eurekapd Chapter 206: Tension
Chapter 206: Tension
Jinzhong was efficient and without making any noise he got Rong Pei, the big troublemaker, out of the Yangxin Palace.
At this time, the atmosphere in the Yangxin Palace was tense.
"Queen, why don't you just reflect on your mistakes in Yikun Palace? Why are you here?"
The emperor was a little displeased when he saw Ruyi come in with a questioning look on her face.
When did she become so ignorant of etiquette that she couldn't even be humble in front of him?
"Your Majesty, I heard that you sent the imperial guard Ling Yunche to the Ministry of Punishment?"
Seeing the emperor's impatient tone, Ruyi was too lazy to play along and asked directly.
She stiffened her neck and stared at the emperor with her eyes. Her questioning tone made the emperor frown subconsciously.
"Queen, are you questioning me? Before you ask me, why not ask yourself what good things you have done?"
The emperor looked at the woman in front of him who was questioning him with a cold face, and an inexplicable anger was rising in his heart.
He stood up and walked to the antique display cabinet beside him. After opening a box, he threw the contents onto the table in front of Ruyi.
The things fell apart, revealing the exquisite small clothes inside, which were carefully made by Ruyi and Hailan for the Thirteenth Prince. Ruyi was stunned for a second when she saw these, and recognized that they were the small clothes she had asked Ling Yunche to send to Prince Yan's mansion.
"Is this why Your Majesty sent Guard Ling to the Ministry of Punishment? I simply miss Yongjing too much. Since you won't let me see him, how about I send something over to show my mother's gratitude?"
Ruyi blurted out almost without thinking.
She didn't think she was wrong in this matter.
The emperor is just taking advantage of the situation.
"What do you say? I told you long ago that you were not allowed to have too much contact with Yongjing. Your fates were incompatible, so I sent him to Prince Yan's residence. But you bribed the maid who served him behind my back, secretly sent gifts to him, and even bribed the guards around me. I'm lucky I didn't take his life."
The emperor sat back on the dragon throne and looked at the hysterical Ruyi in front of him. The indifference in his eyes made Ruyi almost breathless.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at the emperor standing high above her.
What hurt her the most was that she could no longer find in him the appearance of the young man whose heart and eyes were filled with her.
Is time really so terrible?
She transformed the person into someone she didn't recognize at all.
"Your Majesty, this isn't just because of this, right? Your Majesty is just wary of me because of Li Yu, and suspicious of me because of Hai Lan. Now that Your Majesty is doing this, is he trying to use this to tell me not to disobey you?"
When the emperor heard Ruyi say this, he almost laughed out of anger.
Ah!
It turns out you also know that I cannot be disobeyed.
"Ruyi, why do you always disobey me? Those people don't even know their place, so why am I wrong to punish them?"
Ruyi, this name, Ruyi couldn't remember how long it had been since she heard it from the emperor's mouth.
When they were in love, she always heard him call her Qingying and Ruyi. But since she became the queen, she never heard those two words from him again. Every time she heard him call her queen, she always felt cold.
It seems that in his eyes, the Queen is more important than Ruyi.
Ruyi was almost driven crazy, especially when she saw the people around her being sent away and tortured one by one by the emperor. Ruyi felt exhausted both physically and mentally.
She no longer tolerated it and spoke sarcastically.
"Your Majesty is totally wrong. Li Yu has been with you for so many years. Even if he has no merit, he has worked hard. Yet, you took his life without a second thought. Does your Majesty think that Li Yu is just a servile person who only seeks to curry favor with the powerful? I, your concubine, have no idea why things have turned out this way..."
"Back then, I didn't instruct Li Yu to do that, and Li Yu isn't the type of person who acts on impulse and harbors malicious intent. I asked Ling Yunche to deliver something to Prince Yan's residence simply to fulfill my mother's heart..."
"Are you doing this to fulfill your mother's wishes or for your own selfish reasons? You always insist on disobeying me. Today I will tell you what the relationship between a ruler and his subjects is!" The emperor said this with gritted teeth.
Seeing that Ruyi not only did not reflect on herself but instead began to blame herself, the emperor's last bit of patience was completely worn out.
Hearing the threat in his words, Ruyi didn't care. She just looked at the emperor indifferently, her eyes full of disappointment.
She blinked her eyes and opened her red lips slightly: "Your Majesty, you have changed over the years... Your Majesty always has various excuses to doubt me, and I have no way to defend myself. I am tired and don't want to defend myself anymore..."
The emperor sneered, a hint of pleasure in his eyes.
"You are the Queen, so I will not punish you. However, I will not let those slaves around you go astray and let their masters do whatever they want. I will also teach you to see what happens when you disobey me."
"I am the Empress appointed by His Majesty personally. I dare not say anything about His Majesty's wishes. However, what His Majesty did today, are these the actions of a wise ruler?"
When Ruyi heard that the emperor was going to attack the people around her, her eyes were full of disappointment. She looked at the emperor's vicious appearance and felt that all the strength in her body had been drained away.
A familiar feeling of powerlessness rose from the bottom of her heart. Ruyi was helpless and could only look at the person in front of her who had once been with her wholeheartedly. For the first time, she felt it was so ironic.
She never saw him clearly.
The emperor's face flushed with anger. He ignored Ruyi and shouted, "Jinbao, have Sanbao thrown into the Ministry of Punishment as well. All the servants around the Empress will be transferred away, leaving only two maids to look after her. Without my permission, the Empress is not allowed to leave the Yikun Palace again!"