Wei Dongling struggled to get up and knelt on the ground. Bowing her head, she said, "Your son/daughter pays respects to Your Majesty! If Your Majesty had come a bit later, your child might have..."
"Get up!" The emperor glanced at Wei Dongling on the ground. He knew she was deliberately saying such things, but he didn't expose her.
The empress dowager came over personally with a heart - rending look to help Wei Dongling up. Staring angrily at Concubine Xue, she said, "I never thought it would really be you! You almost made this old lady wrongly blame my dear granddaughter!"
How could Wei Dongling dare to let the empress dowager help her? She was afraid that if the empress dowager exerted a bit too much strength and lost her balance and fell down, it would be embarrassing. So, Wei Dongling stood up shakily on her own and threw herself into the empress dowager's arms, crying, "Grandmother! Your granddaughter is so wronged, wuwuwu..."
Mu Rong Yunxi's face darkened. "You're being a bit too exaggerated! I advise you to be kind!"
The empress dowager felt both guilty and heart - ache. She quickly coaxed softly, "Don't cry, don't cry. Be good. Your grandmother will give you whatever you want!"
Only then did Wei Dongling stop crying and smile.
Mu Rong Yunxi was angry. "Mu Rong Wanlin, you've gone too far!"
The emperor looked at Concubine Xue kneeling on the ground with a cold gaze. He ordered the eunuch Cao beside him, "Depose Concubine Xue from her position and send her to the cold palace. She is never allowed to step out for the rest of her life."
"Yes!"
Sent to the cold palace? Concubine Xue immediately felt dizzy and collapsed on the ground. Trembling, she called out, "Your Majesty! You can't treat this concubine like this! Your Majesty..."
The emperor didn't look at her again. He turned around and strode away.
Concubine Xue watched the emperor walking away. Her heart was filled with despair. She quickly came up and grabbed the empress dowager's arm, crying, "Empress Dowager! Save me! Please save me!"
The empress dowager shook off Concubine Xue's hand angrily and said, "It's fine that you can't teach Yu'er well! You even tried to harm this old lady's two lovely princesses! How dare you plead for mercy? What you've done to Wanlin is so despicable that it's enough to chop off your head eight hundred times!"
Concubine Xue was shocked and angry. She never thought the empress dowager would say such things. Looking at Wei Dongling, who was trembling and pretending to be scared in the empress dowager's arms, she gritted her teeth and said angrily, "It's all you, you bitch!" Saying that, she grabbed a gold hairpin on the ground and stabbed fiercely at the empress dowager and Wei Dongling.
The eunuchs behind saw this scene and shouted in panic, "Protect the Empress Dowager!" As they said, they rushed over.
The empress dowager's face turned deathly pale. She never thought Concubine Xue would dare to stab at her and the Fifth Princess with a gold hairpin. Just as she was in a daze, Wei Dongling stepped forward and protected her behind, shouting, "Come at me if you have anything! You're not allowed to hurt my grandmother!"
The empress dowager's heart trembled. She didn't expect that her granddaughter would not hold any grudges and was willing to step in front of her to take risks in times of danger! The empress dowager immediately felt regretful for not believing Wei Dongling yesterday.
There was anger in Concubine Xue's eyes. Just as she was about to stab the gold hairpin down, Cheng Hao on the tree suddenly jumped out. He grabbed the gold hairpin that was already in front of Wei Dongling's forehead with one hand and kicked Concubine Xue far away with one kick.
Concubine Xue let out a scream. She rolled far away before stopping and was then firmly pressed to the ground by the surrounding eunuchs.
"Great!" Wei Dongling glanced at Concubine Xue, who was struggling in a mess with her hair in disarray, and gave Cheng Hao a thumbs - up.
Seeing Wei Dongling praise him, Cheng Hao was extremely proud. His expression was as if he had a tail that would be wagging up to the sky.
