Is someone injured outside?

After washing up, Shen Mingzhuang was still worried. She dried herself off, got up, found a clean, narrow-sleeved brocade robe in a deep purple color from her spatial storage, put it on, and casually dried her half-dry hair to make sure she didn't reveal any signs of being a woman. Only then did she stand by the window and look outside.

The moon rose above the willow branches, and in the dim night, the wind rustled. Just as the old woman had said, the wind was very strong here at night, especially noticeable at the post station.

The post station was built beside the official road, with a large rice paddy behind it and the official road in front. The other side of the official road was also rice paddy, making it a rare flat area in Weizhou.

However, even in the darkness of night, the distant silhouettes of the Qingmao Mountain range, stretching for dozens of miles, were still visible. There was no one outside, not a soul in sight. With her skill, she couldn't possibly be mistaken.

Could it be... the person next door?

There was indeed someone next door. The person's breathing was weak, and Shen Mingzhuang quickly determined that it must be the person living next door who was injured.

Thinking of what the old woman had said about a handsome young man living next door, she frowned. What kind of young man would be so badly injured?

The injury looked like he had lost half his life.

Shen Mingzhuang frowned slightly, puzzled, but then her brows relaxed. Why should she care about other people? The martial world is full of all sorts of people, and who knows what they were injured about? Why should she care so much? As long as it doesn't bother her, that's fine.

After tidying up, she turned around and went downstairs.

For convenience, she ate with everyone on this trip. It took her a while to wash up, and she thought everyone had almost finished eating by now. But when she went downstairs, she found that no one had eaten yet.

Shen Mingzhuang was immediately embarrassed. Little did she know that everyone was waiting for her. Although she was the Empress, whose status was immeasurable, after this incident at Qingmao Mountain, she felt even more that she was a comrade-in-arms with Benyue, Lingfeng, and Shuangyue. She did not place herself on that high position.

This was a rare opportunity for her to immerse herself in a role where everyone was equal since she came into this world. However, she found that after experiencing all of this, everyone still maintained a respectful but distant attitude towards her. This feeling made her feel somewhat uncomfortable, or rather, sad.

Shuangyue sat to the left of He Wenqing, leaving a seat for Shen Mingzhuang. When she came down, everyone stood up and waited for her to sit down before taking their own seats.

"Let's start eating."

Everyone had been waiting for so long, and Shen Mingzhuang didn't want to waste any more time with pleasantries, so he directly invited everyone to start eating.

However, apart from He Wenqing, the others were still somewhat apprehensive about dining with the Empress on equal footing.

Especially for Shuangyue, in her heart, the Empress was someone she could only look up to. Now, she was actually sitting next to the Empress, side by side with her. Such a close distance made her feel uneasy, and she felt that she was being disrespectful to the Empress.

Shen Mingzhuang didn't pay any attention to any of this. She was really hungry, so she scooped up a bowl of white porridge and gulped it down without any regard for her image. Then she scooped up a spoonful of mutton and bone soup and drank it.

The rich, creamy mutton soup was incredibly fragrant. A large bowl of mutton soup with a large plate of roasted lamb chops—such food would be considered unappetizing in the palace, but at this time, after not eating meat for several days, this table of meat soup and roasted lamb chops was simply a delicacy.

Shen Mingzhuang guessed that her eating manners must be terrible, but she forgot that with her looks, she would be beautiful even if she ate dirt. Although she didn't care about her image at the moment and ate meat and drank soup in big gulps, she still had a beauty that others could not match.

Looking at Shen Mingzhuang, He Wenqing thought of Qiao Zhen'er. Qiao Zhen'er was also extremely beautiful, but her beauty was different from Shen Mingzhuang's. Shen Mingzhuang's beauty was bright and flamboyant, an undisguised beauty. Every part of her was beautiful, a very high-profile beauty that amazed people at first glance and was unforgettable upon seeing her again.

However, the only similarity between the two is that they are both very beautiful and memorable. They are both beauties, one married to the late emperor and the other to the current emperor. It is said that heroes are paired with beauties since ancient times, but in He Wenqing’s opinion, it is powerful ministers paired with beauties. How can a coward like the late emperor be called a hero? It’s laughable!

Shuangyue got up and helped Shen Mingzhuang cut a lamb chop off a whole roasted lamb chop and put it on a plate to present to Shen Mingzhuang.

Thank you.

Shen Mingzhuang smiled and nodded to Shuangyue, thanking her.

Shuangyue was surprised that Shen Mingzhuang would thank her. She blushed for a moment, chuckled twice, and then sat back down.

Shen Mingzhuang didn't want everyone to become reserved with her again before they even arrived in the capital. After thinking for a moment, she spoke up to the group at the table: "After this trip to Qingmao Mountain, in my eyes you are already my comrades-in-arms. Please don't stand on ceremony in front of me. When we return, I will ask His Majesty to bring you to my side. From now on, you will follow me."

The Empress also needs to be protected by skilled guards from the Imperial Palace. Jiang Wang had wanted to send people over before, but Shen Mingzhuang thought that she stayed in the Jiaofang Palace all day and wouldn't go anywhere, so nothing would happen to her. In addition, there were few people whose skills could match hers, so she hadn't agreed. Now that she was going back, she could just get these people under her name, so that it would be convenient for her to use people in the future.

Ling Feng Ben Yue and Shuang Yue's eyes lit up when they heard this. Jiao Fang Palace was a good place. The inner palace was much safer than the outside. All the guards knew that being able to go to the inner palace meant that there would be far less danger. Therefore, everyone was happy to go to the inner palace.

However, only the Empress and the Empress Dowager were entitled to be protected by the Imperial Guards within the inner palace; even the Imperial Concubine did not have this authority.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!