RWNEFE -Chapter 4 The Reason for the Confiscation

Shen Lanxi staggered slightly, as if she were forcing herself to endure intense pain. Her face tightened as she bit down, suppressing it.

Just one step away, Zhou Chengqian caught sight of the ground where she had been standing—an eye-searing patch of red.

Zhou Chengqian narrowed his imperial eyes and drew in a sharp breath.
She had run here—on foot.

“Imperial Uncle,” Shen Lanxi said, sounding as though she were on the verge of losing control. “After hearing about that filthy affair, I couldn’t bear it. I really couldn’t!”

She stomped her foot hard, and pain immediately twisted her expression.

Her spoiled, frantic demeanor fell squarely into Zhou Chengqian’s eyes, reminding him of how Shen Lanxi used to rely on the Empress Dowager’s favor to act recklessly among the princes and princesses.

This girl had no schemes—she dared to barge into the palace purely because she was spoiled by imperial favor.

Under normal circumstances, Zhou Chengqian would have reprimanded her harshly. But now—

“Nonsense! Is the inner palace somewhere you can trespass at will?”

Shen Lanxi immediately lowered her head, shrinking back in fear.

Zhou Chengqian massaged his throbbing temples. “Wang Bao, bring me the memorial that arrived last night—eight hundred li urgent.”

Wang Bao quickly bowed and withdrew.

“Lanxi,” Zhou Chengqian said heavily, “last night an emergency report came from the northwest. After the military provisions your father was responsible for transporting reached the front lines, they all turned out to be stones. The Wei Army had no funds to purchase food. They were surrounded jointly by the Turkic forces and Persia—four hundred thousand soldiers, wiped out entirely. Six cities in the northwest have fallen. I ordered the Shen residence searched overnight. All eighty-nine members of the Shen family have been imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison.”

Shen Lanxi looked as though she had heard something utterly inconceivable. She staggered backward several steps, only managing to steady herself when her back hit the wall.

“Imperial Uncle, that can’t be true! The provisions turning into stones—my father would never do such a thing! Please investigate thoroughly!”

She dropped to her knees and began kowtowing repeatedly.

Wang Bao soon returned with the memorial. Zhou Chengqian gestured for him to hand it to Shen Lanxi.

“Read it. Four hundred thousand fallen souls—none survived. Whoever replaced the provisions deserves death ten thousand times over.”

Shen Lanxi scrambled to her feet, opened the memorial, and read every word from beginning to end without missing a single line—three times in total—before returning it.

“Imperial Uncle, my father must be innocent! Please, I beg you, investigate this thoroughly!”

She kowtowed again, hands clasped tightly, obedient yet visibly trembling.

Zhou Chengqian lowered his gaze, his expression unreadable.

“Lanxi, morning court is about to begin. I must give an explanation to the officials and to the soldiers guarding the borders.”

Five or six seconds passed before Shen Lanxi slowly raised her head. Her exquisite face was soaked with tears.

“So… Imperial Uncle plans to use my Shen family to quell the anger of the court and the frontier troops?”

Her voice was light—part accusation, part statement of fact.

“Lanxi,” Zhou Chengqian said solemnly, “I promise you I will investigate this matter thoroughly. But right now, stabilizing the court and the army is the most urgent matter. Do you understand?”

Shen Lanxi collapsed to the ground in a daze, letting the blood from her feet stain the palace tiles.

“But Uncle… my father is truly innocent. Our Shen family is innocent!”

Zhou Chengqian looked at her devastated, hollow expression, his gaze briefly drifting as if he were seeing someone else through her.

“I can promise you this—I will do my utmost to preserve your family’s lives.”

Shen Lanxi looked up, a tragically beautiful smile appearing on her face.

“Uncle… my family is already gone. Is that why Zhou Ruyuan dared to treat me that way on our wedding night? Did he already know?”

There was a reckless determination in her eyes.

A flash of darkness passed through Zhou Chengqian’s gaze.

“Nonsense! He returned from the southwest less than half a month ago—how could he possibly know? One is the southwest, the other the northwest. What benefit would this bring him?”

“I know this matter wronged you,” Zhou Chengqian continued. “I can guarantee you that whatever happens to the Shen family will not implicate you.”

Shen Lanxi immediately rejected this. “Uncle, don’t favor him just because he’s your son! I’m your legitimate niece—I’m your family too!”

Zhou Chengqian said coldly, “I will order that woman executed at once.”

“I don’t want that!” Shen Lanxi screamed hysterically. “I want a divorce! He wronged me—I don’t want him anymore!”

Watching her throw a childish tantrum before him, Zhou Chengqian’s patience slowly wore thin.

“You truly want a divorce?”

Shen Lanxi immediately straightened and knelt properly. “Yes. I want a divorce.”

Zhou Chengqian’s eyes grew inscrutable. His voice dropped.

“Have you thought this through? If you divorce, you will no longer be part of the imperial family. The best outcome for the Shen clan is exile. Are you willing to suffer exile with them?”

Shen Lanxi straightened her back, stubborn and defiant.

“Suffering is fine. As long as I’m with my family, they won’t let me be wronged in the slightest.”

Zhou Chengqian stood and took two steps forward—each step felt like it landed directly on Shen Lanxi’s heart.

“Very well. I grant you the divorce. In a few days, I’ll send an edict to the Southern Pacification Prince’s residence. Go back and wait.”

Shen Lanxi finally let out a breath of relief and placed the jeweled box bestowed by the Empress Dowager in front of her.

“Uncle, after today, we don’t know when we’ll meet again. The eastern pearl the Empress Dowager gave me—I offer it to you in return. I only ask that you don’t forget this disobedient junior.”

Zhou Chengqian’s gaze fell on the box before he glanced at Wang Bao.

“Princess Lanxi,” Wang Bao said gently, “let this old servant take you to have your wounds treated. You’ve lost so much blood—don’t let scars form.”

He helped Shen Lanxi up and led her away.

After they were gone, Zhou Chengqian bent down and opened the box. Inside lay a massive, perfectly round pearl, glowing as though it held light within.

…

“Eunuch Wang, I won’t be applying medicine.”

Shen Lanxi shook off his grip. Spotting a palace maid carrying pastries, she took the box from her hands.

Wang Bao bowed and said to the maid, “You may return and report.”

The maid curtsied and left.

Turning her back, Shen Lanxi opened the food box, took one pastry, and handed the rest—along with the basket—to Wang Bao.

“The Empress Dowager always misremembers. I like chestnut cakes, but she always gives me walnut cakes. Eunuch Wang, I’m not used to walnut cakes. You can have them.”

The basket felt heavy in Wang Bao’s hands. Along with it was a pass token for the Empress Dowager’s palace.

“Eunuch Wang, I’m leaving. You should return and report as well.”

Eating the walnut cake, Shen Lanxi walked away without looking back.

Wang Bao stood there watching until she turned a corner and disappeared, then took the token back to report.

Without a palace pass, she would never again be able to enter the imperial city openly.

Whether her feigned madness had fooled the Benevolent Filial Emperor or not, one thing was certain—he had lowered his guard against her. Perhaps the blood on her feet had even stirred a trace of compassion. Otherwise, he would never have agreed to the divorce so readily.

An emperor’s word was law once spoken.

Now, what she needed to do was return to the Southern Pacification Prince’s residence.

There was still one very important matter waiting for her there.