"Your Majesty, have you finished asking the questions? May I take her back now?"
"I've finished questioning. That night, Princess Nanqing and Consort Shu did not meet, and what happened that day had nothing to do with Princess Nanqing." The Emperor is now convinced that Qu Qingran deliberately wanted to harm Qu Qingxi, which is why he said those things. Now that it has been proven that this matter has nothing to do with Qu Qingxi, He Liufeng can certainly take her back.
"If Your Majesty has nothing else to say, then I will take her back first."
"Hmm." The Emperor nodded, then added, "Princess Consort Nanqing suffered an injustice today."
He Liufeng nodded slightly to the Emperor, then walked to Qu Qingxi's side and led her outside, without giving Qu Qingran, who was kneeling on the ground, even a glance.
Qu Qingran just stared as He Liufeng came over, stood up for Qu Qingxi, and then left with Qu Qingxi. He didn't even glance at her.
Seeing Qu Qingran's eyes follow He Liufeng as he left, the Emperor's anger intensified. He stood up and walked to Qu Qingran's side. As soon as Qu Qingran turned her head, she was slapped hard across the face.
Qu Qingran was instantly knocked to the ground, half of her face swelling up rapidly, and a trace of blood seeping from the corner of her mouth. Qu Qingran looked up at the Emperor in disbelief, "Your Majesty? Why did you hit me?"
"Hmph." The Emperor did not answer Qu Qingran's question, but only snorted coldly, then turned to look at Laifu, who was bowing his head to the side, "Consort Shu has wantonly framed the Princess of Nanqing and is full of nonsense. She is confined to Suiyu Palace and may not leave without being summoned."
"Your Majesty, you can't do this!" Upon hearing this, Qu Qingran disregarded the injury on her face and hurriedly looked at the Emperor.
The Emperor didn't look at Qu Qingran again, but glanced at Laifu. Laifu immediately understood and hurriedly called in several palace maids, half-forcibly leading Qu Qingran outside.
Qu Qingran couldn't understand why the Emperor didn't trust her, easily let Qu Qingxi go, and then, after they left, contradicted himself by confining her to her quarters.
The news of Qu Qingran's confinement quickly spread throughout the entire harem, and the other concubines were all gloating over it. Qu Qingran had only been in the palace for two days, yet she had already offended many of the concubines.
When Qu Qingran suddenly entered the palace, many concubines came to give her gifts. Qu Qingran was already unwilling to enter the palace, and now there were so many flamboyant women. Thinking that she would have to share a man with them and compete for their favor, Qu Qingran became even more irritable, and her words were somewhat angry.
The concubines who came to deliver congratulatory gifts that day had been ridiculed by Qu Qingran quite a bit. Although they didn't say anything on the surface, they all harbored resentment towards Qu Qingran in their hearts. Now, seeing that she had only been in the palace for two days, she had been slapped by the emperor and confined to her quarters, they were all overjoyed.
There were already many people in the palace, including the old palace women from before and the newly selected ladies-in-waiting this year, many of whom had not yet been favored. Although Qu Qingran was somewhat arrogant, she had the advantage of being young and beautiful. More importantly, she had the support of the entire Prime Minister's Mansion.
As soon as she entered the palace, the emperor made an exception and directly conferred upon her the title of concubine. Such a thing was unheard of in the harem. The other women in the harem immediately resented Qu Qingran, thinking that the emperor was lusting after her appearance and youth.
Qu Qingran is currently enjoying immense popularity in the harem. Everyone else has temporarily set aside their prejudices and chosen to unite against her. As the head of the harem, the slightest movement in the palace cannot escape the Empress's notice.
The Empress did not react at all. Since Qu Qingran chose to seduce the Emperor and enter the palace as a concubine, she had to bear all of this. The Empress also hated Qu Qingran to the extreme, but as the Empress, there was nothing she could do.
However, there are many people in the palace who want to get rid of Qu Qingran, and the Empress will only turn a blind eye. The Empress had tried to help Qu Qingran marry He Liufeng, but now that Qu Qingran has entered the palace, the Empress regrets helping Qu Qingran. However, it is too late for regrets now.
He Liufeng led Qu Qingxi out of the palace. The two of them did not speak along the way. He Liufeng would occasionally glance at Qu Qingxi's face and then look down at her knees, wondering how long she had been kneeling and whether her knees were sore.
Qu Qingxi didn't notice He Liufeng's worried look. She was thinking about something: the emperor had clearly chosen to believe her today, so why was she still kneeling and not allowed to get up?
Moreover, she had just noticed the Emperor's meaningful gaze upon her, perhaps indicating that he was beginning to doubt the information she had received.
She was not a timid and inferior, unfavored maid in the Prime Minister's mansion, but a person with strong opinions.
Now that they know the Emperor's favor towards He Liufeng is fake and that the Emperor is suspicious of He Liufeng, he certainly wouldn't want someone intelligent to be around He Liufeng. So he would also be suspicious of them. Today is a test.
He was testing himself to see what kind of person he really was, and whether he could help He Liufeng after marrying him.
Qu Qingxi looked serious. She wanted to guess what the Emperor was thinking, but she didn't know him very well and couldn't figure out what he was thinking.
Once the two were seated in the carriage, He Liufeng finally couldn't help but speak, "You've been wronged today."
"Hmm? It's alright, thank goodness. Hasn't His Majesty already believed me?" Qu Qingxi turned to look at He Liufeng after hearing his voice, only to see him looking remorseful.
"You were kneeling the whole time in the Imperial Study?"
"Yes, the Emperor didn't tell me to get up, so I didn't dare to get up." Qu Qingxi nodded.
"How are your knees? You've been kneeling for so long, are they all red? Are they sore?" He Liufeng's gaze shifted to Qu Qingxi's knees.
Qu Qingxi lifted her skirt and saw two thick knee pads on her knees. If Qu Qingxi hadn't lifted her skirt herself, no one would have noticed them.
"What is this thing?" He Liufeng stared at the object, a hint of curiosity flashing in his eyes. It was able to tightly protect his knees.
"This is called a knee brace. It's to protect your knees. I knew the Emperor would call me to the palace sooner or later to ask about what happened that day, so I had someone prepare this beforehand. I wore it when I went to the palace today. Sure enough, the Emperor didn't call me to get up, but with this, my knees didn't hurt."
Qu Qingxi pointed to the items on the table and introduced them, then took off her knee pads and handed them to He Liufeng to see.
He Liufeng stared at the object in front of him, examined it carefully, and a look of understanding flashed in his eyes. "It really is a good thing."
"However, how do you know that the Emperor wouldn't let you get up today and kept you kneeling on the ground?"
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