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The Empress saw Lady Tao and Song Qing so close together, a flash of doubt crossing her eyes, "What are you two doing?"

After her initial panic, Lady Tao stepped forward to salute, "I’m here to greet you, Empress. May you live forever in bliss, I was just asking Mr. Song for guidance on how to write well."

Song Qing bowed his head, "I humbly greet Your Grace, may the Empress live forever in bliss."

"I just saw you fooling around, not looking like you were learning calligraphy at all. Besides, considering the propriety between men and women, being alone together in a room, fooling around like that, it’s hard not to suspect you," Lady Tao said, turning to the Empress, "Auntie, don’t you think Lanlan is right? "

The Empress frowned, "Lady Tao is right, how can a man and a woman be alone together in a room? And fooling around, it’s hard not to be misunderstood."

"Your Grace is mistaken, I really was learning calligraphy from Mr. Song and it wasn’t just me, the Crown Princess was there too."

Lady Tao sneered, "Lady Tao, do you take us for blind? It was clearly just you and the Top Scholar, behaving intimately and ambiguously. Could it be because His Highness is off on campaign, Lady Tao couldn’t stand the loneliness?"

Lady Tao retorted, "Lady Tao, you can’t slander without evidence."

Lady Tao saw Song Qing standing silently with his head down, clearly feeling guilty, and obviously smitten with Lady Tao, risking even his own life for her.

"Do we need evidence when the Empress caught you in the act?"

After saying that, Lady Tao sneered again, "Who doesn’t know that since Lady Tao entered the East Palace, she hasn’t had the chance to serve in the bedroom?

The Top Scholar is so handsome after all, Perhaps Lady Tao couldn’t help herself.

.. It’s good that I came with the Empress in time, otherwise, if a single man and a woman stayed in a room alone, they might have already ended up in each other’s arms, right? "

"Lady Tao’s thoughts are indeed filthy," Shen Chuwei slowly rose from the ground, placing the rice paper she held onto the desk.

Lady Tao was taken aback to see Shen Chuwei suddenly appear. How could Shen Chuwei be here? Huai Xiang had clearly only seen Lady Tao enter and did not see Shen Chuwei come in.

Shen Chuwei stepped forward and bowed, "I wish a thousand blessings of gold and safety to you, Mother."

Seeing Shen Chuwei, the Empress smiled, "It turns out the Crown Princess was here too."

"Mr. Song writes a beautiful hand, both Lady Tao and I are ashamed of our own writing. We wanted to make use of our leisure time to learn from Mr. Song. I didn’t expect," Shen Chuwei looked up at Lady Tao, "I didn’t expect Lady Tao to have such filthy thoughts, to actually suspect that I was having an affair with Mr. Song? "

Lady Tao immediately retorted, "I didn’t say you and Mr. Song had an affair. I was talking about Lady Tao being indecently close to Mr. Song."

However, Lady Tao said, "Having seen the Crown Princess, shouldn’t Lady Tao pay respects? Everyone says Lady Tao is well versed in books and etiquette, don’t you understand even the most basic manners?"

Lady Tao’s face changed, and out of respect for her status, she stepped forward and bowed, "I greet the Crown Princess."

Only then did Shen Chuwei continue, "Which eye of yours saw Lady Tao behaving indecently with Mr. Song? You’re so sure about an affair; can Lady Tao, the junior minister of Dali Temple, even judge a case?"

Lady Tao was rendered speechless and turned to the Empress for help, "Auntie, I was just suspicious. Besides, I speak only the truth. His Highness is not in the East Palace now, and Lady Tao has never served in his bedroom..."

The Empress cut her off, "Enough, haven’t you also never served? Do you also harbor such thoughts?"

In front of others, being told she had never served was embarrassing for Lady Tao, and no matter how unhappy she was inside, she could not show it.

"Of course, Lanlan does not harbor such thoughts, I..."

The Empress grew impatient and interrupted her again, "Then that’s settled. Evidence is needed in everything, don’t bite people just when you see something, accusing others of doing bad things."

Lady Tao pursed her lips, unwilling in her heart but not daring to talk back, looking at Shen Chuwei and Lady Tao as no good at all.

The Empress was preoccupied with matters, as she couldn’t tell Shen Chuwei about the disappearance of the Crown Prince, fearing she would worry, so she played with Susu and Taotao for a while before returning to Fengyi Palace.

Shen Chuwei personally saw the Empress out.

After everyone had gone, Lady Tao looked up at Song Qing, her eyes full of apology, "Mr. Song, it was all my fault just now, I almost got you involved."

Song Qing, recalling what had just happened, had never touched a woman before and took a long time to react. Only just now did he realize that what his lips had touched were Lady Tao’s.

Thinking this, Song Qing quickly stepped back several paces and saluted, "Lady Tao, just now was an accident, let’s pretend it didn’t happen."

Lady Tao watched Song Qing’s deliberately distancing behavior, knowing that if Shen Chuwei hadn’t shown up in time, they probably wouldn’t have been able to clear their names even if they jumped into the Yellow River.

And indeed, she did harbor such thoughts. Although she had not done anything outrageous, she had indeed crossed a line.

She had almost implicated Song Qing.

"I understand. I have troubled you a lot these days, Mr. Song. I apologize for the inconvenience."

After speaking, Lady Tao turned and left.

Song Qing bowed his head until the person had left the study, only then did he raise his head to look at the door.

After seeing off the Empress, Shen Chuwei turned around to find Lady Tao, "How did it go?"

With a helpless sigh, Lady Tao said, "Too dangerous. Given my current status, I really shouldn’t get too close to Song Qing. We were lucky this time, but if next time someone with intentions deliberately twists the story, I’m afraid it might implicate Song Qing."

Shen Chuwei nodded in agreement, "The palace is full of prying eyes, and your current identity being discovered is indeed very dangerous. We can only restore your freedom after leaving the palace."

"I plan to leave the palace when His Highness returns, but with Song Qing being so outstanding, he might be taken by someone else by then. Even if I wait, Song Qing might not take a fancy to a woman like me."

Despite having read so many tales in the palace over the years, Lady Tao was still clear-headed and self-aware.

She was not exceptional, her beauty was not outstanding among those in the palace, and her only skill was managing account books.

Shen Chuwei nodded again in agreement, "I’ll find someone to help you."

Lady Tao asked in confusion, "Who can help me?"

Shen Chuwei said, "Prince Jinyu."

The next day, Shen Chuwei had Xiao Jinyu summoned.

Since his marriage, Xiao Jinyu had become a true henpecked husband; he now reports to his wife before leaving home.

"Ayan, sister-in-law has asked me to come to the East Palace for something."

Miss Han had been quite sleepy lately, upon seeing Xiao Jinyu propped on her bedside, his once youthful face now maturing.