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

Chapter 79 Disgusting
Emperor Yuanwu frowned deeply, clearly not believing what the Empress said.

Helpless, Shen Qingwan could only explain in detail: "The Imperial Kitchen usually doesn't dare to neglect the food at Kunning Palace, but I've had too much meat soup, so I wanted something lighter today. I eat a table full of dishes all day long in the palace, and it would be a waste to just take a few bites of each. So I had them make me a bowl of noodles with soybean paste, which is quite delicious with the freshly pickled Laba garlic."

"Really?" Emperor Yuanwu was skeptical.

“Of course.” Shen Qingwan glanced at the noodles with soybean paste in her bowl that she hadn’t eaten yet: “If Your Majesty hasn’t eaten, would you like to try some?”

Emperor Yuanwu stared at the bowl of noodles with soybean paste for a moment, then picked up his chopsticks and took a bite. He did indeed feel that it was different from what he usually ate.

"Luckily, His Majesty arrived in time. If he had come any later, I would have put chili peppers in this noodle soup, and then His Majesty wouldn't have been able to eat it," Shen Qingwan muttered to herself.

Emperor Yuanwu:? ? ?

"Who said I can't eat spicy food?" Emperor Yuanwu retorted.

Shen Qingwan: ...

Okay, okay, I can eat, I can eat.

The Emperor can eat the spiciest food.

The Emperor's whole family can eat spicy food.

The entire family of Emperor Yuanwu?
She felt as if she had also implicated herself in the yin-yang phenomenon.

When Emperor Yuanwu arrived, lunch was anything but simple. The imperial kitchen quickly prepared a plethora of dishes that Emperor Yuanwu loved, piling up all sorts of food until the plates were almost overflowing.

I reckon that when Wu Jixiang served the meal, he must have mentioned that Emperor Yuanwu had seen her eating noodles with soybean paste alone.

Good guy!
Look how frightened the people in the imperial kitchen are.

Shen Qingwan couldn't help but feel sorry for them in her heart.

Ok!

Now that she is the empress, it seems she can't keep a low profile even if she wants to.

"If the Empress wants to eat noodles with soybean paste or something like that in the future, she should ask the Imperial Kitchen to prepare some soup and vegetables for her. It would be improper for the Empress to be eating a bowl of noodles by herself here."

Fine!

She understands the concept of prestige.

Shen Qingwan nodded in agreement, knowing that further discussion would be pointless.

"Is the Empress still angry about what happened last time?" Emperor Yuanwu suddenly asked during the meal.

"What is it?" Shen Qingwan paused in her eating.

She wasn't faking it.

She really couldn't remember it, and she didn't understand why Emperor Yuanwu would suddenly say such a thing out of the blue.

"Since the Empress doesn't remember, then I've forgotten too," Emperor Yuanwu said with a relieved smile.

"Is Your Majesty going to renege on your promise?" Shen Qingwan put down her chopsticks and turned to look at him.

"How can the Empress say that I am cheating? It is clearly the Empress who does not remember." Emperor Yuanwu's tone seemed to carry a hint of teasing.

“I don’t remember, but since His Majesty brought it up, it proves that His Majesty does remember. If His Majesty does remember, then saying that he has forgotten is just being dishonest,” Shen Qingwan said sullenly.

Emperor Yuanwu found her words amusing and actually laughed.

Completely disregarding his imperial image, he nearly spat out the food in his mouth: "I never imagined that the Empress, so young, would be so sharp-tongued." "I'm young?" Shen Qingwan frowned, glancing down at herself: "Your Majesty, why don't you tell me where I'm young...?"
Shen Qingwan was speaking when she suddenly fell silent.

The atmosphere became a bit strange. Shen Qingwan thought she was just overthinking it, but just then, Emperor Yuanwu coughed for no apparent reason, making the situation even more awkward.

Neither of them spoke, and they simply ate their own food in silence.

After lunch, Emperor Yuanwu returned to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to review memorials.

"Your Highness, would you like to take a nap? Let me serve you."

Shen Qingwan thought for a moment and said, "I'd better not sleep. If I sleep too much during the day, I won't be sleepy at night. It's hard to do anything when it's dark, so I might as well go to sleep early."

"Your Majesty, it seems the Emperor came here this time to try and make you happy, because he's probably still angry about what happened last time," Zhen'er said.

Shen Qingwan then suddenly remembered that Emperor Yuanwu should have mentioned the incident of Consort Li's miscarriage.

She was speechless. Emperor Yuanwu didn't understand her. He thought it was one thing for her to care about titles and status, but how could Zhen'er have such thoughts?

"Never mind, I'll just take a nap."

Because she really didn't want to talk at all.

When Consort Xian returned to the palace, she was seething with anger. Last night, she was unable to serve the Emperor, who had stayed at Jingyang Palace. She had intended to show off, but the Empress not only didn't care, but also shut her down with a comment about pregnant concubines, princes, and princesses.

She said it on purpose, deliberately trying to hurt her feelings.

"Your Majesty, please don't be angry. The Empress may have just said it casually and didn't mean anything by it," Xia Fuchuan advised.

"Ha, the Empress of today is no longer the Empress of the past. I hope she didn't mean anything by those words," Consort Xian said with a cold sneer.

Xia Fuchuan poured a cup of tea for Consort Xian: "Your Majesty, please don't worry too much. The Emperor still cares about you. You've only just recovered. Even though you can't serve the Emperor in bed, he stays with you at Jingyang Palace all night. No other consort in the entire harem has ever enjoyed such blessings."

Consort Xian's expression finally softened a bit. Just then, she finished her tea, and a maidservant hurriedly poured her another cup and brought it to her.

"what!"

With a cry of "Ah!" from Consort Xian, the teacup in her hand shattered on the ground.

"Your Majesty, I know I was wrong." The maid was so frightened that her face turned pale and she knelt on the ground, trembling. "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I didn't mean to."

"Your Highness, are you alright?" Xia Fuchuan held Consort Xian's scalded hands in his hands and kicked the kneeling maid to the ground: "You dog servant, how can you serve Your Highness like this? You scalded Her Highness and you still dare to beg for mercy. Drag her out."

Consort Xian, who was already annoyed, became even more annoyed at this moment.

"Your Majesty, this servant will go and fetch the imperial physician to treat you." Xia Fuchuan winked at the eunuch behind him, and the young eunuch hurriedly ran out.

"Ever since Xiang'er was given a death sentence, there hasn't been a single palace maid I can use. They're coming and going all day long, it's so annoying!" Consort Xian shook her hand, which was red from the scalding.

The thought of Lan Cui made her feel even more suffocated.

I don't know what her father was thinking, choosing a personal maid for her to enter the palace, and he had to pick one who was so outstanding in appearance.

Now things have gotten complicated. While she was ill, Lan Cui took advantage of the situation, not only getting herself imprisoned but also becoming pregnant.

Consort Xian nearly vomited from disgust.

"Your Highness, what are you doing? Why are you getting angry with yourself?" Xia Fuchuan gently tapped Consort Xian's shoulder twice. "If Your Highness finds the servants in the palace unsuitable, just have the Imperial Household Department send over better ones. Your Highness is favored by the Emperor, so why worry about not finding a dutiful servant? As for Consort Lan..."

(End of this chapter)