Chapter 406
**Chapter 404: The Consequences of Offending Her**
Qin Fei stepped into Chang Le Palace for the first time.
For years, the palace had been meticulously cleaned every day. The Emperor had ordered roses to be planted throughout the courtyard and allowed the foxes he kept to frolic freely, but he forbade the concubines from entering.
Qin Fei had fantasized countless times about stepping into Chang Le Palace, dreaming of becoming the supreme Empress of Nan Chu. Yet, despite her years in the palace and having outmaneuvered one newcomer after another, the Emperor still had not named her as Empress.
As she entered Chang Le Palace, Qin Fei was astonished to find that not a single rose remained. They had all been uprooted and replaced with rare flowers and greenery. Under the eaves, a huanghuali wood table and a rattan chair were set up.
The girl the Emperor had brought back from afar was leisurely reclining in the chair, engrossed in a book, her slender and beautiful silhouette captivating. She occasionally picked up a fruit from the table to taste.
“Bold girl! You see Qin Fei and don’t even greet her!” an old matron scolded angrily.
Qin Fei noticed the girl’s hand freeze mid-motion.
Shen Wei slowly turned her head.
Qin Fei finally saw her true face.
It was a slightly tanned face, with rough skin and slightly curly hair, clearly weathered by years of sun and wind, lacking the means for proper skincare.
Qin Fei felt a twinge of disappointment; the girl’s looks could barely be described as fair. Any concubine from the Nan Chu harem would outshine this fisher girl.
The fisher girl had two redeeming qualities: a reasonably attractive back and a pair of clear, bright eyes that conveyed both shrewdness and calm.
There were no traces of makeup on her face, indicating that the fisher girl had not tried to conceal her appearance.
The old matron, seeing Shen Wei still unmoving, couldn’t help but scold again, “Yuan Xi’er, there are ranks in the harem! How dare you not rise to greet Qin Fei when she arrives? Do you intend to wait for palace rules to serve you?”
Shen Wei’s lips curled slightly as she calmly set down her book. “I reside in Chang Le Palace, while Qin Fei is in Han Zhang Palace. It is only right that she comes to pay her respects to me.”
Her tone was flat.
There was no hint of fear.
In that moment, she exuded an aura reminiscent of an Empress.
Qin Fei was secretly intrigued; how could this little fisher girl possess such a powerful presence?
The old matron retorted angrily, “You are merely a temporary resident of Chang Le Palace! The Emperor has not given you a title! You barely qualify as a talented girl; how dare you defy Qin Fei! You haven’t even been officially named yet, and you’re already putting on airs—this is truly disrespectful!”
Cai Zhu knelt nearby, trembling in fear.
She kept casting glances at Shen Wei, hoping she would take the hint and avoid offending Qin Fei.
Shen Wei remained composed.
Qin Fei’s beautiful face gradually darkened. “Sister, as a newcomer to the harem, you must not have learned the palace rules yet. Someone, teach her the proper etiquette.”
The old matron stepped forward with two palace maids, intending to drag Shen Wei up from her chair.
Before they could get close, footsteps echoed from outside Chang Le Palace. The head eunuch, under Li Yuanli’s orders, brought the prepared health tonic for Shen Wei.
Seeing the bustling Chang Le Palace, the head eunuch was momentarily stunned.
He sighed inwardly.
It seemed Qin Fei intended to deal with Shen Wei.
But this time, her plans might just backfire. The head eunuch served the Emperor daily and knew how much he valued this girl in Chang Le Palace.
For Shen Wei, the Emperor had even burned the national edict of the new Emperor of Qing Guo and stationed troops at the border.
With the head eunuch present, Qin Fei’s people naturally couldn’t act, so they chose to wait on the sidelines. The head eunuch personally carried the tonic, weaving through the crowd to place it on the table beside Shen Wei.
With a beaming smile, he said, “Miss, Doctor Mo has prepared new medicine for you. The Emperor asked me to bring it to you. He knows you dislike bitter medicine, so he even sent a box of rock sugar.”
Shen Wei clutched her book and replied to the head eunuch, “Please tell the Emperor I don’t want to drink the medicine.”
The head eunuch was taken aback, quickly bowing and asking, “Miss, you are weak. The doctor said you must take your medicine daily to recover. Good medicine is often bitter; you should drink it.”
Shen Wei rested her chin on her hand and said slowly, “Eunuch, please tell Li Yuanli that I’m being bullied by Qin Fei, and I’m truly scared—so scared that I can’t even drink the medicine.”
The head eunuch: ...
Everyone else: ...
The old matron was furious, scolding Shen Wei, “How dare you call the Emperor by his name!”
Shen Wei set her book down, feigning fright as she patted her chest and pointed at the fuming old matron, saying to the head eunuch, “Did you see that? She’s so fierce; I’m really scared.”
The head eunuch looked at Shen Wei, who remained perfectly still and composed, and saw no trace of fear on her face!
The head eunuch’s lips twitched.
In a harem filled with beauties, he had never encountered a girl as unique as Shen Wei—speaking nonsense with her eyes wide open, unafraid of anything.
Suddenly, the head eunuch began to understand the Emperor’s fondness for her; this fisher girl had such a distinctive personality.
He cleared his throat, trying to comfort her, “Don’t be afraid, Miss. I’ll go report to the Emperor right away.”
Then, turning to Qin Fei with a gentle expression, he added, “Please, Qin Fei, don’t act impulsively. I will inform the Emperor about the situation in Chang Le Palace. Right and wrong will be determined by him.”
With that, the head eunuch turned and left Chang Le Palace.
The palace fell silent.
Shen Wei instructed Cai Zhu to pick up the books scattered on the floor, brushing off the dust from the edges before continuing to lean back in her rattan chair and read.
The palace maids brought over chairs, inviting Qin Fei to take a seat.
Qin Fei’s expression was as cold as frost. In the past, the concubines in the harem had schemed against each other, and when one felt wronged, she would deliberately go to the Emperor to complain.
The result was often a punishment of thirty lashes, leading to death.
Li Yuanli was indifferent; he did not interfere in the struggles of the women in the harem, but their conflicts could never affect his governance.
He despised it when women cried and whined in front of him. As a mighty Emperor with ambitions for the world, how could he be troubled by women’s affairs?
This measure served as a warning to others, ensuring that the struggles among the concubines would not reach the Emperor’s desk again.
Today, Shen Wei, “relying on her favor,” not only called out the Emperor’s name but also spoke nonsense. Qin Fei tightened her handkerchief; such a willful and unruly newcomer might just touch the Emperor’s bottom line.
Perhaps she would be met with a brutal end.
“Miss, why not apologize to Qin Fei?” Cai Zhu whispered, cautiously approaching Shen Wei.
Shen Wei replied, “No need.”
Cai Zhu sighed inwardly.
She was digging her own grave; the girl was finished.
Before long, the head eunuch returned to Chang Le Palace, panting. This time, he brought back a food box containing warm soup medicine.
He respectfully bowed to Shen Wei, saying, “Miss, the Emperor said that good medicine is bitter and must be drunk while warm to be effective.”
The head eunuch placed the warm soup medicine on the table and turned to Qin Fei with a sympathetic look: “By the Emperor’s command, Qin Fei is to be stripped of her title and demoted to a commoner, and she is to be executed immediately.”
Table of Contents
