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

Chapter 381 Unjustly Accused
"what……"

Consort De covered her head with both hands and suddenly cried out, startling Pei'er.

"Mother, are you okay?"

Consort De shook her head with a face full of anger. "It's all that Consort Rou's fault. She insisted that I curry favor with that motherless child and take him into the palace to raise. She even said that the insignificant Consort Shu was able to be promoted to Noble Consort because she raised the Third Prince. What a load of rubbish!"

Pei'er frowned, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Your Majesty, you can't really say that. Consort Shu had no children and was not favored, but now she holds a position in the harem that is equivalent to that of the Empress Dowager, which is indeed largely due to the Third Prince."

Upon hearing this, Consort De frowned even more deeply. She remained silent for a while before finally speaking, "It seems so."

Jiang Wenlan walked quickly, stopping only when he reached the entrance of the Prince's residence. He was used to riding horses and shooting arrows, so this short distance was nothing to him, especially since his master demanded even more of him every day.

The little eunuch following behind him was already out of breath and coughed incessantly when he stopped.

"Your Highness, this...this servant...has finally...caught up with you..."

Jiang Wenlan glanced at him, then turned and spat in the direction where she had just met Consort De.

What a wonderful Consort De!
He had barely seen his father getting a little closer to him when he couldn't wait to stick close to him.

She really wants to take advantage of everything.

He lived alone in the prince's quarters for so long, and apart from the empress and all the women in the palace, no one cared about him or even gave him a kind look.

At this point, trying to use him to climb the social ladder is simply a pipe dream.

Jiang Wenlan stared at the stone pier outside the prince's quarters in silence for a while...
-
"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened..."

Shen Qingwan had just finished washing up and lay down on the bed when Su Tianhe rushed in from outside.

Seeing his flustered expression, Shen Qingwan's heart tightened. "What's wrong?"

"Your Highness, the First Prince fell on his way back." Su Tianhe glanced at Shen Qingwan in a flustered manner. "I heard the fall was quite serious."

"What?" Shen Qingwan hurriedly got off the bed, not even putting on her outer clothes properly, and started walking out of the palace.

When Su Tianhe heard about this, he knew that Shen Qingwan would definitely go to the Prince's residence, so he arranged for someone to get a sedan chair.

He knew he couldn't stop him, so he simply stopped trying to persuade him, since it wasn't like his master was truly unable to go out.

"The eldest prince didn't leave with the emperor tonight, does the emperor know?" Shen Qingwan sat upright in the carriage, walking steadily in the direction of the prince.

"Your Majesty," Su Tianhe paused, "

The Emperor is with Consort Xia; we haven't dared to disturb him yet.

Upon hearing this, Shen Qingwan frowned even more deeply.

The eldest prince went back with the emperor.

Even though the emperor did not send him back to the princes' quarters.

Now that something has happened, we can't just ignore it and wait until tomorrow morning just because he stayed at Consort Xia's place tonight.

If nothing happens, that's fine, but if something does happen...

"Su Tianhe, go to Consort Xia's palace in person and tell the Emperor about the First Prince. Whether he comes or not is up to the Emperor. Just tell the Emperor the truth."

"Yes, Queen."

When Shen Qingwan arrived at the prince's residence, Jiang Wenlan was in a daze and could no longer recognize the person in front of him.

Physician Li was kneeling beside the bed, bandaging Jiang Wenlan's wounds.

Hearing the sound, he turned around.

"Your Majesty, this humble subject greets Your Majesty. May Your Majesty enjoy boundless blessings and peace." "Physician Li, there's no need for such formalities. How is the First Prince?"

Shen Qingwan walked to the eldest prince's bedside and glanced down at him.

"Your Majesty, the eldest prince was seriously injured in the fall. He has injuries on his forehead and knees, with the left knee being more severe. I'm afraid he won't be able to get out of bed for at least half a month until the wounds heal, and he can't get it wet."

Shen Qingwan nodded. "Thank you, Physician Li. The First Prince's leg injury is so serious, and it's on his knee. He must be in pain before it scabs over. Please add some painkillers to the First Prince's medicine to alleviate his suffering."

"Your Majesty, rest assured, this humble subject will go down to prepare the medicine for the First Prince."

Shen Qingwan turned to the side and nodded.

After Physician Li left the bedchamber, Shen Qingwan's eyes darkened. "Go and bring the eunuch who accompanied the First Prince back tonight to me."

The young eunuch was not brought in, but the sound of a eunuch announcing something came from outside the door.

"The Emperor has arrived."

Shen Qingwan curtsied and greeted the Emperor.

"What happened?" Emperor Yuanwu walked quickly to Jiang Wenlan's bedside.

Before Shen Qingwan could even interrogate him, Emperor Yuanwu arrived, and she had no idea what was going on.

"Your Majesty, I just arrived and haven't had a chance to interrogate you yet."

Shen Qingwan looked up at Emperor Yuanwu and saw that his cheeks were flushed and his head was covered with a layer of fine sweat, so she couldn't help but turn her face away.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress, I am innocent! This matter really has nothing to do with me!"

When the young eunuch was brought in, his face was deathly pale and he was trembling uncontrollably.

"Where is Consort De?" Emperor Yuanwu asked coldly, his eyes lowered.

De imperial concubine?

When Shen Qingwan heard this name, she glanced at Emperor Yuanwu in surprise.

The hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop; the only sound was the trembling voice of a young eunuch.

"Your Majesty, after Your Majesty left, Consort De spoke a few words with the First Prince and then left. This servant does not know what Consort De said to the First Prince."

The little eunuch shrank back like a shrimp, large beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. "I saw the eldest prince running towards the prince's quarters in a panic, and I chased after him. When I got to the entrance of the prince's quarters, I saw the eldest prince trip over the stone block at the entrance and fall to the ground. It was all my fault for not taking good care of the eldest prince. Please forgive me, Your Majesty, spare my life."

The young eunuchs knelt on the ground and kowtowed one after another until their heads were almost bleeding.

Emperor Yuanwu's eyes were bloodshot, and deep within his pupils was a cold and obscure darkness, like a deep pool: "Bring Consort De here to me."

Bring him here.

They didn't invite them over, nor did they bring them over; they forced them over.

It is clear that Emperor Yuanwu was truly enraged this time.

Based solely on the account of the eunuch beside the eldest prince, without verifying whether his words were true or false, they directly ordered Consort De to be brought over.

Shen Qingwan carefully considered the whole story in her mind, then glanced back at Jiang Wenlan, who was sleeping restlessly on the bed.

"Your Majesty, I really didn't..."

Consort De walked in crying, and it seemed that someone had told her everything that had happened to Jiang Wenlan on her way from Yanxi Palace.

Stepping into the bedchamber, she knelt down with a thud. "Your Majesty, I am truly innocent! I did nothing..."