"May Your Majesty be blessed!"
A bright yellow figure appeared before everyone, and everyone except the Empress Dowager knelt on the ground and bowed respectfully.
"Rise, all of you!" the emperor said.
The crowd stood silently on both sides, heads bowed, not daring to look up at the emperor.
In ancient times, there were many rules. Except for the Empress Dowager, almost no one could look the Emperor in the eye, otherwise they would be suspected of "looking up at the Emperor with the intention of assassinating him."
"Mother, I heard from my beloved concubine that someone disturbed your flower-viewing banquet? Is that true?"
People from imperial families always seem to have a powerful aura when they enter. Even though Jiang Ling was standing quite far away, she felt an unprecedented pressure as she entered.
The Empress Dowager glanced at Jiang Ling and said calmly, "Consort Jiang, now that the Emperor is here, do you still dare to repeat everything you said before?"
A thunderous voice exploded in her ears, and Jiang Ling was so shocked by the person's voice that she broke out in a cold sweat and her whole body began to tremble slightly.
"Hmm? Why don't you dare to speak?" The Empress Dowager's renewed pressure made Jiang Ling tremble.
She lowered her head and quickly walked to the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, knelt down on both knees, hesitated for a moment, gritted her teeth and said, "This commoner, Lady Jiang, greets the Emperor and the Empress Dowager. May the Emperor live ten thousand years, and the Empress Dowager live a thousand years!"
Jiang Ling didn't even need to look to know how disheveled she looked. Her forehead was still bleeding from the bruise, her face was bruised from being beaten by that beast Su Shunhe, and even her clothes had been kicked several times by Su Shunhe.
"An? Person? You say you are from the Anren Jiang clan?" The emperor was clearly curious about this title and asked in return.
Jiang Ling lowered her head and carefully recalled the dialogue from the palace drama she had watched before, then nodded and said, "This humble woman, Jiang, greets Your Majesty."
"Oh? You're quite an unusual person. I didn't expect you to attend the Empress Dowager's flower-viewing banquet! However, your attire and clothing seem rather improper!"
The emperor frowned, looked at the somewhat disheveled Jiang Ling, and said meaningfully with narrowed eyes.
As Jiang Ling hesitated whether to open her mouth to explain, Su Shunhe, who was standing to the side, could no longer contain himself. He knelt in front of the emperor and began to distort the truth and exaggerate the facts.
"Your Majesty, please forgive my younger sister's youth and ignorance. This An family is full of cunning schemes!" Su Shunhe kowtowed heavily at the end.
"Big brother, you..." A-Shu still didn't understand what had happened. She glared and frowned, trying to explain.
Su Shunhe turned around and glared at A-Shu, coldly shooting her a dagger before scolding, "Shut up! You brat, don't you know how much trouble you've caused? I'll teach you a lesson later!"
Ah Shu had never seen Su Shunhe lose his temper like this before. She was so frightened that she stood there stunned, tears of grievance welling up in her eyes and about to fall.
The emperor squinted, surveying everything before him like a god. He turned to the Empress Dowager and said casually, "Mother, the third prince seems to have been a bit impatient lately?"
What seemed like a simple sentence startled Su Shunhe quite a bit. His face turned pale, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
Jiang Ling wondered if the emperor would notice Su Shunhe's unusual behavior; she could only pray silently in her heart.
"Hmm, the third prince seems to have become much more impatient, and he seems to have a great deal of prejudice against this Lady Jiang!" The Empress Dowager's authoritative voice slowly entered Jiang Ling's ears.
Jiang Ling was overjoyed, but dared not show it, knowing that this moment was the final juncture of her life and death.
"Jiang Anren, what do you have to say?" The Empress Dowager's gaze fell on Jiang Ling, who immediately felt the pressure increase.
Jiang Ling glanced at Su Shunhe, then decided to fight to the death. She straightened her back and answered in a cold tone, "The Third Prince is lying!"
"I met A-Shu because she ate at a restaurant but didn't have any money. She was being harassed by the waiter, and I couldn't stand it, so I helped her out. I didn't expect A-Shu to turn around and come back to me, and she specially gave me some silver. We had a very pleasant conversation, and A-Shu even invited me to stay at the Third Prince's Mansion!"
After listening to Jiang Ling's words, the Empress Dowager nodded slightly, then turned to A-Shu and asked, "A-Shu, is what Consort Jiang said true?"
"This..." A-Shu was somewhat embarrassed, unsure whether she should speak or not. She looked at Su Shunhe beside her with a complicated expression.
Su Shunhe inwardly cried out in alarm; this clearly showed that the Empress Dowager and the Emperor were hesitant about his words.
"I didn't tell you anything!" Su Shunhe kowtowed repeatedly, trying to explain, but the Empress Dowager preemptively rebuked him.
Su Shunhe shrank his neck, his mind racing with countermeasures.
A-Shu remained silent for a long time. The Empress Dowager and the Emperor exchanged a glance. The Empress Dowager then said to the two maids beside her, "Zhiqin and Zhishu, take Miss A-Shu inside. I want to speak with her alone!"
The two maids nodded and bowed in unison, then turned to A-Shu's side and said in a very polite tone, "Miss A-Shu, this way please!"
Ah Shu's legs went weak and she was carried to the back by two maids, with the Empress Dowager following closely behind.
Seeing that things were going badly, Su Shunhe immediately kowtowed and begged the emperor for forgiveness.
The emperor gave Su Shunhe a meaningful look, then turned to Jiang Ling and said calmly, "Speak!"
Jiang Ling shuddered, kowtowed to the emperor, and said, "Your Majesty, please rescind your decree. I do not wish to marry Yuan Zhiming, the governor of Zhongzhou!"
"What? Madam Jiang, please don't talk nonsense. That Governor of Zhongzhou, Yuan Zhiming, is already over sixty years old. How could I possibly marry you to him? Besides, you have already given birth to four sons and are no longer an unmarried young woman. How could I possibly bestow a marriage upon you?"
The emperor looked at Jiang Ling strangely and said.
"What?" Surprise, fear, unease and many other emotions swept over Jiang Ling from all directions. Jiang Ling felt her vision go black. She tried to close her eyes and shake her head vigorously, trying to calm herself down.
With trembling hands, she took out the imperial edict that Su Shunhe had given her earlier from her bosom, raised it above her head and said to the emperor, "Your Majesty, about a month ago, wasn't it you who issued the imperial edict? That Su... that the Third Prince came to Lujia Village?"
As she spoke, Jiang Ling's heart pounded, and her hands began to tremble. She kept her head down, unable to see the emperor's expression, and unaware of the consequences of her words.
A cold gaze skipped over her and landed on Su Shunhe beside her. Jiang Ling noticed out of the corner of her eye that Su Shunhe trembled all over and was now kneeling and unable to get up.
With a "thud," something flew over and hit Su Shunhe, who was standing next to him, hard.
Jiang Ling secretly glanced at it; it was the imperial edict she had presented earlier.
"Third brother, how dare you! You falsely conveyed the imperial edict!" The emperor's angry voice reached Jiang Ling's ears.
Jiang Ling shivered for no reason. She silently told herself that this was her first time in Shengjing, and probably her last, if she could make it home alive!
"Emperor, come here!" The Empress Dowager's words eased the temporary atmosphere of fear.
"I'll deal with you later!" the emperor said angrily to Su Shunhe, then turned and walked away.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
