Inside the Imperial Study.
The emperor is reviewing memorials.
Eunuch Yuan served tea to the Emperor, saying, "Your Majesty has been reading memorials for quite some time. Please have some tea and rest for a while."
The emperor did not speak, so Eunuch Yuan placed the teacup on the dragon table.
The young eunuch went in, leaned close to Eunuch Yuan's ear and whispered a few words. Eunuch Yuan asked, "Didn't you see the imperial physician?"
The eunuch shook his head. "Princess Ling didn't see the imperial physician; she left the palace directly."
The Emperor put down the memorial he was holding, picked up another one, and asked, "What's wrong?"
Eunuch Yuan then said, "The Empress summoned Princess Ling to the palace. Princess Ling was in a hurry to go back and accompany the Prince. She walked too fast and accidentally twisted her ankle."
The Emperor asked, "What does the Empress want with Princess Ling in the palace?"
Eunuch Yuan shook his head.
He didn't know.
The young eunuch said, "It seems that Princess Jin is pregnant and has a picky palate. She wants to eat dragon beard candy. The best dragon beard candy in the palace is made by Imperial Chef Li, but His Majesty bestowed it upon Princess Ling. The Empress summoned Princess Ling to the palace for this matter..."
The emperor's face suddenly turned cold.
Although Yan'er's vomiting has improved, it is not completely cured. Princess Ling is busy taking care of Yan'er, and the Empress even summoned Princess Ling to the palace for such a trivial matter.
Seeing the Emperor's displeasure, the young eunuch continued, "Princess Ling's maidservant had some complaints. Princess Ling was afraid that Prince Ling would be angry if he found out, so she instructed the maidservant not to tell Prince Ling. If Prince Ling asks, just say that the Empress summoned her to the palace to inquire about his health..."
Seeing that the Emperor's expression was growing increasingly grim, and that the young eunuch's voice was almost inaudible, Eunuch Yuan waved his hand, and the young eunuch quickly withdrew.
The Emperor said, "Go and ask the Empress how the preparations for the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet are going."
Phoenix Palace.
Empress Song sat on her phoenix throne, eating bird's nest, and was in a very good mood.
How dare she humiliate her daughter in front of the Emperor? She is, after all, the Empress. To her, a mere prince's consort, is as easy as a few words.
Thinking of Shen Wan's angry but unable-to-speak-out expression, Empress Song's anger, which she had been suppressing for days, subsided somewhat.
Normally, she would only eat half a bowl of bird's nest soup at most, but when she was in a good mood, her appetite would improve, and she ate the whole bowl of bird's nest soup. Just as she put the bowl down, a palace maid came in and said, "Your Highness, Eunuch Yuan has arrived."
Empress Song was somewhat surprised. Why was Eunuch Yuan coming to Fengyi Palace?
A short while later, Eunuch Yuan entered. Empress Song smiled and said, "Eunuch Yuan, have you come to my palace because His Majesty has some instructions?"
Eunuch Yuan said, "His Majesty sent me to inquire about the progress of preparations for the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet."
Empress Song smiled and said, "Your Majesty is busy with many affairs of state, yet you still care so much about the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet. Rest assured, Your Majesty, the preparations for the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet are already complete."
Eunuch Yuan then said, "His Majesty said that the birthday banquet is ready, and he wants Your Majesty to copy a hundred more Buddhist scriptures to pray for the Empress Dowager's well-being."
Empress Song's smile froze, but she quickly recovered and said with a smile, "It is a good thing to copy Buddhist scriptures to pray for the Empress Dowager. It is an honor for me that Your Majesty has made this arrangement."
By portraying punishment as an honor, even Eunuch Yuan had to admire Empress Song's ability to pat herself on the back.
Eunuch Yuan was just there to deliver a message; once the matter was settled, he took his leave.
Almost as soon as Eunuch Yuan turned around, Empress Song's face fell. After Eunuch Yuan left, she gritted her teeth and said, "Go and find out who suggested to the Emperor that I copy Buddhist scriptures for the Empress Dowager!"
She wanted to see who in the harem had the audacity to oppose her.
Before the palace maid could turn around, a young eunuch hurried in and said, "Your Majesty, Princess Ling sprained her ankle on her way out of the palace..."
