Chapter 201
**Chapter 199: The Lu Family Girl Enters the Palace**
Every so often, in the palace, De Shun, Cai Ping, and Mama Rong would send letters to Shen Wei, updating her on the happenings in both the inner and outer courts.
Shen Wei needed to stay informed not only about the inner court but also about the affairs of the outer court. This time, she was determined to learn from her past experiences.
Previously, at the Yan Wang residence, Shen Wei had focused solely on the trivial matters of the inner court, neglecting the shifts in the court itself. This oversight led her to miss the Crown Prince's feigned illness and the power struggle between the Yan Wang and the Heng Wang, nearly derailing her life plans.
This time, she would keep herself informed about both the inner and outer courts. While she didn’t need to know every detail of the court's affairs, she wanted a general understanding.
Cai Lian reported in an orderly manner, “In the inner court, last month Liu Qiao'er angered the Emperor and was demoted to Qiao Pin, moving to the remote Xiangyun Palace. Xie Fanglan has been diagnosed as pregnant and has been elevated to Lan Fei. The Empress and Lan Fei are at odds, creating quite a tense atmosphere.”
A year had passed since the new Emperor ascended the throne, and after a tumultuous reshuffling in the inner court, Xie Fanglan had emerged as the most favored. Coming from the prestigious Xie family, she was charming and lovely, and it seemed the Emperor had taken a particular liking to her.
In a month of thirty days, the Emperor would spend two nights with the Empress, two nights with Liu Ruyan, and occasionally visit other concubines two or three times, but he would stay at Xie Fanglan's Huayang Palace as many as five times. Sometimes, during the day, he would also drop by for a visit.
When the Emperor was busy with state affairs, the concubines were merely a means to relieve his stress. He didn’t need to visit them every night; for the remaining days, Li Yuanjing would rest in the Xuanming Hall, occasionally summoning ministers at night to discuss state matters.
Shen Wei took another sip of tea. “What about the outer court?”
Cai Lian reported on several recent significant events in the court. After a moment's thought, she added, “I’ve heard that there’s a civil war in the Yue Kingdom. The Ninth Prince and the State Master are planning to ‘clear the court of corrupt officials,’ and the capital is awash with blood. With the civil war in Yue, most of the soldiers at the border have retreated, making our borders in Qing Kingdom somewhat more stable. Perhaps in a couple of years, General Shen Mieyue will return to the capital to report on his duties.”
Shen Wei silently committed these important outer court matters to memory.
Though far from Yan Jing, she still had a preliminary understanding of the court's affairs.
Additionally, her business in Yan Jing was thriving, expanding her commercial empire with dessert shops, rouge stores, grain and cotton, porcelain, and paper—all beginning to flourish.
With her purse growing heavier, Shen Wei felt increasingly confident.
“Cai Lian, fetch me some paper and a brush.” Shen Wei stretched, as she did every two months, to write a letter to the Emperor in the palace, maintaining their connection.
With the rice paper and brush ready, Shen Wei picked up the brush and began to write. In her letter, she chatted casually, recounting amusing incidents from her time in the mountains, expressing her love and care for Li Yuanjing, and sharing the daily growth of their children.
She filled ten sheets of paper.
At the end, she called for her daughter, Le You. Now over two years old, Le You ran around the courtyard, chasing cats and walking dogs, like a lively little monkey.
“Mother, Le You is here!” Le You panted as she rushed over, her two pigtails bouncing with her movements, her chubby cheeks jiggling.
Le You leaped into Shen Wei's arms, holding up a struggling green frog. “Mother, Le You caught a frog!”
The frog, having lost its will to resist, could only croak, “Ribbit…”
Why did the little girl have to like catching frogs? Shen Wei said, “Put the frog down; we need to write a letter to your father.”
At the mention of her father, Le You's eyes lit up.
To keep the father-daughter bond strong, every night Shen Wei would tell Le You stories about her father. In Shen Wei's tales, Li Yuanjing was the most handsome and brave man in the world, fighting terrifying monsters outside to protect Le You, which was why he had sent her to the mountain villa.
Le You tossed the frog aside, excitedly declaring, “Mother, Le You wants to write a letter to Father!”
The frog escaped the clutches of the little girl, hopping away into the pond. Shen Wei washed Le You's hands and dried the water off her chubby fingers.
Le You couldn’t write yet; she could only draw.
The little girl, gripping the brush, earnestly drew an ugly frog and a dark little figure on the paper.
Shen Wei added a note at the bottom of the letter: *Le You caught a frog, but her drawing skills leave much to be desired.*
Once the letter to the Emperor was complete, she folded it neatly and had it secretly delivered to the Emperor’s desk by the Tiger Guards.
