Five years after her death, she awoke on the dragon bed.

Chapter 325 Compensating her with a child

Xie Zhijie looked at Murong, about to speak, when Murong walked over and said in a deep voice, "This is a plain cloak, why is Fangruo wearing it?"

Fangruo turned around in surprise, not expecting that His Majesty would recognize her as not being the Empress at a glance.

"Her Majesty the Empress heard that His Majesty had invited her to meet here, and said she wanted to play a little joke on His Majesty, wondering if His Majesty could recognize her at a glance," Fang Ruo replied respectfully.

"I invited her to meet here?" Murong immediately grasped the key point.

“That’s right, isn’t it His Majesty who invited the Empress?” Fangruo asked in confusion.

Upon hearing this, Murong's face darkened, and he looked at Xie Zhijie, who was silent to the side, and asked, "Minister Xie, what's going on?"

The moment Xie Zhijie saw Murong appear, he was already thinking about how to deal with it. He respectfully replied, "Your Majesty sent word to me, so I waited here. But instead, I was met by the Empress Dowager's personal attendant. I was completely bewildered when His Majesty arrived."

Murong came here because he heard someone say that the Empress was here, so he came to see for himself.

With so many coincidences coming together, it's clear that someone is setting a trap to frame Lou Suyi and Xie Zhijie for having an affair.

Lou Suyi must have discovered something was wrong, which is why she sent Fangruo to investigate in her place.

If he were to see Lou Suyi and Xie Zhijie meeting in secret, it wouldn't be impossible for him to do something irrational in a fit of rage.

Murong's gaze fell on Xie Zhijie's face, scrutinizing him.

Xie Zhijie felt a chill run down his spine.

He admitted that he had lied, but apart from the mastermind behind the scenes, Murong could not possibly know that he had received a note before coming over.

But the young emperor before him was not easily fooled, and he worried that Murong would use him as a scapegoat.

Just as he was feeling uneasy, Murong looked away.

He pretended to be calm, but he still broke out in a cold sweat.

Serving a ruler is like serving a tiger, let alone when it concerns the reputation of the Empress. He was indeed too reckless.

This is the emperor, wielding immense power. Even though he is in the cabinet, Murong can make him lose everything with just a word.

He has worked so hard to have everything he has now, and he absolutely cannot go back to the way things were before.

"It's getting late, Minister Xie, you should leave the palace soon," Murong said calmly.

Xie Zhijie bowed his head in agreement, then took his leave.

Even after walking a long way, he could still feel Murong's gaze fixed on his back.

Not to mention Xie Zhijie himself, who sensed the powerful aura, even Ji Qing, an observer, felt that the surrounding air was too heavy.

He sensed that His Majesty was unhappy, and very, very unhappy.

But His Majesty has always been clear about separating public and private matters, so even if he is unhappy, he shouldn't take it out on Lord Xie.

When Murong found Lou Suyi, Lou Suyi was talking to a palace maid.

This palace maid was the one who delivered the message for Lou Suyi. When she saw Murong arrive, her heart jumped into her throat.

Murong walked straight up to Lou Suyi and asked slowly, "How did the Empress discover that something was amiss?"

Lou Suying pointed to the palace maid who had delivered the message for her: "This is the palace maid who delivered the message. At first, I just thought she looked unfamiliar, but then I remembered that whenever His Majesty wanted to see me, he would always send someone from the Imperial Guard to deliver the message. And at this hour, I thought it would be better to be on the safe side, so I asked a few more questions." As she said this, she asked the palace maid to repeat the details to Murong again.

After the palace maid finished recounting what had happened, Murong asked, "Didn't you see the face of the person who sent you to deliver the message?"

The palace maid answered truthfully: "I did not see the face of the person who delivered the message, but I did see the embroidered shoes. The shoes were embroidered with gold thread, and they shimmered with gold light at night."

Lou Suyi and Murong exchanged a glance, both feeling that the unknown palace maid had some kind of background.

The palace maids' salaries were fixed, and the palace rules were strict. Which palace maid would dare to wear embroidered shoes sewn with gold thread? These were shoes that only masters could wear.

"In your opinion, are embroidered shoes a style that palace maids can wear?" Lou Suyi asked again.

This question stumped the palace maid.

The palace maids all wore the same style of shoes; no palace maid wore different styles of shoes.

"Let me guess, you assumed she was a palace maid just because you saw she was dressed as one. Is it possible that she was simply using the clothes of one of her attendants, but her shoes gave away her true identity?" Lou Suying said calmly.

The palace maid felt ashamed and said, "Your Majesty is truly insightful; I admire you."

Seeing this, Lou Suyi simply brought the palace maid with her. She wandered among the crowd so that the maid could see which concubine's embroidered shoes looked familiar.

She led the palace maids around the venue, but none of the concubines' embroidered shoes matched the description.

Seeing that the banquet was coming to an end, Lou Suyi did not keep the palace maid any longer. Only before leaving did she remember to ask the maid's name. The maid said that her name was Caixia.

"Is it possible that she wasn't a palace maid?" Lou Suyi was still pondering this matter.

There are many women here tonight, including not only the imperial concubines, but also noblewomen with official titles and daughters of noble families.

There were several hundred women in total.

"Is it possible that they're just using those embroidered shoes to mislead us?" Murong countered.

Lou Suyi was taken aback: "What does Your Majesty mean by that?"

"The person who sent Caixia to deliver the message was probably a palace maid, but those embroidered shoes belonged to her mistress. The other party deliberately used this method to distract Caixia. Sometimes the truth is deceiving, and sometimes deceiving is deceiving; the only purpose is to prevent you from finding any clues." Saying this, Murong chuckled lightly, "My harem is truly full of hidden talents; everyone is a genius!"

Lou Suyi thought to herself, "He only just found out now."

His concubines were all very capable, but the only one who couldn't get into the emperor's bed was that she became the target of everyone's hatred, and everyone was eager to get rid of her!
"Now Your Majesty knows how difficult things have been for me, right? Your Majesty really needs to treat me better, otherwise all the framing I've suffered wouldn't have been worth it," Lou Suying said with a bitter face.

Murong gently stroked her delicate cheek: "What the Empress says is true. Tonight I will stay at Xianfu Palace as compensation to the Empress."

Lou Suyi thought Murong was also a talented person. Today was the fifteenth, and according to custom, he should have stayed at Xianfu Palace.

"If I say I will compensate, I will certainly compensate you properly," Murong emphasized.

Lou Suyi didn't understand what he meant until they returned to Xianfu Palace, where he tortured her relentlessly. Only then did she realize that this was what the so-called compensation meant.

This isn't the compensation she wanted. She was framed by his concubines in the first place, and she had to serve him every night, exhausting her to the point of being a dog.

The next day, as Lou Suyi got up, she recalled what Murong had said. He said that compensation would be to give her another child, as if he could just casually say it and it would come true.

Her belly is so uncooperative! She's had many times to serve the emperor, but she just can't get pregnant!