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

Chapter 56 Worry
"Impossible, I don't believe it." Liu Ruyan couldn't accept reality for a moment: "You lied to me, just to make me give up. Young Master Zhao said he would only marry me for life."

Shen Qingwan: ...

Is the "love-struck" mentality relevant to both ancient and modern times?
"The Zhao family's wedding invitations are sent all over the city, and your uncle also received one." Liu's voice grew softer and softer.

“If you really don’t believe me, when the Zhao family gets married, I’ll have my uncle take you to see it,” Shen Qingwan said.

Shen Wenqian handed the invitation from the Zhao family to Liu Ruyan. She clutched the invitation tightly, her knuckles turning white, and she collapsed to the ground.

“Impossible, absolutely impossible.” Liu Ruyan shook her head to herself, “It was you, it must have been you, it was you who forced Young Master Zhao to marry someone else.”

As Liu Ruyan spoke, she felt that what she said made more and more sense. With her hair slightly disheveled, she got up from the ground and pointed at Shen Qingwan with one finger: "You are the Empress. No one can refuse you if you want to do something. Just like you sent me to a nunnery, or you let Young Master Zhao marry someone else. What an Empress you are, what an amazing Empress you are!"

Liu Ruyan burst into laughter as she spoke, but her crazy behavior terrified everyone in the room.

Liu Wei was the first to rush forward and cover her mouth. His face was pale as he forcibly dragged Liu Ruyan to kneel on the ground: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. It is my uncle who has spoiled Ruyan since she was a child, which is why he said such disrespectful words to Your Majesty. If Your Majesty is to blame someone, please blame my uncle."

Madam Liu followed up, saying, "Ruyan, how can you speak to your cousin like that? Even if your cousin is the Empress, Young Master Zhao is still the son of the Minister of Rites. Even if your cousin really wants to do something, it has to be the Emperor's decree. You have really misunderstood your cousin this time."

Although Liu's words sounded like a reprimand to Liu Ruyan, in reality, she was worried that if Shen Qingwan got really angry and blamed her, Liu Ruyan would suffer.

“Mother, Uncle, you have seen Ruyan’s attitude and behavior. If she is not properly disciplined in the future, she may cause a great disaster. It is because you have always indulged her that she has become so willful and capricious. Since things have come to this, I have nothing more to say. If you really feel sorry for her, I will inform Abbess Wuxin so that you can take her back today. However, whether the Rong family or the Zhao family investigates or what happens to Ruyan, it will have nothing to do with our Shen family. Words are not enough. Please write a statement, Uncle!” After Shen Qingwan finished speaking, she gave Zhen’er a look, and Zhen’er handed the pen and ink to Liu Wei.

"This……"

Liu Wei stared at the paper and pen handed to him, hesitating to take them. He struggled for a while before quickly pushing away the pen and ink that Zhen'er offered.

"Qingwan, your uncle was confused before. It was your uncle who failed to discipline Ruyan properly. Your uncle knows that the Emperor is not blaming Ruyan for deceiving the Emperor. Your uncle must have said a lot of good things to the Emperor. Your uncle swears that he will never let Ruyan run wild again."

Seeing the sincerity in Liu Wei's words, Shen Qingwan nodded.

Whether he was sincere or not, only he himself knew the truth. However, he was absolutely unwilling to give up the Shen family, and given that Shen Wenqian was also present today, Madam Liu dared not say anything more.

Seeing Shen Qingwan nod, Liu Wei felt relieved and, regardless of Liu Ruyan's wishes, forcibly pulled her out.

The father and daughter had just stepped out when Liu Shi couldn't sit still and followed them out. Seeing her anxious and worried expression, Shen Qingwan couldn't help but want to laugh.

Since they were so biased, why not just give up all the wealth and status and let Liu Ruyan have her way? But they couldn't bear to. After Liu left, only Shen Wenqian and Shen Qingwan remained in the room.

“Your mother has always been like this, Qingwan, don’t take it to heart,” Shen Wenqian said, sighing helplessly.

"Father, don't worry, your daughter won't take it to heart."

"Although Qingwan has recovered now, you still need to be careful while you are alone in the palace. I know you are not a bad person by nature, but you can't be too careful. There are so many concubines in the harem, but there is only one Empress. Many people are envious of this position. I heard that the Emperor's most beloved Consort Xian had an accident a few days ago. I was worried and couldn't sleep for several nights."

Shen Qingwan could tell that Shen Wenqian was genuinely worried about the original owner of this body, but he had no idea that the original owner was already gone because of that illness.

"Don't worry, Father, your daughter will definitely do it." Shen Qingwan's expression became unusually serious.

"You handled Ruyan's matter very well. The Emperor didn't blame you because of you. But if we hadn't done anything, who knows how much gossip would have followed us in the future. Before we came, I already told your mother and uncle that you can rest assured about things at home. With your father here, they wouldn't dare to do anything. It's just that your father is really worried about you in the palace..."

Shen Qingwan knew exactly what Shen Wenqian was worried about. Even with the strict palace rules, the things the original owner had done would inevitably be leaked to some extent.

"Father, don't worry. Although I am not favored by the Emperor, he respects me very much, and the Empress Dowager treats me very well."

Hearing what Shen Qingwan said, Shen Wenqian's expression finally softened a bit.

"Qingwan has really grown up now. She doesn't care about any favors or glory from the Shen family. Father only hopes that you can be well in the harem."

Perhaps this is the simplest father-daughter relationship. Shen Wenqian doesn't want anything else, he just wants the original owner to live well. It's hard to imagine whether Shen Wenqian can accept the truth when he finds out. All the worry in his eyes and the words he speaks now are because he is a father.

Shen Qingwan was somewhat moved: "Father!"

Shen Qingwan secretly vowed in her heart that since she had borrowed the original owner's body, she would definitely take good care of the original owner's family.

"Alright, alright, that's enough. Your father has made your favorite dishes from when you were little, and has had them packed in food boxes. You can take them back to the palace to eat slowly. Your father won't open these things from the Buddhist holy site for you to see." Shen Wenqian had several food boxes handed to Zhen'er.

"There is also this set of tableware. On the outside, it looks like ordinary white jade with nothing special about it, but the lining of the chopsticks is made of pure silver with silver threads as fine as hair. Ordinary people cannot see it. When eating with these chopsticks, you can tell whether the food is poisonous just by looking at whether the silver threads at the tips of the chopsticks have changed color."

Shen Wenqian earnestly explained the mystery behind the white jade chopsticks to Shen Qingwan. He thought that when the original owner was seriously ill, he had made countless guesses in his mind, and he didn't even believe that the original owner had just caught a cold and was seriously ill...

(End of this chapter)