Chapter 523: The emperor is gone
“You think that by serving this widow for so long, this widow cannot bear to hit or scold you?” Empress Dowager Zhou said in cold voice with no expression on her face.
“This servant is willing to be beaten and punished.”
“Alright, this widow will punish you by taking away two years worth of salary. What did you want to say?” Empress Dowager Zhou calmed her anger.
Su Jin gritted her teeth and said in a small voice, “Empress Dowager, for the emperor and the princess’ reputation, this servant feels it is best not to create a large ruckus. How about sending people to secretly look for the emperor instead? This servant believes that the emperor will not betray the Empress Dowager’s expectations and something should have happened, so the emperor could not make it back for morning court.”
Her words were like a bucket of cold water that splashed onto Empress Dowager Zhou’s face, causing her flames of anger to extinguish quite a bit.
Not bad, not bad!
When Empress Dowager Zhou was filled with rage, she had forgotten this point.
She slowly nodded and said to Su Jin, “Rise! Your words are reasonable. Immediately send some people to secretly search for the emperor. As for Eldest Princess An Le, send this widow’s orders and have her lock up. Without this widow’s permission, she is not to take a single step outside!”
Su Jin heard this and let out a sigh. She replied, “Yes, Empress Dowager. This servant will go immediately.”
When she turned to leave, Empress Dowager Zhou called out to her.
“Go and call that Xiao Si by the emperor’s side over for this widow. This widow has a few questions for him.”
“Yes.” Su Jin replied and left, secretly breaking out in cold sweat for Xiao Si.
When Xiao Si heard Empress Dowager Zhou’s summons, his body was completely covered in sweat.
He instinctively knew that this was bad. The emperor was gone and even he as the little eunuch did not know where he went. If the Empress Dowager were to question him, it would be hard to escape being punished.
If Empress Dowager Zhou were to lose her anger, if it was light, he would just receive a beating, but if it was heavy, then he might be able to keep his head.
“Aunt Su Jin, can you tell Xiao Si what the Empress Dowager is summoning this servant for?”
He followed behind Su Jin, walking towards the Peaceful Life Palace while asking this in an uneasy voice.
Su Jin glared over at him, “You still have the face to ask? You’ve lost the emperor, so the Empress Dowager is finding you to find him!”
Xiao Si’s face immediately turned ugly, “Aunt Su Jin, aren’t you wrongfully killing this servant? The one with the longest legs is the emperor. With how good the emperor’s martial arts are, he can go wherever he wants. Xiao Si is only a servant, how can I control the emperor? If the Empress Dowager really blames me, I ask aunt Su Jin to help Xiao Si say a few words.”
Su Jin gave a snort, “Say something? I just said a single word and the Empress Dowager punished me with taking away two years salary. You better hope for the best case scenario.”
When Xiao Si heard this, his legs turned soft out of fright, “Aunt Su Jin, this servant is not going to see the Empress Dowager. You’ve served the Empress Dowager for so many years and the Empress Dowager took away two years salary. If this servant were to make a mistake, then perhaps I won’t even be able to keep my head!”
“Cui! The Empress Dowager has summoned you, do you dare disobey?” Su Jin turned around and grabbed Xiao Si’s ear before whispering, “Just answer the Empress Dowager’s questions honestly later. What you should say and what you shouldn’t say, you should be clear on already!”
“Aunt Su Jin, this servant really knows nothing.” Xiao Si almost kneeled down in front of her.
Although he knew martial arts, he did not dare struggle. Su Jin dragged him by the ear in front of Empress Dowager Zhou.
With a “putong” sound, he kneeled on the ground.