Shen Mingzhuang's lips twitched involuntarily. Send her secret guards out to teach someone a lesson? Wouldn't everyone who offended her have to die?
Shen Mingzhuang only wanted to establish his authority, but he didn't intend to take people's lives so easily.
However, this was Jiang Wang's good intention. She also knew that the inner palace was a deep and treacherous place. The reason why the Empress Dowager had not taken any action yet was only because she had temporarily been lulled into a false sense of security. After all, who would have thought that she would be so arrogant and domineering from the beginning? Once the Empress Dowager came to her senses, things would probably not be so easy.
After saying this, she fed Jiang Wang a piece of chestnut cake and pondered, "Your Majesty, there is something I would like to discuss with you."
Jiang Wang chewed the pastry in her mouth slowly but elegantly, nodded slightly, and quietly looked at Shen Mingzhuang.
"What are His Majesty's true feelings toward the Rongguo Duke's Mansion? Old Madam Shen wants the Fifth Miss to marry into the Lu family, and she came to ask for my opinion. She must be trying to plead with His Majesty through me."
Jiang Wang's eyes flickered slightly as he looked into Shen Mingzhuang's eyes. Suddenly, he smiled, wrapped his arms around her slender waist, and slid down into her. Shen Mingzhuang couldn't help but gasp as a breath of hot air brushed against her ear. Jiang Wang's voice rang out: "Little girl, you're quite bold. I thought you really had amnesia. So you were just faking it?"
Shen Mingzhuang froze instantly.
"His Majesty!"
She feigned anger, punched Jiang Wang twice, and said reproachfully, "Your Majesty, please don't tease me. If you keep doing this, I'll get angry."
It was rare for her to show such a girlish side in front of Jiang Wang, and Jiang Wang felt a pang of heartache. He was conflicted; he wanted her to remember everything, but he was also afraid that she would feel sad, heartbroken, and unable to accept it if she remembered those things. After all, she was raised in the Shen family, and those people were her closest relatives.
Shen Mingzhuang took two deep breaths and finally told Jiang Wang that he had not lost his memory. Then he paused and hesitated for a moment before saying, "There is one more thing I have not told His Majesty."
Jiang Wang gently twirled Shen Mingzhuang's hair with his fingers, looking at her with a smile on his lips. Shen Mingzhuang felt a little embarrassed. She lowered her eyes and said, "Your Majesty, I was not actually deceiving you. It was when I was in the Shen family that I had a dream. In the dream, it was as if I had lived through a lifetime. When I woke up, I was filled with fear, so I never told anyone about it."
She decided to tell Jiang Wang about something that would happen eight years later, as if it were a dream. She couldn't fight an unprepared battle, nor could she fight alone. She had to work with Jiang Wang to change the future.
Jiang Wang, who had been listening to her casually, gradually became serious as he listened to Shen Mingzhuang's words.
Seeing Jiang Wang's reaction, Shen Mingzhuang felt a pang of sadness. She reached out and gently took Jiang Wang's hand, smiling at him with tears in her eyes: "Your Majesty, I am with you."
Those eyes seemed to reflect the stars and the moon. Jiang Wang held the soft, delicate hand in his palm, and an indescribable emotion welled up in his heart.
It's unclear whether it was her words that made Jiang Wang feel conflicted, but that night, Jiang Wang stayed alone in the Imperial Study. Shen Mingzhuang knew that no matter what he said, it was a great pressure on Jiang Wang. Everyone needs private space, even emperors.
On this rare peaceful night, she couldn't fall asleep for a long time, tossing and turning on the couch like a pancake. Finally, she got up and went to the veranda, where she sat on the balustrade and stared blankly.
The bright moon hangs high in the autumn sky. I wonder if the time and space I used to live in are still the same. I wonder if no one will care about the passing of me, a third-rate actor who is neither famous nor unknown. Or maybe I am not dead, but replaced by another soul.
With his mind filled with absurd thoughts, Shen Mingzhuang couldn't help but laugh at himself. Is there anything in this world that isn't absurd? His very existence here is absurd enough, so what else can't be absurd?
"If only I had a cheat code myself." She sighed helplessly. After all, changing the course of history was no easy task. It was too much of a favor that God expected her to accomplish it all by herself.
She stared at the full moon, her beautiful eyes unblinking, like a little fox gazing at the moon, quiet yet full of life. As she looked, she seemed to see the moon move slightly, like a little baby stretching.
She thought she was seeing things, so she rubbed her eyes. When she looked again, the moon was indeed the same moon. She must have been mistaken.
As the night breeze blew, Tan'er took out a cloak with an autumnal hue and a white mink fur collar. "Your Majesty, the autumn night is chilly. Please don't hurt yourself."
Shen Mingzhuang smiled at Tan'er, put on the cloak, and his body immediately warmed up.
"How are Manhuan and the others?"
After the two returned, Shen Mingzhuang immediately went to invite the imperial physician to take a look and prescribe some medicine to regulate their condition. Shen Mingzhuang originally wanted to stay there a little longer, but Jiang Wang came over, so they were delayed.
"They've already rested. Both of them are exhausted and fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow."
Shen Mingzhuang felt a little relieved. Seeing that the night was getting darker, he got up and walked back. Tan'er followed behind him with her head down. Suddenly, Shen Mingzhuang felt dizzy and lost his footing. He suddenly fell to the side. Tan'er reached out to grab him, but Shen Mingzhuang's head still hit the door frame. Judging from the sound, it was a hard hit.
Tan'er was startled and rushed to help her. The commotion quickly alerted Man Huan and the others. She ran out before she could even put her clothes on properly. Seeing Shen Mingzhuang clutching her head with her brows furrowed, she knew the collision had been severe.
"Sit here first." After saying that, Manhuan turned around and fetched a basin of cold water, then wrung out a cool cloth and applied it to Shen Mingzhuang's forehead. "Does it still hurt?"
Shen Mingzhuang shook his head, his mind a jumbled mess.
Tan'er was incompetent. When she saw that Shen Mingzhuang had scraped his forehead and was kneeling on the ground without daring to say a word, Zhu'er said, "Your Majesty is injured. Let's go and invite the imperial physician over."
Whether it was because the collision was too severe or not, Shen Mingzhuang felt as if her mind was a complete mess. Listening to the two people's concerned words, it was as if a cacophony of voices was bombarding her ears.
"Who is it? It's so annoying, so noisy."
Who's speaking! Shen Mingzhuang looked at Zhu'er and Manhuan in alarm, then looked around the room. There was no one else there!
"Ah—" someone yawned, and the voice sounded like a little boy. "I'm here. You can only see me if you close your eyes. How silly of you!"
Upon hearing this, Shen Mingzhuang closed his eyes and saw a little kid with a pigtail sticking up on his head, a round face, and chubby arms and legs like lotus roots, making people want to pet him.
She discovered that the little figure could hear her thoughts, so she tried silently repeating, "Who are you?"
"It's me, Xiao Yao. I overslept. How long have you been here?"
"You don't know who I am, so why are you talking to me?" Shen Mingzhuang retorted.
"Yeah, so should I still talk to you?" The little dumpling actually started thinking, which made Shen Mingzhuang both laugh and cry.
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