The harem is too complicated; the empress, a lazy bum, wins by doing nothing.

Chapter 11

Thanks to Prince Yao.

The palace banquet was already halfway through.

She hadn't even finished eating one crab.

While everyone was talking, Shen Qingwan lowered her eyes and continued to fiddle with the crab leg in her hand.

"It's not late, the banquet has just started, please take your seats quickly."

As soon as Emperor Yuanwu finished speaking, he inexplicably turned his head and glanced at her.

Shen Qingwan stood ramrod straight, and from a distance it seemed like she wasn't doing anything, but up close her hands were constantly scrambling to pick at the crabs.

Even when Prince Rui came over to pay his respects, she didn't even raise her head once.

I looked at the crab shells on her table.

Emperor Yuanwu gave Su Jixiang a wink.

In just a short while, the Queen had already finished the one on her own table and was now eating the one he had just given her.

Su Jixiang hurriedly had someone come and remove all the crab shells from the corner of the Empress's table, and then brought over three fresh crabs, while also handing her a pair of scissors.

Emperor Yuanwu originally wanted to see how Shen Qingwan would react when she met Prince Rui.

Every time he turned his head, Shen Qingwan was fiddling with the crab in her hand, and she never once looked in the direction of Prince Rui.

gradually.

He was genuinely curious: were crabs really that delicious?
After watching it many times, Emperor Yuanwu, who had been teasing his Prince Yao, couldn't help but speak up again.

"Brother, why are you staring at the Empress? Are you tired of all the singing and dancing in the palace?"

Shen Qingwan was taken aback.

What's wrong with this Prince Yao? There's so much delicious food on the table, but nothing can shut him up.

How dare you talk about Emperor Yuanwu? He had so many singing girls and dancing girls, yet he didn't even look at them.

The fact that Emperor Yuanwu was staring at her so intently prevented her from eating crabs.

Emperor Yuanwu seemed unperturbed by his teasing; on the contrary, he appeared quite pleased and raised his wine cup, saying, "My Empress is still young, Your Majesty, please refrain from joking."

Emperor Yuanwu brought up the time when the Empress was young again.

Prince Yao's expression underwent a subtle, almost imperceptible change.

He hurriedly picked up his glass: "Come on, let's drink."

Emperor Yuanwu also raised his wine cup: "Come, Prince Rui, Prince Xiang, together."

The four people raised their glasses and drank together.

The moment Emperor Yuanwu put down his wine cup, he glanced in the direction of Prince Rui, then turned his gaze back to Shen Qingwan.

When the Mid-Autumn Festival palace banquet ended.

Emperor Yuanwu discovered that Shen Qingwan, sitting there with her eyes lowered and dignified, had actually finished all five crabs.

Instead, the other dishes on the table were barely touched; they only drank half a bowl of red date and white fungus soup.

Are crabs really that delicious?

"Mother, let your daughter-in-law escort you back to the palace."

Shen Qingwan took the Empress Dowager's arm.

The Empress Dowager felt uneasy about her recent behavior, which was unusually sensible and obedient.

I was just worried that she might make a scene because of a few jokes from the imperial relatives, especially since Prince Rui is here today.

Unexpectedly, it remained quiet until the end of the banquet.

It's really hard to understand.

You know, during the last palace banquet, he almost overturned the table because of a quarrel with Consort Xian over a single sentence.

"No need, it's getting late. You and the Emperor should go back and rest early." After saying that, the Empress Dowager turned to Emperor Yuanwu and added, "Today is the fifteenth."

fifteen.

The Empress Dowager emphasized those two words, as if deliberately reminding someone of something.

Although Emperor Yuanwu did not speak, he left the Baohe Hall with Shen Qingwan.

Emperor Yuanwu and the Empress left together, and all the previous rumors about Shen Qingwan naturally fell apart.

No matter how favored a concubine is, she is still just a concubine.

Even if the Empress is not favored by Emperor Yuanwu, she is still the Empress. If Emperor Yuanwu only takes his favorite concubines with him and not the Empress, the court will surely be in chaos.

After leaving the Hall of Preserving Harmony.

The palace was already pitch black.

The eunuch lit a lamp to illuminate the way. This was the first time Shen Qingwan had been outside so late since she had transmigrated into the original owner's body.

Shen Qingwan followed quietly behind Emperor Yuanwu.

Neither of them spoke the rest of the way, probably because they couldn't find anything to talk about.

As they walked, Shen Qingwan suddenly spoke up: "Your Majesty, is there something you know?"

"What?" Emperor Yuanwu slowed his pace.

"Among this batch of imperial concubines, there was a cousin of the Empress Dowager."

Emperor Yuanwu suddenly stopped in his tracks: "Which one?"

The Empress Dowager's cousin's niece, wouldn't that be his cousin?

"That is Consort Xi, who now resides in Xianfu Palace."

"I have never heard my mother mention it."

"I only found out about it when I went to pay my respects to the Empress Dowager a few days ago and saw Consort Xi."

Shen Qingwan explained earnestly.

Otherwise, they would have to be given special consideration when it comes to arranging appointments and promotions.

The main seat of Consort Jin was in Xianfu Palace, where Consort Xi resided.

When Consort Jin first entered the palace, Emperor Yuanwu liked her very much and often visited her palace. Later, because her father made some mistakes in the court, he was demoted and also lost favor due to the consequences.

This is the tragedy of women in the imperial harem.

The glory of one's maternal family does not necessarily guarantee favor in the harem; after all, whether or not one receives favor depends more on whether Emperor Yuanwu likes that person.

However, if anything happens to the mother's family, they will definitely be implicated.

The two ran out of things to say, and after a moment of silence, the atmosphere became somewhat awkward.

Just then, we came to a three-way intersection.

"Your Majesty, I will return to the palace now."

After Shen Qingwan finished speaking, she curtsied and left.

Emperor Yuanwu was left standing there stunned for a long time before he came to his senses.

Today is the fifteenth; shouldn't he be resting in the Empress's palace?
Why did Shen Qingwan leave him here alone and run away?
Moreover, he felt that she had left too decisively.

"Your Majesty, are we going back to the Hall of Mental Cultivation?" Wu Jixiang asked cautiously.

Where is Prince Rui?

Wu Jixiang was taken aback: "Your Majesty, Prince Rui drank a bit too much at the banquet, and the people from the Prince's residence have just brought him back to the residence."

"Let's go back to the Hall of Mental Cultivation."

Wu Jixiang followed behind Emperor Yuanwu and couldn't help but sigh.

"Back in the day, when the Emperor was still in the Prince's residence, he and Prince Rui would drink until dawn. Now, Prince Rui gets drunk after just two cups. Since his serious illness, Prince Rui's health has really deteriorated..."

Shen Qingwan thought that her reminder that night had worked.

She thought that Emperor Yuanwu would choose her to serve him in bed once he knew that Consort Xi was his cousin.

This makes it logical to promote Xi Changzai to a higher rank.

But who could have imagined it?

The Mid-Autumn Festival family dinner was several days ago.

Emperor Yuanwu not only did not visit Xichang there, but he did not even enter the inner palace. He spent his days reviewing memorials in the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

It’s okay if you don’t know.

Now that we know about this relationship, we must consider the Empress Dowager's feelings, regardless of anything else.

Emperor Yuanwu himself didn't want to go, so as the empress, she still had to go and see.

"Zhen'er, take the osmanthus pastries and mung bean cakes you made yesterday. Let's go to Xianfu Palace."

(End of this chapter)