"What do you think Li Yaoqin would do if she knew the Minister's wife was being held here by me?" Xue Zining asked Xue Yan, raising her eyes.
Xue Yan was startled, her gaze slowly brightening. "Your Majesty, your move is truly brilliant."
After an incense stick's time, Xue Yan couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, what if Li Yaoqin knows about your plan and abandons the Minister's wife?"
Xue Zining said calmly, "She won't."
Xue Yan was about to ask more, when Yun Weishu beside her said, "If the Minister's wife had been kept here from the moment she entered the palace, perhaps that would be the case. But now that the Minister's wife has spoken with Li Yaoqin, and then keeping her here, Li Yaoqin has no choice but to worry."
Xue Yan scratched her head. "Why would Li Yaoqin be worried after they spoke?"
"Because Li Yaoqin must have instructed the Minister's wife on certain matters. Now that the Minister's wife is here, Li Yaoqin cannot help but worry if those words will be revealed by Your Majesty," Yun Weishu said.
Xue Yan slapped her forehead. "This strategy of undermining from the root is truly marvelous, marvelous!"
Another incense stick passed, and finally, a palace maid entered to report, "Your Majesty, Li Yaoqin requests an audience."
Xue Zining looked at the sky outside and said, "It's still early, I haven't woken up yet."
The palace maid immediately understood and came out to tell Li Yaoqin, who was kneeling, "His Majesty is still napping."
Li Yaoqin quickly said, "This servant will wait here for His Majesty to wake."
In truth, she already understood that this was deliberately done by the Empress, perhaps as punishment for her previous illness and absence.
The palace maid left, and Li Yaoqin remained kneeling.
The Minister's wife, Madam Xu, saw her daughter kneeling there and walked over, suddenly also kneeling down.
Li Yaoqin was stunned and quickly said, "Mother, what are you saying? Please get up quickly."
Madam Xu said, "If we are to kneel, two are better than one."
"But your body can't handle it," Li Yaoqin said urgently.
Madam Xu slowly said, "I came to see you today, and your father also went to see Emperor Yun. Judging by appearances, Emperor Yun and your father have finished their discussion. If I am not let out now, he will know I am confined in the palace. He will implore Emperor Yun to enter the harem to bring me out. What do you think Emperor Yun will think when he sees us mother and daughter kneeling here?"
Li Yaoqin was stunned, her voice choked with emotion. "Mother, I am unfilial, to make you suffer with me."
Madam Xu smiled. "Silly child, you are a piece of my flesh. Seeing you suffer, I wish I could take your place."
Li Yaoqin's eyes gradually lit up, and she said word by word, "This humiliation today, I will repay a hundredfold in the future."
Madam Xu held her hand and said, "My words remain the same. I hope you have a smooth journey, peace, and happiness."
"Madam, Yao'er, what is this..." Minister Li saw his wife, Madam Xu, and daughter, Yao'er, kneeling on the ground from afar, and his feet faltered.
Xue Jingyun, standing beside him, reached out to support Minister Li. Minister Li said fearfully, "This minister is terrified."
"It's nothing, go ahead!" Xue Jingyun said lightly.
Minister Li cupped his hands in a bow towards Xue Jingyun, then ran towards Changning Palace. "Madam, Yao'er, what is this..."
Li Yaoqin looked at the tall, slender figure behind her father and the immaculately white brocade robe, her tears falling. Looking pitifully, she said, "Father, daughter is fine. Daughter was just here to see His Majesty, but His Majesty is still napping."
"Yao'er, why is your face so pale?" Minister Li took off his outer robe and draped it over Li Yaoqin.
Madam Xu choked back a sob and said, "My lord, Yao'er is still ill. Can you beg His Majesty to let Yao'er return? I will kneel in place of Yao'er."
Minister Li's body trembled. He walked up to Li Yaoqin, looked at her closing her eyes, gritted his teeth, and slapped her hard. He angrily said, "What exactly did you do to anger His Majesty?"
Madam Xu pushed Minister Li away as if mad and roared, "Li Sinian, what are you doing? Don't you see Yaoqin is ill? She is sick, seriously ill! Not only do you offer no words of comfort, but you hit her. What did she do to deserve you hitting her like this?"
Minister Li said with great pain, "She is a palace maid now, serving as a slave. She must have done something wrong to be punished to kneel here by His Majesty. Madam, you cannot distinguish right from wrong."
"But Yao'er did nothing wrong. She was just too sick to get out of bed and couldn't see His Majesty promptly. Is that a crime?" Madam Xu looked up and asked Minister Li.
Minister Li's body trembled, and he said nothing further.
He turned around, suddenly knelt on the ground, and kowtowed to Xue Jingyun. "Your Majesty Yun, I beg you to forgive my daughter. She is just a naive child who offended Your Majesty."
"The ground is cold, Minister Li should rise!" Xue Jingyun said lightly.
Minister Li felt a surge of unease.
Xue Jingyun walked past Minister Li and came to Li Yaoqin's side. Li Yaoqin felt her heart pounding out of her chest. "You have a weak constitution, so don't kneel."
Li Yaoqin looked up, her gaze pitiful as she looked at the face she had seen only once but could never forget. "Your Majesty Yun, His Majesty summoned this servant, but this servant was unwell and did not arrive promptly, angering His Majesty. This servant is guilty!"
"You are indeed guilty!"
Li Yaoqin's body trembled. She looked at Xue Jingyun in disbelief. She couldn't imagine how such cold words could come from the mouth of this person who was like an immortal.
She saw this person, like an immortal, looking down at her, radiating an icy aura that made her tremble from the depths of her heart.
"Yan Zhao..."
A voice suddenly came from inside.
The person who had been emanating coldness now withdrew it, replaced by the former, peerlessly graceful, noble, and imposing Xue Jingyun.
"A Ning..." She saw him walk quickly towards him.
For the first time, she realized that his coldness had always been directed at them. His gentleness was only for the woman who occupied his heart. That person was the Empress. Her heart felt an unprecedented chill, piercing her to the bone. She stiffly raised her head and saw the person she dreamt of so often looking tenderly at that woman. The scene was so dazzling that her eyes could not open.
"Your Majesty, my daughter is ignorant of palace rules and has offended Your Majesty. I beg Your Majesty to forgive my daughter!" Minister Li knelt on the ground and kowtowed.
Xue Zining looked at Xue Jingyun and nodded. Xue Jingyun moved aside and remained silent, supporting her as she slowly walked over. Xue Yan brought a chair, and she sat down.
"Minister Li..."
Minister Li's body trembled, and he lowered his head, begging, "My daughter has offended Your Majesty. I beg Your Majesty to forgive her on account of her youth and ignorance."
"When did I say Li Yaoqin offended me?"
Minister Li was stunned. Xue Zining looked at Li Yaoqin and smiled. "Li Yaoqin, what did I say?"
Li Yaoqin's expression stiffened. "Your... Your Majesty, you..."