Su Wanyan met his gaze: "No need to see me out."
With a flick of his whisk, Eunuch Liu led his entourage back to the palace.
Only after they were far from Prince Gong's mansion did Eunuch Liu ask his attendant, "Has the dog hole through which Su Wanyan escaped been blocked?"
"Reporting to Father-in-law, it's blocked."
Eunuch Liu snorted coldly, "Those who dare to oppose the Emperor will not have a good end."
In the main courtyard of Prince Gong's mansion, Yu Nanqing lay on the bed with his eyes closed. The noise coming from inside the mansion made him clench his fists tightly.
Since he became paralyzed and bedridden, apart from Emperor Yuanhe's ruthless extermination of his people, the Prince's mansion has never experienced such a commotion.
That foolish woman, does she even know who she's dealing with?
A million possibilities of how Su Wanyan would be dealt with surged wildly in his mind, making his heart pound uncontrollably.
The door creaked open, and Yu Nanqing opened his eyes abruptly, seeing Su Wanyan, dressed in a magnificent outfit, rushing in from outside: "Yu Nanqing, I'm back!"
Yu Nanqing's heart, which had been hanging in his chest, suddenly deflated, and his whole body felt cold after the tension subsided. He gritted his teeth and swallowed his tense thoughts. His furrowed brows had not yet relaxed, and he opened his mouth, but before he could speak, he saw Su Wanyan lean against the edge of the bed: "Look at what's stuck in my hair. If I pawned it, wouldn't I get a lot of money?"
"..."
Life and death were at stake, and the mansion was filled with wailing, but she was only concerned with exchanging the ornaments on her head for silver.
Yu Nanqing didn't know whether to be angry or amused. The words that were on the tip of his tongue were swallowed back down. His gaze fell on the gold hairpins and pearl ornaments on her head, and then down to her face, which was covered in makeup.
Her already rosy lips were made even more alluring with the addition of vermilion.
Her petite figure was dressed in magnificent robes befitting a royal consort. He looked at her with deep eyes and asked, "What...did you do?"
"I was just about to tell you." Su Wanyan rested her chin on her hands, looking at Yu Nanqing with an innocent and harmless expression: "I went to the palace gate to beat the drum. Isn't there a grievance drum in front of the palace gate here? I was thinking that since the emperor wants to harm you but doesn't want to be blamed, I might as well make this matter public."
“I won’t say that he wanted to harm us. I’ll just put all the blame on those servants. I’ll say that those servants were disrespectful, abused you, treated you harshly, didn’t give you food, and even sold off your family’s property. I’ll pretend that I didn’t know that those servants were his orders. He has a scapegoat, and I’m also a victim. He can’t find a reason to do anything to me right now.”
At first, when she heard them say that Emperor Yuanhe was suppressing Yu Nanqing, Su Wanyan was actually half-believing and half-doubting.
But there was one thing she knew: she, an ordinary person, absolutely could not blindly challenge the authority of a nation's emperor.
So when she went to the kitchen to find food on her first day, even though Xu Si and the others said it was Emperor Yuanhe's idea, she never thought of blaming Emperor Yuanhe for everything in the palace.
At least not openly.
“I caused such a commotion at the palace gate that now the entire capital knows what’s going on in the Prince’s mansion. He’s under the control of the people and won’t do anything to us for the time being.”
“Look at all those servants in the manor, they’ve all been arrested one by one.” She paused, then added, “But he’ll send new ones over soon, and we’ll see how things go then, and deal with whatever comes our way.”
Seeing her optimistic demeanor, Yu Nanqing, who had been on edge due to her frail health and exhaustion, couldn't help but mutter, "Nonsense," after learning what she had done.
It was as if he was so tired that he didn't even have the strength to speak.
Even though he said that, his tone didn't sound like he was blaming anyone.
“However…” Su Wanyan smiled, her eyes crinkling: “When the Emperor asked me why you didn’t complain before, but only now that I’ve married into the family, I said that you were considerate of his busy schedule and didn’t want to bother him, so you didn’t say anything.”
She patted the blanket covering Yu Nanqing: "You should be prepared. When I saw him, his anger subsided by half. He probably thought you had some kind of scheme to deal with him, and he will definitely try to find a way to get back at you."
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