TICIEC Chapter 17.1

“Your Majesty… Your Majesty…” Li Jieyu kowtowed and pleaded.

“I am truly innocent… It was Ning Wanyin who pushed me…”

Helian Qi frowned impatiently, “Noisy.”

Wang Degui immediately and tactfully took a few eunuchs with him to drag Li Jieyu away…

Li Jieyu accused Ning Wanyin of pushing her.

She thought that although Tang Miaoling was a witness, she was Ning Wanyin’s cousin, so her words could not be considered as testimony.

Without reliable evidence, and Ning Wanyin and her story each insisting on their own, the Emperor wouldn’t punish her, would he?

To her surprise, the Emperor demoted her without even asking a single question.

Helian Qi’s gaze fell on the remaining Tang Miaoling, “What are you doing here?”

Tang Miaoling stole a glance at Ning Wanyin and instantly stuttered nervously, “Deliver medicine to… to my cousin.”

“You two sisters are very affectionate.” Helian Qi looked at her in surprise.

Ning Wanyin also looked at Tang Miaoling. Was she here to bring her medicine?

Tang Miaoling quickly handed the porcelain bottle she had been hiding in her palm to Ning Wanyin.

“This is very good for reducing swelling…”

After saying this, she bowed to the Emperor and hurriedly took her leave.

Helian Qi held Ning Wanyin’s hand and entered Lingxue Pavilion.

The moonlight sprinkled with starlight reflected the shimmering lotus pond.

Because of her knee injury, Ning Wanyin, despite her best efforts, still had difficulty walking, one leg higher than the other.

Helian Qi didn’t initially think that she’d suffered much injustice, but seeing her struggling to walk, he felt a surge of pity and suddenly asked, “Do you blame me for not always protecting you?”

Ning Wanyin’s mind was racing. The Emperor was obviously asking about the fact that he had not protected her this morning in the Empress Dowager’s palace.

She couldn’t answer with ‘blame’ or ‘not blame’.

Even if she said that she didn’t blame him, she’d be admitting that the Emperor hadn’t protected her.

As long as this matter existed, who dared to blame the Emperor in front of him?

And even saying she didn’t blame him would still be blamed.

“Your Majesty, why do you say that?” Ning Wanyin’s mind raced for a moment before she asked in surprise.

“Hasn’t Your Majesty always protected me? If it weren’t for your justice, I would have been bullied by Li Jieyu…no, by Li Guiren!”

Helian Qi’s eyes fell on her knees, “What I’m saying is, the Empress Dowager is punishing you…”

“It is natural for the Empress Dowager to admonish me. How can I let Your Majesty violate the rules of etiquette because of me?”

Ning Wanyin smiled lightly and looked at Helian Qi.

“Besides, the Empress Dowager has always disliked me. If it weren’t for Your Majesty’s sake, would she have given me such a small punishment today?”

“Your Majesty has protected me, and I am grateful.”

With the Empress Dowager’s power, executing any powerless concubine is just a matter of finding an excuse.

She is still alive, and it is because the Emperor was protecting her.

Helian Qi was stunned. He always disliked stupidity and admired intelligent women.

Ning Wanyin seems spoiled, but in fact, she is smart, knowledgeable, and interesting, which once again makes him look at her with new eyes.

At first, he’d found her intriguing, but now he was genuinely interested.

Helian Qi saw her walking cautiously and tremblingly.

He picked her up by the waist, strode across the flower path, and ordered the eunuch accompanying him, “Wang Degui, fetch the imperial physician.”

Wang Degui bowed and left.

Entering the attic, Helian Qi saw rotten food on the table.

Ning Wanyin tugged at Helian Qi’s sleeve and couldn’t wait to complain: “Your Majesty, the food sent by the imperial kitchen is simply inedible…”

Her stomach rumbled at an inopportune moment.

She was truly hungry.

Helian Qi’s eyebrows darkened, and a hint of anger rose in his heart.

He said, “Tell the steward of the imperial kitchen to come immediately. Convey my order, and serve the meal!”

The accompanying eunuch immediately went to do it.

A few moments later, the female physician from the Imperial Medical Bureau and the steward from the imperial kitchen arrived almost simultaneously.

The steward, accompanied by a younger eunuch, knelt tremblingly on the ground outside the door.

“This servant is guilty of death! Due to a moment of negligence, the servants mistakenly gave the food that was about to be thrown away to Lingxue Pavilion.”

“I am guilty of death! It was all due to my negligence that I did the wrong thing.” The young eunuch also followed suit and apologized.

 

 

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