Ji Xili pursed his lips, and after a while, he said the same thing: "It was really the emperor who kissed me."
"Even if it's better, I'd like to ask you, were you in Lichunfang yesterday?"
Ji Xili frowned and said, "I was kidnapped and drugged."
"Yes, the Ai family also heard about this from the emperor, but the Ai family also went to inquire about it. When the emperor found you, were you entangled with another man?"
Ji Xili slowly closed his eyes, his voice a little hoarse: "Wouldn't it be clearer for the Empress Dowager to ask the Emperor about this? He saw it with his own eyes. Whether I saw it or not, he knows best."
The Empress Dowager chuckled lightly, took another slow sip of tea, and said in a calm tone: "Yes, ask the Emperor, Xi Li, you know best that the Emperor is looking after you in everything, what else can the Ai family ask from the Emperor? Something coming?”
Ji Xili bit her lip and was a little angry. Maybe she had never been wronged like this since she was a child. The most important thing is that the victim in this case was clearly herself. Why should she become the one who was wrongfully interrogated? Ji Xili couldn't help but raise his head and said angrily: "Then what does the Empress Dowager want me to say? I have not sorry for the Emperor!"
"No, no, no, what is your attitude when talking to the Ai family?!" The Empress Dowager was also quite angry.
"Didn't the Empress Dowager insist on forcing me to say things I haven't done?" Ji Xili said back not to be outdone.
Since marrying Sheng Zhiyu, Ji Xili thinks that she has restrained her temper enough. Many things she could do before are no longer able to do now. Just because she takes Sheng Zhiyu's face into consideration, she has worked very hard. She thought about him so much and did many things that she had never done before. She knew that she was the emperor's wife. She had always known and understood one thing. Why did the Empress Dowager frame her like this
"Presumptuous!" the Empress Dowager said angrily, "I have rebelled against you. Do you think that because the Emperor favors you, you can do whatever you want? You must be responsible for this matter no matter what! If you hadn't left the palace without authorization, how would you have been punished? If you fall into the hands of evildoers, no matter whether you have been touched by others or not, the emperor will protect you, but have you ever thought about the emperor's face? This matter has already reached the ears of the Ai family, and others will Don’t you know? There are a lot of things going on inside and outside the palace. Have you ever thought about how much strife the emperor has to tolerate for you? Now you only favor the harem, and those who don’t know think that the emperor favors some kind of beauty and trouble, so If you protect me so wholeheartedly, can’t you think of the emperor?!”
Ji Xili gritted his lips and teeth, closed his eyes and was silent for a long time. He took a slow breath and whispered, "Can the Empress Dowager tell Xi Li what I should do for the sake of the emperor?"
How could she not feel aggrieved? What she hated most was to be wronged for no reason. However, this incident had implicated Sheng Zhiyu and she had to bear this together. She didn't know what she could do.
I don’t even know how to prevent Sheng Zhiyu from being disturbed by those false rumors...
The Empress Dowager stared at her and said, "Go and persuade the emperor to appoint a new concubine."
Ji Xili was silent for a moment, then raised his head and said decisively: "Xili can't."
"Ji Xili, don't rely on the emperor to favor you. You will be lawless!" The Queen Mother knew that Ji Xili must be unwilling in her heart, but she did not expect that she would dare to resist him openly.