Princess Shouchun was surprised that she did worse than Shen Wan. Seeing the Emperor's displeasure, she tried even harder to do better. As a result, her already unskilled movements became even more clumsy and unsightly due to her deliberate efforts.

Empress Song's face turned ashen, as if she had been slapped several times. The Emperor glanced at her displeasedly, which made Empress Song's expression even more unpleasant.

The Emperor closed the booklet and said with displeasure, "It is not Princess Ling who should be reprimanded for studying palace rules, but Shouchun."

Princess Shouchun's face stiffened.

What does Father mean by this?!

Empress Song hurriedly said, "It is my fault for neglecting to discipline them. I will have the princesses and the two Princesses of Jin relearn the palace rules together."

Shen Wan frowned slightly. As expected of Empress Song, when the Emperor ordered Princess Shouchun to relearn palace rules, she summoned all the princesses in the palace together, fearing that Princess Shouchun would be laughed at by the other princesses. She also fanned the flames and made the princesses resent her.

Shen Ying looked at Shen Wan and asked, "When did Uncle find someone to teach Eldest Sister these palace rules? How come I didn't know about them?"

Shen Wan didn't give her any face at all. "There are many things you don't know. I was only a month old when the Emperor bestowed a marriage upon me. As a future princess consort, how could my father and mother not be strict with me? My father thought I was stupid and was afraid that I would bring shame to the royal family if I married into the royal family. So he made me learn everything I should know and need to learn in advance, so as not to cause trouble for the Empress or bring shame to the prince."

Shen Wan spoke with confidence. Even if what Shen Ying said was true, she had not learned palace rules in her boudoir. She had only been married to Xie Jingyan for a month, and the Ling Prince's Mansion was probably under the watchful eyes of the Emperor and Empress Song. She had not learned these things in the Ling Prince's Mansion. If she hadn't learned them in the Pingyang Marquis's Mansion, where else could she have learned them?

Shen Ying was furious, but she couldn't expose Shen Wan. Empress Song's gaze was icy cold as she pointed at Shen Ying and accused her of defeating Shen Wan. Living under the same roof, she didn't even know that Shen Wan had studied palace rules. What did she have to compete with Shen Wan? What did the second branch of the Pingyang Marquis's family have to seize the military power from Shen Jing?

Marrying such a useless Princess Jin has utterly disgraced her.

The Emperor said, "The Marquis of Pingyang has done an excellent job in educating his daughter; I am ashamed to admit that I am not as good as him."

When the emperor praises someone, it is usually followed by a reward. Since the Marquis of Pingyang has raised such a fine daughter, and the royal family has gained such a fine princess, a reward is certainly in order.

Then--

The man in the mirror sat in the military camp, receiving rewards from the horizon.

The Marquis's mansion sent someone to invite Shen Jing back to the mansion to receive the reward, and Shen Jing was completely bewildered.

Upon learning that Shen Wan had mastered the palace rules well and that the Emperor praised him for his effective teaching of his daughter, Shen Jing was finally able to put his mind at ease after more than a month of worry.

The Emperor's grace was boundless, and Shen Wan could not refuse the royal marriage. She could only marry a prince. Shen Jing was afraid that Shen Wan would cause trouble and embarrass him, which was a minor matter. As long as she didn't utter a word that would cause trouble, it would be fine. However, he was told that the Emperor was very satisfied with his daughter and even praised him for raising her well...

Does the Emperor have such low requirements for his princesses?

It's a good thing he's lived in fear for so many years.

You worried for nothing.

Shen Jing had always earned his rewards through military achievements, and this was the first time he had received a reward from the emperor through his daughter. One can imagine how happy he was.

Seeing the Emperor praise Shen Wan and bestow a mirror upon her, Empress Song was so angry that her lips trembled. What was even more infuriating was that Shen Wan said in a rude manner, "Does Your Majesty want to test my knowledge of the palace rules? I know all of the more than a thousand palace rules by heart."

More than a thousand palace rules, which would take a lot of time to read even once, yet they managed to memorize them so well?

