Shen Jinchen simply endured Jun Jianchou's punch without saying a word.
He failed to protect Cen Xi, so he deserved the punch; it wasn't unjust.
Seeing that he didn't refute her, Jun Jianchou's long-suppressed anger dissipated somewhat. He also had a responsibility; if he hadn't rushed to give her a bottle of pregnancy supplement pills, she wouldn't have gotten pregnant, and without pregnancy, there wouldn't have been any opportunity for others to scheme against her.
After he had vented his anger, he finally revealed the purpose of his return to Beijing.
"Give me an imperial decree, and I'll go to the imperial mausoleum."
"What are you doing?"
Shen Jinchen looked up at him, his face full of wariness.
“I’ve become a monk, what else can I do? Over the years I’ve learned some methods of salvation, so I’ll go to her grave and chant some sutras for her. That’s all I can do in the end.”
Jun Jianchou vented his anger, then casually found a seat in Shen Jinchen's Yangxin Hall and said irritably.
"Fine! After this, come to the palace. I don't want to see you."
Shen Jinchen wiped the blood from the corner of his lips with a handkerchief, then walked to the desk, picked up a brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote an imperial edict.
"Let's go! Who wants to enter your palace? Cen Xi doesn't care either. If you hadn't gone to such lengths to keep her tied up, she would never have been so foolish as to want to enter this palace. If she hadn't come to this palace, she wouldn't have been schemed against to death by those who thought they were doing you a favor. This is what you owe her. Remember to repay her in your next life."
Although Jun Jianchou was wearing a monk's robe and had a shaved head, he didn't look like a monk at all. He scoffed at the local thugs, but he didn't care about his image or anything like that.
He casually uttered this sentence, took the imperial edict, and turned to leave.
After he had been gone for a long time, Shen Jinchen looked at him and slowly looked away, but his heart was still filled with mixed feelings.
Jun Jianchou was right when he said that Cen Xi really didn't like the palace, and it was all because of him that she ended up moving in.
Her uncle and adoptive father wanted to deal with her because he had dragged her into the mess and caused all the trouble. He felt he had wronged her for the rest of his life.
Jun Jianchou encountered Jun Xiaoqiao on his way from the palace to the imperial mausoleum.
She was currently leading a hundred guards, blocking the official road, and smiling as she watched him ride towards her.
Knowing that he would hurt many people if he charged recklessly, Jun Jianchou compromised and dismounted to confront the woman.
"Jun Xiaoqiao, what do you want to do?"
"Take me with you to the imperial mausoleum. If you don't let me go, then you shouldn't go either."
Jun Xiaoqiao got straight to the point.
"You spend all your time in the capital, going to an imperial tomb would be a piece of cake for you, why do you need someone to take you?"
Jun Jianchou looked at her with disdain and didn't hold back his sarcastic remarks.
“You know how much Shen Jinchen cherishes Cen Xi, that woman. How could he possibly let me into the imperial mausoleum? Only a rival like you could provoke him. It’s not that I’m not doing well; it’s that the emperor simply didn’t give me a chance.”
Jun Xiaoqiao rolled her eyes and lazily offered an explanation.
"How did you know I would go to the imperial tombs, and why did you bring such a large group of people to wait for me here?"
He had never wanted to deal with this cousin since he was a child, but she and Cen Xi were inseparable, so he could only curse inwardly when he was annoyed.
It seems I can't get rid of this woman today.
So I asked a pointless question.
"We've known each other since we were kids, how could I not know what you're thinking? Enough nonsense, tell me if you're taking me or not? If you're not taking me, then we'll just have to fight."
Jun Xiaoqiao chuckled, gave her a look that said she was an idiot, and then began to threaten her.
"If I say no, all your guards will be beaten down in a few moves by me, so why waste your time?"
Jun Jianchou coldly stared at Jun Xiaoqiao, signaling him not to accept the threat.
"That woman Cen Xi must miss me too. Are you sure you have a chance to take me to see her, but won't fulfill her wish?"
When Jun Xiaoqiao realized that force wouldn't work, she had no choice but to try a softer approach.
She was the Empress, and since she arrived there, she could only see her from afar. She hadn't even had a chance to properly scold that woman yet.
Now that the opportunity is right in front of her, how could she sit still?
Jun Jianchou remained silent for a moment, thinking that Cen Xi would definitely be willing to see this woman as well.
Then he said in an annoyed tone:
"Let's go, just the two of us. You can't bring the rest of you."
"Yeah, as long as I can go, that's fine. You're the most reliable cousin."
Jun Xiaoqiao had a fawning smile on her face.
"Judging from your appearance, it seems you're living quite comfortably in the capital. Don't you want to find another man?"
Jun Jianchou looked her up and down before mounting his horse.
"When you meet the right person, you naturally won't think about other men. My current husband is great, and besides, we have a son and a daughter. For the sake of my children, do you think I, as a mother, would have the mind to think about anything else? Jun Jianchou, don't underestimate me. I can be devoted to one person too."
Jun Xiaoqiao snorted and mounted her horse cleanly and swiftly, taking off ahead of Jun Jianchou before he could even notice.
"You damned woman, I'd be a fool to believe you. It's probably the power of the Prime Minister's mansion that forced you to compromise. Tch!"
Perhaps the abbot is right; he is indeed not suited to Buddhism. Despite chanting Buddhist prayers for seven or eight years, he ultimately lacks compassion.
Therefore, whenever he faced Jun Xiaoqiao, he couldn't help but spit out a few words.
The two arrived at the imperial mausoleum and gazed upon the magnificent palace. They both couldn't help but click their tongues in admiration.
As expected of a royal garden, it's incredibly extravagant and wasteful.
The entire magnificent palace was carved from white jade, and Cen Xi's tombstone was especially exquisite, clearly priceless.
"No wonder people fight tooth and nail to become emperor. Even the dead can live in such good conditions. It's worth it, even if there are swords and shadows."
Jun Xiaoqiao touched the white jade tombstone in front of Cen Xi's tomb, and after taking another look at the furnishings in the hall, she couldn't help but sigh.
“There’s something wrong with Cen Xi. I feel that her soul is unstable and she’s being imprisoned by something. Jun Xiaoqiao, don’t move around. Let me take a closer look.”
Jun Jianchou had no interest in appreciating the grandeur of the royal gardens as soon as he entered. Perhaps it was because he had initially recovered a part of Cen Xi's scattered soul that he sensed Cen Xi's soul was imprisoned by something as soon as he entered the hall.
"What? You're saying Cen Xi's soul didn't find peace after he died?"
Jun Xiaoqiao stared wide-eyed, her face full of suspicion.
"Yes, I must perform a ritual to release her from this curse. You go and keep watch outside."
Jun Jianchou's face was pale, and his tone was extremely cold.
"You can even perform magic? When did you learn these things?"
Jun Xiaoqiao hadn't even finished processing his previous sentence when his next sentence shocked her even more.
“I learned it in the Hidden Sect. There are many forbidden techniques there. Otherwise, do you think I was able to return Cen Xi’s soul to its place so easily? Perhaps it is precisely because of that that I was able to easily discover that she had a problem.”
"Actually, the emperor in the palace also knew some of it, but perhaps because he didn't have that connection, he didn't realize it."
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