Page 319

The room was eerily quiet.

Just as Xueyan was frustrated for failing to catch Xuetuan, she also realized something was amiss. She withdrew her gaze and looked around the room, only to find the Empress standing right in front of her. She was stunned.

Xu Concubine flicked her handkerchief and looked at Xueyan in surprise, "So it turns out that Concubine Xue had already awakened long ago. Were you feigning unconsciousness to falsely blame Lady Shen? Tsk tsk, such craftiness."

Xueyan quickly explained, "Empress Mother, I just woke up, it was the pain from Xuetuan’s grasp that roused me."

The Empress said coldly, "Imperial Doctor Wang, didn’t you say that Concubine Xue was unconscious and in mortal danger? Yet to me, Xueyan doesn’t seem to be in grave condition."

Frightened, Imperial Doctor Wang knelt down and trembled as he replied, "Empress Mother, my inspection just now indeed confirmed that she was unconscious due to drowning."

"Imperial Doctor Wang, you seem to have omitted something, oh, the part about being in mortal danger." Xu Concubine flicked her handkerchief and pointed at Xueyan, "Where does Concubine Xue show any sign of being in mortal danger? Isn’t she lively as a dragon now?"

"...This," Imperial Doctor Wang was at a loss for words.

"Incompetent medical skills, reckless diagnosis," the Empress ordered, "Someone, take Imperial Doctor Wang away."

Two eunuchs dragged Imperial Doctor Wang away.

The Empress then turned her gaze back to Xueyan, and from her recent actions, she had guessed something—Xueyan was also a troublemaker.

"Concubine Xue, what exactly happened here?"

Xueyan coughed twice, "Empress Mother, I came to visit Lady Shen, and I learned that Your Highness had written a letter to Lady Shen.

I have been worried about Your Highness, so I wanted to see the letter.

However, Lady Shen not only refused to show it to me, but she also pushed me, causing me to lose my footing and fall into the water. "

The Empress then looked at Shen Chuwei, "Lady Shen, what about you?"

Shen Chuwei told the plain truth, "Empress Mother, it wasn’t I who pushed Concubine Xue."

Xueyan countered, "Lady Shen, if you didn’t push me, how would I have fallen into the water? My maid saw it with her own eyes."

"Concubine Xue, there were not only your maids present, oh, several people were here at the scene. I was there too, and I can swear that you falling into the water wasn’t because Lady Shen pushed you. If Lady Shen did push you, why would she herself also fall into the water?"

Chun Xi bowed her head, "Empress Mother, my young mistress did not push Concubine Xue."

The little rabbit also bowed her head, "Empress Mother, my young mistress did not push Concubine Xue."

Xueyan glanced at them dismissively and retorted, "You all belong to Lady Shen, of course, you would speak for her—your words don’t count."

Xu Concubine remained unfazed, "Shuiyao is also close to Concubine Xue—her words don’t count either."

Xueyan looked at the Empress with aggrievement, "Empress Mother, it truly was Lady Shen who pushed me..."

Lying? Who can’t do that? Shen Chuwei said, "Concubine Xue, it was clearly you who pushed me."

Xueyan replied, aggrieved, "That’s nonsense, how could I possibly push you?"

Shen Chuwei shot back, "Then why would I, in good health, push you for no reason?"

Xueyan said, "Because of me, you were confined, so you are jealous of me, you begrudge my wellbeing."

Xu Concubine really wanted to go up and give the shameless person a couple of slaps for making up such nonsense.

"What does Lady Shen’s confinement have to do with you?

Clearly, it was because Your Highness is too fond of Lady Shen.

It’s clear that you are jealous of Lady Shen, jealous that Your Highness favors her, jealous that Your Highness personally led the military campaign and wrote a letter only to Lady Shen, not to you. "

Xueyan quickly countered, "Not at all, I..."

Xu Concubine scoffed, "You didn’t, you merely pressed Lady Shen for the letters from Your Highness. The letter Your Highness sent to Lady Shen surely contains intimate words, why should it be shared with a third party?"

Shen Chuwei nodded emphatically, in agreement.

It was only then that the Empress learned that the Crown Prince had written a letter to Shen Chuwei. The correspondence between the two naturally couldn’t be shared with a third person.

When the dog Emperor used to write letters to her, she too was unwilling to show them to others, so she understood why Lady Shen was reluctant.

