Lu Jinshu suddenly let go of the wine glass he was holding, stood up, and strode towards the bedroom.

Ling Shumo didn't know what he was going to do, so she stood up and followed him.

Lu Jinshu walked all the way to the bronze mirror with flower and bird patterns that was half a person's height, staring at himself in the mirror without blinking.

The figure he had seen in the wine glass's reflection was blurry, but now, as Lu Jinshu looked into the bronze mirror before him, he saw his current appearance clearly reflected. What a disheveled, ugly man he was! In his current state, who could possibly connect him with the father of a nation? He was simply unworthy of the position of empress.

Ling Shumo stopped half a step behind Lu Jinshu and asked softly, "What are you thinking about?"

After a while, Ling Shumo didn't wait for an answer. She pondered for a moment, then hugged Lu Jinshu's waist from behind, "Xihe became unconscious after falling into the ice water. I know you are in pain, but you should also know that my pain is no less than yours.

I raised that child as the crown prince of the country, and invested more effort in her than in any other princess or prince.

But now that things have become like this, you can't continue to dwell in pain like this. Jin Shu, you have to cheer up."

Lu Jinshu bit his lower lip hard, squeezing it until it was bloodless. Then he nodded slowly, "I understand."

Seeing that Lu Jinshu had taken her words in, Ling Shumo's expression of worry faded a bit. She slid her hand down Lu Jinshu's waist to his right hand, then gripped it firmly. "I'm so happy that you've been able to move on from these things today. I'll have someone add a few more dishes. You haven't eaten properly in several days, so you need to have at least one bowl of rice today. I'll sit next to you and watch you eat."

The two walked towards the restaurant.

Lu Jinshu was the first to lift the hanging beaded curtain. This curtain faced the dining table. He looked out and saw a little girl sitting cross-legged on the table. Her clothes were stained with soup and vegetables. Her right hand was holding a handful of stir-fried white cabbage, and her left hand had just taken out the porridge bowl, which was dripping with rice soup.

The little girl's face was also covered with various food residues. She found that Lu Jinshu was looking at her, so she grinned and smiled at Lu Jinshu foolishly.

Lu Jinshu's body suddenly stiffened, for the little girl was none other than his daughter, Ling Xihe. Ling Xihe was almost five years old, and she already understood right from wrong. However, due to an inexplicable drowning, her intelligence had regressed to that of a newborn. The attendants hadn't been paying close attention, leading to this scene.

At this time, Ling Shumo's footsteps were half a step slower than Lu Jinshu's. Her sight was blocked, so she didn't see the mess on the dining table. She continued with the previous topic, "Since you sit in the position of the emperor and empress, you must shoulder the responsibility of the master of the six palaces. If you fall, the harem will be in chaos. You know I don't want to see that happen. I was busy enough with government affairs in the previous dynasty. I hope to have some peace and quiet when I return to the harem."

Whether it was because of the scene before him or because of something Ling Shumo said that touched a sore spot, Lu Jinshu suddenly turned around and stared at Ling Shumo. "Your Majesty, you only care about the position of Queen. You only care about whether your servant can take care of the affairs of the six palaces for you. You don't care about what your servant thinks. You don't care about your daughter at all. She has become a speechless fool."

The expression on Lu Jinshu's face looked extremely ferocious and distorted. Ling Shumo was stunned by his questioning for a moment, and then she frowned, "What nonsense are you talking about here? How could I not care about you and Xihe? If I didn't care about you, why would I be here?"

Lu Jinshu's face was filled with a look of despair, and his voice gradually became louder, as if he wanted to vent all the pain that had been pent up in his heart, "If Your Majesty really cares about Xi and this daughter, why can you still be so calm and composed? If you really have me in your heart, why did you run to the Biluo Palace to favor Pei Jiuyan when I was most vulnerable and uncomfortable?

You clearly knew that Pei Jiuyan had falsely accused me of bullying his precious daughter since the first day he entered the harem. Even if you favored someone else, I wouldn't feel so bad, but you chose to go to the Biluo Palace and spend the night with Pei Jiuyan.

Ling Shumo had originally wanted to explain herself, to Lu Jinshu, and show him that she truly cared for Ling Xi and their daughter. But when she heard Lu Jinshu's accusations, her temper flared. "Lu Jinshu, why are you yelling at me? Are you blaming me? I'm the emperor. I can favor whomever I want and be with whomever I want. As the empress, you should face this with grace and composure, instead of standing here dictating to me."

At this time, Jiufu had just picked up Ling Xihe from the table and was cleaning the food residue on the little girl when he suddenly heard the two masters arguing. He anxiously wanted to stop Lu Jinshu from talking, but Lu Jinshu simply didn't listen to him. His voice became colder and sharper, "Isn't what I said right? You just don't care about Xihe enough, you just don't love Xihe enough, otherwise how could you..."

Before Lu Jinshu could finish his words, he was interrupted by Ling Shumo, who raised her voice, "That's enough, shut up right there. I don't want to attack you right now."

Lu Jinshu obviously took out all his anger on Ling Shumo.

How could someone as self-centered as Ling Shumo tolerate such accusations? He immediately threw up his sleeves and left without looking back.

Jiufu knelt straight down and crawled on his knees to catch up with Ling Shumo, "Your Majesty, please calm down! The Queen has no intention of blaming you. What he said was all said out of impulse, not sincerely. Those words were not the Queen's original intention at all..."

Jiufu's voice was almost hoarse, but Ling Shumo didn't even stop for a moment. In the blink of an eye, she completely disappeared from the room.