Chapter 4: The Reason for the Confiscation!
Shen Lanxi staggered, as if she was trying her best to endure the pain, and made a face of gritted teeth and suppressed pain.
Just one step away, Zhou Chengqian saw the ground where she had been standing, a blinding red!
Zhou Chengqian narrowed his dragon eyes and took a deep breath. She actually ran here!
"Your Majesty, Uncle, I can't stand hearing such filthy things! I really can't stand it!" Shen Lanxi stomped her foot hard as if she was furious, and her face immediately contorted in pain.
Her arrogant and frantic demeanor reminded Zhou Chengqian of how Shen Lanxi used to act arrogantly in front of the princes and princesses, relying on the Empress Dowager's favor.
This woman is naive and only dares to trespass into the palace because she is favored by the emperor.
Normally, Zhou Chengqian would have given him a stern reprimand, but now...
"Nonsense! Is the Imperial Palace a place you can trespass on?"
Shen Lanxi immediately lowered her head in fear and shrank her shoulders.
Zhou Chengqian rubbed his throbbing temples: "Wang Bao, go and bring me the urgent memorial from last night!"
Wang Bao quickly bowed and withdrew.
"Xi Xi, last night, an urgent message arrived from the Northwest: the supplies your father was in charge of for the Wei family army turned to stone after they arrived at the Northwest front. The Wei family army had no money to buy supplies and was besieged by the Turks, Tatars, and Persians. The Wei family army was completely wiped out, and six cities in the Northwest were lost. I have ordered people to search the Shen family mansion overnight. The entire Shen family, all eighty-nine people, have been imprisoned in the Imperial Prison."
Shen Lanxi looked as if she had heard some shocking news, her face filled with disbelief. She took several steps back until her back hit the wall before she could stand up.
"Your Majesty, Uncle, what you're saying isn't true. The grain and provisions turning into stones was definitely not done by my father. I beg Your Majesty, Uncle, to investigate!" Shen Lanxi knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly to Zhou Chengqian.
Wang Bao quickly brought the memorial, and Zhou Chengqian instructed Wang Bao to give it to Shen Lanxi.
"Look at this! Of the 400,000 heroic souls of the Wei family army, not a single one survived. Those who stole the rations and pay deserve to die a thousand deaths!"
Shen Lanxi quickly got up and unfolded the memorial to read it. She read it three times in total, not daring to miss a single word, from beginning to end, before returning it to Wang Bao.
"Your Majesty, my father is definitely innocent. I beg you to investigate this thoroughly!" Shen Lanxi clasped her hands together and kowtowed respectfully and nervously.
Zhou Chengqian lowered his eyes, his expression complex and unreadable.
"Xi Xi, the morning court session is about to begin. I need to give an explanation to the officials and the soldiers on the border!"
It took Shen Lanxi a good five or six seconds to raise her head, her beautiful face already covered in tears.
"So, does His Majesty intend to use my Shen family to quell the anger of the officials and soldiers on the border?" Her voice was soft, as if she were questioning or stating a fact.
"Xi Xi, I promise you I will thoroughly investigate this matter. But right now, the most important thing is to stabilize the court and the morale of the army. Do you understand what I'm saying?" Zhou Chengqian said earnestly.
Shen Lanxi sat slumped on the ground, stunned, letting the blood from her feet stain the floor tiles.
"But Uncle, my father is truly innocent, and our Shen family is innocent too!"
Zhou Chengqian looked at her miserable and distraught appearance, his eyes momentarily glazed over, as if he were looking through her at someone else.
"I can promise you that I will do my best to save the lives of your family."
Shen Lanxi raised her head, a poignant smile appearing on her face.
"Uncle, my family is gone. Did Zhou Ruyuan know all along, which is why he dared to treat me like this on our wedding night!" Her eyes were filled with a resolute determination.
Upon hearing her words, a gloomy light immediately flashed in Zhou Chengqian's eyes.
"Nonsense! He's only been back from the Southwest for less than half a month. How could he possibly know about this!" One is from the Southwest, the other from the Northwest. What good would it do him to harm the Wei family army?
"I know that the Third Prince has wronged you in this matter. I can assure you that the Shen family's affairs will absolutely not involve you!"
Shen Lanxi immediately rejected the idea: "Uncle, don't favor him just because he's your son. I'm your own niece, and I'm your family too!"
Zhou Chengqian: "I will immediately order that woman to be put to death."
Shen Lanxi threw a tantrum like a madwoman: "I don't want it! I want a divorce! He wronged me! I don't want him anymore!"
Seeing the person throwing a childish tantrum in front of him, Zhou Chengqian gradually lost his patience.
"Are you really going to get a divorce?"
Shen Lanxi immediately got up and knelt down, saying stubbornly, "I want a divorce!"
Zhou Chengqian's eyes were unfathomable, and he said in a low voice, "Have you thought this through? If you divorce, you will no longer be a member of the royal family. The best outcome for the Shen family is exile of the entire clan. Do you want to go with them to the place of exile and suffer?"
Shen Lanxi straightened her back, stubborn and defiant: "I'll endure hardship if I have to. I'm with my family, and they definitely won't let me suffer any grievances!"
Zhou Chengqian stood up and took two steps, each step feeling like a blow to Shen Lanxi's heart.
"Very well, I grant you the divorce. In a few days, I will send someone to the Prince of Zhennan's residence to deliver the imperial decree. Go back and wait!"
Shen Lanxi breathed a sigh of relief and placed the treasure box bestowed by the Empress Dowager in front of her.
"Uncle, we part today, and we don't know when we'll meet again. The Eastern Pearl, a gift from the Empress Dowager, I offer to you, Uncle, hoping you won't forget this disobedient junior!"
Zhou Chengqian's gaze fell on the box, then he turned and glanced at Wang Bao.
"Princess Lanxi, let this old servant take you to get some medicine. You've lost so much blood, you don't want it to leave a scar!" Wang Bao pulled Shen Lanxi up and led her outside.
After the two walked away, Zhou Chengqian bent down, picked up the treasure box, and opened it. Inside was a large, round bead that shone so brightly it seemed to glow.
...
"Eunuch Wang, I won't go to apply the medicine." Shen Lanxi broke free from Wang Bao's arms, glanced at the palace maid carrying snacks, and took the box from her.
Wang Bao bowed and said to the palace maid, "Go back and report now!"
The palace maid curtsied and left.
Shen Lanxi turned her back, opened the food box, took out a pastry, and handed the rest, along with the basket, to Wang Bao.
"The Empress Dowager always gets it wrong. I clearly like chestnut cake, but she always gives me walnut cake. Eunuch Wang, I don't like walnut cake, you can have it!"
Wang Bao felt a sudden weight in his hand; along with the basket, a pass to the Empress Dowager's palace was placed in his hand.
"Eunuch Wang, I'm leaving now. You should go back and report!" Shen Lanxi ate her walnut cake and left without looking back.
Wang Bao stood there for a while, watching until she turned the corner and disappeared, before taking the token and going back to report!
Without the pass, she would never be able to enter the capital city legitimately again. Regardless of whether her feigned madness could deceive Emperor Renxiao, one thing was certain: it would lower his guard against her, and perhaps even soften his heart a little because of the blood on her foot. Otherwise, he would never have agreed to the divorce so readily!
The emperor's words are law, and his pronouncements are imperial edicts. What she needs to do now is return to the Zhennan Prince's Mansion, where there is an important matter waiting for her to handle!
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(End of this chapter)
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