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

Chapter 189 Pure and Innocent

Emperor Yuanwu listened to Shen Qingwan's words and slowly raised his head. "I really didn't expect that the Empress would know these things."

"During my convalescence, I was bored and had nothing to do, so I read some books. There was a Song general, Sang Yi, who was ambushed, and a nun named Dingjing, who were ambushed. They used pigeons to send messages back to Hengshan, even using four pigeons in a relay to deliver the news. During the Western Xia's entrapment of Song troops, Song general Sang Yi found several silver clay boxes by the roadside, with jumping sounds coming from them. Ren Fu arrived later and ordered the boxes opened, revealing over a hundred domestic pigeons. These pigeons flew up from the boxes and soared over the army. The Western Xia army knew the Song army had been ambushed and attacked from all sides, resulting in a great defeat for the Song army. A small pigeon can change not just one person's fate, but even the fate of an entire dynasty. Your Majesty should not underestimate the power of a casual glance in writing." Shen Qingwan's tone was calm, as if she were chatting casually, without deliberately expressing any particular meaning or emphasizing anything.

Yet it was precisely these casual words that caused Emperor Yuanwu's eyes to well up with a melancholy, tinged with a different kind of emotion.

Since her serious illness, Shen Qingwan has changed more than just her personality.

Emperor Yuanwu had always felt that he didn't know Shen Qingwan well enough. In fact, many of the things she had done in the past had led him to have different misunderstandings about her. Now it seemed that he really didn't understand her at all.

Her talent, her insight, her strategy, and in many ways, far surpassed his.

"In your opinion, Your Majesty, if the hostage really has such an affair with the Northern Desert, how can we find out and how can we prevent it?" Emperor Yuanwu asked.

“Actually, Your Majesty doesn’t need to worry too much about this. Mo Ganxie sending his sister here might not be a test. Maybe he just wants to whisper in Your Majesty’s ear, just like the ministers in our court, who are scrambling to send their daughters to Your Majesty’s side. Once they gain favor, they can also benefit from it, right?” Shen Qingwan was a little thirsty after eating, and seeing the bowl of green and white vegetable and tofu soup on her plate, she found it very refreshing and asked Zhen’er to serve her a bowl. “We should have copied and archived all the hostage’s correspondence. Your Majesty might as well have someone bring out all those letters and compare them to see if there are any words that appear frequently or are mentioned in every letter. Then, by comparing the contents of the letters, you can probably guess the hidden meanings of those words.”

Emperor Yuanwu felt that he should dine at Kunning Palace more often when he had nothing to do, because he noticed that Shen Qingwan seemed to become unusually talkative when dining, and sometimes she could even offer some insightful opinions.

It wasn't that he didn't spend time alone with Shen Qingwan, but it seemed that even though they spent an afternoon together, they were just doing their own things, reading their own books, and didn't really talk much.

Emperor Yuanwu glanced at the soup in Shen Qingwan's bowl with a complicated expression.

Could it be that the food on this plate has something special about it for Shen Qingwan, something that can directly open her Ren and Du meridians?

Perhaps Emperor Yuanwu had been watching her for a while, because Shen Qingwan paused in her soup-drinking.

Since dining in Kunning Palace was different from dining in Baohe Hall, she was much more at ease.

Why is he staring at her instead of eating all this delicious food? Is it because she eats so badly?
Shen Qingwan straightened her back without making a sound, glanced at Emperor Yuanwu out of the corner of her eye, and even the way she drank the soup became more elegant.

"Isn't this soup delicious?" Emperor Yuanwu asked in surprise.

Shen Qingwan: ? ? ?

"Why did Your Majesty suddenly ask that?" Shen Qingwan paused in her soup-drinking.

"I just watched as the Empress started drinking, and she stopped drinking as fast as she did at the beginning." Emperor Yuanwu said sullenly. It wasn't just that her hands were moving slower; she even unconsciously leaned back a little. Normally, when you encounter something you like to eat, you should speed up your movements and lean more towards it, rather than moving away. "If it doesn't taste good, don't force yourself. Just have the imperial kitchen make it again."

Shen Qingwan: ...

She wasn't drinking as fast as before, all because he kept staring at her. She thought Emperor Yuanwu was staring at her because he thought her dining manners weren't proper and didn't conform to palace etiquette.

"Your Majesty misunderstands. This soup is quite delicious. However, I suddenly realized that it's not very proper for me to eat so ravenously in front of Your Majesty. I was trying to be dignified." Shen Qingwan said with a polite smile.

Emperor Yuanwu always tried to find a trace of flattery in her usual composure and propriety, but all he ever saw was aloofness and politeness.

They sat together for a meal like an ordinary couple, but the feeling was more like that of family and friends.
Emperor Yuanwu gradually discovered that it seemed increasingly difficult for him to recapture the feelings of love he once had for Shen Qingwan.

"Your Majesty, would you like to try this vegetable and tofu soup? It's also known as 'One Clear and Two White,' and it's light, fresh, and delicate with the crispness of the vegetables. It's nutritious, delicious, and aids digestion. After eating so much greasy food, a bowl of this would be the perfect way to refresh yourself."

"Since the Empress says this soup is so good, then I'll have a bowl too."

When Shen Qingwan heard that Emperor Yuanwu wanted to drink, she stood up and took a spoonful from the vegetable and tofu soup.

During meals, Wu Jixiang served soup and vegetables.

Although Shen Qingwan was the empress, she didn't have any airs of an empress. As they talked, the topic turned to this bowl of soup. When she heard that Emperor Yuanwu wanted to drink it, she stood up and casually served it to him.

Unexpectedly, the two were a bit far apart. The soup was served and the spoon was picked up, but it couldn't be poured into Emperor Yuanwu's bowl, which was a bit awkward.

Upon seeing this, Wu Jixiang and Zhen'er hurriedly came over, but Emperor Yuanwu was quicker and picked up his own bowl.

He stretched out his arm, just enough distance for Shen Qingwan to pour the soup from the spoon into his own bowl.

Just then, a palace maid who had been standing outside the Kunning Palace walked in.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress, and Consort Jin request an audience."

"Let her in," Shen Qingwan replied. Seeing that the spoonful of soup she had just ladled hadn't even filled half of Emperor Yuanwu's bowl, she simply ladled out another spoonful.

It was rare for Emperor Yuanwu to wait so patiently, watching as Shen Qingwan ladled three spoonfuls of soup into his bowl before it was barely full, and only then did he withdraw his arm from holding the bowl.

When Consort Jin lifted the curtain and walked in, this was the scene she saw.

She paused slightly before curtsying, "This concubine greets Your Majesty and Your Majesty the Empress. Long live the Emperor! May Your Majesty be blessed..."

(End of this chapter)