Di Yunjian straightened his clothes and stared at the two of them with a gloomy face.
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger!"
Finally coming to her senses, Xianshu lifted the hem of her dress and knelt down with a thud.
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger! This servant didn't do it on purpose!"
"Take her away and give her fifty slaps on the mouth."
Di Yunjian gave the order in a cold voice. Xianshu's heart sank to the bottom. Just as she was about to plead for mercy again, Zhuyao stopped her with a look.
She really couldn't recognize the current situation. His Majesty had just punished Concubine Liang Tang last night and was already in a bad mood. Yet she just happened to run into his bad temper.
The more she pleaded for mercy now, the heavier the punishment would be.
Di Yunjian was too lazy to watch her plead for mercy. He called in Xiaoluzi from outside to take Xianshu away.
Yan Qingshu was sleeping soundly. Now that she was woken up, she frowned, rubbed her eyes and got up.
"Are you awake?" Di Yunjian looked down at her. The coldness in his eyes instantly melted into a gentle pool of water.
The girl in his arms nodded. Her clear voice was slightly hoarse. "I'm awake. I have to pay my respects to the Empress today."
"You don't need to go. Go back to sleep." Di Yunjian said softly, wanting her to sleep a little longer.
"No. I should go every day. It's just that the Empress is considerate of me and allows me to go once every five days. I can't break the rules."
After saying that, she got up and put on her embroidered shoes. "Zhuyao, come and do my makeup."
Zhuyao responded and brought in a new basin of water for her to wash and groom herself.
After a while, Li Dahai came to the Guanghan Palace with the imperial robe. Seeing His Majesty there, he heaved a huge sigh of relief.
Last night, seeing that there was no movement in the bathroom for a long time, he went in to check and found that His Majesty had disappeared without a trace.
It was late at night and they couldn't search for him openly, so he could only wait until dawn and come to the Guanghan Palace.
Seeing him coming, Di Yunjian's eyes were as cold as winter snow. He was sitting on the couch. His clothes were still in a mess, but he wasn't in a hurry to tidy them up.
There was someone even more outrageous waiting to be dealt with right in front of him.
"What exactly happened last night!"
He naturally knew that the medicinal wine his mother had given him had a problem, but he had to investigate thoroughly how Concubine Liang Tang had ended up on his dragon bed.
"Your Majesty... This servant interrogated several servants in the Palace of Greeting. They said that the Empress had acted on the orders of the Empress Dowager... The Empress Dowager had given an order not to let this servant interfere..."
"That's how last night's incident happened."
Hearing this, Di Yunjian sneered. The coldness in his eyes was like an ice blade, making people tremble all over.
"You're really obedient. I didn't know you were actually someone else's servant!"
"Your Majesty! This servant is terrified!" Li Dahai knew he was guilty and knelt down, not daring to get up.
Yan Qingshu, who had been silent while doing her makeup, rolled her eyes and said softly, "Where is Sister Tang?"
Li Dahai became even more flustered. He偷偷 glanced at His Majesty, not knowing whether he should say or not.
This Noble Consort Zhen and Concubine Liang Tang had always had a good relationship. How should he put it?
Di Yunjian gave Li Dahai a disdainful look. Thinking about her good relationship with that bold Concubine Liang Tang who had climbed into his bed, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
"I... I've sent her to the Cold Palace."
Hearing this, Yan Qingshu opened her eyes wide in disbelief and stared at him. "Sent to the Cold Palace?"
She sat down next to Di Yunjian and said, "Liu Lang, is it really that serious?"
Di Yunjian nodded expressionlessly. It was really that serious!
"Liu Lang, Sister Tang has always been very kind to me. But... we've grown a bit distant recently. I don't know what's going on..."
Yan Qingshu twisted the clothes on her body. Her tone was very disappointed.
"Why did you grow distant?" Di Yunjian asked.
These days, he really hadn't seen that woman come to the Guanghan Palace.
"Ever since the rumor last time, Sister Tang has stopped coming to see me. I think she was angry with me because of that rumor. I tried to talk to her, but she still kept her distance from me..."
Yan Qingshu leaned into Di Yunjian's arms and idly tugged at the open front of his robe.
Hearing this, Di Yunjian's already dark face turned even uglier.