The Emperor became interested and picked up the palace rules, asking Shen Wan a few questions.

Shen Wan recited it all word for word.

Seeing Empress Song's ashen face, Shen Wan felt incredibly pleased.

This dagger, piercing Empress Song's heart, was placed in her hand by Empress Song herself. In her previous life, she had been manipulated by Empress Song for so long; she couldn't let all the palace rules and etiquette she had learned go to waste.

She knows the palace rules by heart, so don't even think about punishing her by making her copy them.

After testing Shen Wan, the Emperor didn't forget Princess Shouchun, asking, "You answer, what is the 860th palace rule?"

Princess Shouchun stammered, unable to recall at all.

It wasn't that she couldn't remember; she hadn't even properly read through the palace rules from beginning to end, so how would she know what they were about?

The Emperor looked at Empress Song, who was also unable to answer. In order to save face, she could only change the subject, "I was unaware that the Marquis of Pingyang was so strict with his daughter. If I had known, I would have exempted Princess Ling from learning palace rules."

The Emperor closed the heavy palace rules in his hand and threw them onto the table with such a loud thud that it was as if a heavy hammer had struck Empress Song's heart.

Empress Song never expected that her attempt to control Shen Wan would backfire so badly.

The Emperor rose to leave, and Shen Wan curtsied to see him off. However, the Emperor had only taken a few steps when a eunuch strode in and reported to the Emperor, "Your Majesty, an urgent message has arrived from Meizhou, saying that the granary has been flooded and hundreds of thousands of dan of grain have been burned."

The emperor's face darkened.

Shen Wan's eye twitched violently.

The officials in Meizhou are really audacious.

The Emperor already knew that there was no grain in the Meizhou granary, yet they still dared to burn the grain to destroy the evidence and make it impossible for the people sent by the Emperor to investigate.

The Emperor only learned of the empty granaries in Meizhou a few days ago. Even if he sent people to Meizhou immediately after learning of the incident, they shouldn't have arrived by now. Moreover, it would take four or five days for news of the burning of the Meizhou granaries to reach the capital by express courier...

Thinking of this, Shen Wanxin's heart skipped a beat. What if her elder brother had left a clue when he was inspecting the granary and it was discovered by the officials of Meizhou? In order to prevent the emperor from sending people to investigate, he might have destroyed the granary first.

If that's the case, wouldn't her older brother be in danger?!

When Shen Wan thought of this possibility, she panicked. Without even saying goodbye to Empress Song, she followed the Emperor out of Fengyi Palace.

Empress Song was already in a bad mood because Princess Shouchun was less familiar with palace rules and etiquette than Shen Wan, which embarrassed her and the Emperor. But now that she learned that the Meizhou granary had been burned down, her mood improved considerably.

The officials in Meizhou were promoted by the Duke of Maoguo. Even if the Prince of Jin and the Left Prime Minister wanted to place their people in Meizhou, they couldn't. Now that the Meizhou granary has been burned down, hundreds of thousands of dan of grain have been destroyed. The Emperor will surely be furious. The Duke of Maoguo, who recommended the Meizhou prefect, will surely be implicated. If there are any hidden reasons for the burning of the granary, even the eldest prince will not be able to escape responsibility.

Previously, Xie Jingyin had the upper hand over the eldest prince. However, after Shen Wan abandoned Xie Jingyin and chose Xie Jingyan, first there was the cheating in the imperial examinations, and the Imperial Academy Chancellor's family was raided. Then, the promoted Vice Minister of Rites, Xu, was suspended from his post and investigated. The Yun family was also slow to be taken down. Xie Jingyin suffered setbacks one after another, while the eldest prince caught up. The two were evenly matched in terms of power in the court. The struggle for the throne was giving Empress Song a headache. Unexpectedly, someone brought her tea when she was thirsty and someone handed her a pillow when she was sleepy.

This is a good opportunity to bring down the eldest prince. Empress Song said, "Summon Prince Jin to see me."