"I, a concubine, cannot sit?"
Li Yuyu raised an eyebrow, looking at Zhou Wanying with a smile that was not quite a smile.
It was unclear if this one was pure or foolish. Acting so unusually today, she coincidentally ran into the Empress Dowager and Beauty Qing...
Li Yuyu’s beautiful eyes gently turned, looking at Han Yiqing who was staring down at her own embroidered shoes beside her.
Had she been too indulgent with her?
"There are so many empty seats in my Yao Hua Palace, yet Beauty Zhou and Beauty Qing choose not to sit and stand by the Empress Dowager’s side. Those who know would think you two wanted to serve the Empress Dowager and the Emperor diligently, but those who don’t might think the Empress Dowager is being harsh, forbidding you from sitting."
Zhou Wanying’s face changed immediately.
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager slightly frowned and looked at Zhou Wanying. Although she was smiling, the disapproval in her eyes was quite obvious.
Han Yiqing: ...
She had a good hand of cards, but ruined them all.
"Sister Zhou, please sit. The Empress Dowager doesn’t want to have to look up to speak with us." Han Yiqing pulled Zhou Wanying by the hand, guiding her to sit in a lower position.
After all, she dared not sit above Li Yuyu in rank.
Zhou Wanying frowned, a look of unwillingness on her face, as now she was further away from the Empress Dowager and the Emperor.
But she couldn’t ignore Han Yiqing’s words, so she sat there reluctantly, clutching the handkerchief in her hand, casting a pitiful glance at Yan Xiu.
Yan Xiu pretended not to see.
"Li Xiurong, I ask you, are you aware that the Emperor got injured?" The Empress Dowager asked with a stern face.
Yan Xiu lifted his teacup and took a sip.
He too wanted to know why Yu’er didn’t come to see him last night.
Did he truly hold no weight in her heart?
"Replying to the Empress Dowager, last night Eunuch Donglai came to report this matter to my palace," Li Yuyu said unhurriedly.
The Empress Dowager held back her anger: "Then why did Li Xiurong not go to see him!"
Li Yuyu was slightly surprised: "Empress Dowager, I was bathing at the time. Naturally, upon hearing this, I sent for Eunuch Donglai to summon Doctor Xuan, as I am no physician. How could I delay the Emperor’s treatment?"
Ha.
Zhou Wanying raised her handkerchief to cover her upward-curved lips, speaking softly: "Lady Xiu speaks so well. But how did I hear that Lady Xiu was indifferent to the Emperor’s injury, simply because she was in a bad mood and thus did not go?"
The Empress Dowager’s face, already dark, turned even darker.
"Heard? I wonder from whom Beauty Zhou heard. Please bring that person here, I am willing to confront them face to face." Li Yuyu said.
Han Yiqing pursed her lips, gently touching Zhou Wanying’s arm, signaling her to stop speaking.
Zhou Wanying, however, thought Li Yuyu was guilty, "Lady Xiu, please do not speak like that. I am fearful, but I am not someone who burns bridges. There’s no need to call that person in for confrontation with Lady Xiu. Naturally, Lady Xiu’s words will stand, given her higher status compared to mine."
"Enough!" The Empress Dowager said angrily, "Li Xiurong, do you realize your mistake!"
Zhou Wanying’s eyes gleamed with delight.
Li Yuyu pressed her lips together, sitting up straight without fear and meeting the Empress Dowager’s gaze, speaking softly, "If the Empress Dowager says I am wrong, then indeed, I must be wrong."
Zhou Wanying: ?
Something about this did not sound quite right.
Han Yiqing looked thoughtfully at Li Yuyu.
"Who is the Empress Dowager if not my elder? I grew up reliant on my brother, without grandparents initially, and later without parents. I know the Empress Dowager’s goodwill towards me. If not out of concern, why would the Empress Dowager personally reprimand me?"
"Today’s issue is surely my fault, and I am willing to accept punishment, as long as the Empress Dowager does not harm her health because of me."
...