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

Chapter 267 Complaint

"Oh, sorry, I forgot." Shen Qingwan suddenly realized, "Your Highness is still unmarried. It is indeed inappropriate to take a concubine before marrying a wife. It would be better to marry a princess sooner rather than later."

"Shen Qingwan!"

Prince Rui's face turned ashen with rage. He let out a sharp shout, which startled Gu Nian and Zhen'er, who were standing behind him, causing them to take a step toward him.

Shen Qingwan was even more startled, fearing that Emperor Yuanwu, who was not far away, would hear the commotion.

As she looked toward Kunning Palace, Prince Rui followed her gaze.

Only then did he realize that Shen Qingwan had been looking in his direction the whole time, and he had initially thought she was deliberately avoiding his gaze, but it turned out it was because…

Prince Rui took two quick steps, grabbed her wrist, and before Shen Qingwan could react, he had already led her quickly toward the other side of the Imperial Garden.

"What exactly are you trying to do? Are you deliberately trying to go against me? Didn't you see that the Emperor is almost at Kunning Palace? If I can't get back before he arrives at Kunning Palace, all the servants in Kunning Palace will be implicated and punished!" Shen Qingwan struggled angrily, but no matter how much she struggled, it was useless. Prince Rui seemed to have no intention of letting her go.

"If you really don't want your palace servants to be punished because of you, then shut up."

Prince Rui's thin lips were pressed tightly together, as if he was suppressing some intense emotion, and his whole body exuded a chilling aura.

Shen Qingwan glanced at her sideways.

Seeing that he was clearly furious, yet still insisted on helping her, did he have some kind of masochistic tendency? And she didn't seem to have offended him in any way!
This man is really strange!
She had seen Prince Rui's martial arts skills before. Although she did not understand the profoundness of martial arts, she was able to climb over the low wall of the Kunning Palace's back garden just a second before Emperor Yuanwu arrived at the entrance of Kunning Palace, as expected.

Rather than saying she climbed over the wall, it was just to save face for herself.

To put it bluntly, she was thrown in by Prince Rui.

Before she could regain her dignity, Shen Qingwan rushed into the palace and took off her maid's clothes.

"The Emperor has arrived!"

emperor?

Why did the Emperor suddenly come here?
Upon hearing this announcement, Su Tianhe was so frightened that his legs went weak and he almost knelt on the ground.

"Where's the queen?"

Emperor Yuanwu stepped into the gate of Kunning Palace and saw Su Tianhe standing at the entrance. He then asked a question.

Startled by the question, Su Tianhe immediately knelt on the ground, shouting and kowtowing, "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

Emperor Yuanwu's expression hardened, his brow furrowing deeply. "I ask you, where is your master? Why is he kneeling on the ground performing such a grand ceremony?"

Su Tianhe was taken aback. "Your Majesty, the Empress has already gone to sleep."

"She's asleep? The Empress has gone to bed so early today. Is she feeling unwell? After her serious illness, the Empress's health has been weak. Physician Zhang said that it will take at least three years for her to fully recover. You servants must be vigilant and pay close attention to her."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The crowd knelt and bowed.

After speaking, Emperor Yuanwu was about to walk towards the main hall of Kunning Palace, but Su Tianhe happened to be kneeling in front of him, blocking his way.

Emperor Yuanwu abruptly stopped, snorted coldly, and looked displeased. "Your Majesty..." Su Tianhe knew he couldn't stop him, but still wanted to try. He hesitated, unsure how to begin.

As Emperor Yuanwu waited for him to move aside, he happened to glance up in the direction of the Kunning Palace's sleeping quarters. "You just said that the Empress has already gone to sleep, but why are the lights in her sleeping quarters still on?"

The lamps in the sleeping quarters?

Is it lit up?

Su Tianhe was completely stunned. How could this be?

If you're going to put on a show, you have to go all the way. The lights in the bedchamber were already off, so why did they suddenly come on?
Could it be an accidental discharge?
impossible.

It's absolutely impossible for it to go off accidentally; to say it went off is like seeing a ghost.

Someone must have turned on the lamps because no one was in the palace. They'll teach that blind fool a lesson later!
Su Tianhe cursed inwardly as he looked up and saw the person he had just inwardly criticized for being blind walk out of the palace.

Queen?

Su Tianhe's eyes widened instantly, and his mouth opened so wide that an egg could fit inside.

Is he blind?
He had no idea when the Empress had returned.

Shen Qingwan walked over slowly, her bright eyes sparkling, her skin as white as snow, like a lotus emerging from the water, her eyes like spring water, her hair in a low bun with a jade hairpin inserted at an angle. She was without makeup, yet she was breathtakingly beautiful, a beauty unparalleled throughout the ages, a pleasing sight to behold, a face that could topple kingdoms and cities, stunning the world!
Emperor Yuanwu was so engrossed in watching that he didn't even realize that Shen Qingwan had already walked up to him.

She curtsied and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty. May Your Majesty be blessed."

"Your Majesty, there's no need for such formalities."

Emperor Yuanwu reached out to help her up, but Shen Qingwan got up first.

"I wonder what brings Your Majesty here so late at night?" Shen Qingwan looked up at him.

For a moment, he was even afraid to look her in the eye.

Just moments before, while he was handling official business in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, someone used a hidden weapon to slip a note into the doors and windows of the hall, saying that the Empress was having a secret rendezvous with someone in the Imperial Garden late at night.

Although he didn't believe that the Empress, who was usually indifferent to him, could do such a thing, he still came to Kunning Palace as if possessed.

Furthermore, the panic in Su Tianhe's eyes when they arrived at the palace gate made him think that the words on the note might be true.

"Does that mean I can't come to Kunning Palace if I have nothing else to do?" Emperor Yuanwu's eyes darkened, slightly displeased. "When I arrived just now, Su Tianhe said you had already gone to bed. It seems that Kunning Palace does not welcome me?"

Shen Qingwan was somewhat speechless, but she still wore her usual smile. "Your Majesty, what are you saying? If I had known that Your Majesty was coming tonight, even if I wasn't feeling well, I would have waited for Your Majesty and naturally wouldn't have gone to bed so early."

Uncomfortable?
Upon hearing these three words, Emperor Yuanwu's eyes narrowed. "Where is the Empress feeling unwell? Has the imperial physician been summoned?"

Shen Qingwan lowered her eyes, her expression somewhat indescribable.

“Since my serious illness, my health has been taken care of by Physician Zhang. Now that Physician Zhang is not in the palace, although I feel unwell, it is by no means a big deal. If another physician is summoned, I am afraid that they will have to go through my medical records, which is too troublesome. If, like last time, the Empress Dowager prescribes the wrong medicine, it will be even more troublesome. I think I should rest for a while. If I am not well tomorrow, it will not be too late to summon another physician.”

Emperor Yuanwu stared at Shen Qingwan. Every word she spoke was a veiled attack on him. He had sent all the imperial physicians to Lingnan, yet her nonchalant tone seemed to convey not a trace of complaint...