Sun Ning was at his wit's end. Originally, the harem was not allowed to interfere in government affairs, and this matter must not be mediated by the imperial concubines. However, Fu Yuheng was so angry, and in order to prevent the matter from getting out of hand and for the sake of his own life, Sun Ning had no choice but to resort to this last resort.
It is well known how much Fu Yuheng doted on Concubine Xian since she entered the palace. Imperial Concubine Liu was put under house arrest and Concubine Qi was gradually neglected. I think if Concubine Xian stepped in, Fu Yuheng's anger would be relieved.
The young eunuch took the order and hurried to Shen Qingwan's palace.
At that time, Shen Qingwan was chatting and laughing with Lianyun. After hearing the message, she summoned the young eunuch.
"Greetings to Her Majesty the Concubine. May Her Majesty be well." The young eunuch kowtowed.
Shen Qingwan said: "Rise, but does the emperor want to see me for something?"
"To answer your Majesty," the young eunuch said, "The Emperor was in court today and was furious. He is now in the Imperial Study. Eunuch Sun asked me to find the Concubine Xian and ask you to find a way to persuade the Emperor."
Shen Qingwan's expression froze, and she was silent for a moment, then she stood up and said, "Then let's go."
Lianyun helped her onto the sedan chair. On the way to the imperial study, Shen Qingwan's mind was in turmoil, but she couldn't think of any foolproof plan.
To outsiders, she was in favor and Fu Yuheng was very happy with her, but she knew that was not the case at all. If she ran into trouble when she went there today, her life would be miserable in the future.
It was useless to think about it. When she arrived in front of the imperial study, Shen Qingwan took a deep breath and walked in slowly.
Sun Ning was cleaning up the mess with a few young eunuchs in the palace. When he saw Shen Qingwan coming, he stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Her Majesty the Concubine."
Shen Qingwan helped him up: "Eunuch, there is no need to be so polite. The emperor is still angry?"
"Oh, that's right. The emperor is very angry today." Sun Ning sighed.
Shen Qingwan asked: "Why?"
"At the morning court today, the civil officials and military officers argued endlessly over the ownership of the treasury silver. The emperor felt that they were clearly divided into factions, so he got angry," Sun Ning whispered. "After returning to the imperial study, he reviewed the memorials, but he didn't expect that the memorials were all about the treasury silver. The emperor became even more angry. Look, he almost blew up the lid of the imperial study."
When Shen Qingwan entered the room, she saw that the hall was in a mess, with broken things scattered everywhere. When she learned the details, she felt even more embarrassed. The thing that kings have always been most afraid of is forming cliques for personal gain. Officials forming cliques for personal gain would threaten the emperor's position. As the daughter of a great general, her family was already tabooed by Fu Yuheng. If she were to persuade Fu Yuheng about this matter, it might have the opposite effect.
"Eunuch Sun, I'm afraid I can't persuade the emperor," Shen Qingwan said with embarrassment, "As a concubine, I shouldn't get involved in state affairs."
Sun Ning nodded, looking as if he understood, but he still tried to persuade her: "I know what your majesty said, but you see, the emperor smashed the whole palace, and didn't even touch the memorial. I think he will have to review the memorial later, but this review is so angry, and it hurts me as a servant to watch."
Having said that, Shen Qingwan couldn't refuse anymore. She couldn't say that she didn't care whether Fu Yuheng was angry or not. After all, she was Fu Yuheng's concubine and should put him first.
After thinking for a while, Shen Qingwan no longer hesitated and put the neatly stacked memorials on the table into the wooden tray, then picked up the wooden tray and said to Sun Ning, "Eunuch, please lead the way."
Sun Ning's eyes lit up and he brought Shen Qingwan into the inner hall.
The entrance to the inner hall was behind a screen. As soon as she entered the hall, Shen Qingwan's nose was filled with a faint fragrance, which was the ambergris that Fu Yuheng always carried with him.
Sun Ning stopped at the door and whispered to Shen Qingwan, "Your Majesty, please. The Emperor is inside. You can see him in just two steps."
Shen Qingwan nodded to Sun Ning, Sun Ning turned around, and Lianyun followed him out.
Shen Qingwan walked inside and turned a corner, then saw Fu Yuheng sitting on a rattan chair, leaning against the armrest with his eyes closed. Although her footsteps were light, they were obvious enough in the quiet inner room. Fu Yuheng opened his eyes and saw her holding a memorial and bowing.
"Your Majesty, I greet you. May your Majesty be blessed with long life." She was wearing a concubine-colored skirt and a crabapple hairpin hanging from her bun. Her appearance and demeanor made her look very beautiful and elegant.
Fu Yuheng's face was not very good. He was still angry and asked coldly, "What's the matter?"
He didn't call her, so Shen Qingwan followed the etiquette and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, I heard that Your Majesty was in a bad mood and had no interest in government affairs, so I wanted to share your worries."
"Share the worries?" Fu Yuheng said these two words very coldly, and there was a heavy pressure around him. "I didn't know that my virtuous concubine knew how to handle government affairs. It's also General Shen's good teaching of his daughter."
Under his accusation, Shen Qingwan was not flustered at all, and said calmly: "The harem is not allowed to interfere in government affairs. I always remember this. However, the emperor's anger is not good for his health, so I want to help the emperor solve his problems."
Listening to her calm narration, Fu Yuheng calmed down his anger and said after a while, "Did you bring all those memorials?"
"Yes, the emperor smashed a lot of things in the palace, but did not touch this memorial at all. I privately thought that the emperor would review it eventually, so I brought it here." Shen Qingwan said.
"I didn't touch these memorials because I didn't want to give the historians a chance to record me as a tyrant," Fu Yuheng snorted coldly, "These memorials all talk about the same thing, so it's not too much to tear them up."
Shen Qingwan didn't pick up the conversation, but changed the subject, saying, "I have always liked playing chess. The chess pieces are one black and one white. You go back and forth, restraining and swallowing each other. In my opinion, the two chess pieces are like the yin and yang of Tai Chi. They look black and white and cannot coexist. But in fact, there is white in black and black in white, and they coexist on the small chessboard."
Her words were not without context, and Fu Yuheng knew what she was hinting at the moment she heard it.
"In your opinion, it's a good thing that the black and white chess pieces are clearly distinguished?" Fu Yuheng asked back.
Shen Qingwan shook her head: "Black and white coexist, how can they be separated?"
Fu Yuheng stared at her for a long while, then suddenly smiled and raised his hand to signal her to stand up: "Xian Fei, Xian Fei, you are really a smart woman. Your words did not mention the government, but they were all on point. You are right, maybe I am too obsessed with trivial matters."
"Your Majesty is wise, it is good to be prepared," Shen Qingwan said with a faint smile, "When I encounter a major event, I will also focus all my attention on it. I believe everyone is like this."
This means that all the memorials submitted by the ministers talked about the treasury silver. When Fu Yuheng saw Shen Qingwan, he knew that it was Sun Ning's attention. He didn't expect Sun Ning to tell her everything. However, she handled it in a pleasing way, so he couldn't get angry.
"Bring the memorial here." Fu Yuheng waved at Shen Qingwan. She walked forward and placed the memorial on the table beside him, then stood quietly with her hands hanging down, not saying a word.
Fu Yuheng picked up a memorial and unfolded it. He was no longer angry. After he finished reading it, he took the pen and tried to dip it in ink, but found that the inkstone was still dry. He laughed and said to Shen Qingwan, who was rarely stupid, "Why are you standing there? Grind the ink."