“I thought that since it was a family banquet, the prince should enter the palace as the emperor’s younger brother, and the princess should be the elder sister to the prince. The emperor and the princess have always treated the prince as their younger brother with kindness, so how could they let the prince bear the crime of disobeying the imperial decree?”
Su Wanyan looked at Cen Ruo: "Was the charge of disobeying the imperial decree the Princess's will, or did you, as the Princess's personal maid, issue this charge privately?"
Cen Ruo's face turned pale, and she was immediately frightened by her words.
If it weren't for the Princess's order, how dare she issue the order on her own? Does she have a death wish?
But according to Su Wanyan, if she were to say that it was the Princess's order, wouldn't that imply that the Princess was not kind to Yu Nanqing, Prince Gong, at all? Wouldn't she be unfairly burdened with a bad reputation?
But if she says no, then it means she falsely conveyed the Princess's orders, which is a capital offense, and she can't bear such a blame.
Before coming, Cen Ruo thought it would be an extremely simple task, but she never expected Su Wanyan to be so quick-witted.
For a moment, she couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal; whether she agreed or disagreed, both paths led to certain death.
Su Wanyan smiled and looked at the leading eunuch beside her: "Does this eunuch also think that the Prince and I are defying the imperial decree?"
The eunuch remained composed and smiled, saying, "His Majesty simply misses the Prince too much."
"So, is today's banquet a feast for the emperor and his subjects, or a family banquet?" Su Wanyan deliberately pulled out the palace invitation from her sleeve and opened it in front of them: "[A family banquet is specially arranged to celebrate the festival], you see, it clearly says family banquet here. If His Majesty truly cares for his younger brother, how could he bear to let the prince go through all this trouble? Are you servants distorting His Majesty's meaning, or is His Majesty's concern for the prince fake?"
She analyzed this imperial edict several times, meticulously examining each word to decipher its meaning.
She had consulted the "Inner Rules of the Palace," so she knew that the palace was strictly governed by rules. Every word the emperor uttered, every imperial edict he issued, and every palace dispatch he sent out had to be recorded.
One chapter in the book details various palace banquets, family banquets, state banquets, festival banquets, celebration banquets, etc., and the arrangements, discipline, rules, and requirements for these banquets are also different.
The imperial edict explicitly mentions a family banquet. As the name suggests, the family banquet is for the ruler's blood relatives, kin, and family members. In addition to governing the country, the ruler also needs to maintain brotherly love and respect, and to have mutual respect and love with his sisters and brothers. Therefore, the family banquet was set up for the ruler and for the common people to learn from each other.
Regardless of how much Emperor Yuanhe wanted to kill Yu Nanqing, he had to maintain a facade of respect and harmony.
"This..." This time, even the eunuch choked.
He thought that Su Wanyan would stop silencing the princess's maid after silencing her, but she didn't expect Su Wanyan to do the same thing.
How dare these lackeys issue false orders?
But if it really is the Emperor's order, doesn't that mean the Emperor's compassion for Prince Gong is fake?
Yu Nanqing sat quietly in her wheelchair, her eyes slightly lowered, and a gentle smile played on her lips.
He finally understood why Su Wanyan was able to escape danger several times. It seemed that each time, she would thoroughly study the matter first. Once she studied it thoroughly, she could know what the other party was thinking, and she could know when she could be arrogant and when she should restrain her sharpness.
However, the thought had barely formed in her mind when the corners of her lips suddenly fell back, or perhaps it was because of her current situation that she had no choice but to do these things.
"I don't want to make things difficult for you either." Su Wanyan smiled and waved her hand: "Go ahead and tell the Princess and the Emperor that we are waiting for the banquet in Fanghua Palace."
Cen Ruo noticed Su Wanyan's gloomy expression and her gaze suddenly fell on Xu Si. Xu Si forced a smile and said, "Your Majesty, this is the palace after all. To disobey the Emperor and the Princess's decrees like this is probably..."
"Smack!"
Before Xu Si could finish speaking, Su Wanyan raised her hand and slapped him.
Xu Si's face immediately stung with pain. He covered his face and looked at Su Wanyan in disbelief.
She...she actually attacked him!
He had served her with all his heart these past few days, and even if he hadn't done anything particularly good, he had certainly put in a lot of effort, yet she didn't show him any of their past affection!
Before he could react, Su Wanyan raised her hand and slapped him again, her expression cold: "The Emperor and the Princess are very considerate of the Prince. The Emperor and the Princess did not force the Prince to go to the Hall of Nourishing Life. Yet you keep saying that the Prince is disobeying the imperial decree, sowing discord, and slandering the Emperor. You deserve to die a hundred times!"
"What?" Xu Si's eyes widened.
Su Wanyan smiled at the eunuch and said, "Eunuch, after all, Xu Si is also someone sent to the Prince's Mansion by the Emperor. How to deal with him is up to you."
After saying that, he calmly pushed Yu Nanqing up the steps.
"What?" Xu Si was startled again and looked at Cen Ruo.
Cen Ruo quickly gave him a wink; the rest of the matter couldn't be done without Xu Si!
Xu Si's heart skipped a beat, and he rushed forward and knelt before Su Wanyan: "Your Majesty! This servant knows his mistake. Ever since Your Majesty saved this servant, this servant has been Your Majesty's man. This servant said that no matter if it's going through fire or water, this servant will obey Your Majesty. Your Majesty cannot abandon this servant like this!"
"Oh, really? Then get up." Su Wanyan said indifferently, as if she didn't care.
One is a eunuch, and the other is a palace maid. Neither of them can make decisions. Even if she makes a big fuss now, it won't lead to anything.
Xu Si was stunned. It was... that simple?
He had prepared many excuses, after all, he had been begging for mercy for quite some time.
Why is Su Wanyan acting so differently every day today?
Su Wanyan slowly pushed Yu Nanqing up the steps, ignoring Cen Ruo and the leading eunuch.
Cen Ruo exchanged a cold glance with the leading eunuch before turning to report to their respective masters.
The steps in front of Fanghua Hall were very high, as if Emperor Yuanhe had deliberately set a difficult path for Yu Nanqing. The rollers on the steps had to be used in conjunction with the handrails to ascend them one by one, so Su Wanyan pushed Yu Nanqing from behind, making the journey extremely slow.
Xu Si followed behind Su Wanyan. When they were halfway there, Su Wanyan instructed, "Xu Si, go up and see if there is anyone else at the banquet besides us."
"Yes, Your Majesty, I'll go right away." After what had just happened, Xu Si dared not make any mistakes now, and he scurried up the stairs with difficulty, his round body shuffling along.
After Xu Si had walked away, Su Wanyan asked, "How are you? Can you hold on?"
“Very good.” Yu Nanqing responded. He usually lay in bed waiting to die, and now that he was finally able to come out, he was naturally happier than anyone else. Even though he was tired, it was all covered by the faint joy in his heart.
"Was my explanation just now acceptable?"
"No problem." Not only was there no problem, but there wasn't a single mistake to be found.
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