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

Chapter 296 Brotherly Love
All the conflicts in the harem are directed at the legitimate son.

Often, the enemy of my enemy is my true friend.

The Empress Dowager stared at Emperor Yuanwu with an ambiguous look in her eyes. For a moment, she was puzzled as to what the real reason was that Emperor Yuanwu had never consummated his marriage with the Empress.
Not long ago, she had always believed that Emperor Yuanwu had some genuine feelings for Consort Xian and was full of fear of Prince Rui. But when the secret agent told her that Prince Rui was the one who assassinated General Pang, she suddenly realized that she seemed to know nothing about this son whom she had given birth to with half her life, raised with great difficulty, and whose hands were stained with blood in order to help him seize the throne.

He seemed to have no real feelings for anyone, otherwise why would his family have been raided and the Pang clan punished? Even at such a time, Emperor Yuanwu did not intend to let Consort Xian go, but wanted to use her to bring out the last remaining members of the gang.

Now she is confined to Jingyang Palace. Such an imperial decree is something that almost no concubine in the harem would dare to disobey, since confinement is the lightest punishment among many.

Originally, once Consort Xian was reinstated to her position as Consort, many concubines would have gone to curry favor with her. As a result, those concubines who wanted to climb the ranks would have avoided her as much as possible, let alone try to win her over. Therefore, anyone who dared to approach Consort Xian at this time must have had an ulterior motive.

If it's not for myself, then it must be for...

The Empress Dowager suddenly felt a little afraid to look directly at her son, whose methods were far more ruthless than those of the late Emperor.

"Alright, both of you, get up." The Empress Dowager said this with a sense of helplessness in her heart.

Shen Qingwan and Emperor Yuanwu exchanged a glance and stood up.

The atmosphere was noticeably different when the three of them sat down together again. In the end, it was the Empress Dowager who started eating first, and then Shen Qingwan and Emperor Yuanwu followed suit.

The dishes on the table were indeed delicious, but after all that fuss, the first few dishes that were served were clearly getting cold. No matter how delicious the food is, it becomes tasteless once it gets cold. Shen Qingwan calmly put down her chopsticks, and then heard the Empress Dowager speak again, "Does the Emperor have any official business to attend to this afternoon?"

afternoon?

Official business?

Emperor Yuanwu was quite surprised that the Empress Dowager would suddenly care about the affairs of the previous dynasty. He paused for a moment, then said, "There are still some trivial matters, which I estimate can be dealt with in an hour. Prince Rui just sent someone to say that he will come over this afternoon to play chess with me."

“Prince Rui?” The Empress Dowager’s face darkened when she heard this. “The Emperor and Prince Rui are truly brothers now. I’ve never seen you sticking with any prince every day before.”

"Empress Dowager." Emperor Yuanwu's expression instantly became somewhat indescribable. "Prince Rui spends his days traveling and sightseeing. He has only recently started staying in the capital more often. I reckon that once it gets warmer, he will go to Jiangnan again. He won't be staying in the capital for long."

"What do you mean by that, Your Majesty? I've heard that Prince Rui is going to travel the world, and you seem reluctant to let him go." The Empress Dowager's eyes darkened.

Hearing her words, Shen Qingwan was truly glad that if she hadn't put her chopsticks down quickly, she probably would have burst out laughing.

The Empress Dowager may not have meant it that way, but she herself understood what she meant.

However, even if the Emperor and Prince Rui were not born to the same mother, they were born to the same father. Even if they got too close, they would not do anything out of line.

This is really quite disappointing!
"What are you laughing at, Your Majesty?" The Empress Dowager seemed even angrier.

Shen Qingwan never expected that the Empress Dowager would notice her while reprimanding Emperor Yuanwu. She had tried her best to suppress it, but she still couldn't hide the corners of her lips that inadvertently turned up.

It is indeed the purest friendship between men that is most intriguing.

Shen Qingwan's expression changed instantly. She stood up and knelt on the ground. "Mother, please forgive me." The Empress Dowager gave her a displeased look, neither telling her to get up nor to continue kneeling.

Shen Qingwan couldn't help but feel remorseful. She was completely ruined now; she shouldn't have laughed at this moment.

This was the first time the Empress Dowager had ever given him the cold shoulder since she transmigrated into the original owner's body.

Emperor Yuanwu lowered his eyes and glanced at Shen Qingwan.

"And you too." The Empress Dowager's worried expression had just eased a little when it instantly turned serious again. "From ancient times to the present, I have never seen an emperor's harem that reserved a separate palace for a prince, allowing him to come and go as he pleased. The harem is where concubines live. Could it be that Prince Rui is also one of your concubines?"

If Shen Qingwan hadn't been kneeling on the ground, she probably would have burst out laughing at the next second.

It seems that her previous concerns were unnecessary.

She was still worried that Prince Rui still harbored feelings for the original owner of the body, but it turned out that his real intentions were not what they seemed, and that he was actually after Emperor Yuanwu.

However, seeing the Empress Dowager's furious expression over this matter only made it more amusing.

As if out of control, Shen Qingwan's mind conjured up the image of Prince Rui and Emperor Yuanwu, their two exquisitely handsome faces embracing each other and gazing at each other with deep affection.

That's exciting!

"Empress Dowager," Emperor Yuanwu said solemnly, "I did not mean that. I only feel deep brotherly affection. Prince Rui rarely stays in the capital. He has finally come to the palace and wanted to drink and chat with my brother. However, Prince Rui is not in good health and gets drunk after only a few cups of wine. He always stays in my Yangxin Hall, which is where I discuss state affairs with my court officials. It is really inconvenient for a prince to come and go as he pleases. So I thought it would be better to find him a separate palace that is separate from the harem but close to my Yangxin Hall and Empress Dowager Cining Palace. That's why I thought of Qiujiang Pavilion."

Emperor Yuanwu would naturally not reveal this in front of the Empress. Qiujiang Pavilion was actually a reward for Prince Rui's assassination of General Pang Da.

He could only come up with this excuse, hoping to get away with it from the Empress Dowager.

But is it this Shen Qingwan?
What kind of expression is that...?

He felt that there was nothing wrong with his explanation, but she looked at him with disbelief.

Emperor Yuanwu looked at Shen Qingwan with a hint of inquiry, and she felt more and more that she didn't understand this empress.

He felt that his fabricated story was so perfect that he had even fooled himself.

Can……

"Alright, you two, stop staring at each other like that. It's making me so angry. It's fine if Prince Rui lives in the palace. Anyway, he hardly spends any time in the capital, let alone in the palace."

The Empress Dowager sighed helplessly. She knew Emperor Yuanwu's temperament; once he made up his mind, no one could change it.

Since she couldn't change Prince Rui's situation, then...

"Your Majesty and Prince Rui have played chess. Let's have dinner at the Empress's palace tonight."