Chapter 55 – Turning the Emperor Away

Xiaochunzi muttered to himself, “But the green nameplate has already been placed.”

The imperial physicians had examined her and confirmed she had recovered, so the green nameplate was only put up after they cleared her. The Emperor couldn’t be allowed to flip a card for someone still considered ill—if that happened, it would be a dereliction of duty by the Office of Ceremonial Affairs. So if she was pretending to be sick, it was too obvious—His Majesty would see through it instantly.

Shen Qing coughed deliberately on the spot. “I fear I’ve caught a chill. I cannot risk passing the illness on to His Majesty.”

Xiaochunzi: “……”

Xiaochunzi was completely convinced now and turned back to report to Wang De.

Wang De was also shocked by Shen Qing’s maneuver. He could guess her intention—it was to avoid the Emperor—but so what? If the Emperor called, no concubine was allowed to refuse. Did she think she had married an ordinary man? If a regular husband were upset, he might at least try to coax his wife, but this was the Emperor. He could have any woman he wanted. If one misbehaved, he’d simply replace her. That was normal.

Wang De thought to himself that Shen Liangren might very well lose favor after this, but even so, it still had to be reported.

When Xuanyuan Ling heard Wang De’s report, he fell silent.

The green nameplate had been posted, and yet she claimed her body still hadn’t recovered? Could she make it any more obvious that she didn’t want to come?

As he remained silent, Wang De and Zhao Hai both lowered their heads. Well, the Emperor had clearly figured it out. Zhao Hai hadn’t expected Shen Liangren to be this bold either. That night, Xuanyuan Ling had been drunk, and Zhao Hai had seen what state Shen Qing had been in when she left—she must have truly been upset. The only question was: would the Emperor be willing to coax her?

Over the past few days, Xuanyuan Ling had known she was injured. She had already drawn attention by being favored, and now that she couldn’t serve due to her injuries, he hadn’t quite been able to bring himself to visit her. That day, he had indeed behaved with some abandon. He now felt slightly ashamed to face Shen Qing again. When he saw her green nameplate had been reposted, it had actually stirred a desire to go see her.

And yet now, this? He suddenly felt truly and thoroughly snubbed.

Was this his woman rejecting him?

This wasn’t like when she once refused to come close because of the heat—this was an outright refusal to serve him in bed!

Which woman in the harem dared such a thing? What, because he had been too rough that night and hurt her, she now looked down on him?

How dare she? He had never encountered anything like this! Xuanyuan Ling’s expression turned dark. “What nerve!”

Wang De and Zhao Hai immediately knelt down.

But just as they knelt, Xuanyuan Ling’s anger cooled as the memory of that night returned. She had truly been wronged and truly injured. It had been many days, and he hadn’t mustered the courage to go see her. Now that she had pulled this stunt, perhaps all she wanted was for him to coax her a bit. She had always been fond of acting spoiled. If she didn’t come to him and he sent someone to scold her instead…

In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to do such a thing.

So Wang De and Zhao Hai heard the Emperor roar in anger and then fall into a long silence. The mood in the room turned strange. But since Xuanyuan Ling hadn’t released his fury, they didn’t dare rise and could only wait for his next order.

Finally, after a long wait, they heard him say: “Tell the imperial physician to check on her again. She must be treated thoroughly. Also, send her some nourishing supplements.”

Wang De and Zhao Hai: “……”

Would Your Majesty like to hear how contradictory that sounds?

Of course, they could grumble internally all they wanted—but they couldn’t say a word aloud.

After Wang De exited the room, he felt as though the world had turned surreal. Shen Liangren had just blatantly slapped the Emperor in the face, yet the Emperor, after expressing a little anger, had gone right back to coaxing her?

Zhao Hai also came out, and the two exchanged a glance. Well, they still had to give orders to send nourishing supplements and summon the physician to continue attending to her.

Back in Zhaohua Palace, aside from Shen Qing herself, the other three palace maids were all extremely anxious.

Shen Qing, however, was truly calm. Earlier, she had indeed been furious, but now that her injuries had healed, her rationality had returned.

If she had served Xuanyuan Ling that first day, even if he had ruined her in the process, she would have had to swallow her suffering and bear it silently.

There was no other way—her life in the palace was a lowly one. If not for the Emperor’s favor, anyone could trample her.

She had worked hard to win his favor, all for the sake of a more comfortable life. But now that she’d been injured—and it had happened because of his drunken behavior—should she just endure the humiliation in silence, pretend nothing happened, and go flatter him again?

This was not the same as before. After serving him for so long, her efforts hadn’t been for nothing. When Xuanyuan Ling was drunk, yes, he was a beast—but when sober, he was at least still human.

With her understanding of him over these past days, Shen Qing took a gamble. She pushed boundaries again, just to see how far Xuanyuan Ling’s feelings for her could go.

Not long after, Xiaoxiazi arrived with a delivery of nourishing supplements—clearly a reward—which confirmed for Shen Qing that her test had succeeded yet again.

The Emperor now felt guilty toward her.

Naturally, the matter of Shen Qing playing hard to get and refusing to serve the Emperor didn’t stay hidden from the rest of the harem. The Emperor had called for a concubine and she hadn’t gone—what a serious offense! But instead of getting angry, the Emperor had rewarded her?

Even the Empress furrowed her brows when she heard: “How dare Shen Liangren do such a thing? Has her courage grown that much?”

Jinzhi scoffed disdainfully. “Exactly. Must be that she’s been spoiled by the Emperor for too long and has lost her sense.”

“The Emperor has been indulging her. Not only did he not punish her, he even sent her rewards.” The Empress’s heart sank. Shen Liangren was indeed beautiful—so much so that the Emperor couldn’t bear to let her go.

But if the Emperor was going to be indulgent, as the Empress of the Central Palace, she couldn’t let things slide. Since the Emperor had sent a reward, she couldn’t reprimand Shen Qing just yet. But once Shen Qing next finished attending to the Emperor, the Empress would definitely summon her for a stern warning.

If she didn’t, Shen Qing’s ambitions might grow unchecked.