Before he finished speaking, he heard Shen Wangshu instructing the palace maids to bring him new bowls and chopsticks, and ordering someone to heat up the soup and replace it with new, untouched food. A hint of a smile appeared in his indifferent eyes.
"Drink some soup before you eat." Shen Wangshu placed the warm chicken soup that the palace maid had brought in in front of the Regent.
"Ah Xuan." The young man took the soup, his slender fingers touching Shen Wangshu's for a moment, and suddenly spoke.
"What?"
"You may call me Ah Xuan." He lowered his head and drank his soup, as if it were just ordinary small talk.
He was the regent in everyone's eyes, but he didn't want to be seen as the same regent in hers.
He is just Ah Xuan.
"Brother, you haven't used the name Ah Xuan in a long time." Emperor Hui was so angry at being treated like a nobody by the Regent that he felt like his heart was about to break. Seeing Shen Wangshu looking at him coldly, he said in a stifled tone, "This is your name, but the Consort probably doesn't know it." He forced a laugh. Although he had just scolded the Regent, he was too weak to rebuke him in front of the Regent and had to soften his tone.
He felt humiliated and knew he had lost his imperial dignity, yet he still had to try to salvage the situation.
"How dare you, Your Highness, beat my Consort He in the palace today?" he said with a forced smile.
"So what if she was hit? Did she complain to His Majesty?" Ah Xuan drank his soup and, seeing Shen Wangshu eating with her head down, also took a few bites from Shen Wangshu's chopsticks.
"She cried." Emperor Hui said, genuinely heartbroken.
"She complains after being beaten; that's not the mark of a good woman," Ah Xuan said, clearly displeased.
Does keeping quiet after being beaten make a good woman? Is that how a good woman is defined?
Emperor Hui was about to speak of Consort He's pitiful state when he was suddenly speechless with astonishment.
"What do you mean by 'slapped'? I was slapped myself a while ago." Shen Wangshu paused, looked up at Ah Xuan, only to see the young man looking at her calmly, without any guilt whatsoever. She felt helpless and covered her mouth, coldly saying, "But I've been watching closely, and His Majesty doesn't seem to care about me as much as he does about Consort He!"
She sneered and narrowed her eyes, saying, "Consort He spoke rudely, and even if Ah Xuan hadn't punished her, I would have still taken action! Just because she received a slap, she's already stirring up trouble and sowing discord in the palace... could it be..."
"Whose tablet is she that she can be compared to the Imperial Concubine?" Fearing that Ah Xuan would find out that Consort He was the one he loved and would further mistreat and hurt her, Emperor Hui's heart skipped a beat, and he said tenderly.
"She is nothing but mud on the ground, incomparable to me," Shen Wangshu said with a sneer.
"But she is still a concubine. This is an insult to you, brother. How will she live in the palace in the future?" Emperor Hui looked at the Consort's proud and beautiful face, which seemed to take everything for granted, and could not refute her. He could only soften his voice and say, "She should have some dignity, shouldn't she? She has been wronged today. All the concubines in the palace follow your lead. Go to her palace and see her. Comfort her. Then everyone in the palace will know that she is not someone to be underestimated."
Even the Imperial Concubine protects her and thinks highly of her; today's matter should be able to be smoothed over.
"I will not go," Shen Wangshu resolutely refused.
"What?!"
"She said she's not going," Ah Xuan said calmly from the side, fearing that Emperor Hui hadn't heard her clearly.
"Who is she that I should lower myself to such a high position?! Your Majesty is always scheming for her, surely you have something going on with her?" Shen Wangshu looked at Emperor Hui with suspicion.
Emperor Hui's heart was pounding; he knew she had seen right through him. He forced a smile and said, "How could that be!"
"Since she means nothing to His Majesty, what's wrong with making her lose face?" Shen Wangshu found it ridiculous that Emperor Hui was shrinking back and not daring to admit it. She said indifferently, "Besides, being favored by the emperor will inevitably attract jealousy. By losing face and staying at home now, she can avoid some trouble. Otherwise, if His Majesty and I treat her differently, it might be a fatal disaster for her!"
Seeing Emperor Hui suddenly understand and nod coolly, Shen Wangshu slowly withdrew her mocking gaze and said slowly, "Not only that, but to protect her, I must also advise Your Majesty to punish her crimes!"
"What?!" Emperor Hui had missed so many things today.
“Today, some concubines suspect that she is using her pitiful state to curry favor and are already on guard against her. If I were His Majesty, I would personally issue an edict to reprimand her and express my dislike for her. Otherwise, her future days will likely be difficult.”
As Shen Wangshu spoke, he began to laugh.
"It would be even better if she were demoted to the rank of concubine as a warning to others."
Emperor Hui hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded in the smiling eyes of Shen Wangshu.
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