The bright moon hangs high, beckoning him down from his pedestal.

Inside the Taiji Hall, Shen Wangxi looked up from his political affairs and realized that Shen Qingruo had been gone for a long time and had not yet returned.

He looked at Wu Tian, ​​who was standing to the side, and asked, "Where is the Imperial Concubine? Why has she been gone for so long?"

Wu Tian's heart skipped a beat, and he knelt down with a thud, trembling as he recounted how Shen Qingruo had stopped him and insisted on going to Jiaofang Palace alone.

Upon hearing this, Shen Wangxi's face darkened. She stood up and rebuked, "Foolish! How could you let her go to Jiaofang Palace alone?"

Wu Tian inwardly groaned. How could the Imperial Concubine be a person alone? Every time she went out from Yilan Palace, she was surrounded by a large entourage, even more so than the Empress.

But he dared not show it on his face, repeatedly kowtowing: "This servant knows his mistake! This servant knows his mistake!"

Shen Wangxi ignored him and strode out.

Wu Tian quickly got up and jogged to catch up, thinking to himself that His Majesty's favoritism was truly boundless.

It's obvious that the Imperial Concubine was the one who went to cause trouble at the Jiaofang Palace, yet His Majesty only cares about the Imperial Concubine.

Meanwhile, inside the Jiaofang Palace, the atmosphere had plummeted to freezing point.

Shen Qingruo picked up a cup of tea, held it in her hand, looked at Shen Jingyan who was silently shedding tears, and spoke in her soft, gentle voice:

"Your Highness, it seems you've forgotten that you haven't greeted me yet."

Shen Jingyan looked up, her eyes filled with deep-seated hatred, but remembering her mother's instructions, she still forced out a few words through gritted teeth with immense humiliation: "Your Highness Consort Zhao, may you rest in peace..."

Before she could finish speaking, Shen Qingruo flicked her wrist, splashing the entire cup of tea, tea leaves and all, onto Shen Jingyan's face.

"Ah!" Shen Jingyan exclaimed in surprise, her head and face covered in tea, looking utterly disheveled.

"Imperial Consort! How dare you!" Ulan Yun could no longer contain herself and shouted angrily.

Shen Qingruo didn't even look at Wulan Yun. She stood up and casually smashed the empty teacup hard against Shen Jingyan's forehead.

With a muffled thud, Shen Jingyan felt a sharp pain in her forehead and her vision went black. She instinctively reached up and touched her forehead, finding her hand covered in sticky, bright red blood.

"Blood...it's blood!" Shen Jingyan screamed shrilly as she looked at the blood on her hands. "Shen Qingruo! How dare you!"

She suddenly broke free from Granny Yan's grasp and charged towards Shen Qingruo like an enraged wild beast.

"Run, Aruo! Shen Jingyan is furious!" Xiao Jiu shouted urgently in Shen Qingruo's mind.

"Run towards the palace gate, Shen Wangxi will be there soon."

Shen Qingruo lifted her skirt and turned to run towards the palace entrance.

She had only taken two steps when her wrist was grabbed forcefully. Shen Jingyan pulled her around and raised her other hand high, slapping her hard across the face!

Shen Qingruo subconsciously closed her eyes.

The expected slap did not fall.

She tentatively opened one eye, then the other, and saw that Shen Jingyan's wrist was firmly gripped in mid-air by a large, well-defined hand.

Shen Wangxi arrived.

He didn't even glance at the seemingly deranged Shen Jingyan, but forcefully shoved her away, his voice cold and stern:

"Have you made enough of a scene?! Aruo is now my Imperial Concubine, not someone you can beat or scold at will."

Shen Jingyan was pushed so hard that she stumbled and almost fell.

She raised her face, tears mingling with blood from her forehead, her face smeared with tea leaves, looking utterly miserable and wretched.

Shen Wangxi was taken aback when she finally saw her face clearly.

Shen Qingruo glanced at him secretly, and when she met his gaze as he looked down at her, she blinked guiltily and snuggled closer into his arms.

Shen Jingyan pointed to her forehead and the mess all over her body, her voice trembling with tears as she questioned, "Father, how can you keep protecting her like this!"

"Today she caused a scene at my birthday banquet. I was the one who was wronged, I was the one who was injured!"

Shen Wangxi frowned and remained silent for a moment, clearly thinking about how to favor the girl in his arms.

Shen Qingruo weakly retorted in his arms, her voice tinged with grievance: "It was the Princess who showed no respect for hierarchy and did not bow to me. I was angry for a moment, that's why..."

Shen Wangxi immediately followed her words and spoke in a deep voice, making a final decision: "Since that's the case, let's call it even."

He pulled Shen Qingruo close, no longer looking at the pitiful Shen Jingyan. "I'll take the Consort back first and teach her a lesson. Empress, keep your daughter in check."

After saying that, he half-embraced Shen Qingruo, turned around forcefully, and strode out of the hall.

"Father! Father!" Shen Jingyan cried out in anguish behind him, but could only watch as he embraced that woman and disappeared through the palace gates.

She slowly slumped to the ground.

With a cold face, Wu Lanyun walked to her heartbroken daughter, squatted down, took out a handkerchief, and gently wiped the blood from her forehead, feeling extremely distressed.

Then, looking into her daughter's empty eyes, she said clearly, "Ayan, do you understand now?"

"Your Majesty, he is no longer the father you once knew."

Shen Jingyan threw herself into Wu Lanyun's arms and burst into tears, crying, "Today is my daughter's eighteenth birthday!"