Li Dahai had reported that Concubine Liang Tang's night of attending to His Majesty was an honor bestowed by the Empress. But he also knew some of the concubines who had a good relationship with the Empress, and this Concubine Liang Tang was definitely not one of them.
Then why would the Empress give Concubine Liang Tang this opportunity to attend to His Majesty? Other than the Tang family defecting, what other reason could there be?
Sure enough, he hadn't misjudged her.
"Liu Lang, I only beg you to investigate thoroughly. Please don't wrong Sister Tang, okay?" Yan Qingshu looked up at him and shook his arm, coquettishly pleading with him.
"I... I will investigate thoroughly..."
Di Yunjian nodded. His tone was solemn. Of course, he had to find out when this Tang woman had colluded with the Empress.
Find out as soon as possible so that he could pull out this hidden nail for Qing'er.
"Help me change my clothes!"
Di Yunjian said coldly. He got up and strode towards the side hall to change his clothes.
Li Dahai got the order and quickly responded. He told a few young eunuchs to follow him to the side hall. Then he bowed to Yan Qingshu and said, "Thank you, Noble Consort Zhen!"
If it weren't for Noble Consort Zhen soothing His Majesty's anger, his days in the next few days would definitely not be easy.
Yan Qingshu waved her hand and sat back in front of the dressing table.
The look of disappointment and sadness that had just been on her face had now completely disappeared into her eyes.
"The harem must be very lively now, right?" Yan Qingshu turned her head and asked.
"You're right, Your Ladyship. Everyone in the harem is talking about last night's incident. But His Majesty was drugged by the Empress Dowager. This is such a disgraceful thing, so of course it has been covered up."
"Now the people in the harem only think that Concubine Liang Tang angered His Majesty and was sent to the Cold Palace."
As she said this, Zhuyao hesitated a bit. After much deliberation, she finally spoke up. "Your Ladyship, are you going to plead for Concubine Liang Tang?"
"Plead for her?" Yan Qingshu asked rhetorically.
Did she deserve it?
"Of course not." Yan Qingshu picked up a pair of earrings and put them on casually. "She has already defected to the Empress. Naturally, it should be the Empress who comes forward to plead for her."
"She has kept her distance from me for so long. If I were to rush to save her, wouldn't I be making a fool of myself?"
She used to cherish the friendship with Tang Yinmian, but she wasn't going to be so stupid now. She wouldn't rush to save her after seeing how she had treated her.
"It's good that you're not going to plead for her. This servant was just afraid that you would anger His Majesty by trying to save her."
Zhuyao let out a sigh of relief and picked up the comb to comb her long hair.
Concubine Liang Tang had defected to the Empress. Sooner or later, she would do things for the Empress. They had to be on guard.
Yan Qingshu just let out a soft laugh and traced the shape of her eyebrows in the mirror.
She was going to see a good show at today's audience. She imagined that the Empress's face would be quite a sight.
She was really looking forward to it.
Zhuyao brought her clothes and helped her change. After everything was in order, Di Yunjian came out of the side hall.
He put his arm around Yan Qingshu and kissed her. He whispered in her ear softly, "Did I hurt you last night?"
"Are you feeling okay?"
Yan Qingshu blushed. She looked at the people in the hall shyly and gently pushed him away.
"This concubine is fine. Your Majesty was so considerate of me. I'm not feeling any discomfort."
She lowered her voice and whispered in his ear.
"That's good. I'm going to court now. I'll come back to have lunch with you later."
After saying that, he strode away.
Seeing his back disappear, Yan Qingshu finally put away her smile and was about to walk out of the hall.
Just as she walked out of the main hall, she saw Xianshu kneeling in the corner of the courtyard. Her face was still a bit swollen and red.
"What happened?"
"Your Ladyship, Xianshu accidentally knocked over the copper basin and woke you up. So His Majesty punished her to be slapped on the mouth." Zhuyao replied in a low voice.
Yan Qingshu sighed. No wonder she had heard a sharp noise in her sleep. So that was what happened.
"Tell Xiaoluzi to find the best golden sore medicine in the warehouse for Xianshu. And bring her some more of her favorite date paste cakes for lunch today."
Zhuyao nodded. The mistress and servant then rushed off to pay their respects.
On the way, it was really lively. The concubines walked in groups of two or three, and from time to time, there would be a few sarcastic laughs.