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

Chapter 406 Different

As for the matter of giving her an explanation, Shen Qingwan only listened and did not intend to take it seriously. She only hoped that the Empress Dowager would not have any other thoughts about her because of this matter, or that the Shen family would make up these unfounded things in order to marry her into the palace.

The monks were taken away, and the singing and dancing in the Hall of Preserving Harmony continued as before. It seemed that everything had returned to normal, but Emperor Yuanwu had already left his seat.

The Empress Dowager, unable to save face in front of the imperial relatives, refrained from leaving her seat directly. She remained seated for the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea before finally getting up.

The moment she stood up, Shen Qingwan hurriedly stood up as well, saying, "Daughter-in-law is escorting Mother back to the palace."

The Empress Dowager's face still wore her usual kind smile. "It's still early. Today is also the Empress's birthday. The Empress can play with her sisters for a while longer. I'm getting old and get tired easily, so I'll go back now."

The Empress Dowager refused very tactfully, but unlike before, she no longer offered any words of concern or told her to rest early.

Shen Qingwan wondered if she was being too sensitive, but she felt that the moment that monk appeared, all the goodwill she had cultivated in front of the Empress Dowager over the past year had vanished.

The birthday banquet that the Empress Dowager had meticulously prepared a month earlier ended in discord.

Shen Qingwan shook her head with a wry smile; such is the nature of human nature.

As soon as I arrived at Kunning Palace, I saw several eunuchs carrying things out of a side hall.

"What are you doing in the middle of the night?" Zhen'er asked knowingly. She could tell that the things they were moving out of the side hall belonged to the eldest prince.

Although the eldest prince's injuries had healed and he should have moved back to the princes' quarters, she didn't want to rush things to this point after her birthday banquet.

"Empress Mother." Jiang Wenlan came running in from nowhere, covered in sweat.

"Why did you run so fast? Your leg has just recovered, be careful not to hurt yourself." Shen Qingwan's expression remained indifferent, but she was not a cold-blooded person. Although she had never thought of raising the eldest prince by her side, they had been eating and drinking together every day for the past month, and suddenly they were going to move out of Kunning Palace. Under such circumstances, how could she not feel any ripples in her heart?

"Your Majesty, I can't find Father Emperor. I went to the Hall of Mental Cultivation and to Consort Xia's palace, but I still couldn't find him. Why is Father Emperor in such a hurry to move me out of Kunning Palace? I don't understand why Father Emperor would believe a monk's words. So much time has passed. Why would Father Emperor rather believe that monk's nonsense than believe Your Majesty?" Jiang Wenlan said aggrievedly.

Shen Qingwan clearly saw the glistening moonlight shining on the corner of his eyes. She reached out and touched his head. "Why are you so angry, First Prince? It was only a matter of time before you moved out of Kunning Palace. Even if your Emperor Father didn't issue an edict, you would still have to move back to the Prince's Residence after the Empress Mother's birthday banquet. By now, the birthday banquet has already passed."

Shen Qingwan spoke the last few words very softly, so softly that she could barely hear them herself.

“That’s different!” Jiang Wenlan said this with absolute certainty, almost without thinking.

Shen Qingwan was speechless for a moment, after all, he was the most embarrassed person in this situation.

Everyone knew what Consort Rou wanted to do. That monk had only appeared at the Shen family's doorstep twenty years ago. No one knew whether he was real or fake, and there was no way to verify it. Not to mention that Shen Qingwan had never seen him, even the original owner of this body had only been born at the time and had never seen him.

The important thing is the attitude of Emperor Yuanwu and the Empress Dowager.

Such a thing is utter nonsense, yet they still chose not to believe her in front of so many relatives, making her lose face.

“Same.” Shen Qingwan thought for a long time but couldn’t think of anything to comfort her.

Because she could tell that Jiang Wenlan was really angry about this matter; his chest was heaving, and his face was flushed with barely suppressed anger.

Before he could finish speaking, Su Tianhe rushed in from outside, "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! His Majesty fainted on his way from the Hall of Preserving Harmony to the Hall of Mental Cultivation!" Fainted?

I vomited blood a few days ago. I was told that I was fine after treatment, so why did I suddenly faint?

It seems that the "Auspicious Clouds Riding Phoenix" incident was a huge blow to him, but after so long in the palace, Shen Qingwan has never seen him truly fall for any of the concubines in the harem.

It's nothing more than feeling like a dignified emperor has been made a fool of.

"Empress Mother, aren't you going to see Father Emperor?" Jiang Wenlan couldn't help but ask when she saw that she hadn't spoken for a long time.

Shen Qingwan smiled calmly, "Let Consort Shu arrange for a few concubines to go and attend to me. I am quite drunk and will not go for the time being."

Emperor Yuanwu probably didn't want to see her at this time.

"Summon the imperial physician and bring a bowl of hangover soup to the Empress Dowager."

The young eunuch who delivered the message paused slightly upon hearing it before replying, "Yes."

"Aren't you going to see your father, the Emperor?" Shen Qingwan asked, puzzled.

"Father has so many concubines around him, he won't miss one more. I have many things to move back to the Prince's residence." Jiang Wenlan paused, as if he felt it was inappropriate, and added, "I'll go later."

For more than ten days in a row, Emperor Yuanwu lay in the Hall of Mental Cultivation to recuperate. Shen Qingwan visited him a few times during that time, but he was asleep each time.

There weren't many concubines in the palace to begin with. After deducting the two who were pregnant, the two who were attending to the sick, and the few who came to pay their respects every morning, there were only a handful. They would talk about the same things over and over again. It was only a few of them, such as Consort Shu, Consort Jin, Consort Liang, and Consort Zhen, who would come to Kunning Palace from time to time to catch up and chat.

Emperor Yuanwu's illness was quite serious, and he didn't recover until almost the end of May.

On this day, just after he finished court, good news came from the inner palace: Consort Ying had given birth to a princess.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty!" Wu Jixiang said, flicking his whisk.

Princess?

Emperor Yuanwu, who had never smiled since falling ill, now showed a rare smile.

Greetings, Princess!
Even if Rong Yuze holds military power in the future, he will not use the emperor to command the princes. The princess can still marry him in the future to bring peace and stability to the country.

"Princess, let's go and take a look."

Before he could finish speaking, a palace maid from Lingxiang Pavilion ran over and said, "Your Majesty, please come to Lingxiang Pavilion to see our lady. She had severe abdominal pain last night, and the imperial physician has been summoned. It seems she is about to give birth."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Yuanwu's brow furrowed slightly, almost imperceptibly.

Consort Xi was never favored, and Consort Ying, a high-ranking concubine, only sent someone to announce the good news after giving birth. Consort Xi was just a low-ranking concubine.

Emperor Yuanwu was very reluctant to go, but he thought that since someone had come to invite him, if he didn't go, he would surely be nagged by the Empress Dowager again in the future.