Chapter 1046: Chapter 1046: 1044: Empress Above

Conquering the entire Qi State was truly a Herculean task.

Chu Yihan didn’t force her, but embraced her within his arms and together they bid farewell to Su Hao and the army, watching until their figures were no longer visible.

Su Yingxue had been cooped up in the palace for several days, and taking the opportunity of seeing off Su Hao, she finally got to leave the palace. She couldn’t wait to hop over to the Marquis’s Manor, and Chu Yihan, doting on her, didn’t detain her from returning.

Su Han smiled and said, “If the emperor doesn’t mind, why not join the empress for a midday meal at the Marquis’s Manor?”

“How could I mind? But I wonder if there will be sister’s homemade bird’s nest roast duck at the Marquis’s Manor?” Su Yingxue said with a profound look on her face.

Su Han laughed softly, “How dare we not, if it’s commanded by Your Majesty the empress?”

Su Yingxue deliberately poked Su Han, “All this ‘Your Majesty’ this and ‘Your Majesty’ that, sister doesn’t find it troublesome?”

“Your Majesty, please be mindful of your manners!”

Before entering the Marquis’s Manor, Su Qingzhi sternly reminded her.

“Oh.”

Su Yingxue pursed her lips sheepishly and sat back down beside Chu Yihan.

She complained to Chu Yihan, “Being the empress, I can’t even fool around with my sister anymore, it’s so restrictive.”

“You can fool around with me, I won’t restrict you,” he replied.

Chu Yihan pinched her pouting lips with an exceptionally tender look in his eyes.

“If the emperor, with all his majesty, gets displeased and punishes me, what shall I do?”

Leaning into his embrace, Su Yingxue knew full well he wouldn’t, yet she loved to tease him with such words.

Chu Yihan’s face was naturally cold, but when facing her, under his doting gaze, there was also an unmistakable helplessness.

“Your Majesty the empress commands, how would I dare?”

The Marquis’s Manor was reached.

Welcoming Chu Yihan inside the manor, Su Qing was very cautious, but there were always some who loved to create a scene.

Lu Ying, dressed in a long gown, barged in and glared with reddened eyes at everyone in the hall, “This is too much… Today the army set off, why wasn’t I allowed to bid farewell to them outside the city? The commander of the army is my husband, the vanguard is my father, don’t I even have the right to send them off?”

Caught up in her indignation, she forgot about the lofty statuses of Chu Yihan and Su Yingxue.

“Presumptuous! Lu Ying, in the presence of the emperor and empress, how can you behave so rudely!”

Su Qingzhi scolded furiously.

“The emperor and empress…”

With eyes full of anger, Lu Ying realized that before she came, the atmosphere here had been cheerful, filled with laughter, not at all seeming like the emperor and empress were present.

Yet upon her arrival, Su Qingzhi emphasized their royal statuses!

She reluctantly knelt down and saluted, “As a nobleman’s daughter, I pay my respects to the emperor and empress. Your Majesties are present, and I have a grievance to air! The Marquis of Martial South’s Manor has oppressed me and treated me unfairly! They locked me inside the manor, even restricting my movements!”

Su Yingxue rolled her eyes and blurted out, feeling it served Lu Ying right.

But remembering Su Qingzhi’s previous admonishment, she swallowed her words and inquired Qin Wan with a questioning look, “Great-aunt, did you really order someone to guard her?”

Qin Wan shook her head, “Your Highness, we did not do such a thing. The Marquis’s Manor has never treated Lu Ying harshly: all of her food, clothing, and essentials are provided as per the standard of the young madam of our manor, and never once have we been negligent. As for today’s guarding…”

Qin Wan truly did not know what was happening!

In this manor, the head of the household was Su Qingzhi, but he obviously wouldn’t bother arguing with a younger person like Lu Ying.

Having already married her, what was there to fuss about?

However, it was Su Han who stepped forward to respond, “Your Majesty, Your Highness the empress, this was done by Su Hao’s orders, but in the opinion of this nobleman’s daughter, there was nothing improper. Brother Su Hao and Lu Ying are not on good terms, living separately in different courtyards. Moreover, with Lu Ying frequently causing disturbances, it greatly troubled him. With the military campaign imminent, brother Su Hao commanded people to guard Lu Ying’s courtyard, imposing that she must not leave it, to avoid further disturbance.”