Shen Qingqiu struggled to get her hand out of Gu Yanwei's hand. Gu Yanwei frowned, looked down at her and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Now that you are the emperor, it is inappropriate for us to do this."
Gu Yanwei looked at Shen Qingqiu seriously, gently held her hands and said: "The emperor's position is my unshirkable responsibility. You are a concubine in the eyes of outsiders, but in my heart you are my wife. In front of you, I will always be just Gu Yanwei."
Shen Qingqiu always thought that he was not an emotional person, but when Gu Yanwei said such words to him, tears still flowed unconsciously.
Gu Yanwei held her tightly in his arms. Looking at the two of them being affectionate, Suo Xin smiled and tactfully retreated.
——
"Your Majesty, it's time to go to court." Seeing that Gu Yanwei was still sleeping soundly, Shen Qingqiu blew gently into his ear. Gu Yanwei stretched out his arms and hugged her in his arms, "Sleep with me for a while!"
“That won’t do.” Shen Qingqiu pulled back the quilt. “If the emperor does this, the court officials will say that I am a witch who brings disaster to the country and the people.”
"Hahaha." Gu Yanwei turned over and scratched Shen Qingqiu's nose lovingly, "Who dares to say that you are a disaster to the country and the people? If women were allowed to serve in the court, you would probably be much more powerful than many of my capable ministers."
"Okay, okay, you started talking nonsense so early in the morning." After saying that, he turned and said to the outside, "Hurry up and change your clothes, Your Majesty."
Gu Yanwei put on his clothes and kissed Shen Qingqiu on the face, "Wait for me to come back, and we'll have lunch together."
Shen Qingqiu nodded obediently, "Okay."
Watching Gu Yanwei leave, Shen Qingqiu also lifted the quilt covering himself and called the palace maid beside him.
"Lock core, help me change my clothes."
"Miss, why don't you sleep a little longer? There's nothing to worry about."
Shen Qingqiu glanced at the lock core and said, "In the future, you have to learn more rules in this palace. You can't be like the Hou Mansion. From now on, I am the emperor's concubine. According to the rules of the palace, concubines in the harem must greet the queen every day."
"Yes, miss."
"Also, you have to change your title. There is no such thing as a young lady in the palace. From now on, I will be the Empress Defei."
"Yes, madam."
In Fengwu Palace, Li Wanting had been sitting at the table for a long time. The palace maid Chun'er heated the dishes in front of her again and again, but she had no intention of picking up her chopsticks.
"My queen, please eat something. You haven't eaten anything since the wedding. I am really worried about your health."
Li Wanting sneered, "Chun'er, you said that I worked so hard to enter the palace and become the empress because I like His Majesty. Am I wrong? His Majesty has no feelings for me at all."
"My lady."
"Empress." The master and servant were feeling melancholy in the palace when Shen Qingqiu's voice suddenly came from outside the door.
Li Wanting immediately demonstrated her expression and put on an appearance like the Empress of the Central Palace.
"The Concubine De is here."
Shen Qingqiu walked in with a plate of cakes in his hand, "De Fei, pays respect to Her Majesty the Queen."
"Please stand up and sit down."
“Thank you, Madam.” Shen Qingqiu placed the cakes on the table, then glanced at the food on the table and said, “Madam, you haven’t eaten yet this morning?”
The palace maid Chun Er became even angrier when she heard this, and couldn't help but mutter in a low voice: "The cat cries over the rat, but it's just fake mercy."
Shen Qingqiu seemed to have heard it, and his face was slightly embarrassed.
Li Wanting smiled and said, "I don't have much of an appetite this morning, but seeing Concubine De making delicious pastries makes me hungry."
Suo Xin said quickly: "Of course, this cake was tributed from the Western Regions. There are only two plates in total, and the emperor gave one of them to our queen."
Upon hearing this, Li Wanting's face immediately darkened and a stiff smile remained on her lips.
"Lock core!" Shen Qingqiu frowned, somewhat displeased.
Looking at Shen Qingqiu, Li Wanting smiled and said, "The Emperor is really good to his sister." Then she picked up a piece of dessert and took a bite, "Well, this dessert is really good, soft, delicious, crispy and sweet."
Shen Qingqiu smiled, "As long as your Majesty likes it."
The two talked for a while, and when they saw it was almost noon, Shen Qingqiu stood up and said, "Empress, it's getting late, I should go back to the palace."
"good."
Looking at the backs of the master and servant leaving, Li Wanting immediately swept the pastries on the table to the ground, breathing heavily.
"My queen." Seeing Li Wanting's big reaction, Chun'er couldn't help but be shocked and picked up the cakes that fell on the ground. "What do they mean by this? Are they here to deliberately anger my queen?"
"Shen Qingqiu!" Li Wanting recited Shen Qingqiu's name word by word, her fists clenched tightly, her nails digging into the flesh.
"Your Majesty, it's getting late. I think the Emperor should be leaving his morning court by now. I'll go prepare lunch and the Emperor should be here soon."
Li Wanting tried to adjust her breathing, nodded, and sat back on the stool, "Go quickly."
On the other side, Gu Yanwei went straight to Chengchun Palace after finishing the morning court.
