"What's the matter, Queen Mother? She wants me here. " Fu Yuheng lowered his posture and helped the Queen Mother to sit on the couch. She was his biological mother, so he naturally showed more respect to her.
The Queen Mother put down the sandalwood bracelet in her hand and glanced at Fu Yuheng with resentment, "Your Majesty has not come to visit me for a long time. If I hadn't called you here today, you would have probably forgotten about me, your old woman!"
Fu Yuheng was stunned for a moment, thinking back over the past few days, he felt a little tired recently because of the affairs in the court and some things that happened in the harem. In addition, the empress dowager did not like to be disturbed since she moved into the ancestral hall, so she had indeed not been here much in recent days.
"It's my fault... Alas!" He sighed, knowing the Queen Mother's affection for him, and felt a little guilty in his heart, "I will come here more often in the future." Fu Yuheng looked up at her.
The empress dowager now has all white hair and is dressed rather simply. Apart from the fact that the material is the finest cloud satin, nothing else can tell how noble the person in front of her is.
"Forget it! Your Majesty should put the country and the people first," the empress dowager sighed, seeming a little disappointed, and occasionally stroked the back of Fu Yuheng's hand that she was holding.
She called him over today partly because she missed him, but mainly because of the matters of the Liu and Shen families.
"I heard that Concubine Liu was demoted to a noble lady? Is this true?" The topic changed and they returned to talking about business.
Hearing this, Fu Yuheng understood. Sure enough, it was for this matter. She did not hide it. After all, if she wanted to know, she would be able to find out no matter what method she used. "Yes, Liu Churong disturbed the harem, persecuted the concubines, and harmed my descendants."
In this regard, he could only speak half-truthfully. After all, the scandals in his palace should not be spread to outsiders. Even if she was his biological mother, he could not afford to lose her. "This is still for the sake of the Liu family!"
The Queen Mother shook her head and closed her eyes. "I think you are so angry because you want to punish the Liu family!" How could she not know what he was thinking after raising such a big child? He was definitely not someone who would disrupt the court for his own love.
"You still understand me!" Fu Yuheng laughed and stopped being perfunctory. "No matter what, the Liu family is a big hidden danger in my heart!" He looked up at the sky with his brows tightly furrowed.
The Liu family is too powerful, and collusion with factions has always been the most taboo thing for the royal family.
The Queen Mother did not ask any more questions. After all, the country still belonged to Fu Yuheng, not hers, and the harem was not allowed to interfere in politics.
Night always comes suddenly, but there are always people who stay awake all night.
"Lianyun, help me change my clothes!" Shen Qingwan rubbed her eyes which had not closed all night, and before she knew it, it was already dawn.
She had to go back to the Shen Mansion quickly and discuss the seriousness of the matter with her father. Otherwise, she would not be able to sleep well because of the worry on her mind.
Power is indeed a good thing, but power has its drawbacks. Once power threatens the royal family, it becomes a knife that can kill people at any time, making you live in fear all the time.
When Fu Yuheng heard the news that Shen Qingwan had left the palace, the corners of his mouth twitched upwards. She was indeed a smart woman, which made him more and more concerned about her.
But the premise is that this woman will not compare herself with his kingdom.
"Hurry up! The virtuous concubine is back!"
The gatekeeper saw Shen Qingwan getting off the sedan chair and running towards the mansion. He had to hurry to inform the master and the mistress.
"Greetings, Her Majesty the Virtuous Concubine!" As soon as Shen Qingwan entered the door, she saw General Shen and Madam Shen coming out.
Even though they are family members, the etiquette cannot be broken. She is now the emperor's concubine, so even her parents have to behave like this.
"Dad and Mom, what are you doing? Get up quickly!" After helping them up, Mrs. Shen saw tears in her eyes.
"Come on, let's go back to the house and talk!" The smile on his face became more and more unstoppable, and even faint smile lines appeared at the corners of his eyes.
Since she entered the palace, she basically has not returned to the Shen Mansion, also to avoid Fu Yuheng's concerns. This time she came back just to persuade her father to hand over the 200,000 troops, so she did not stay for long.
Since she was back at the Shen residence, there was no rush to talk. The family was in harmony and in harmony. Mrs. Shen had the kitchen prepare a large table of dishes for her return.
"My sister is so majestic when she comes back. There is a big table of food when she comes back. We don't usually get such treatment when we come back from going out." Shen Qingyun, who was sitting below Shen Qingwan, curled her lips, looking quite angry.
Reaching out and pinching her cheek, this child is her aunt's daughter, but there are rarely conflicts in the family, and they are generally harmonious. Her father only has this one concubine, so her mother doesn't care too much, and everything is done according to the rules. However, Shen Qingyun and her have had a good relationship since childhood, but she never says good things about her, but she always thinks of her when she has good things, just like a real sister.
"Hmph!" He threw his head to one side, no longer looking at her with his puffy little face, and buried his head in eating.
"Dad, I have something to tell you!" It was not until the evening that Shen Qingwan called General Shen to the study. She did not mention these things in front of her mother as she did not want to make her worry too much.
General Shen naturally knew that she came back this time to discuss important matters, so he had actually been waiting for her.
The father and daughter sat down, their expressions were very serious, without the usual laughter and playfulness. After all, this was a matter concerning the life and death of the family, and it could not be neglected.
"Dad, you've seen what happened to Prime Minister Liu. It's more accurate to say that the emperor is using the incident with Concubine Liu to suppress him rather than taking his anger out on him this time." Shen Qingwan didn't keep anyone in suspense and went straight to the point.
General Shen frowned. He had actually already made up his mind about this matter. But even so, after hearing her say it so affirmatively, he still felt a cold sweat on his back.
She paused for a few moments, and only spoke again when she saw that her father had listened.
"The Emperor's favor for Concubine Qi is completely fake, it's just to contain the harem. Now that Prime Minister Liu has been suppressed and Concubine Liu has been demoted to Lady Liu, I don't need my daughter to remind me, father also knows that the Emperor's next target must be our Shen family!"
After he finished speaking, he broke out in a cold sweat again and clenched his fists so tightly that his veins were exposed.
"So what you mean is..." General Shen took a sip of tea and suppressed the uneasiness in his heart.
"Instead of asking the Emperor to take it back, why don't we take the initiative to hand over the military power!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the whole room froze, and there was a sense of calm before a storm.
"How much?" General Shen stared at Shen Qingwan in front of him, his eyes full of bloodshot.
"Two hundred thousand!"