In mid-August.
News came from the palace that the fourth son of the general's mansion, Shen Hefeng, was conferred the title of fifth-rank talent by the emperor.
It is only late September now.
Shen Cairen jumped two levels in a row and was promoted to the fourth rank Fanghua.
Chen Hefeng is deeply loved by His Majesty the Emperor. Since he entered the harem, the Emperor has only favored Shen Hefeng at all times except for the first day of the lunar year when he visited the Empress' Fengyi Palace.
Such honor and favor from Shen Hefeng naturally caused dissatisfaction among many people in the palace.
There were already memorials submitted by the imperial censors, denouncing Chen Hefeng as a "corrupt servant who brought disaster to the country", but they were all refuted by the emperor. The young imperial censor who took the lead in making trouble was dismissed from office by the emperor on other pretexts, and his entire family was expelled from the capital.
But this did not calm the court down, instead it made more eyes focus on Shen Hefeng.
Because of Shen Hefeng's connections, Shen Ci was able to secure his position as the Great General of the Nation. For a time, he was in the limelight and was extremely proud of himself.
Ling Shumo had originally wanted to push someone from his faction to the position of Minister of Personnel, and the emperor had tacitly agreed.
But when things came to a critical moment, the official named Li Qiao, whom she had originally recommended, was exposed for the scandal of treating a maid as her husband. Not only did her position as Shangshu fall through, but she, the person who recommended her, was also called into the palace by the emperor and scolded.
The laws of the empire did not clearly stipulate that a concubine could not be promoted to the emperor's husband. Li Qiao's promotion of a concubine as a husband could only be considered a moral issue, and others gossiped about her behind her back. Now, her official career was ruined because of this reason, which was really an exaggeration.
If Ling Shumo said that there was no favored servant Shen Hefeng who instigated the emperor, she would never believe it even if she was beaten to death.
After the morning court session.
Ling Shumo was blocked by Chen Ci, and was still sixty or seventy feet away from Donghua Gate.
Chen Ci smiled and bowed to Ling Shumo, "Your Highness, the world is so unpredictable, it really makes people sigh.
I originally thought that my fourth brother's marriage into the Eastern Palace would be able to repair the relationship between Your Highness and me.
As a result, my fourth brother's luck came, and it was really unstoppable. I really couldn't have imagined that he could catch the eye of Your Majesty.
If Chen Hefeng had become your concubine, I could have still been so shameless as to call Your Highness my sister, but now that Chen Hefeng has become Your Majesty's man, there is a generation gap between me and Your Highness."
Ling Shumo never expected that Shen Ci would stop her and say such words.
Her expression froze for a moment, then she burst into laughter. "Yeah, 'there's a generation gap.' When a great general speaks, he's really not afraid of his tongue getting caught in the wind."
Even if Shen Hefeng had entered the Eastern Palace, he was only a concubine, not a princess, so the General's Mansion could not be considered a proper relative of the Eastern Palace.
Moreover, even if her legal husband, the biological mother of the Eastern Palace Princess, came, Ling Shumo would not dare to act like a mother-in-law unless she took the initiative to be polite.
Chen Hefeng is now just a fourth-rank official. The meaning of Shen Ci's words is that he dares to seek kinship with the emperor.
She also said that she was of a different generation from him.
She didn't understand Shen Hefeng's character and didn't comment on it casually, but she could see that Shen Hean and Shen Ci were definitely siblings.
"If you are not from the same family, you will not enter the same house." This brother and sister are cut from the same mold, both arrogant and conceited.
Seeing Ling Shumo laugh, Shen Ci also laughed. Her laugh was much louder than Ling Shumo's, but her voice was lowered, "Your Highness, I have another good news to tell you.
You certainly can't imagine that Shen Fanghua (Shen Hefeng) has been pregnant for more than a month.
However, according to our ancestors, it was too early to tell the news this month, so His Majesty suppressed the news.
But I don't believe this. When I heard about this great news, I wanted to tell Your Highness the first thing I did.
Shen Ci raised his hand and wanted to pat Ling Shumo's shoulder, but was dodged.
She didn't seem annoyed, but instead her smile became even brighter, but her eyes were filled with ill intentions, "If I were to say, Shen Fanghua really should give His Highness a big gift.
If Your Highness had not asked me to take him to the Imperial Study to be conferred the title of Crown Princess Consort, how could he have had such a great blessing as to conceive Your Majesty's child.
It is even more likely that he will use this happy event to discuss with His Majesty the selection of the Minister of Personnel."
Ling Shumo finally raised her eyes and looked at Shen Ci.
Her guess was correct. Li Qiao failed to become the Minister of Personnel because of Shen Hefeng's whispering to the emperor.
Chen Ci stared straight at Ling Shumo, "Your Highness, does it feel very uncomfortable when the boomerang pierces your body? When you broke into the general's mansion and crippled one of my arms, why didn't you think that there would be a day like this for you?"
Chen Ci didn't wait for Ling Shumo to speak. Her face was twisted with a smile. "Your Majesty has not taken back the military power in my hands. Now there is another war in the northern border, and I will soon lead the troops to fight again. The accounts between me and Your Highness will be settled with you slowly after I come back from the northern border battlefield."
It was obvious that Shen Hefeng's favor had made Shen Ci get carried away.
Ling Shumo sneered, "General Shen, do you know that there is a saying called 'extreme joy leads to sorrow'? You should first come back alive from the battlefield in the northern border before you talk nonsense to me."
In fact, compared to "coming back alive from the battlefield in Northern Frontier", what Ling Shumo wanted to say more was that Shen Ci didn't even have the life to go to the battlefield.
Shen Hefeng's appearance was only above average, his only advantage being his youthful appearance. But how could the emperor possibly be without young men around him? The reason the emperor was so obsessed with Shen Hefeng was entirely because Shen Hefeng had taken the secret medicine Chu Changying had given him.
As long as the emperor continued to favor Shen Hefeng, the toxins within him would slowly erode the emperor's body. In the initial stages of the poisoning, the emperor would simply blame himself for overindulgence. The emperor would stop favoring Shen Hefeng, and the Imperial Hospital would prescribe kidney-tonifying remedies. This dual approach would not alleviate the symptoms. Physical weakness and fatigue would only exacerbate his mental irritability.
Then, she would find the right moment to reveal it all.
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