My Fair Princess: The Queen's Rebirth

After hearing this, the emperor didn't say any more about it.

The Queen stood respectfully behind the Emperor and said, "Your Majesty, since my sister isn't seriously injured, how about I accompany you back home to rest? We still have a lot of things to do tomorrow and need to get up early..."

"Okay, I'm going to Gyeongbokgung Palace tonight." The emperor turned around, held Xia Yingying's hand, and walked towards Gyeongbokgung Palace. Halfway there, he suddenly stopped and looked back at the queen. "Queen, I'll come to your palace for breakfast tomorrow morning."

The queen bowed her head and said nothing, but watched silently as the emperor left holding Xia Yingying's hand.

The queen looked calmly at the chief eunuch standing behind her and ordered, "What are you still standing here for? Hurry up and find someone to clear these stones away for me."

As they were talking, the imperial physician from the Imperial Hospital hurried over.

Seeing him panting and out of breath, the queen shouted angrily, "Why are you so late?"

"In reply to the Queen, I was delayed by something, but when I heard that Xia Da Ying fell into the water, I rushed over immediately."

The imperial physician looked around and found that only the Queen was there at the moment. When he was about to ask, he was interrupted by the Queen.

The Queen said unhappily, "Let's go to Gyeongbokgung Palace. Xia Ying has already gone back with the Emperor. Go and explain what you have to the Emperor."

The imperial physician opened his mouth but didn't say anything and just stood there in a daze.

Seeing this, Rong Mama quickly reminded her: "Hurry up and go! Didn't you hear what the Queen said?"

"Yes Yes Yes."

The imperial physician said this as he retreated respectfully.

The Queen returned to Kunning Palace with the support of Aunt Rong.

Rong Mama could see that the queen was feeling angry at the moment, so after entering the room, she quickly dismissed the eunuchs and maids, and immediately closed the doors and windows after confirming that there was no one at the door.

"Empress, what's wrong with you?" Madam Rong asked softly, "Don't keep unhappy things in your heart."

The Empress sat in her seat with a serious expression. "Although I didn't want to get too involved in the Emperor's consorting, Xia Yingying had been monopolizing the Emperor's attention. The Empress Dowager had already gently reminded me a while ago to persuade the Emperor not to linger so often at Gyeongbokgung Palace. However, the Emperor has rarely been there lately, and... unexpectedly, Xia Yingying actually took the initiative and got tricked by her."

"I don't understand what you mean." Madam Rong looked at the Queen with a puzzled expression. "Didn't Xia Ding fall into the water today because she accidentally slipped and fell?"

"Accidentally? Why would she go to the pond to feed the fish so late at night and even wander around the pond?" The Queen gritted her teeth and continued, "Now she's accusing me of a crime she didn't even know existed."

"My lady, you are too worried."

Aunt Rong smiled and comforted her queen.

The Queen pinched her brows and said, "How could I be overthinking? Look, the Emperor just heard that she fell into the water and rushed to see her. And didn't you hear what he asked me in front of so many people? He must think that I deliberately didn't clean the yard and caused Xia to fall into the water."

"Your Majesty, why would the Emperor think so?" Rong Ma stood by and analyzed the situation for her own majesty, then continued, "Your Majesty, let me take care of you and take a rest. Tomorrow, Lord Fu, his wife, and the two young masters of the Fu family will all enter the palace. Tomorrow evening, many royal relatives will also be attending the banquet. Our palace will be bustling with activity then."

The queen nodded and got up to rest.

In Gyeongbokgung Palace.

The imperial physician took Xia Yingying's pulse and left in a hurry.

The emperor was looking at Xia Yingying with a serious face.

Xia Yingying hasn't changed into new clothes yet.

She stood in front of the emperor, all wet, but didn't dare look directly into his eyes.

"You're quite courageous today." Seeing that Xia Yingying didn't speak, the emperor asked first, "Do you plan to confess honestly yourself, or do you want me to ask you in person?"

Xia Yingying lowered her head and replied, "Your Majesty...I...I don't understand what you mean."

"Don't understand? Are you really not understanding or are you pretending not to understand?" The emperor frowned. "If you still don't answer, then I will go to Kunning Palace to find the queen, and there will be no need to find someone to clean up the courtyard."

The emperor said this as he stood up and prepared to go outside.

When Xia Yingying saw the emperor stand up to leave, she hurried forward and hugged him from behind, not caring about her wet clothes.

The emperor stretched out his hands and tried to pry open Xia Yingying's hands that were tightly hugging him, but the more he tried to pry them open, the tighter she hugged him.

"Your Majesty, if I tell you the truth, will you punish me?" Xia Yingying said cautiously, "If you want to punish me, then I would rather you return to Kunning Palace."

When the emperor heard this, his originally serious expression suddenly turned into laughter.

He patted the back of Xia Yingying's hand and whispered softly, "Alright, I promise you, I won't punish you. Just tell me the truth."

Xia Yingying loosened her hands and walked in front of the emperor, shyly looking up at him. The moment she raised her head, the emperor reached out and held her hand.

The emperor said distressedly, "Look at your hands, they are frozen cold. How can you be so willful and reckless at such a grown-up level?"

Xia Yingying was stunned for a moment, then said, "Your Majesty... you know everything?"

"How could I not see through your little trick?" The emperor laughed. "These tricks have been used thousands of times by the women in the harem. I guessed it when I heard the message from the people below, but even so, I still rushed to see you."

Xia Yingying pouted and looked at the emperor with an unhappy expression but said nothing.

Seeing that she was silent, the emperor spoke again, "What do you mean by not speaking? Are you blaming me for ignoring you?"

"I dare not. How dare I blame you? You are the true dragon emperor." Xia Yingying said.

"So you're still acting like a spoiled brat? This is the Imperial Palace, and I'm the Son of Heaven." The Emperor spoke word for word. "How could you not know how I treat you? And after returning to the palace, I've often come to Gyeongbokgung Palace to see you. But you're not the only concubine in my harem. Besides, tomorrow is Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei's engagement day, and I need to discuss the arrangements with the Empress and Concubine Ling, so naturally, I'll be ignoring you."

Xia Yingying sighed and said, "It's not that I don't understand this, but I haven't seen you for a long time, so I really have no choice but to resort to this last resort."

"You... well, I really don't know how to say hello to you." The emperor waved his hand helplessly, "You are not allowed to do this kind of thing again. If you continue to use such tricks, then if you make the old Buddha unhappy in the future, I will not be able to protect you."

Xia Yingying bowed her head and said, "Let me change into clean clothes."