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

Chapter 354 Internal Disease
This seems somewhat unreasonable and illogical.

However, if Consort Shen's identity was truly questionable, Prince Rui would certainly have investigated it thoroughly before sending her to the palace.

He is not that kind of careless person.

Shen Qingwan carefully reviewed the recent events and was shocked into breaking out in a cold sweat.

"Your Majesty, the Imperial Hospital sent word this morning that Consort Yan summoned the imperial physician to see her, saying she is feeling unwell?" Su Tianhe said as he entered.

Feeling unwell?

"Did they say what illness they have?" Shen Qingwan took the tea Zhen'er handed her, took a sip, paused slightly, and glanced down at the tea in the bowl. "Why is it this today?"

"Your Majesty, yesterday Physician Zhang took your pulse and said that Your Majesty's blood and qi are a bit weak. He asked me to prepare some things to replenish your blood and qi. Today I changed Your Majesty's tea to red date, longan and goji berry tea. If Your Majesty does not like it, I will add some hawthorn tomorrow to change the taste," Zhen'er said.

"No need, this is fine. But eating too many red dates and longans can cause internal heat, so just drink it every two days." Shen Qingwan said calmly.

"Yes, I have remembered this."

Zhen'er bowed and left, then brought in some fresh fruit.

"Your Majesty, you said that Consort Yan serves the Emperor well every day, but now that the Emperor has just visited Consort Shen, she has already summoned the imperial physician. Is she physically ill, or is she mentally ill?" Su Tianhe asked with a half-smile.

Shen Qingwan shook her head slightly.

It's hard to say, it's really hard to say.

Just like last time when she punished Zhen'er and summoned Imperial Physician Zhang in the middle of the night, everyone in the palace thought it was because Emperor Yuanwu hadn't come to her Kunning Palace and had gone to another concubine's place that she acted this way.

"Your Majesty, should I inquire about what illness Consort Yan is suffering from?" Su Tianhe asked tentatively.

What disease?

Consort Yan has only been in the palace for a few days, so she is definitely not pregnant. When a concubine enters the palace, in addition to the nanny examining her body, the imperial physician also has to take her pulse before she can serve the emperor.

Since she contracted the illness in the palace, it probably wasn't anything serious. Given her current favor with the emperor, if she really had an incurable disease, the whole palace would probably know by now.

The Emperor was angry with her because she had previously punished Consort Yan's personal maid. If she were to inquire about Consort Yan's affairs now, it would arouse suspicion and make people think she was doing it on purpose.

"Fine, let her be. Now that Consort Shu is in power, let her worry about these things."

"Then Your Highness can take a break and see what you'd like to eat today, so that I can have it prepared."

Shen Qingwan thought about it seriously, "Then let's keep it light and have wontons. Remember to add some sugar to the filling of the wontons, and make some scallion oil in the soup."

"This servant will have someone prepare it immediately."

Just as Su Tianhe left, Zhen'er walked over with a somewhat solemn expression. She gave a wink to the people standing in the hall, and after they had all left one by one, Zhen'er took out an envelope from her sleeve.

"Your Majesty, when I went to choose fruit just now, the person who delivered the message last time came again, stuffed this into my arms, and then disappeared again, leaping across the rooftops." Last time?

Shen Qingwan remembered that although the last letter was fake, the contents of the letter were true.

Shen Qingwan pulled the letter out of the blank envelope.

It was still that familiar small regular script, still the handwriting of Consort Xian. This time, Shen Qingwan didn't need to compare it, but she could tell at a glance that the words on the letter were still imitations of Consort Xian's handwriting.

What about the credible content?
Is the content of the letter the same as last time, and is it true?

Or perhaps someone deliberately set a trap for her. The first time was genuine, so the second time she would assume that the contents of the letter were the same as the first time, and therefore also genuine.

If that's the case, then the contents of the letter are irrefutable evidence that Consort Xian colluded with officials of the previous dynasty to try to exonerate General Pang. In that case, Consort Xian will never be able to recover her reputation.

But if the contents of these letters are truly authentic, why didn't the messenger give her the originals instead of forgeries?

Something that cannot be used as conclusive evidence, even if the content is true, is nothing more than waste paper in her hands, and may even bring her trouble.

If this person has ulterior motives and turns around and accuses her of deliberately hiring someone to imitate Consort Xian and maliciously framing her, that would be a serious crime that could lead to her being deposed as empress.

After all, the rule that the harem must not interfere in politics not only means that they cannot participate in court affairs, but also that they cannot use the affairs of the previous dynasty to stir up trouble and spread rumors in the harem.

Shen Qingwan took the letters, walked to the candles, and burned them all to ashes.

"Your Majesty, what are you doing?" Zhen'er exclaimed in surprise, but she quickly realized what was going on. "Your Majesty, this servant understands. Your Majesty suspects that this person has ulterior motives and is using a bunch of fake letters to drag Your Majesty into this mess. When the matter is exposed, not only will Consort Xian be the first to be implicated, but Your Majesty will also be implicated by these forged letters."

Shen Qingwan nodded with satisfaction, "You have indeed improved a lot compared to before."

Now they've developed brains and can analyze things.

The next morning, just as Shen Qingwan finished washing up, Consort Shu hurried over, looking rather unwell.

"What's wrong?" Shen Qingwan's eyes darkened. "Has something happened to the Third Prince?"

Consort Shu slowly shook her head and gave Zhen'er a wink. She hadn't even kept her own personal maid, leaving only herself and Shen Qingwan in the main hall before speaking with a solemn expression, "After Consort Shen served the Emperor yesterday, she said this morning that she had developed a lot of red rashes in that area, which were painful and itchy. She called the Imperial Physician and had the female physician examine her. It seemed that she had contracted a sexually transmitted disease. Consort Shen was too embarrassed to let the Imperial Physician examine her and cried as she chased everyone away. Consort Jin was so worried that she came to me early this morning to discuss this matter. How could I dare to make such a decision? That's why I don't know what to do, Your Majesty the Empress."

A disease of the heart?

How could someone who was perfectly healthy suddenly develop a sexually transmitted disease?
"Has the imperial physician made a diagnosis?" Shen Qingwan asked, her brow furrowed.

Consort Shu shook her head solemnly. "The imperial physician hasn't examined her; he only heard the female physician's description and isn't entirely sure. What should we do?"

"What about the Emperor? Has he summoned the imperial physician?" Shen Qingwan continued to ask.

Consort Shu shook her head. "Consort Jin also guessed that if it was a sexually transmitted disease, the Emperor would definitely need to see a doctor. She secretly pulled the imperial physician aside to ask him. The physician said that men and women feel the disease differently. It's possible that the woman's condition is already quite serious while the man is only slightly aware of it."

As Consort Shu spoke, tears streamed down her face. "Your Majesty, what should we do about this? I'm truly at a loss. Besides, I even had to serve the Emperor once this month."