Shen Lanxi stumbled, as if enduring immense pain, her face contorted in a grimace of suppressed suffering.
Just a step away, Zhou Chengqian saw the ground where she had been standing – a shocking expanse of red! Zhou Chengqian narrowed his eyes, taking a deep breath. She had actually run all the way here!
"Your Majesty, Uncle! After hearing such vile things, I couldn't bear it, I really couldn't!" Shen Lanxi seemed to be on the verge of a breakdown, stomping her foot with force. Her face instantly twisted in pain.
Her spoiled and frantic demeanor struck Zhou Chengqian, reminding him of how Shen Lanxi used to brazenly flaunt the Empress Dowager's favor in front of the princes and princesses.
This woman is simple-minded, relying solely on the court's grace to act so recklessly and barge into the palace.
If it were any other time, Zhou Chengqian would have sternly reprimanded her, but now...
"Nonsense! The imperial palace is not a place you can simply trespass."
Shen Lanxi immediately lowered her head in fear, shrinking her shoulders.
Zhou Chengqian rubbed his throbbing temples. "Wang Bao, go get the urgent memorial from last night, the one with the eight-hundred-li express report, and bring it to me!"
Wang Bao immediately bowed and retreated.
"Xixi, there was an eight-hundred-li urgent report from the Northwest last night. Your father's Wei Family Army's provisions, which were supposed to be transported to the Northwest front lines, all turned into stones. The Wei Family Army had no money to buy food and supplies, and they were surrounded by the Turkic, Tatar, and Persian forces. The Wei Family Army was completely annihilated, and six cities in the Northwest were lost. I have already ordered people to confiscate the Shen Manor overnight. The entire Shen family, all eighty-nine people, are now detained in the Imperial Prison."
Shen Lanxi looked as if she had heard the most shocking news. She took a few steps back in disbelief, only managing to steady herself when her back hit the wall.
"Your Majesty, Uncle, what you said isn't true. The provisions turning into stones, my father absolutely didn't do it. Please, Your Majesty, Uncle, investigate this clearly!" Shen Lanxi knelt on the ground, repeatedly kowtowing to Zhou Chengqian.
Wang Bao quickly brought the memorial. Zhou Chengqian told Wang Bao to give it to Shen Lanxi.
"Take a look. Forty thousand souls of the Wei Family Army, not a single survivor. The person who stole the provisions deserves to die a thousand deaths!"
Shen Lanxi quickly got up and unfolded the memorial, reading it carefully from beginning to end, not daring to miss a single word. She read it three times before returning the memorial to Wang Bao.
"Your Majesty, my uncle, my father is definitely innocent! Please, I beg you to thoroughly investigate this!" Shen Lanxi clasped her hands together, performing a respectful and anxious kowtow.
Zhou Chengqian lowered his eyes, his expression complex and difficult to read.
"Xixi, the morning court will begin shortly. I need to give an explanation to the officials and the soldiers at the border!"
Shen Lanxi took a full five or six seconds before raising her head, her exquisite face streaked with tears.
"So, Your Majesty, my uncle, are you going to use my Shen Family to quell the anger of the officials and the soldiers at the border?" Her voice was soft, as if questioning, but also as if stating a fact.
"Xixi, I promise you I will thoroughly investigate this matter. But the most important thing right now is to stabilize the court and the morale of the army. Do you understand what I'm saying?" Zhou Chengqian said earnestly.
Shen Lanxi sat limply on the ground, allowing the blood on her feet to stain the floor tiles.
"But uncle, my father is truly innocent, and our Shen Family is also innocent!"
Zhou Chengqian looked at her miserable, soul-lost appearance, his eyes momentarily unfocused, as if he were looking through her at someone else.
"I can promise you, I will do my best to protect your family's lives."
Shen Lanxi raised her head, a sorrowful smile gracing her face.
"Uncle, my family is gone. Did Zhou Ruyuan know this all along, which is why he dared to treat me like this on our wedding night!" Her eyes held a resolute determination.
