After Shen Jinchen ascended the throne, the Wen family's assets and some of his own assets were transferred to the Ministry of Revenue for management by designated personnel.

The only thing they still had in their possession was the Zhenxiulou restaurant that had been given to Cen Xi. Because there were many things to do in the palace, Cen Xi was still being managed by Jun Xiaoqiao.

I'll go check it out today and try their signature braised fish with egg drop soup.

After the three of them, master and servant, enjoyed a hearty meal.

Cen Xi strolled leisurely to the palace gate, only to unexpectedly encounter a familiar person there.

It was Gu Chunhua, the plump aunt who had left the princess's residence half a year ago. At this moment, she was hesitating back and forth at the palace gate, wanting to go in but not daring to, wanting to ask someone to announce her arrival but not daring to.

It looks like they've been standing there for a long time.

Cen Xi, driven by a mischievous impulse, quietly walked behind the other person and gently patted her shoulder.

"Aaaaaah!"

After the filming was finished, Cen Xi, dressed in green and red, as well as the guards at the palace gate, were all shocked by a deep and panicked voice.

"What are you yelling for? What are you doing standing at the palace gate?"

Cen Xi glanced at the plump woman with disdain and pressed on with her question.

"You...you are the Empress! This humble woman begs the Empress to save my life."

In her panic, the plump woman recognized the person who had come to her, and immediately knelt down on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly to Cen Xi.

"Someone wants to kill you?"

Cen Xi watched her with great interest.

"No! No! I just... Your Majesty, I was wrong to you back then. Can you give me another chance? I will repay you even if it means going through fire and water."

Gu Chunhua wiped away her tears, denied Cen Xi's question, but kept kowtowing and pleading.

"It was your own choice back then. You took ten thousand taels and left. Why are you regretting it now? You've spent all the money. Where did it go?"

Cen Xi glanced at her with a faint smile. This fat woman was trying to gain sympathy, but she didn't have much sympathy, nor was she a saint. She was afraid she would be disappointed.

“Your Majesty is right. My husband and son are ungrateful wretches. I kindly bought them a house, wrote to them, and brought them to the capital. But in less than six months, the money was almost gone. My second son has also become addicted to gambling. Yesterday, he even held a knife to my neck and asked me to come and ask you for some money.”

"Waaah... I said I wouldn't come, but he actually teamed up with Li Dazhu to beat me up! Look at me, I'm covered in bruises, hahaha... Please, Your Majesty, save me..."

Seeing that Cen Xi was somewhat interested in him, the plump aunt pouted and tearfully recounted her story. By the end, tears welled up in her eyes, and she even lifted up her injured arms and legs to show Cen Xi.

It's exactly like a child complaining to an adult.

Cen Xi touched her face speechlessly. Was this woman stupid? It turned out she hadn't listened to a single word she said before.

They actually managed to bring Li Dazhu and his sons to the capital.

Now you want to beg her for more money? She's not a saint, and money doesn't grow on trees. Why should I give it to this guy?

"You have quite the nerve, you fat auntie! Back then, I told you at the princess's residence that if you stepped out of that door, don't ever come looking for me again. Didn't you understand what I meant?"

“I… It was you who caused the divorce between me and Li Dazhu. If you hadn’t given me 10,000 taels, my second son wouldn’t have gotten into gambling. Your Majesty should take responsibility for us.”

The plump aunt glanced at Cen Xi timidly, somewhat frightened. But then she thought that if it weren't for the Empress's meddling, she would still be living her life in Li Family Village. How could she be in such a miserable state now? Her cowardice inexplicably returned.

"Do you know who you're talking to? Just because you're miserable doesn't mean you're right, does it? You were the one who asked for the money, and your cheap husband wrote the divorce papers himself. I didn't force him. Now you're trying to pin all the blame on me?"

Cen Xi was so angry at this woman's thought process that she laughed. Did she really think that just because she had a good temper and was nice to her, she would become arrogant?

Should she not have returned to Lijia Village after coming down from Tianmen Mountain? She ended up getting into trouble with one troublesome person after another.

"I... this humble woman... Your Majesty, if you don't take care of me, my second son will beat me to death when I get back. Please give me some money. I beg you, otherwise I will kowtow to death at the palace gate and let all the people of the world curse you as an unrighteous empress."

After hesitating for a moment, the plump woman seemed to have made up her mind, and she begged and threatened at the same time, basically sticking to her shamelessly.

Cen Xi was utterly speechless and didn't bother to listen to what the fat woman had to say. She simply called out to a commander at the palace gate:

"Commander Li, come here and take this shrew to the Ministry of Justice to lock her up. When the Emperor's grace is so great, we'll release her."

"Yes! Your Majesty, rest assured, this humble general will certainly handle this matter properly."

When Commander Li saw that Cen Xi had assigned him a task, he immediately agreed and ordered two men to take Gu Chunhua away.

"No! I don't want to go to jail! Your Majesty, spare my life! Spare my life!"

"Waaah..."

Gu Chunhua shouted a few words in a panic, but Commander Li covered her mouth and she couldn't speak.

"I wonder how big of a face this fat woman has? She actually dares to ask the Empress for money. She really thinks she's someone important."

Watching the plump woman being helped away, Qingyi made a rare sarcastic remark.

"Some people just don't know their own limitations! Oh dear, this fat woman has ruined my good mood today. I'll have to go back and comfort the Emperor."

Cen Xi sighed softly and quickly entered the palace, heading to the imperial study where Shen Jinchen was reviewing memorials.

As soon as she entered, she moved close to Shen Jinchen and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Ha! He didn't get enough of the show outside, so he came back to me to act cute."

Shen Jinchen put down his pen, turned around, hugged Cen Xi back, and asked with a smile.

"Since I could already guess the ending, perhaps I shouldn't have gone out to see it. On my way back, I was disgusted by someone, and I'm really resentful. Will Your Majesty compensate me?"

Cen Xi wrapped her arms around Shen Jinchen's neck and said coquettishly.

"What kind of compensation do you want? Is this acceptable?"

Shen Jinchen took out a box and waved it in front of Cen Xi.

"What's this?"

Cen Xi picked up the exquisitely packaged box, examined it closely, touched it a few times, and tried to open it, but couldn't find the trick.

"Here's a pair of white tooth earrings for you. I snatched them from the pack of white wolves on the way from the north to Lijia Village last time. I sent them to be polished before, and they're finally finished now. Do you think they look good? Your husband put a lot of thought into them."

Shen Jinchen looked around for an opening but didn't open one for her. Instead, he said a bunch of boastful things.

"A lot of thought went into this, and a lot of thought went into this box too. Now tell me how to open it."

Cen Xi looked at Shen Jinchen with some annoyance and handed him the jewelry box. This man was always so annoying, always teasing her.