“Silence!”
Empress Dowager Su’s sharp rebuke startled the eunuch. After confirming it was directed at him, he immediately knelt down, trembling with fear and confusion as he begged for forgiveness.
Empress Dowager Su felt her headache worsening—there were truly too many fools today.
Destroy her entire clan? Ridiculous—she herself was Su Yuewu’s entire clan!
Before she could speak, Shen Heng coldly said, “Su Yuewu, have you never learned etiquette?”
Su Yuewu met his icy gaze, blinked her Peach Blossom Eyes, and replied with an innocent expression, “Your Majesty, I have learned. I know I have erred, Your Majesty. I truly know I have erred.”
Though she claimed to admit her mistake, her tone lacked any trace of fear or trembling. Moreover, those bright, watery eyes remained fixed unwaveringly on Shen Heng.
It seemed as if she was hinting at something.
Shen Heng felt a stifling discomfort in his chest. The words “insolent” reached the edge of his lips but failed to escape.
He simply stared intently at that strikingly beautiful face before him, unchanged from before, and asked, “You admit your error. What then?”
“I hope Your Majesty can grant me an opportunity to make amends!”
Su Yuewu responded swiftly, her shimmering eyes pleading. Shen Heng inexplicably felt that this demeanor resembled the Persian cat he kept in his palace—after causing trouble, it would retract its claws and lie before someone, acting coy and pitiful yet vexing.
Shen Heng unconsciously rubbed his fingers twice, his expression ambiguous as he pressed further, “How do you intend to make amends?”
Su Yuewu declared loudly, “I wish to serve Your Majesty for my entire life, to redeem my sins!”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Junrou, who had been standing beside her with her head lowered, suddenly swayed, nearly collapsing from fright.
Wasn’t this statement essentially expressing her desire to be selected for the palace?
And she even framed serving the Emperor as redeeming her sins? How dare she!
The eunuchs and palace maids in the hall fell silent. Empress Dowager Su frowned, her gaze toward Su Yuewu flickering with scrutiny.
This girl wasn’t willing to enter the palace, so why now…
Her thoughts drifted halfway when she heard her nominal son beside her respond, “Fine.”
Empress Dowager Su snapped back to reality in shock, widening her eyes to look at her nominal son.
Hadn’t he said he never wished to see A Wu again in his life!
Shen Heng’s expression remained composed, even coldly rebuking the eunuch responsible for announcing below, “Did you not hear? I said keep her plaque!”
The command to “keep the plaque” sounded as if it were ordering someone’s head to be spared, startling the eunuch into a shudder: “Yes!”
He then hurriedly proclaimed loudly, “Su Yuewu, daughter of the Supervisor of the Imperial Academy—keep the plaque, grant the scent pouch!”
Everything happened too quickly, unfolding more smoothly than Su Yuewu had anticipated.
She briefly froze, then noticed Shen Heng’s expression growing increasingly grim, as if he might rush over to strike her the next moment. Remembering she still needed to express gratitude, she hastily bowed her head: “I thank Your Majesty, I thank Empress Dowager!”
Shen Heng’s secretly clenched hand relaxed.
Empress Dowager Su was already dumbfounded, looking at Su Yuewu, then at Shen Heng: “Emperor, you, you both…”
Before Empress Dowager Su could finish, Shen Heng abruptly stood up, bowed to her, and said calmly, “Mother Empress, I am tired. There are memorials to review in Qianqing Palace. The remaining matters shall be entrusted to Mother Empress.”
After speaking, he turned and left directly, even quickening his pace as he passed Su Yuewu.
Empress Dowager Su stared blankly at Shen Heng’s back view for a moment before gradually comprehending.
She glanced complexly at Su Yuewu kneeling below, ultimately shaking her head and sighing softly, “Enough.”
Anyway, one isn’t a biological son, and the other is a distant niece—both are outsiders, so let them do as they please.
＊
The Su family’s carriage waited outside the Shenwu Gate.
Luzhi stood beside the carriage, pacing anxiously back and forth until she saw her young mistress emerge, her eyes instantly lighting up.
Su Yuewu walked over, patted her shoulder, raised an eyebrow slightly, and said in a light, cheerful voice, “Don’t worry, it’s done.”
Luzhi’s mouth fell open. After a moment of stunned silence, she rushed forward and hugged her mistress, nearly weeping with joy. “That’s wonderful, wonderful! Now you won’t have to marry that worthless cousin!”
This so-called “cousin” was the nephew of Concubine Yun in the Su household and shared no blood relation with Su Yuewu.
He had started in business at a young age and was now wealthy enough to dominate a county. He had only come to the capital this year. Though he appeared decent in looks, his character was depraved, with a particular fondness for visiting brothels. Despite already keeping five or six concubines at home, he still went around stirring up romantic entanglements. Once, he even had the audacity to harass a maidservant of the Su family.
Su Yuewu’s father, out of affection for Concubine Yun, not only did not reprimand him upon learning of this but even gifted the maidservant to him.
And now, gifting a maidservant wasn’t enough—he wanted to gift his daughter too.
A mocking smile curled at the corner of Su Yuewu’s lips as she said to Luzhi, “Let’s go. We’ll talk more at home.”
Not far away, Jiang Junrou watched Su Yuewu’s retreating figure as she boarded the carriage. The courage she had mustered earlier instantly dissipated, and her expression turned despondent.
Her maidservant beside her urged anxiously, “If you want to speak with her, go now! There’s still time.”
Jiang Junrou shook her head weakly. “Forget it. I’m still too afraid.”
The maidservant, knowing her young mistress’s temperament, couldn’t help but sigh. “How will you manage like this, miss? Once you enter the palace, there will be many occasions for socializing.”
Jiang Junrou tightened her grip on the handkerchief in her hand and lowered her head. “Then… then… ah, let’s talk about it when the time comes.”
Su Residence, Taoyao Residence.
No sooner had Su Yuewu returned than Concubine Yun sent her trusted servant, Granny Zhou, over.
“The concubine sent me to ask the young mistress about the outcome of this Imperial Selection.”
Su Yuewu lounged lazily on the couch, eating grapes that Luzhi had peeled and fed to her. At these words, she glanced sideways at Granny Zhou and retorted irritably, “Isn’t she asking a pointless question? Doesn’t she already know the outcome in her heart? I’m already in a bad mood. Get out now, or I’ll have someone chase you out with a broom!”
Granny Zhou, having obtained the answer she wanted, smiled more genuinely. “The concubine meant well, thinking the young mistress would be disheartened by failing the selection and ordering this servant to offer some consolation. Since you don’t appreciate it, I’ll take my leave.”
After Granny Zhou left, Luzhi asked in confusion, “Miss, you clearly passed the selection. Why did you say that just now?”
Though not explicitly stated, every word of her response had implied that she had failed.
Having eaten her fill of grapes, Su Yuewu elegantly wiped the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief and said leisurely, “To put her at ease, and then strike her down when she’s at her happiest and most smug—isn’t that more interesting?”
She paused, then smiled at Luzhi. “And besides, I want to see what my situation in the Su family would be like if I hadn’t passed the selection this time.”