Sudden Enlightenment
The moment Su Li brought up this matter, she looked very aggrieved, pouting as she said, "He, he thought I was... sigh, he even made me a bowl of 'avoidance soup' to drink. Mom, why do you think he just doesn't trust me?"
Wang Shi was momentarily stunned, then looked up at Su Li and said, "A Li, you wouldn't be upset with Yuanbao over this, would you?"
Su Li first nodded, then shook her head, thinking this was one thing, but there were other matters she couldn't bring herself to tell Wang Shi.
Wang Shi poked Su Li's forehead hard with her finger and said, "You silly child, you usually seem smart, but why are you so foolish at critical moments? You really make your mother worry to death!"
"Huh? Mom, what did I do?!" Su Li covered her forehead, looking both wronged and puzzled.
"You don't even know where you went wrong?!" Wang Shi looked frustrated, sternly lecturing Su Li, "Think about it, when you came back looking like that—disheveled clothes, messy hair—anyone who saw you would think you'd been taken advantage of! You're a woman, no matter how strong you are, you can't match a man physically. If you were in the hands of bad men, could you control what happened? Yuanbao is a man, your husband. If his own woman was taken advantage of by another man, how angry and hurt would he be? Did he scold you? Did he blame you?"
Su Li lowered her eyes, shook her head, and quietly said, "...He didn't scold me, nor did he blame me."
Wang Shi sighed and said, "Sigh, you came home looking like that and didn’t take the initiative to explain to Yuanbao that you were fine. What else could he do? Making you drink the avoidance soup was for your own good. Otherwise, if you ended up with a bastard child in your belly, wouldn’t that disgust you for life? If this were any other man, would he make you drink avoidance soup? No, he’d probably poison you to death for losing your chastity! But Yuanbao swallowed the bitterness himself and never mentioned it to anyone. You, child, how should I say it? You’re someone who doesn’t appreciate the blessings you have!"
As Wang Shi spoke, she poked Su Li’s head repeatedly, as if trying to wake up her muddled brain.
Su Li buried her head even deeper, but Wang Shi’s words cleared some of the confusion in her mind.
So many things had happened these past two days, the information was overwhelming. She had been too busy being angry at Xiao Zetian for hiding the truth and stubbornly stuck in her own thoughts to think things through carefully.
Now, Wang Shi’s words were like a sudden awakening, clearing Su Li’s mind and making her much more clear-headed.
Looking at it this way, the matter of the avoidance soup really couldn’t be blamed on Xiao Zetian. Even Wang Shi thought Su Li had been violated, let alone Xiao Zetian who saw her disheveled coming out of Prince Ling’s carriage. Anyone would misunderstand in that situation.
Su Li covered her head and whispered, "Mom, stop poking, you’re going to poke a hole in my head..."
"Oh dear, if I don’t poke you, how will your muddled brain wake up?" Wang Shi poked a few more times.
Su Li covered her head and dodged hard, saying, "I’m awake, I’m awake. I know I was wrong, Mom, please spare me!"
Only then did Wang Shi stop, saying, "You really know you were wrong? Then tell me, what are you going to do next?"
Su Li scratched her head and said, "I, I’m going to explain everything clearly to Yuanbao."
Wang Shi was relentless, saying, "Is just explaining enough? You left Yuanbao out there in the cold all night while you were confused and upset. You can’t just explain and let it go!"