After Shen Qingwan returned to her bedroom, she finally relaxed. She asked Lianyun to close the door, and sat down on the bed without caring about her image. She stretched out her hand to rub her knees, and said to Lianyun who was about to pour her tea: "Lianyun, don't be busy yet, take a break first."
Lianyun looked embarrassed: "But I have to serve the Majesty. The Majesty has been kneeling for so long, her throat must be dry. I will pour you some tea to moisten her throat."
"Girl, aren't you the same?" Shen Qingwan asked back.
Lianyun had no choice but to hand the tea to Shen Qingwan, and then sat on the embroidered cushion to rest.
After what happened today, Shen Qingwan had almost figured out her situation. To the Emperor and Empress, she was a chess piece that checked the government and the harem. To the concubines in the palace, she was a threat that everyone wanted to get rid of as soon as possible. In this palace, her position was prominent, not to mention her family. She had to be cautious at every step and could not take a wrong step, otherwise what awaited her would be the abyss and her death.
…
In the imperial study, Fu Yuheng was marking memorials with a red pen, but his mind was restless. While he was marking the memorials, the way Shen Qingwan looked at him just now kept flashing through his mind.
At that time, her face was pale, but her eyes looked even brighter than pearls, and her lips were three times redder than the cinnabar used in the memorials. The unusual infatuation and emotion in her eyes added a stunning touch to her stunning appearance.
He shook his head and suppressed his emotions, but when he finished reviewing the memorials, she popped up in his mind again.
It happened to be getting late outside, and Fu Yuheng was not the kind of person who would let himself be wronged, so he took his servants and went to Shen Qingwan's palace.
At that time, Shen Qingwan was painting. Although she came from a military family, she was able to do things like reciting poems and painting, although she was not very good at it.
Lianyun pushed the door open and walked in, looking delighted and saying, "Your Majesty, the Emperor is here again. You must dress up well this time and never neglect his presence again."
Shen Qingwan originally thought that Fu Yuheng would enter the harem tonight and would go to Liu Churong's place, but she didn't expect him to come to her place. However, she still didn't feel anything about it, and just smiled and said, "Why are you in such a hurry? Didn't you get the crabapple flower hairpin two days ago? You can just take it out and put it on me."
"Is this all the preparations your majesty can make?" Lianyun took out a flower ornament from her dressing box and gently pinned it into Shen Qingwan's hair. Shen Qingwan put down her brush and wiped the ink off her fingertips: "This is enough. The emperor can only do that little thing. Why go to all the trouble?"
Hearing this, Lianyun smiled knowingly. In her opinion, this was indeed the case. The Emperor came here just to have sex with the Empress. It was pointless to dress up as everything would have to be taken off eventually. Besides, her Empress was naturally beautiful and was already beautiful enough without much dressing up.
When Shen Qingwan saw Lianyun's teasing expression, she knew that what she was thinking was completely different from what she said. She didn't explain. She couldn't tell others that every time the emperor came to her, he just covered himself with a quilt and chatted. No one would believe it if she told others.
While the two were talking, Fu Yuheng had already arrived. The eunuch shouted, "The emperor has arrived!"
Shen Qingwan walked to the entrance of the hall and saluted Fu Yuheng who was coming towards her. Fu Yuheng helped her up and then waved away everyone.
When they were the only two left in the palace, Fu Yuheng asked, "How is your knee?"
I didn't expect him to ask this. Shen Qingwan was stunned for a moment, then shook her head and said, "It's fine now."
"Tell me the truth, did you push the imperial concubine for what happened this morning?" Fu Yuheng asked again.
Shen Qingwan had never done it, so she naturally wouldn't admit it, but she didn't use it as an excuse to complain. She just said impartially: "I would never dare to do anything to murder the Imperial Concubine, but I have displeased the Imperial Concubine, so it is right for the Imperial Concubine to punish me."
Seeing that she was reasonable, Fu Yuheng's eyes flashed with admiration. If an ordinary woman suffered such injustice and had such a good opportunity to talk, she would not miss the chance. However, Shen Qingwan was able to hold back and judge the situation.
"Peace in the harem means peace in the previous dynasty, as long as you understand," Fu Yuheng took out a jade bottle from his sleeve and handed it to Shen Qingwan, "This is Yuqinglu, which can promote blood circulation, remove blood stasis, reduce swelling and remove scars. Judging from your condition this morning, you must have been kneeling for a long time, and I think there are bruises on your legs. This is just right for you."
Shen Qingwan took the jade bottle, stood up and put it in the drawer: "Thank you, Your Majesty. Will Your Majesty stay overnight?"
"Of course," Fu Yuheng nodded, "Please change my clothes for me."
Shen Qingwan responded and took off his court robes. That night Fu Yuheng did not let Shen Qingwan keep watch. The two of them slept in the same bed without speaking a word.
The next morning, Fu Yuheng left early, and when Shen Qingwan got up, she received his reward.
The person who presented the reward was Sun Ning, the emperor's personal eunuch. When he saw Shen Qingwan, who was dressed in plain clothes and without any makeup, he knew that she had just gotten married.
"Eunuch Sun." Shen Qingwan bowed with a smile.
Sun Ning's wrinkled face was smiling like a chrysanthemum: "Your Majesty, please accept the reward. The Emperor specially gave you the glass mirror that was tributed from the Western Regions this year. There are only three of these mirrors in the palace."
Shen Qingwan's heart skipped a beat. She didn't understand what Fu Yuheng was planning. This mirror was a reward to her, which confirmed her title as the favorite concubine. Those who were jealous of her in the palace would only be more hostile to her.
When enemies come, we will fight them; when water comes, we will block it with earth. Even though she can't figure it out, she can only accept it with a smile.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you, Eunuch Sun." Shen Qingwan gestured to Lianyun to take the mirror, and she took a small gold ingot from her sleeve and handed it to Eunuch Sun.
These small gold ingots are only the size of finger joints. Shen Qingwan prepared some for preparation after entering the palace, and they came in handy at this moment.
Eunuch Sun took it with a smile, said a few words of congratulations and flattery, then turned and left.
"My lady, this glass mirror is indeed extraordinary," Lianyun lifted the cloth covering the glass mirror. The glass mirror was framed with gold and jade, and the mirror surface was dazzling and extremely clear. "It is much more useful than a bronze mirror. I will move the bronze mirror away and put this mirror instead."
"No, put it in the warehouse first." Shen Qingwan also looked at the mirror. It was indeed a good thing, but her every word and action was being watched by everyone in the palace, so it was better to keep a low profile.
Lianyun was puzzled, but did not ask and just did as she was told.
News spread very quickly within the palace, not to mention Fu Yuheng's open reward. It didn't take long for the whole palace to know about it. Everyone knew that the new Concubine Xian was so favored that she was comparable to Concubine Qi when she was most favored.
Shoukang Palace naturally also received the news. At that time, the empress dowager was combing her hair in front of the glass mirror, with an expression of neither sadness nor joy, making it impossible to tell what she was thinking.
Aunt Kang, who was serving beside her, asked, "Only you and the emperor have the mirror in the palace, but now it is given to Concubine Xian. Isn't this a mess? How do you plan to deal with this matter?"
"Go and call the virtuous concubine."
After she finished speaking, the empress dowager put down the comb, stood up, picked up the Buddhist beads and walked into the Buddhist hall. After Nanny Kang helped her kneel on the cushion, she called a palace maid to summon Shen Qingwan.