On this warm spring day, Shen Wei planned to apply a face mask, soak up some sun for calcium, and continue her workout in the afternoon. Le You tugged at Shen Wei's skirt, her sweet voice chiming, “Mother, Le You wants to catch frogs again later.”
Shen Wei replied, “That’s fine. But you mustn’t throw the frog on your brother’s bed.”
Le You pouted, a hint of disappointment in her tone. “...Okay.”
As they reached the pond, the Empress Dowager was leisurely fishing. Having left the palace, she seemed to be enjoying a carefree retirement, drinking tea and fishing, picking flowers and basking in the sun.
Seeing Le You approach, the Empress Dowager smiled and set down her fishing rod, calling out, “My dear granddaughter, come here! The kitchen just made some sweet cakes, and your grandmother was just about to bring some to you.”
Le You's eyes sparkled as she ran over happily. Mama Qian brought out a plate of three warm sweet cakes.
Le You first checked the temperature of the cakes, and once she confirmed they weren’t too hot, she picked up the largest one and handed it to the Empress Dowager. “Grandmother, you eat first.”
The Empress Dowager's eyes crinkled with joy, her heart warmed.
Having spent over a year together, the Empress Dowager had grown fond of this granddaughter she had raised, almost to the point of spoiling her.
Le You then picked up the second largest sweet cake and obediently handed it to Shen Wei. “Mother, you eat too.”
After distributing the cakes between her grandmother and mother, Le You finally took the smallest one, sitting happily on a little chair, enjoying her treat while her tiny feet swung joyfully.
Shen Wei sighed, “Mother, Le You eats so much every day; she’s getting chubby. You should give her less sweet food.”
The Empress Dowager frowned, unconvinced. “Where is my granddaughter getting chubby? The child is growing; she needs to eat more to be healthy.”
Shen Wei could only respond with silence.
Indeed, she was just like a doting grandmother.
But this was a good thing; the deeper the Empress Dowager's affection for her three grandchildren, the more security they would have in the future.
Shen Wei left her daughter with the Empress Dowager and returned to her courtyard to continue her workout and plan for her business expansion.
...
In the palace of Yan Jing, night fell.
Li Yuanjing returned to the Xuanming Hall under the cover of darkness. A eunuch approached respectfully, “Your Majesty, which consort do you wish to summon tonight?”
Li Yuanjing waved his hand dismissively. “No need.”
During the day, he was preoccupied with state affairs—the floods in the south, the drought in the north—every day was filled with worries, leaving him too exhausted to think about summoning any of the women in the palace.
Though there were many beautiful women in the inner court, they no longer held any allure for him. No matter how lovely they were, they eventually faded into the background of palace life.
After bathing and changing, Li Yuanjing did not sleep. Under the flickering candlelight, he opened the letter from the East Huashan sent by Shen Wei.
As the words danced before his eyes, light and lively, the weariness in his brow lifted, and a gentle smile graced his lips, as if Shen Wei's bright figure had appeared before him once more.
When he reached the last sheet of paper, with its drawings of a frog and a little figure, he couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
Li Yuanjing was a wise ruler, tirelessly working for the welfare of the people, shouldering the heavy burdens of family and country. The weight was great, and naturally, he felt both physically and mentally drained. Yet, it was only when he read Shen Wei's letters that he felt a sense of ease and comfort.
It was as if a traveler had returned home, a ship had docked.
After reading the letter three times, he carefully placed it in the golden nanmu box on his bedside, treasuring it.
Once the chaos in the Yue Kingdom settled, Qing Kingdom would have no internal or external troubles. At that time, Li Yuanjing planned to find a reason to bring Shen Wei and the children back.
Li Yuanjing lay down, drifting into a peaceful sleep.
Meanwhile, a luxurious carriage pulled up at the post station outside Yan Jing. The curtain lifted, and a pair of delicate, fair hands emerged as a maid helped Lu Xuan down from the carriage.
“Miss, the city gates are locked; we’ll be staying at the official post station tonight,” the maid, Xiao Qin, reminded softly.
The moonlight was hazy, outlining Lu Xuan's enchanting features.
Lu Xuan smiled, gazing at the towering walls of Yan Jing under the night sky. The city loomed like a slumbering beast, cold and imposing, with countless households within peacefully asleep.
This was the imperial capital of the Da Qing Kingdom, the center of wealth in the world, the treasure land where the Son of Heaven resided.
Ambition flickered in her eyes as she raised her red lips. “No worries, we’ll enter the palace tomorrow.”
The spring night breeze rustled the trees along the official road, lifting Lu Xuan's dark hair. After the tumultuous reshuffling in the Qing Kingdom's inner court, a formidable newcomer was about to arrive.
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