Chapter 80: Checks and Balances

Lady Su took her seat, and Yun Qin quickly stood behind her, lowering her head and pretending to be a transparent person.

But I was thinking in my heart that as soon as Concubine Su was released from house arrest, Concubine Liu was also released.

The emperor probably intends to let the two of them check and balance each other.

But looking at Concubine Liu's appearance, it is obvious that she is just like Concubine Su in the past, and she has no idea how to restrain herself.

Let such a room of people wait to see the joke.

Concubine Liu really lived up to everyone's expectations. When she saw Concubine Su, she immediately smiled and said, "It's a rare opportunity for me to come and pay my respects to the Empress today, so I wanted to talk to my sisters. I didn't expect you to come so late."

After saying this, she covered her lower lip as if she had slipped her tongue, "Sister, I forgot that you are still weak and don't have a sedan chair to sit on, so you will come slowly."

Yun Qin was standing at the back and could almost hear the sound of Lady Su gritting her teeth. She knew without even looking that her face must be filled with anger.

A thin but delicate-looking concubine beside Lady Liu smiled and said, "Sister, you don't know that Lady Su is more diligent than you and me. I just don't know if coming to pay respects to the Empress so diligently will make the Emperor take a second look at her."

Her words immediately caused everyone in the room to laugh.

Among them, Lady Liu laughed the loudest. She pointed at the concubine and said, "You are such a timid person. It's obvious that you are just being lazy. You are trying to curry favor with the Empress."

Regardless of whether they were used to seeing Lady Liu or not, everyone present looked down on Lady Su, and there was sarcasm in their smiles.

Yun Qin watched coldly, it was obvious that this kind of ridicule was not the first time.

It was Su Meiren who remained silent, which surprised her. After being locked up for two months, she seemed to have changed a bit.

Just as she was thinking this, she heard Su Meiren, who had been silent all this time, suddenly speak:

"I didn't know how to pay my respects to the Empress more diligently, but I became a joke in your eyes. The Empress is the master of the harem, so what if I try to curry favor with her? If I don't curry favor with the Empress, how can I curry favor with a beauty?"

Before she finished her words, the Queen took Lanying's hand and walked out from the back hall.

Judging from the somewhat angry expression on Lanying's face when she looked at them, it was obvious that the Queen had heard what they had just said.

Everyone's expression changed and they immediately stood up to greet the Queen.

"Your Highness, I pay my respects to Her Majesty. May Her Majesty be well and at peace."

After the queen sat down, she glanced at them, then raised her hand slightly and said coldly, "Everyone stand up."

"Thank you, Madam."

After everyone stood up and sat down, she said in a deep voice: "How can you make such a fuss so early in the morning!"

"We were just joking." Lady Liu immediately said with a smile.

The queen didn't give her face. She glanced at her belly and said coldly, "Since the emperor and I have exempted you from paying respects, you should just rest in the palace. Why did you have to come here? Just to say a few words of gossip? Wasn't the lesson you received last time enough?"

Lady Liu had never expected her to be so rude. She started to ask questions right away. Her smile froze on her face. She muttered, "Your Majesty, your concubine..."

The queen had already looked away, and her cold eyes swept over everyone again, "Take away the tea, fruit and snacks, so that you won't have nothing to do after eating and chattering non-stop."

But when the palace maid was about to take away the snacks on Concubine Su's table, she stopped her and said, "Concubine Su doesn't need to take them away. She is still weak and must eat."

After saying that, he looked at Lady Su and said angrily, "You too, you haven't recovered yet, so just take good care of yourself. Why do you have to come here every day?" His affectionate attitude was much better than Lady Liu's.

This made Lady Liu's face even darker, and her eyes were full of anger as she looked at Lady Su.

Lady Su was obviously very pleased with this, and her voice became much gentler. "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am well now. It is my duty to pay my respects to Your Majesty. How could I not come?"

After saying this, she did not forget to persuade the crowd, "If you don't even have this kind of heart, how can I have the nerve to eat the snacks in the palace of the Queen Mother?"

"I know you are thoughtful." The queen smiled and said to Lan Ying, "Pack some snacks for Lady Su later."

"Thank you for your kindness, Madam."

Yun Qin lowered her head and listened to the conversation between the two, shaking her head secretly.

In her opinion, the Queen's behavior was no different from that of the Emperor. It was just a way of checks and balances.

Although this Su Mei woman is smart, she is not very smart. She cannot see through such an obvious thing and still looks grateful.

Do you really regard the Queen as your future supporter?

It's no wonder that during her confinement, the Queen kept sending people here and there to "care" about her, which inevitably gave her a false impression.

After that, the two of them kept talking and laughing, and everyone could only listen.

I don’t know how many people were secretly gritting their teeth, but they didn’t dare to show it on their faces, and they had to put on a smile.

Until someone from the Queen's Palace brought a food box to Yunqin.

Yun Qin had to look up and say thank you.

Naturally, someone noticed her.

"Sister Su, how come there is such a beauty hidden by your side? Why haven't I seen her before?" someone asked curiously.

Now everyone's eyes were on Yun Qin, and everyone's faces looked even better.

Concubine Liu, in particular, narrowed her eyes and smiled, "Sister, you are really ignorant. Isn't this the palace maid Yun Qin who saved Concubine Su from the water and was favored by the emperor?"

With her "thorough" explanation, even if one had not seen Yun Qin by the pond that day, one could at least have seen what she looked like now.

Naturally, some were surprised, some were amazed, but more were looking at Su Meiren, secretly wondering if there was something wrong with her brain.

I heard earlier that she almost beat this palace maid to death, but now she openly keeps her by her side. Even if she wants to pretend to be magnanimous, she can't pretend like this!

If the emperor really met such a beauty by his side, who else could he look at?

Although she had heard many people talk about it, this was the first time the Queen saw Yun Qin, the palace maid who made Huo Jinchi leave the whole room and feed her medicine personally.

She was also the palace maid who made Hawking Chi so furious and embarrassed in front of the entire harem.

Seeing her in person is worse than hearing about her. She is indeed a beautiful face.

Yun Qin's fingertips turned white from holding the food box with such force. Although she was mentally prepared, she was still a little nervous when being stared at by so many people.

Especially facing the gaze of the Queen, as Rong Xin said, she had already offended the Queen.

Unexpectedly, the queen had no intention of making things difficult for her. She ignored her and said directly, "I am tired. You can all go back to your palaces."

After saying this, he didn't even look at Yun Qin again.

After everyone took their leave and left the hall, Yun Qin walked outside. She felt the gazes falling on her and immediately realized that the Queen was not trying to make things difficult for her. She just didn't need to do anything herself and could just leave her to these concubines to deal with.

The first to be affected was naturally Miss Liu.

It was beneath her dignity to directly embarrass a palace maid, so she would of course ridicule Concubine Su first, "It seems that your trick has failed. Sending her up didn't bring any benefit to me. It's really a waste of effort."

Su Meiren frowned and said, "Why don't I understand what my sister is saying?"