Perhaps this is not their first battlefield.
Her heart was breaking.
What can we do?
Is she going to completely break off relations?
Does she dare?
Xia Xueyi pinched her arm hard, her eyes immediately reddened, tears streamed down her face, and her voice trembled uncontrollably.
"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager heard that you did not attend the morning court session, so she specially ordered me to come and visit you."
"Your Majesty, have you been overworked by state affairs? I have already summoned the imperial physician, who can come in now to take your pulse."
Su Wanwan was stunned.
Xia Xueyi is so well-mannered; I want to give her a thumbs up to express my admiration.
She truly deserves to be called the Empress, a paragon of virtue for the nation.
A hint of surprise flashed across Lu Xingjian's face. His tone remained calm and composed:
"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am well. You may leave now."
His voice was still slightly hoarse.
Xia Xueyi's feet seemed to be rooted to the spot, standing motionless, her gaze seemingly capable of spitting fire, almost burning two holes in the thin curtains.
Doesn't he feel any guilt or panic at all?
Ordinary families value their reputation and would not favor a concubine over their wife.
Does he really want to spoil this slut and act so arrogantly in front of the Empress?!
Xia Xueyi clenched her fists tightly, the muscles on her fair face twitching, and she walked a few steps around Steward Li to the bedside.
Steward Li knelt on the ground, swallowing nervously.
Su Wanwan's face was full of fear and helplessness as she buried her face in Lu Xingjian's shoulder.
Looking down, she saw several teeth marks on his pale shoulder, as well as bloodstains from her fingernails scratching him.
Oh no, oh no.
Lu Xingjian looked down at her in his arms and gently took her black hair out from under the blanket.
He whispered in her ear:
"Don't be afraid."
How could I not be afraid?
Su Wanwan hated Lu Xingjian to death.
It was all his fault for dragging her into this mess.
These two words also reached Xia Xueyi's ears, who was not far away.
Xia Xueyi stopped abruptly.
The courage I had mustered crumbled under those two words.
My mind is screaming wildly.
Reason and emotion are torn apart.
One suggested tearing back the bed curtains and spreading the scandal of the emperor's debauchery throughout the land!
Su Wanwan, you bitch, you deserve to die a horrible death!
You actually slept with my emperor husband first!
Another person said, "Is the Emperor so calm and composed just waiting for me to go crazy so that he can depose the Empress openly like Emperor Xianzong?"
Empress Wu's father, brothers, and uncle all held high positions and military power, which gave them the audacity to punish Emperor Xianzong's beloved concubine. As a result, she was deposed by the emperor just one month after her wedding.
On the other hand, what does she have?
Her father became the Earl of Qingyang because of her, the Empress, and her sisters were able to marry into high-ranking families and establish connections with several prominent relatives.
The only person she could rely on was the Empress Dowager.
One must not act impulsively and offend the emperor.
Because they cannot afford the consequences of being abolished.
If she weren't the Empress, would the Empress Dowager still have protected her?
All the Empress Dowager valued was the Xia family's dependence on the Zhang family for survival, and that she herself was her most obedient and loyal dog.
Only by securing her position as Empress could she be qualified to discuss anything else.
She cannot afford to offend the emperor.
Xia Xueyi took a deep breath and said, choking back tears:
"Your Majesty, I am waiting for you with the imperial physician."
After saying that, she finally lifted her foot and left.
After she left, Steward Li also went out and closed the door behind him, looking tense and uneasy, as if his head was about to be ripped off.
The moment the door closed, Su Wanwan's tense body suddenly went limp.
She knew that staying in the palace would only lead to trouble.
Her ill-fated relationship with him was truly impossible to sever.
Lu Xingjian looked down at her face, which looked like she had survived a disaster, and remained silent.
The room fell into an eerie silence.
After a long while, he kissed her forehead, then picked her up, blanket and all.
"Go wash up first."
As she sat back in her wheelchair, her hand rested on his wrist as he tried to pull away, and she looked up at him in frustration.
"what to do?"
Once you step out of this door, a major upheaval is inevitable.
Lu Xingjian looked down at her slender fingers, pulled his hand back slightly, grasped her hand, and slowly squeezed her fingers apart until they intertwined.
His facial expression was calm, with a half-smile.
"Say it again, and I'll tell you."
Su Wanwan pulled her hand away and sat there without saying a word.
Even at this moment, he still had the mood to flirt with her.
As the supreme ruler, he naturally had no fear of rumors that could destroy him.
She was just a minor palace lady with such a bad reputation; she was likely to suffer greatly this time.
It will also cause the Su family to suffer another storm.
The East Palace has five rooms across its facade. The bedroom is in the easternmost warm pavilion. The eastern side room is divided into two rooms, one for living and the other for study.
To the west of the living room is the main hall of the East Palace.
The Empress and her entourage waited in the main hall.
When the wheelchair entered the living room, Su Wanwan was tense and anxious.
The moment the two of them went out together was the moment their affair was exposed and she was subjected to scorn and condemnation.
This scenario has appeared countless times in my nightmares; it's all too familiar and terrifying.
During the two years she was having an affair with him, she was constantly on edge, worried that someone would find out, yet also afraid that no one would.
Unexpectedly, three years after she broke up with him, the nightmare still came true.
Lu Xingjian stopped and looked down at her for a long time before gently touching her hair.
At the last moment, he softened.
I couldn't bear to let her go out and suffer the infamy of being called a "femme fatale".
Even so, she would be labeled as the emperor's woman, tightly bound to him.
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