The main hall of the Cining Palace was deathly quiet.
The Queen Mother was stunned for a moment. It was the first time she failed to react immediately.
They were just two second - class maids in the Cining Palace. The Queen Mother simply didn't pay them any heed.
Naturally, she had no idea that the two second - class maids she had sent were still kneeling on the bluestone path.
For some unknown reason, the Queen Mother instinctively glanced at the two people in the hall who were standing closely together.
As the strange feeling in her heart intensified, she suddenly met those glistening, watery eyes, and her eyelids twitched.
The next moment, she heard a timid and delicate voice, sounding pitiable.
"Your Majesty the Queen Mother, the Princess of Jing didn't do it on purpose. It's all my fault... Sister Zhishu and the other maid were following Your Majesty's orders, but I'm so weak that I almost fainted on the way...
Sister Zhishu and the other maid remembered Your Majesty's orders well, so they might have been a bit over - zealous in their actions. Fortunately, the kind - hearted Princess of Jing protected me, and that's how I'm able to come and see Your Majesty intact...
It wasn't really a big deal. It's just that I'm in poor health. The Princess of Jing punished Sister Zhishu and the other maid because they spoke out of turn and offended the princess. Please forgive the Princess of Jing this time, Your Majesty."
A beautiful woman's pitiable appearance could always easily arouse people's pity, not to mention Jun Wuyuan, who was already concerned about her injuries.
Even the old Prince Su, who had just thought of her as coquettish and seductive, couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity.
Regardless of other things, a weak woman who had the courage to block an arrow to protect the Emperor shouldn't be treated so poorly.
The Queen Mother was really going too far!
Even Prince Su gave the Queen Mother a look of implicit dissatisfaction, let alone Jun Wuyuan.
"I didn't know that the Queen Mother had prepared such rare treasures for my chief attendant. Were they so precious that my Shanshan almost lost her life to express gratitude?"
[This old witch is really a heartless and cruel one. How dare she bully someone under my protection? If I don't make this old witch spit blood today, I'll write my name backwards!]
The chief attendant?
Apart from Ling Shan, everyone present was dazed by the rare treasures mentioned by Jun Wuyuan.
No one had expected that the cold, tyrannical emperor who would chop people's heads off at will would actually dote on a little maid so much.
Everyone knew that this little maid named Ling Shan came from the Cining Palace and had a close relationship with the Queen Mother.
Even if he really liked her, there was no need to promote her to be in charge of the Taiji Palace, right?
Moreover, if they were so close, shouldn't he have granted her a title and made their relationship proper?
Why was he promoting her to be his attendant in such a rather unique way?
The Queen Mother felt a mixture of emotions, with a complex expression on her face.
She should have been angry. This ungrateful wretch was making such excessive demands, asking for rare treasures.
Didn't he see that Ling Shan was just a maid of humble origin? How could she deserve such things?
But somehow, the title of "chief attendant" soothed a bit of her anger.
What was the purpose of Ling Shan's appearance in the first place?
To stay in the Taiji Palace, get close to Jun Wuyuan, and give birth to an imperial heir...
Each step was extremely perilous. One wrong move and it would mean complete destruction.
The Queen Mother didn't know how much effort she had put in and how many people she had sent, but all of them had died before even achieving the first step.
Ling Shan was the first one.
The first one who made the Queen Mother feel a glimmer of hope.
"Since the Emperor has spoken, how could I be reluctant to part with those treasures? Naturally, I'll satisfy the Emperor."
The Queen Mother was used to being arrogant. Although she promised as if it was cutting her own flesh, she still didn't want to lose too much face.
Then she turned her anger towards Jun Wuhao and Xiao Mingzhu without any courtesy.
"I can overlook the Princess of Jing's over - stepping, but Prince Jing caused a ruckus in the Golden Luan Hall, saying that it was you, Mingzhu, who were so audacious and disrespectful that you almost made him childless, and now he's asking for a divorce. What's your opinion, Mingzhu?"
Jun Wuhao, who was said to be almost childless: "..."
The fist hanging in his wide sleeve tightened again, filled with intense hatred.
"Your Majesty the Queen Mother, I really don't know how the prince could be childless?"
Xiao Mingzhu was not intimidated at all. There was a look of confusion on her face. "Please clarify, Your Majesty. I didn't do it on purpose. The doctor in the mansion didn't say that the prince was ill.
Have the imperial doctors examined him? We can't let the Prince of Jing's mansion have no heirs. Otherwise, I'll really be a sinner."
Jun Wuhao: "..."
Ling Shan's pupils suddenly shrank, and her fingers unconsciously tightened on Jun Wuyuan's arm.
Good heavens! She was really her idol.
This was the right way to deal with a scumbag. It was so satisfying!
She didn't expect that this Prince of Jing...
Ling Shan twitched the corner of her mouth, and the laughter in her throat was almost uncontrollable.
Her eyes involuntarily drifted to the man whose figure was slightly stiff. Without saying a word, the meaning was clear.
Jun Wuhao once again felt the humiliation of being stripped naked in public.
[Humph, what's so great about that timid rat? Even if he's not childless, he's still just a good - for - nothing.]
I'll just look.
If the occasion hadn't been inappropriate and no one would have understood, Ling Shan would have wanted to give Jun Wuhao the middle finger and roll her eyes at him.
What a jerk!
It was just his good fortune to be born in this era. Otherwise, she would have really cut off his... to vent her anger.
She didn't expect that the well - known timid Prince of Jing would actually ask for a divorce in the Golden Luan Hall.
He was simply a sneaky and despicable person.
If they didn't divorce, Xiao Mingzhu would be disgusted.
If they did divorce, Xiao Mingzhu would have to endure countless malicious looks.
But for Jun Wuhao, the Prince of Jing, there would be plenty of noble ladies to choose from if he remarried.
Ouch!
A sudden pain came from her waist. Ling Shan rolled her eyes silently in her heart, then turned around obediently and gave a sweet smile to Jun Wuyuan, whose brows were furrowed.
"Does Mingzhu mean that she doesn't want a divorce?"
The Queen Mother raised her eyebrows in surprise, and a bit of her anger subsided.
The marriage was bestowed by her. Even if the two hated each other, they should be tied together.
Moreover, the Dingyuan General's Mansion was so ungrateful that they didn't accept the olive branch from the Wang family. It would make the Queen Mother feel better if Xiao Mingzhu had a hard time.
"No."
Xiao Mingzhu opened her lips. She knelt down firmly with a determined look on her face. "Your Majesty the Queen Mother, I'm willing to divorce the Prince of Jing. Please make the decision for me, Your Majesty the Emperor and Your Majesty the Queen Mother."
The Queen Mother's eyes darkened.
Jun Wuhao also knelt down, and his voice was firm and loud.
"Please, Your Majesty the Queen Mother, Your Majesty the Emperor, grant our request."
"Since this is the case, I grant it."
Jun Wuyuan felt the little hand quietly squeezing his, and he made the final decision. "What do the Queen Mother and the Prince Regent think?"
The Queen Mother: "..."
You've said it all. What else can I say?
Could she really refuse to allow the divorce in front of Prince Su?
She should have known better than to touch the Dingyuan Marquis's Mansion, a hard - to - deal - with family.
She had only ended up getting herself dirty and achieving nothing!