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

Chapter 297 Equal Distribution of Rights
If it's just a meal, then there's naturally no problem. If a single dinner can appease the Empress Dowager, then it's no problem to eat dinner at her palace every single time, let alone just one.

Just as Shen Qingwan breathed a sigh of relief, she heard the Empress Dowager continue, "Since the Emperor has had dinner at Kunning Palace, he doesn't need to choose a concubine tonight. He can stay there directly. Even if the Emperor is concerned about the Empress's health and isn't in a hurry to have a legitimate son, I can understand. But the Emperor stays in the concubines' palaces every night and never spends the night in the Empress's palace. What kind of behavior is that? There are so many rumors in the harem. Has the Emperor really not heard a word, or is he pretending not to hear them?"

"That's what my mother taught me."

Seeing that Emperor Yuanwu's attitude in admitting his mistake was sincere, the Empress Dowager's anger subsided by half. "Empress, please get up too. Don't keep kneeling."

"Thank you for not punishing me, Your Majesty."

When Shen Qingwan came out of Cining Palace, she sighed with relief. It was exactly what she feared. As far as the emperor was concerned, it didn't matter who was in charge once the lights were out. Anyway, she was used to being treated like a stud in the harem.

But she...

The thought of that body that had been violated countless times by concubines made her gag.

Fortunately, Prince Rui entered the palace today. Now she only hopes that Prince Rui can show brotherly affection and keep the Emperor in Qiujiang Pavilion, so that he will not have any chance to come to Kunning Palace for dinner.

Regardless of whether Emperor Yuanwu comes or not, she has to prepare in advance.

Shen Qingwan sighed helplessly. She picked up the pen on the table, wanting to write down some of the dishes that Emperor Yuanwu usually liked, when suddenly her eyes lit up.

"Your Majesty." Zhen'er walked in from outside the palace with a solemn expression. She gave the maids serving in the hall a look, signaling them to leave. Once only she and the Empress were left in the hall, she spoke with a heavy heart, "Your Majesty, after we returned from Cining Palace, the Empress Dowager instructed Zhang Mama to send a lot of tonics to Consort Xi, many of which are ginseng and lingzhi that are very rare in the palace."

Shen Qingwan paused briefly with her fingertips holding the pen, but only for a moment, before continuing to write the recipe in her hand.

At this point, Zhen'er became extremely anxious. "Your Majesty, did you hear what I said?"

"Hmm." Shen Qingwan didn't look up, only giving a faint reply. "What?"

Zhen'er's face turned pale with anger. "Your Majesty, aren't you worried at all? The Empress Dowager is so angry because you and the Emperor haven't had a child yet. Even when she scolded Consort Xi in front of you, it seemed like it was all a pretense. The Empress Dowager sent Consort Xi so many fine things that even our Kunning Palace has never seen before. So, no matter how much the Empress Dowager valued Your Majesty before, Consort Xi is ultimately from the Empress Dowager's family. The Empress Dowager would never go against her own family for Your Majesty's sake. In that case, isn't everything the Empress Dowager did...?"

It's all an act!
Zhen'er didn't dare to say what came next. Even though she and the Empress were the only two people in the palace at that moment, she didn't dare to say such treasonous words.

The moment her voice fell, Shen Qingwan just put down her pen. "Go and tell the small kitchen to prepare according to this menu. These are all the dishes His Majesty usually likes to eat, including this braised pork with hawthorn. Try not to choose particularly fatty meat. When we ate lunch at the Empress Dowager's palace today, I noticed that His Majesty didn't seem to like the fatty parts of the braised pork much."

Zhen'er watched the Empress speak, her manner unhurried and slow, and she was so angry she wanted to stomp her feet.

What time is it now? How come their master isn't worried at all and is still sitting here calmly drawing up menus? Thinking about it again, perhaps the Empress thinks the same way. There's probably no hope left with the Empress Dowager. If she puts more effort into winning over the Emperor, maybe she can make him happy and become a powerful ally.

After calming herself down, Zhen'er took the recipe and went outside.

Besides instructing the kitchen to prepare braised pork with hawthorn, a dish she had already promised Emperor Yuanwu, Shen Qingwan only made some other home-style dishes, and the rest was a pot of boiled pork belly.

As the weather gradually warms up, we can still enjoy hot pot for now. But if it gets really hot in a while, we'll probably end up sweating profusely while eating around a hot pot.

When Emperor Yuanwu woke up from his afternoon nap, Prince Rui had already been playing chess by himself in front of the Yangxin Hall for a while.

"Why are you setting off here all by yourself? Don't you get bored?"

Upon hearing the sound, Prince Rui turned around and glanced behind him. Emperor Yuanwu walked over while adjusting his sleeves.

"I heard that Your Majesty was scolded by the Empress Dowager when you had lunch in her palace at noon, and you were in a bad mood. I was just unlucky to come here to play chess with Your Majesty at this time. If I don't let Your Majesty take a nap every afternoon, wouldn't I be deliberately asking for punishment?"

Emperor Yuanwu shook his head with a chuckle, sat down opposite Prince Rui, picked up a chess piece and placed it on the chessboard. Whether he was still half asleep or annoyed by the Empress Dowager's scolding, he didn't look very energetic.

“If Your Majesty has any worries, you might as well tell me. Perhaps I can help you relieve them.” Prince Rui paused, his expression changing. “If it’s like last time, Your Majesty should not tell me. After all, I feel that I have used up all my luck in Lingnan.”

Emperor Yuanwu twitched his lips and smiled with relief, "You can't help me with the matter that's troubling me this time?"

"Oh?" Prince Rui said with a drawn-out tone, "Then Your Majesty might as well say it out loud, so that I may hear it."

Emperor Yuanwu pushed the chessboard away with both hands, completely losing interest in it. He leaned back in his chair, half-lying down, half-slumped. "It's all because at noon today, when I was having lunch with the Empress and the Empress, the Empress brought up the matter of the legitimate son again."

Prince Rui was taken aback for a moment, but then he regained his carefree demeanor. “The Empress is indeed not young anymore, and it wouldn’t be unreasonable for her to want a legitimate son. But didn’t my brother just have a fourth prince? Why doesn’t the Empress Dowager like him?”

Actually, it wasn't that he was against having children with the Empress, but the Empress had changed a lot since then. He always felt that whenever he went to Kunning Palace, the Empress was indifferent to him, which was completely different from his feelings in the palaces of other concubines.

After he finished his dinner in the palaces of other concubines, he didn't have to do anything. The concubines would come up to him on their own. Some concubines even had their own rooms specially decorated so that he could stay in their palaces overnight. In this way, some things just naturally happened.

But the Empress was different. Watching her change day by day, managing the harem so well, not only did she manage all sorts of trivial matters, but she also seemed to be very good at using people and knew how to distribute power equally...