"Let's go back to the palace."
The two quickly returned to the palace.
The palace was peaceful and quiet, and nothing major had happened yet, which showed that the Emperor and Empress Dowager were unaware that she had hit Sima Zhuo. But what was bound to happen would eventually happen.
Hai Ling waited patiently, and as she expected, two hours later...
In the Empress Dowager's Qingxin Palace, a eunuch came to summon her.
"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager has decreed that Your Majesty must come to Qingxin Palace. The Emperor is also there."
The eunuch had a gloating look on his face. Although his attitude was flattering, it was clear that you were about to be in big trouble.
Hai Ling ignored the little eunuch, got up and called Yan Zhi, Lü He, and several palace maids to go out together.
The group headed to Qingxin Palace, which was quite far from Zhengyi Palace. Since she wasn't in a hurry, it took them a full half hour to get there.
When she led the people into the main hall, she saw the Empress Dowager and the Emperor sitting at the head of the hall with dark faces. In the seat below them sat the current Right Chancellor, Sima Yuan. Sima Yuan's face was even more furious, turning purplish-red. As soon as he saw Hai Ling enter the hall, he was filled with rage and wanted to rush up and fight her to the death. It was this woman who had ruined his son's manhood. Now he didn't know if his son was still useful.
Ignoring the three pale faces in the main hall, Hai Ling led the palace maids, including Yan Zhi, to gracefully greet the Emperor and Empress Dowager.
"Hailin greets the Emperor and the Empress Dowager."
However, no one told her to get up. The Empress Dowager pointed at her angrily and said, "Jiang Hailing, as the Empress, you are shameless. You actually left the palace without permission and beat up the son of the Right Chancellor in the street."
Hailin looked up fearlessly at the Empress Dowager and spoke frankly.
"Hailing secretly left the palace because she was worried about Mother. As for beating the son of the current Right Chancellor, does Mother know what Sima Zhuo did?"
Upon hearing Hai Ling bring up this topic, Sima Yuan's eyes flickered. Without waiting for the emperor to ask any questions, he stood up, knelt down with a thud, and began to wail.
"Your Majesty, I beg you to avenge Zhuo'er! He's practically crippled now, Your Majesty."
Feng Zixiao's face was gloomy and ugly. He already disliked this woman, who had taken the position of Empress for no reason, and now she had caused such a mess.
"Jiang Hailing, how dare you leave the palace without permission and even assault people in the street! As the Empress, you have failed to uphold the virtues of a woman. Do you know your crime?"
Upon hearing Feng Zixiao's words, Hai Ling realized that if someone wanted to find fault, they could always find a pretext. The Emperor and Empress Dowager were clearly trying to use this incident to punish her, so she decided to remain silent, meeting Feng Zixiao's gaze with cold eyes.
Upon seeing her expression, Sima Yuan was overjoyed and cried even harder.
"Your Majesty, you must do justice for your subject!"
Feng Zixiao frowned slightly. He knew a little about his cousin Sima Zhuo's character, but the new dynasty had just been established and still relied heavily on Sima Yuan. Besides, he wanted to deal with this woman, so this would kill two birds with one stone. Thinking of this, Feng Zixiao immediately called out to someone outside the hall: "Someone come here."
Palace guards entered and stood respectfully in front of the hall, awaiting orders.
Feng Zixiao pointed at Hai Ling and commanded in a deep voice, "Is the Empress absent?"
Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a young eunuch rushing in from outside. Feng Zixiao stopped talking, looked at the eunuch, and his face was full of gloom.
"What's up?"
"Your Majesty, the Left Prime Minister has entered the palace and requests an audience."
Feng Zixiao raised an eyebrow, wondering what Xi Lingfeng was doing in the palace at this time. He waved his hand to signal the eunuch: "Summon the Left Prime Minister to the hall."
"yes."
Upon hearing that Xi Lingfeng had entered the palace, Hai Ling raised an eyebrow in surprise. Xi Lingfeng's arrival was quite coincidental, choosing this particular time to come. She wondered if it was a coincidence or if he wanted to help her.
Thinking about how much she owed him, Hailing felt inexplicably heavy-hearted. She could never repay him in time. She would definitely ask the Left Prime Minister tomorrow if there was anything he needed her to do. She would do anything, even go through fire and water, otherwise she would not be at peace.
At the entrance of the main hall, Left Prime Minister Xi Lingfeng walked in with a steady and agile gait. He was dressed in a white brocade robe, which was elegant and otherworldly. Although his face was ordinary, his black pupils, as black as lacquer, shone with a dazzling light, which made people involuntarily attracted to him.
Xi Lingfeng entered the main hall and, without looking at Hai Ling, first bowed to the Emperor.
"Greetings, Your Majesty and Empress Dowager."
"Rise, Your Excellency, what brings you to the palace to see me?"
Feng Zixiao glanced at the Left Prime Minister Xi Lingfeng, then his eyes fell on Hai Ling, and his dark pupils flickered slightly.
I remember that this Left Prime Minister once lent the Empress his jade flute, which he never parted with, and I heard that in the end he didn't want the jade flute anymore and gave it to the Empress.
What does this mean? Feng Zixiao pondered, but couldn't figure it out.
If the Empress were beautiful, he could imagine that the Prime Minister had fallen in love with her. But the Empress was ugly, and he would never imagine that the Prime Minister would like an ugly woman.
"Your Majesty, someone came to the Left Prime Minister's residence today to file a complaint. Because the matter is of great importance, I dare not make a decision on my own, so I came to the palace to report to Your Majesty."
"Oh, who are you complaining about?"
Feng Zixiao immediately took it seriously. He knew that the Left Prime Minister Xi Lingfeng was no ordinary person, and the fact that he took it so seriously meant that this matter was of great importance.
"Your Majesty, someone has accused the Right Chancellor's son, Sima Zhuo, of not only abducting women in the street but also beating two disobedient women to death. Furthermore, he seized someone else's property and injured the original owner. This is the testimony and evidence."
Xi Lingfeng presented the testimony and some evidence with both hands, and the eunuch took these items and handed them to the emperor at the head of the table.
Feng Zixiao's face immediately turned frosty, gloomy and cold.
Empress Dowager Sima Lan and Right Chancellor Sima Yuan's expressions changed instantly, alternating between red and white. They never expected such a thing to happen at this critical juncture.
The two men's eyes held an indescribable darkness as they looked down at Xi Lingfeng.
This man is a ruthless character; he is meticulous in his work, and even the emperor probably doesn't have his foresight.
Inside the main hall, the Emperor, the Empress Dowager, and the Right Chancellor were all lost in thought, and everyone was on edge.