"Concubine Xue, Lady Shen has been confined to Xiaoxiang Pavilion without overstepping the slightest bit. Your falling into the water is also unrelated to Lady Shen. You will be grounded for half a month and docked two months’ allowance."

Upon hearing this, Xueyan felt somewhat dissenting. Why should she be punished, while Lady Shen gets away unscathed?

"Empress Mother..."

The Empress said sternly, "Enough, Xueyan. I still have the ability to judge. Let’s put an end to this matter."

With lips pursed in dissatisfaction, Xueyan thought about the amount of filthy water she had swallowed, the choking in her nose—was this all she had achieved in the end?

The Empress’s beautiful eyes turned to Shen Chuwei, took a few glances, and then she left.

Once they were all gone, the Xiaoxiang Pavilion quieted down.

Concubine Xu, feeling guilty, looked at Shen Chuwei and said, "I spoke too hastily just now and let slip about the letter His Highness wrote to you. It was mainly because I love to show off too much; I can’t stand Xueyan acting so smug."

Shen Chuwei nonchalantly waved her hand, "It’s not a big deal. Writing letters is a very normal thing."

"Concubine Xue is too disgusting. She fell into the water herself and had the audacity to say you pushed her—I wish she had simply drowned," complained Concubine Xu indignantly.

Xueyan’s approach was truly low-level, a ploy commonly used by scheming supporting female characters. Shen Chuwei had not expected to run into such a tactic.

Luckily, she knew how to swim, so she simply jumped in after Xueyan, walking the path of the schemer and leaving no path for the schemer to follow.

After the experience of falling into the water, Shen Chuwei, holding Chun Xi’s hand, said with a pitiful tone, "Chun Xi, I almost died today. Now that I’ve survived a great disaster, eating some hotpot to calm my nerves isn’t too much, is it?"

Thinking back to the scene she had witnessed that day, Chun Xi was also taken aback. Seeing how pitiful Shen Chuwei was, how could she refuse?

She immediately went into the small kitchen to begin preparing hotpot ingredients and sent someone to the Imperial Kitchen to fetch some meat.

Shen Chuwei got her wish and enjoyed the hotpot, contentedly wiping the soup base from the corner of her mouth.

Chun Xi came over and asked, "Miss, are you still thinking of His Highness now?"

Shen Chuwei chuckled, "Not at the moment."

Chun Xi sighed helplessly.

At night, Shen Chuwei lay in bed unable to sleep. Warfare was dangerous, and injuries were common occurrences.

She should have prepared some supplies for Xiao Jinyan from the beginning, just in case.

She suddenly sat up and started to gather items in her Space.

Mosquito coils, ointments for healing wounds, lollipops, chocolate, medical tape, self-heating rice meals... and so on.

She also took out two clean silicone cups, filled them with Spiritual Spring Water from her Space, and capped them fully.

She packed everything in two simple, oversized bags and wrote down a detailed list of how to use each item.

Once everything was prepared, she finally lay back down and fell asleep at ease.

The next morning, Shen Chuwei asked someone to call for Qin Xiao and pointed to the two oversized parcels on the ground, "Qin Xiao, can you send these out?"

Without needing to be told, Qin Xiao knew they were for the Master.

He stared at the parcels on the ground—two big bags, not knowing what was inside.

He agreed without hesitation, "Lady Shen, no problem. I’ll take care of it."

Shen Chuwei handed the two oversized silicone cups to Qin Xiao, instructing, "Make sure these get to His Highness as well."

"As you command," said Qin Xiao. Holding the silicone cups and sensing the weight of one of the parcels—to his surprise rather heavy—he immediately dispatched someone to deliver the parcels to the Military Camp overnight.

Meanwhile, at Fengyi Palace

The Empress, having finished her washing and dressing with the assistance of her Palace Maids, sat at the dressing table as Qing Ying styled her hair.

Looking at the mirror, seeing the marks on her neck, she felt an itchy hate.

In her heart, she cursed, "Damned Emperor."

At that moment, Eunuch Ren entered, bowing, "Empress, after severe interrogation last night, we have found out."

The Empress asked indifferently, "And what are the results?"

"Reporting to the Empress, Imperial Doctor Wang accepted five hundred taels of gold from Concubine Xue to wrongly diagnose Lady Shen as having difficulty conceiving," he replied.