Wei Dongling quickly turned back to look at the empress dowager and asked in a trembling voice, "Grandmother, are you scared?"
Seeing that this girl still asked if she was scared after such a dangerous situation, the empress dowager felt a warmth in her heart. She nodded and smiled gently, "This old lady is fine. Is your chest injury better?"
Wei Dongling nodded and smiled, "Thank you for your concern, Grandmother. The female doctor said the chest injury is not serious. It will get better after some time of rest."
The empress dowager lovingly stroked Wei Dongling's little hand and nodded, "You don't need to come for morning and evening greetings these days. Wait until you're fully recovered. This old lady has some excellent wound medicine. I'll send someone to give it to you later!"
Wei Dongling smiled sweetly, "Thank you, Grandmother!"
The grandmother and granddaughter walked back hand in hand. Mu Rong Yunxi watched the intimate grandmother - granddaughter pair and silently rolled a big eye.
Not long after Wei Dongling returned to Yaoguang Pavilion, the emperor's rewards arrived. Wei Dongling held a pile of jewels and jade in her arms and loved them so much. She grabbed handfuls of the fine jade beads and gave them to Cheng Hao and Min Fang, asking them to distribute them to the maids, eunuchs, and grannies serving in Yaoguang Pavilion.
Soon, the empress dowager's rewards also came. It was really excellent wound medicine, comparable to the good medicine she had used in the prince's mansion before. Wei Dongling held it and loved it.
This time, the empress dowager didn't reward jewels and jade. Instead, she directly rewarded big gold ingots! Gold ingots worth ten thousand taels of gold. Wei Dongling hugged the box tightly and her eyebrows curved with a smile. She sighed in her heart, "This injury is really worth it!"
Wei Dongling asked Min Fang cheerfully, "Has the Seventh Princess been released from house arrest?"
Min Fang had just led everyone to receive the reward and express their gratitude. With a smile in her eyes, she said, "Yes! Eunuch Cao passed on the emperor's oral order to release the Seventh Princess from house arrest. And because she was wrongly accused, the emperor gave the Seventh Princess many extra rewards!"
Wei Dongling laughed, "It should be. She was beaten ten big boards for nothing. She must be extremely annoyed."
Min Fang asked, "Then, Your Highness, do you want to go and see the Seventh Princess?"
Wei Dongling waved her hand, "I don't have time to see her. This princess still needs to recuperate. But we can go and see Concubine Shu."
Min Fang: ...
So, Wei Dongling took Min Fang and went to Concubine Shu's palace again.
As soon as they entered the door, it was still the same haughty maid as last time, and still the same arrogant words, "My lady is not feeling well today and is not suitable to receive guests. Your Highness, the Fifth Princess, please come another time!"
Wei Dongling was speechless and had to leave dejectedly.
She went to the emperor's palace to express her gratitude and then to the empress dowager's Cining Palace to express her gratitude. Seeing that the sky was gradually getting dark, Wei Dongling and Min Fang walked on the shore of Bishui Pond. The two chatted casually about the empress dowager's preferences.
After all, she had just received the rewards. She had to find a way to make the empress dowager happy, right? Emotional value had to be provided properly!
Wei Dongling was carefully listening to Min Fang's detailed report when suddenly she saw a figure standing in the water far away on the shore of Bishui Pond. It seemed to be a very young man wearing simple coarse clothes. He stood still in the knee - deep lake water, looking at the lake surface blankly and motionless.
Wei Dongling was shocked. How could there be an outside man in the palace? She quickly asked Min Fang, "Who is that person?"
Min Fang glanced at the person by the lake. Her expression suddenly became a bit flustered. She whispered, "That person is a crazy man with a confused mind. Let's go back as soon as possible?"
"Crazy man?" Wei Dongling was astonished. "Then why hasn't he been expelled from the palace?"
Min Fang said anxiously, "This servant will explain it to the princess in detail later. Let's go back first?"