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

Chapter 196 Torture
Emperor Yuanwu paused in his eating, then looked up at Shen Qingwan. "I don't quite understand what the Empress is saying."

Can't understand?
Shen Qingwan was utterly speechless. The rumors about last night had spread throughout the palace. She was only saying this to save him some face, but he was putting on an act.

Seeing that Shen Qingwan remained silent and her expression was somewhat solemn, Emperor Yuanwu couldn't help but smile knowingly. "If the Empress says that, I will think that she is jealous."

Jealous?

Shen Qingwan: ...

Yes, yes, yes! No wonder Emperor Yuanwu was so narcissistic. The women in his harem were all love-struck. They could live a life of luxury by pleasing a man, and even their maternal families would benefit. It was certainly not a bad deal.

“Your Majesty, it’s not that I’m jealous, it’s just that this morning, the entire harem was more lively than the opera troupe in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Everyone was praising Your Majesty’s stamina, saying that you and Consort Ruan had been making love all night without even a single drop of water being served…” Shen Qingwan said as she stood up and served Emperor Yuanwu a bowl of chicken soup, placing it in front of him. “Your Majesty must have been exhausted last night, have some chicken soup to replenish your energy.”

Emperor Yuanwu's expression instantly turned somewhat indescribable, especially his gaze as he stared at the bowl of chicken soup, which clearly carried a hint of anger. However, Shen Qingwan seemed not to notice and continued, "Your Majesty even said you wanted to make a bet with me. It turns out you really have taken a liking to Ruan Chang."

Wu Jixiang stood behind Emperor Yuanwu, desperately trying to wink at Shen Qingwan.

He looked at the sky in despair.

With so many small kitchens in the palace and the dishes in the imperial kitchen changing again and again, why did the emperor happen to like the small kitchen in Kunning Palace?

This empress was something else. She used to cause chaos in the palace every day, never finding peace. After falling seriously ill, I thought she had changed her personality, but I never expected that she had just changed her methods to annoy the emperor.

What a sin!
How come the Empress has no ability to read between the lines? Did she not realize that Emperor Yuanwu was about to get angry?
"When did I ever say such a thing?" Emperor Yuanwu's face turned ashen.

Shen Qingwan got up and knelt on the ground.

As soon as she knelt down, all the servants in Kunning Palace followed suit.

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty. I only mentioned it to you casually this morning because I heard people in the palace talking about it. I thought it was just something the ladies in the palace were joking about when they were bored. But now that I think about it, I realize that these words are indeed unbearable to hear. It is all because I failed to properly control the concubines in the harem and caused Your Majesty any trouble. I promise that I will find out the truth within three days and make amends."

Emperor Yuanwu lowered his eyes to look at Shen Qingwan kneeling on the ground, his expression finally softening a bit. "Then tell me, Empress, how you intend to thoroughly investigate this matter?"

"As the saying goes, to shoot a man, shoot his horse first; to capture a thief, capture his king first. If you want to shut everyone up in the palace, you must first find the person who is spreading rumors and deliberately spreading this matter in the harem. As for whether the Emperor favors Consort Ruan, such a private matter as fetching water is something that only the palace servants who serve her closely would know."

"So, according to the Empress, the people around Consort Ruan should be interrogated?" Emperor Yuanwu asked.

Shen Qingwan slowly shook her head. "It's not just the servants around Consort Ruan. I don't think it was Consort Ruan's people who spread this. If Consort Ruan can gain the Emperor's favor, then her servants will also benefit. Even if they don't benefit, at least it's not a bad thing. In addition, Consort Ruan and Consort Xian just had a big fight in the palace and were punished. If the master is punished, the servants who follow her will naturally not have an easy time either. Even if they are stupid, at this time, even if there is something that is not good for their master, they will cover it up. How could they spread it around the harem?"

Emperor Yuanwu stared at her blankly. "So, Empress, you mean that Consort Xian did this?"

“Your Majesty, I have no intention of suspecting anyone without evidence. This matter spread quickly this morning, which is obviously intentional. If it was spread from Consort Ruan’s palace, it must have been one of the servants she usually punishes, which should not be difficult to trace. If it was not spread from Consort Ruan’s palace, then it can only have been from Consort Xian’s or Noble Lady Wen’s palace.”

"Consort Wen just entered the palace yesterday and hasn't even become familiar with the palace rules yet. Besides, she's not one of our people, so how would she know about this?" Emperor Yuanwu said sullenly. Shen Qingwan sneered inwardly. It seemed that Consort Wen's pipa playing last night had truly touched Emperor Yuanwu's heart.

She had barely mentioned it when Emperor Yuanwu immediately stepped in to protect her.

"That leaves only the servants around Consort Xian. It's no secret in the palace that Consort Xian and Consort Ruan are at odds. As for whether or not to investigate... I would appreciate Your Majesty's guidance..."

Emperor Yuanwu's eyes were cold and indifferent: "Investigate!"

"Yes!"

Watching Emperor Yuanwu rise and leave, Shen Qingwan knelt and turned around in the direction he had left, saying, "Respectfully seeing off Your Majesty."

Wu Jixiang followed Emperor Yuanwu for two steps, then suddenly stopped, glanced at Shen Qingwan, and quickly caught up with Emperor Yuanwu.

When the Empress first spoke, he thought...

Unexpectedly, the Empress had just said so much, but only to deliberately provoke the Emperor.

He had heard some of the rumors circulating in the palace that morning, but this matter involved the Emperor after all.

If not handled properly, it could cause the emperor to lose face, and then the matter would escalate significantly.

Now the Empress has used such a method, deliberately making Emperor Yuanwu say that he wants to thoroughly investigate this matter. What a clever way to kill someone with a borrowed knife.

When exactly did the Empress become so cunning?

He could no longer view the Empress through the lens of his previous impressions of her.

After Emperor Yuanwu left, Zhen'er helped Shen Qingwan up from the ground.

"Your Majesty." Zhen'er breathed a long sigh of relief after the scare. "Your Majesty, I was really scared to death just now. You didn't see it, but the Emperor's face changed. I thought I would never... I would never see the sun rise tomorrow morning again!"

Shen Qingwan chuckled and pointed to her head, "The sun will rise from the east on time tomorrow morning, and you can see it when you get up early."

Zhen'er rubbed her forehead, feeling both amused and exasperated.

"Su Tianhe".

The moment Shen Qingwan finished speaking, Su Tianhe walked in from the palace gate. "Go and bring all the servants of Jingyang Palace, Consort Xian, and Consort Ruan here for interrogation. Don't say anything when you go. Then separate them and interrogate them one by one. If you find out anything wrong, there's no need to be polite to them. Just use torture. You must find out who spread this news from their Jingyang Palace."

(End of this chapter)