Empress Song's face darkened. When the palace maids wanted to investigate the matter, Empress Song said coldly, "There's no need to investigate!"
The palace maid looked at Empress Song with a blank expression.
Empress Song's face was as cold as if it were covered with a layer of frost.
What a wonderful Princess Consort Ling!
He only summoned her to the palace once, and on the surface he was respectful to her, daring not to speak his anger. Little did he know that behind her back he would be trying to sow discord between her and the Emperor.
No wonder the Emperor sent Eunuch Yuan to ask her how the preparations for the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet were going. Upon hearing that the preparations were complete, he immediately ordered her to copy one hundred chapters of family rules to pray for the Empress Dowager's well-being.
The Emperor thinks she's too idle, so he's giving her something to do!
Empress Song gripped her phoenix robe tightly with her hands.
As for Shen Wan, she limped out of the palace and returned to the Prince's residence in a carriage with the help of Yin Shuang. She pretended to sprain her ankle as soon as she got out of the carriage and limped up the steps.
Upon seeing this, Steward Zhou asked, "What's wrong with Your Highness?"
Shen Wan said, "I just accidentally twisted my ankle in the palace..."
Steward Zhou asked, "Has the imperial physician been seen?"
Shen Wan shook her head, "No need, I'll just apply some medicine when I get back."
Yinshuang helped Shen Wan back to Moyuxuan by herself, but Steward Zhou was worried, so he called another maid to help.
However, just as Shen Wan entered the second gate, Xie Jingyan strode over and said, "How could you be so careless?"
Without saying a word, he picked Shen Wan up and carried her in his arms, his handsome face full of heartache.
Shen Wan whispered, "I didn't sprain my ankle, I was faking it..."
Xie Jingyan's handsome brows furrowed into a knot as he looked at Shen Wan. "Give me a reason."
Shen Wan said, "It's all because of the Empress. Princess Jin wanted to eat pastries made by Imperial Chef Li, and she summoned me to the palace for such a trivial matter. I was furious, but I couldn't openly complain to the Emperor, so I could only pretend to sprain my ankle."
As she spoke, Shen Wan said, "Put me down, I can walk by myself."
"If you're going to put on a show, you have to go all the way."
Even though Shen Wan hadn't actually sprained her ankle, Xie Jingyan still carried her back to Moyuxuan and sat with her for a while before returning to his study at Shen Wan's urging.
After Xie Jingyan left, Shen Wan lay on the small couch eating snacks. Haitang asked Yinshuang about her visit to the palace today, and Yinshuang told her everything. Haitang said, "The Princess Consort of Jin and the Second Aunt are not satisfied with competing for favor in the Prince of Jin's mansion, they have even come to the Princess Consort to compete for it."
Haitang's voice wasn't quiet, and Shen Wan looked at her, "What's going on?"
Haitang walked over a few steps and replied, "Before Second Aunt got married, didn't the Princess Consort have me bribe two of Second Aunt's dowry maids? Today, news came back that ever since Princess Consort of Jin became pregnant, Prince Jin has doted on Second Aunt, to the point that he even has Second Aunt accompany him when he's doing official business in his study. Princess Consort of Jin became jealous and promoted two pretty maids from her dowry to serve Prince Jin, but Prince Jin ignored it..."
The second wife's move was truly brilliant; she instantly captured Xie Jingyin's heart. Fu Shu was pregnant and unable to serve Xie Jingyin, so she could only arrange for Xie Jingyin to take a concubine to share Shen Ying's favor. However, she didn't even know the extent of Shen Ying's abilities, so how could she possibly succeed? Unable to contain her anger, she could only rely on the child in her belly to seek attention. It would have been one thing to go to Empress Song, but she even went so far as to come to her indirectly.
Empress Song happened to dislike her, so she took the opportunity to manipulate her.
Shen Wan was secretly annoyed, but before she could vent her anger for long, the news that the Emperor had ordered Empress Song to copy one hundred Buddhist scriptures to pray for the Empress Dowager's well-being reached her ears, and Shen Wan immediately beamed with joy.
Let's see if Empress Song will dare to bully her again.
She is the Empress; she can't do anything to her.
But she couldn't; there was still the Emperor.
The palace is not a place where Empress Song can control everything.
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