Zhou Chengqian's eyes flashed with a dark light when he heard her.
"Nonsense, he's been back from the Southwest for less than half a month, how could he possibly know about this!" One Southwest, one Northwest, what benefit would harming the Wei Family Army bring him?
"I know the Third Prince has wronged you, I can assure you, the Shen family's affairs will absolutely not involve you!"
Shen Lanxi flatly refused: "Uncle, don't favor him just because he's your son, I am your direct niece, I am also your family!"
Zhou Chengqian: "I will immediately order someone to execute that woman."
Shen Lanxi acted like a madwoman, throwing a tantrum. "I don't want this! I want a divorce! He wronged me! I don't want him anymore!"
Looking at the person throwing a childish fit in front of him, Zhou Chengqian gradually lost his patience.
"Do you really want a divorce?"
Shen Lanxi immediately scrambled up and knelt properly, her tone defiant. "I want a divorce!"
Zhou Chengqian's eyes were inscrutable. His voice was low. "Have you thought this through? If you divorce, you will no longer be part of the royal family. The best-case scenario for the Shen family is exile. Do you want to go with them to the place of exile and suffer?"
Shen Lanxi straightened her back, stubborn and unyielding. "I'll suffer if I have to. I'll be with my family, and they definitely won't let me suffer any hardship!"
Zhou Chengqian stood up and took two steps, each step seeming to stomp on Shen Lanxi's heart.
"Fine, I grant you a divorce. In a few days, I will send someone to the Zhennan Prince's Manor to announce the edict. You can go back and wait!"
Shen Lanxi breathed a sigh of relief and placed the treasure box bestowed by the Empress Dowager in front of her.
"Uncle, we don't know when we'll see each other again after today. The Eastern Pearls the Empress Dowager gave me, I'll offer them to you, Uncle, as a gesture of my respect. I only ask that you don't forget this disobedient junior!"
Zhou Chengqian's gaze fell on the box, and he turned to glance at Wang Bao.
"Lanxi County Princess, this old servant will take you to get some medicine. You've lost so much blood, you don't want to be left with a scar!" Wang Bao pulled Shen Lanxi and led her outside.
After the two were far away, Zhou Chengqian bent down, picked up the treasure box, and opened it. Inside, a large, perfectly round pearl shone as if it could emit light.
"Eunuch Wang, I don't want to get any medicine." Shen Lanxi broke free from Wang Bao's arm, her eyes swept to the palace maid holding the refreshments, and she took the box from the other person's hand.
Wang Bao stood respectfully and said to the palace maid, "You go back and report!"
The palace maid curtsied and left.
Shen Lanxi, with her back to him, opened the food box, took out a piece of pastry, and handed the rest, along with the basket, to Wang Bao.
"The Empress Dowager always gets it wrong. I clearly like chestnut cakes, but she always gives me walnut cakes. Eunuch Wang, I don't like walnut cakes; you can have them!"
Wang Bao's hand felt heavy. Along with the basket, a pass token from the Empress Dowager's palace was placed in his hand.
"Eunuch Wang, I'm leaving now. You should go back and report!" Shen Lanxi ate the walnut cake, leaving without looking back.
Wang Bao stood there for a while, watching until she turned the corner and disappeared. Only then did he take the token and go back to report!
Without the pass token, she would no longer be able to enter the imperial city legitimately. Regardless of whether her act of madness would fool Emperor Renxiao, it was certain that he would lower his guard against her. Perhaps because of the blood on her feet, he might even feel a little sympathy for her; otherwise, he definitely wouldn't have agreed to the divorce so readily!
An emperor's word was as good as a decree; once spoken, it was a sacred edict. What she needed to do now was return to the Zhennan Prince's Manor; there was a major matter waiting for her to handle!
I'm starting a new book! Following the editor's orders, I've stepped out of my comfort zone and written a historical romance. I wonder if you all will like it?
The new book is starting, so please support me with recommendations, collections, votes, and lots of encouragement!