Eunuch Li reminded: "Your Majesty, this is your first lunch, you must go to the Queen's palace, this is the rule."
Gu Yanwei stopped and said, "Why didn't you remind me earlier? But I have already promised Concubine De that tomorrow, I will go to the Queen's Palace. You go there on my behalf and tell her first. Also, send over the plate of cakes that were sent as tribute from the Western Regions."
"Your Majesty." Seeing Gu Yanwei coming over, Shen Qingqiu stood up and said, "You came at the right time. I just asked them to prepare the food."
Gu Yanwei took off his robe, sat down beside Shen Qingqiu and said, "Well, it looks good, just what I like."
Shen Qingqiu added a piece of steamed fish to Gu Yanwei and said, "This fish has bones picked out, Your Majesty, just feel free to eat it."
"Qingqiu still understands me."
On the other side, in Fengwu Palace, Li Wanting had been waiting for a long time and the food had already gone cold.
"Your Majesty, why hasn't the Emperor come yet? The food is getting cold." Chun'er watched with a frown.
"Maybe they are still discussing state affairs. Go and heat up the food."
"yes."
"Empress." Eunuch Li's voice came in. Li Wanting raised her head excitedly, but she didn't see Gu Yanwei. Her heart suddenly dropped. "Eunuch, why don't you see the emperor?"
"Your Highness, the Emperor has promised Consort De that he will have lunch with him today, so he will not come to your place. I came to tell you, but the Emperor sent me to bring you some cakes." As he spoke, Eunuch Li sent someone to bring up the cakes and said, "This cake is a tribute from the Western Regions. The Emperor gave you this plate of cakes, which shows how important you are in the Emperor's heart."
Looking at the plate of cakes, Li Wanting's face was extremely dark, but she still smiled, sent a maid to bring the cakes over, and said, "Thank you very much, Your Majesty."
After Eunuch Li left, Li Wanting looked at the pastries for a long time, tears streaming down her eyes. She swept the pastries to the ground, "The only plate, hum." The high point was being trampled under her feet, and at this moment there was only hatred in her eyes.
——
"Qingqiu." Gu Yanwei suddenly put down his chopsticks, looked at Shen Qingqiu affectionately and said, "I have prepared a gift for you."
"What?"
As he spoke, Gu Yanwei clapped his hands, and two palace maids pushed in a bright red wedding gown.
"Your Majesty, what are you doing?" Shen Qingqiu was pleasantly surprised.
"Qingqiu, I've said before that I'm just Gu Yanwei in front of you, and you're Gu Yanwei's wife, so I must give my wife a grand wedding."
"emperor……"
At night, Shen Qingqiu wore a bright red wedding gown and sat on the bed. Gu Yanwei walked in quietly and lifted the red veil.
"Qingqiu, you will be my wife from now on."
Shen Qingqiu rarely wears such heavy makeup, but it makes people feel excited. Gu Yanwei unconsciously lowered his head and kissed the corner of her mouth, "You are so beautiful."
A night of spring is worth a thousand gold. Looking at the lights in Changchun Palace going out, Li Wanting, who was standing outside the palace, finally couldn't help but shed tears.
"Your Highness." Chun'er looked at Li Wanting distressedly and said, "What does the emperor mean by this? It's obvious that he doesn't treat you as the queen. How can a concubine be like this..."
"Chun'er, stop talking, let's go back."
——
"Your Majesty, General Xia unfortunately died in battle with the Xiongnu."
"What?" Gu Yanwei suddenly stood up, "How could it be?"
"General Xia was ambushed by the Xiongnu. He led more than ten soldiers and held out for three days, but in the end, he was unlucky..."
"Your Majesty, this is General Xia's suicide note that he had already written."
Eunuch Li brought a book to Gu Yanwei, who slowly opened the blood-stained suicide note. General Xia had lived an upright life, and even after his death, he had no other requests. He only left his beloved daughter behind.
In Chengchun Palace, Shen Qingqiu closed the book with a sad face and said, "General Xia served his country all his life, but unfortunately died in battle. His daughter is his only concern. Your Majesty, you must promise him."
"You don't mind?" Gu Yanwei frowned.
"How could it be?" Shen Qingqiu said, "You are the emperor. If I fall in love with you, I must accept this. Moreover, Xia Meng is the daughter of a loyal minister. The emperor took her as his concubine and let her live out her life in peace in the palace. This is what a wise monarch should do for his subjects. How could I be angry?"
Gu Yanwei hugged Shen Qingqiu tightly in his arms, sighed and said: "With a wife like this, what else can a husband ask for?"
The next day, Xia Meng was brought into the palace and lived in Danfeng Palace.
"Empress Rong, the emperor will come to see you another day, so you should rest here."
Concubine Rong was wearing plain clothes and looked haggard. "Thank you, eunuch."
After seeing Eunuch Li off, Concubine Rong looked at the deep walled courtyard and couldn't help but sigh, "Father, I will be the only one in this world from now on. What should I do?"
"My lady, please don't be too sad. Take care of yourself!"
"Zhu'er, clean up here and put away all the things we brought. I'm going to rest for a while. Wake me up in two hours."
"yes."
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