When Liu Chugrong heard that Shen Qingwan had received a lot of tributes during the visit of the The Great Luo Country Emissaries from the Subordinate Countries, he wanted to go and take a look.
"Empress, Imperial Consort Liu is here." Just as he was deep in thought, he saw Lian Yun walking in.
Shen Qingwan was puzzled. Why would she come here at this time?
But now, she couldn't just keep Liu Chugrong out. After all, losing this battle had already given her father a headache. If Prime Minister Liu were to target her father at this time, perhaps... Thinking till here, Shen Qingwan still allowed Lian Yun to bring her in.
As soon as Liu Chu Rong entered the screen, his chin raised, "Oh, my sister is really in a good mood, now General Shen …" At this point, she suddenly covered her mouth and exclaimed, "Ah, it's elder sister's fault. You shouldn't bring up such sad thoughts." This time she deliberately dressed up very extravagantly, no more than for her to see. But seeing that she didn't care about this at all, her heart became even more angry.
"Elder sister, why have you come today?" The recent events had already given Shen Qingwan a headache. Furthermore, she was a person with a short temper, so she naturally didn't want to argue with these people. She just wanted to be at peace and see everyone off.
"I heard that a messenger from a small country came to visit a few days ago and presented a lot of tribute. It was said that you were with the emperor at that time, so I'm afraid the emperor pitied you, so my sister got a lot of benefits." As she spoke, the greed in her eyes was not concealed at all. Shen Qingwan could naturally hear it as well.
"I wonder if elder sister will be able to see it for herself?"
"Lian Yun, go and bring it over." Shen Qing Wan didn't care about the mockery in Liu Chu Rong's words at all, she was clear about where these offerings came from, the whole court had long since spread the word. Lian Yun immediately agreed and turned to look for the tributes that had already been placed down. Liu Chugrong sneaked a glance at Shen Qingwan, as if nothing had anything to do with him.
From the moment Shen Qingwan entered the palace until now, she felt that she had never been placed in her eyes.
Lian Yun found a few maids to help her carry it while she stood in a straight line. Liu Chugrong was confident that she would be the daughter of the Prime Minister Liu, even if it was precious jade she could call it a stone, intending to humiliate Shen Qingwan a bit. However, she never expected that these offerings would be so special. The silk cloth was as smooth as silk, and the gold and silver accessories were sparkling. These supplements were rare even in the imperial palace.
Shen Qingwan slowly stood up and carelessly touched all of the jewelry. There wasn't a single ripple in her heart. These common things were not worth mentioning in her eyes. What she cared about now was only her father.
"It seems like elder sister really likes it." Shen Qingwan called out 'big sister', but the estrangement in their words made it clear that the two weren't really calling each other 'sister'. Although Liu Chugrong was envious of these offerings, he naturally didn't want to yield in front of Shen Qingwan. He stubbornly said, "Heh, I thought it was some rare and precious thing. So it's these common things."
Shen Qingwan didn't have any reaction, but her heart was even more contemptuous towards her. With a wave of her hand, under her shocked gaze, she told Lian Yun to keep his things properly, "Since you have seen the things already, and the person has said so, the time is about right. An overflowing sense of expulsion.
How could Liu Chugrong not know what he was trying to say? He wanted to say one or two things, but when his eyes met Shen Qingwan's indifferent gaze, he couldn't say it out loud, "Little sister is really stingy, now that your father has lost his power, I didn't expect you to be so arrogant, are you not afraid of being remembered by others?"
Shen Qingwan did not care much when she saw her anger, but her heart was impatient. She coldly said, "My father and Prime Minister Liu have been fighting for most of his life already. I'm afraid that everyone knows about this. You and I are both concubines of the emperor, and this time, you have caused a ruckus and disharmony between us. I don't think it's a big deal for your father to plead on behalf of my father, but I do wish that the two of us can live in peace and not offend the emperor. "
Shen Qingwan enunciated every word. She seemed as if everything that she said and said had nothing to do with her.
Coincidentally, the moment Liu Chugrong left, Sun Gonggong's voice came from outside the door, "The Emperor has arrived."
Upon hearing that Fu Yuheng had arrived, Shen Qingwan's expression immediately turned serious, but her expression remained respectful.
"My beloved concubine …" Fu Yuheng raised his hand in an attempt to hold hers, but stopped in the next second.
"Your Majesty, why have you come today to order chenqie to do something?" Shen Qingwan bowed, refuting his feelings, but not losing etiquette.
However, Fu Yuheng understood her meaning.
"Looks like you're blaming me." Fu Yuheng felt a little helpless. Indeed, he did not want to punish General Shen, but if he did not punish him, how could he submit to the masses?
"Chenqie doesn't blame Your Majesty. These are matters of the imperial court and have nothing to do with the harem." Even though she said that, Shen Qingwan treated him with such estrangement. It was even more so than before.
Even though Shen Qingwan didn't say it out loud, and even though she was stubborn, he knew that she still broke her heart. She was still blaming him. Her estrangement, her reverence, made him sad. Although she was usually a person with a short temper, it was different from being estranged from others.
Fu Yuheng didn't understand why he was so disappointed. In fact, this was a common occurrence at court. However, when it happened to Shen Qingwan and he saw her beginning to distance herself from him, he felt as if his heart was being pressed down by a huge stone.
The two of them looked at each other speechlessly. The atmosphere between them was terrifyingly heavy. Shen Qingwan raised her head to look at the zither in her hall, but didn't ask if he wanted to listen.
Today, she was not in the mood to talk, so she could only use music to amuse herself.
Fu Yuheng was originally very happy when he saw that she was willing to play the zither. However, it didn't take long before he felt even more upset. Even though her zither skills were superb, perhaps it was to conceal the anguish in her heart, she specially chose to play a cheerful tune. But there was no concept to speak of. Her heart was somewhere else, not here. He was unwilling to play the zither for him. Fu Yuheng suddenly felt sad. He didn't know if it was because he felt sad or because he felt sad for her.
"Stop playing." Fu Yuheng grabbed onto Shen Qingwan's hand that was caressing the zither strings. He felt the slender fingers in her hand tremble slightly.
Although she was relatively indifferent, it didn't mean that she didn't care.
"Rest early." Looking at her, who had been playing the zither just now but was now frozen in front of the zither with a terrifyingly empty gaze, Fu Yuheng opened his mouth with great difficulty.
Even so, Shen Qingwan did not bow to him. When Fu Yuheng walked out and turned to look at Shen Qingwan, she was still sitting in front of the zither without moving.
He let out a long sigh and left without looking back.