Chapter 356 Emperor Renxiao and Zhou Xinrou!
Zhou Ruyuan glanced at the steward, who understood and immediately began to clear the area with the guards.
In no time at all, the people in front of the Zhennan Prince's Mansion had been driven away.
Seeing that he was being ignored, Shen Yuantang was filled with anger and resentment and struggled with all his might.
"Let her go!" Shen Lanxi ordered.
The female guard deftly untied the person.
"Your Highness, they're all bullying me!" Shen Yuantang cried as she ran toward Zhou Ruyuan.
The Shen family members' expressions changed repeatedly upon seeing her like this.
Shen Lanxi: "I just want to ask Your Highness one question: Did you order her to come to me to ask for the mission to wipe out the pirates in Nanning?"
Zhou Ruyuan looked sharply at Shen Yuantang.
"No, I have never told her anything about matters of the court!"
Shen Yuantang's eyes welled up with tears because of the word "never".
"Your Highness, I only want to help you."
Zhou Ruyuan never expected her to be so bold as to go to Shen Lanxi. The pity he felt for her because she had been schemed against vanished at this moment.
"I never told you about the bandit suppression in Nanning. Where did you hear that from?"
Shen Yuantang shrank back, his eyes darting away, avoiding Zhou Ruyuan's gaze.
Shen Lanxi: "Since it wasn't Your Highness who sent them, then Your Highness should keep a close eye on the people in your own household in the future. My Juding Mansion is not a place where just anyone can enter."
Zhou Ruyuan heard the warning and a bitter smile appeared on his lips.
"From now on, I will definitely manage the inner quarters more strictly."
Shen Lanxi nodded coldly and called the Shen family members to leave.
Almost as soon as they arrived at the Shen residence, the Zhennan Prince's Mansion sent word that from now on, the women of the inner quarters were not allowed to go out without permission.
"Big sister, what's wrong with Sister Yuantang?" Shen Yuanqing murmured, her head down.
Shen Lanxi: "People change as they grow up."
Shen Yuanqing frowned, finding it hard to believe, and said, "Even if it changes, it can't become this irrational!"
Shen Lanxi chuckled: "If she dares to come to my residence today to ask for a job on behalf of Zhou Ruyuan, next time she will be willing to disregard the safety of our Shen family for Zhou Ruyuan's sake."
"No way? Although Yuan Tang is a bit willful, she wouldn't do something to smear our Shen family and ruin our Shen family!" Old Madam Shen didn't believe it.
Shen Lanxi said with a deep look in her eyes, "So many eyes in the capital are watching our Shen family. She's not a child anymore, how could she not understand?"
No one from the Shen family responded.
“Take the gate of my mansion for example. There are at least ten spies loitering around every day. Those spies are sent by various families to find fault with us. I have warned my family more than once to be careful with their words and actions, but she has not listened to me at all!”
Madam Shen moved her lips, but in the end, all the words in her heart turned into a sigh.
Shen Lanxi stood up: "I still need to go to the palace. Please take care of things at home, Grandmother."
Old Man Shen was also powerless to do anything; he didn't even have the strength to say a word of refusal.
...
"Uncle, it's not that I want to come and complain to you, it's just that it's so infuriating..." Shen Lanxi told you the truth about what happened today.
Emperor Renxiao had just received the news and hadn't said anything when Shen Lanxi entered the palace.
"Please forgive Yuan Tang this time, Uncle. Her confusion is all my fault as her older sister for not teaching her well. If you want to punish someone, punish me instead!"
Even though Emperor Renxiao was furious, Shen Lanxi's loyalty and devotion to the emperor extinguished his anger.
"Alright, get up and speak!"
Shen Lanxi looked extremely guilty.
“You grew up in the palace when you were young, and then went to Dongchuan when you grew up, so you didn’t have much time to spend with Yuan Tang. If you say you didn’t raise her well, the responsibility lies with your mother, not you!”
Shen Lanxi lowered her head and remained silent.
"Go back now and summon your mother to the palace!"
"Uncle, if you must punish someone, punish me, not my mother!" Shen Lanxi said sincerely.
Emperor Renxiao: "Go, go, I have my own arrangements!"
After leaving the palace, Shen Lanxi went straight to the royal temple.
"Mother, His Majesty requests your presence in the palace." Shen Lanxi recounted the events of the day.
With her back to Shen Lanxi, Zhou Xinrou held prayer beads in one hand and tapped a wooden fish with the other, chanting Buddhist scriptures incessantly.
"Mother…"
An old nanny stepped forward to stop them.
"My lord, please wait a moment. The princess will not stop until she has finished reciting a scroll of Buddhist scriptures. She said that if she stops, her heart will not be sincere."
Shen Lanxi quietly left the room, and the old woman who had been speaking also left.
"Granny, is Mother comfortable at the temple?"
The old woman said softly, "It's comfortable here. This is a royal temple, venerated by the royal family. The princess is of noble status, and the people in the temple dare not neglect her!"
Shen Lanxi nodded and walked around casually.
"Since Mother is so devoted to her spiritual practice, as her daughter, I must ensure she lives comfortably. If there are any areas in the temple that need repair, please send someone to do so. Just have the repairmen collect the money from the Duke of Juding's mansion."
The old woman flattered him, saying, "Your Excellency is extremely filial, and even the Bodhisattvas in the temple see it. You are a blessed man, and you will surely live a peaceful and prosperous life."
Accompanied by her nanny, Shen Lanxi strolled around the temple, made a substantial offering of incense money at the main hall, and when she returned, Zhou Xinrou had already finished reciting a Buddhist scripture.
"Mother……"
Zhou Xinrou clasped her hands together and gazed devoutly at the Buddha statue before her.
"I already know. I'll pack my things and head to the palace to see His Majesty."
Shen Lanxi lowered her eyes: "Mother, I just don't want Yuan Tang to get involved in the princes' factional struggle."
Zhou Xinrou closed her eyes: "I understand what you mean. Yuan Tang must have been misled. I will go to the palace to explain to His Majesty."
Shen Lanxi: "It's good that Mother understands her daughter!"
Half an hour later, the two parted ways at the crossroads; one went into the palace, and the other headed towards the Juding Duke's Mansion.
Zhou Xinrou watched the departing carriage through the window until it disappeared from sight before turning her gaze away.
"Bring me the rouge and lipstick."
"yes!"
Just as we were about to enter the palace gate, a small sedan chair came out from inside.
Zhou Xinrou alighted from the carriage and was helped into a sedan chair. The palace servants, with a bamboo curtain drawn behind them, skillfully carried the sedan chair into the palace.
In the secret chambers of the palace
"Your Majesty, Xinrou has arrived!" Zhou Xinrou changed her demeanor from that of a bodhisattva in the temple and placed her hand on the outstretched hand like a little girl.
"Xinrou, if I don't let anyone summon you, will you refuse to come to the palace to see me?" Emperor Renxiao's voice drifted out softly.
"No, Xinrou didn't mean anything by it. She just didn't want to put His Majesty in a difficult position," Zhou Xinrou sobbed.
Emperor Renxiao sighed and slowly closed his hands.
"Xinrou, I know you still blame me."
"No, Xinrou wouldn't dare. How could Xinrou blame His Majesty? If it weren't for His Majesty, Xinrou would probably have been executed along with the Shen family."
Emperor Renxiao pulled the person into his arms with great pity: "I know you've been wronged. If it weren't for the Empress Dowager's bestowal of this marriage, you would be standing shoulder to shoulder with me now, the one who would rule the world as empress."
"Your Majesty, it's just fate that has separated us. It's all destiny. I don't blame you. This is the situation I could only dream of..."
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