Chapter 110: Weak and Foolish Woman
"Spring Hua, take the young master back to Mei Garden and serve him until he falls asleep. He has to get up early tomorrow!"
Although Xiao Meiniang didn't know what had happened, from the serious expressions of Wangfei and his mother he knew that this matter was not easy to deal with, so he refused to leave: "Mother, I'll accompany you into the palace, okay?"
Ji Zhaohui let out a helpless sigh and glanced at Han Caixia without saying anything.
Han Caiwei smiled slightly, squatted down to touch the little boy's hair, and then pressed her cheek against his cheek, rubbing affectionately. She raised an eyebrow and smiled: "Silly child, your grandfather only said to summon your mother, why did you follow her? You should be sleeping with Chunhua, and tomorrow morning go to the study room for class, that's the right thing to do. Mother promises you, after seeing your grandfather, she'll come back, okay?"
Although Xiao Mei Nan was extremely precocious, he was still a child after all, so using a child's method to coax him, he reluctantly followed 'Spring' Hua with a pout on his face.
After the little eunuch left, Han Caiwei's smile on her face suddenly disappeared. Ji Zhaohui waved his hand and the little maid retreated. Han Caiwei looked up at Ji Zhaohui and said: "Is the Emperor scary?" The Emperor wants to see her, there is only one situation, that is, he knows about her cutting off General Ji's beard. Adding to that, Li Xiuyan finding the imperial physician in the middle of the night was also for this little concubine. She can roughly guess how the Emperor thinks of her now. In that case, the little eunuch becoming the Crown Prince is probably going to be ruined.
"Whatever the case, it's all because of Father. Don't be afraid in front of the Emperor, just tell the truth and that's enough. Father has a bad temper, he must still be resentful about that matter. This thing also involves Xu'er's Crown Prince issue, so it can't be avoided to mention some unpleasant things in front of the Emperor. However, you don't have to worry, Wang Ye will definitely speak up for you too. The Emperor likes people who tell the truth, just respond properly and that's all."
Han Caiwei secretly remembered Ji Zhaoxi's words and took a deep breath, then followed the eunuch who came from the palace with Qiu Hua into the palace.
Outside, the heavy rain continued to fall. It wasn't until Han Caiwei got off her carriage in front of the palace gate that she realized the rain was getting heavier and heavier. Even with one person holding an umbrella, it would still get their pants and legs soaked. However, compared to the eunuch who was already drenched from head to toe, Han Caiwei felt that she and Qiu Hua were much better off than him! At this moment, she couldn't help but secretly rejoice in her foresight in lifting up all of her skirt hems and tying them at her waist. If not, she would be like Qiu Hua now, with her skirt hems, pants, and legs all soaked.
Following the eunuch, Han Caiwei walked for a very long time on the winding palace path. If it weren't raining, she could still see a bit of the road ahead, but now that it was raining, just keeping herself from getting soaked to the bone was already a huge effort, let alone trying to remember the way. Just as Han Caiwei was getting frustrated with holding her umbrella and thinking about turning around and running away, the eunuch stopped in front of a majestic grand hall and said to her: "We've arrived, milady, please enter!"
Han Caiwei's umbrella was taken away by the eunuch, and Han Caiwei stood blankly under the corridor of the main hall until a clear-eyed and elegant eunuch came over, had Qiuhua wring out the water from her 'pants' tube, then had him let down the tied-up hem of her skirt, and then told Qiuhua to wait outside before leading her alone into the palace gate.
As soon as Han Caiwei entered, she saw the dragon case. The eunuch led her to the right side, and she didn't dare to look around everywhere, but looking at this arrangement and atmosphere, she took a peek with one eye and saw that on the left side there was an extremely large soft couch, while on the right side there were people moving about. Han Caiwei blinked her eyes, thinking that this place probably existed like the Nurturing Heart Palace. The emperor would discuss matters and review memorials here, meeting with high officials. Now, she had also been brought here, and to say she wasn't nervous was a lie!
Han Caiwei stood at the gate with her head bowed and heard the eunuch say: "Your Majesty, the person has arrived."
"Call her in." The voice was very low and stern.
"Yes, your humble servant obeys."
Han Caiwei walked in, not daring to look around, and after a few steps, she saw a pair of golden boots appear in her line of sight. She knew that Li Xiuzhen was also there. She slightly pursed her lips, raised her eyelids, and glanced at him, only to see him standing with his head down, with General Ji kneeling beside him.
The remaining light happened to see a person sitting on the edge of the slope, wearing bright yellow clothes that were particularly eye-catching. He raised his hand towards her: "Come closer."
Han Caiwei noticed that Li Xiuzhen's hand hanging on the right side moved slightly, and she sighed, guessing that he was nervous because he was afraid she would make a fool of herself.
At the moment, she couldn't think of anything else, so she lowered her eyes and followed the emperor's instructions to take a few steps forward. Then, she lifted up her skirt and knelt down, performing a proper ritual: "Your servant Han pays respects to Your Majesty, wishing you prosperity, longevity, and eternal life! May you live for ten thousand years!"
The standard etiquette of meeting and greeting, every detail is correct without any mistakes.
Li Xiuzhen watched from the side, and this heart was finally put down.
Li Qingxuan glanced at the 'girl' kneeling there, wearing a simple dress and skirt. Although it was raining heavily outside, she didn't look disheveled in the slightest. Her hairpins and earrings were all in place, and her hairstyle suited her status. Her sharp eyes softened slightly as she raised her hand and said in a low voice, "You stand up to answer me."
Han Caiwei immediately stood up: "Thank you, Your Majesty."
"I heard you beat up one of my generals?"
Han Caiwei trembled, "Your Majesty's general, this phrase is too ambiguous!" But she had no time to rot now, and could only honestly answer: "In response to Your Majesty, the crime of the concubine was just that she removed the general's chin strap. The general is wise and powerful, how dare the concubine raise her hand to hit someone? Before the concubine took action, she had already been slapped by the general."
The lantern was shining brightly, and Li Qingxuan saw it clearly. However, there was a palm print on her face.
Li Qingxuan didn't show much expression and asked again: "What's this about?"
"For the sake of my son's heir, I also have a deep affection for him, but General does not sympathize." Han Caiwei answered as briefly as possible.
Who would have thought that as soon as these words were spoken, Li Qingxuan burst out laughing: "He's a military general, he's spent his whole life on horseback killing enemies, what does he know about deep family affection!"
General Ji's face turned bright red, and he couldn't help but say: "What's wrong with her son being adopted by my 'daughter'? I didn't snatch away her 'daughter'!"
"What nonsense!" Li Qingxuan's voice was not loud, but the hall suddenly became five degrees colder. Han Caiwei even felt a chill run down her spine. All she heard was Li Qingxuan saying again, "Is this something you can decide? You only need to worry about going into battle and killing enemies. Does this trivial matter concern you? To actually raise your hand against a weak and delicate 'woman', what kind of behavior is this!"
Han Caiwei was taken aback. Although there was a saying that women were weak, it sounded so awkward, as if the emperor was secretly scolding her for being stupid!
