RWNEFE -Chapter 658 The Three Brothers Return Home!

“Your Majesty!”

Shen Lanxi smiled. “Call me Elder Sister!”

The three of them grinned and answered in unison, “Elder Sister!”

“Ah!” she responded brightly.

The anxiety Shen Yuanjing and his two brothers had carried all the way back eased by more than half at that single reply.

“Mother is at Cining Palace. I’ll take you there.”

As they walked, they chatted.

The three brothers told her amusing stories from the frontier; she told them about the happenings in the capital.

Soon they arrived at Cining Palace.

“Greetings, Mother!”

Although their mother had been granted the title of Empress Dowager, they bore no imperial blood and could not address her as such. They had discussed this carefully on the way.

“Rise. You’ve traveled a long distance and must be exhausted,” Zhou Xinrou said, her face full of concern.

“As long as Mother is well, we are not tired,” Shen Yuanjing replied.

Zhou Xinrou laughed lightly. “Look at you—gone for so many years, and now you speak so formally to your own mother!”

The three brothers felt slightly uncomfortable with her sudden warmth.

“Mother,” Shen Yuanjun asked, “Your Majesty said you visit Father at the Shen residence every day. How is he?”

Every day? Of course she did not visit Shen Congwen daily.

Zhou Xinrou glanced at Shen Lanxi—no doubt another lie her “good daughter” had told for the sake of reputation.

“He’s the same as before,” she said calmly. “I’ve already ordered people to seek famous physicians and rare medicines everywhere. I believe your father will certainly recover.”

But the letters sent to the northwest had clearly said Father was near death. They had hurried back to attend his funeral!

Though confused, the three brothers did not dare question her openly.

“When I had spare time,” Zhou Xinrou continued, “I made each of you a few new sets of clothes and shoes.”

Palace maids brought them forward.

“You’re covered in dust from travel. Bathe and change before going to see your father.”

Bathe… in the palace?

Shen Lanxi smiled. “It’s Mother’s kind intention. You should change into them.”

With matters put that way, the three could only obey.

“I’ll look after them. If Your Majesty is busy, you may attend to affairs,” Zhou Xinrou said.

Shen Lanxi followed the cue. “Freshen up and eat something first. I’ll come later.”

Strangely, the three brothers felt more at ease before the Emperor than alone with their mother.

Surely they should be more restrained before the sovereign—yet now that Shen Lanxi had left, being alone with Zhou Xinrou made them even more uneasy.

“Yuanjing, Yuanjun, Yuanqing… in the past, I neglected you. That was my fault.”

“But at that time dangers lurked everywhere. I dared not treat you too well, for fear of implicating you.”

As she spoke, Zhou Xinrou began to cry.

The three brothers hurried to comfort her.

Shen Lanxi returned to the Hall of Mental Cultivation and continued reviewing memorials from across the realm.

Time slipped by unnoticed. When she looked up again, the lamps had already been lit.

A figure in brocade stood with his back to her, lighting each candle one by one.

“You’re back.”

Cheng Zheng turned, a faint smile on his lips.

He had returned without delay after settling Sang Guo.

He had so many things he wanted to tell her—so he wrote them all down instead.

Page after page, until he had filled several booklets.

“For me?” she asked.

He nodded.

Shen Lanxi set aside her memorials and began carefully flipping through the notebook.

There were his reflections on the beautiful scenery along the way, local anecdotes, products, and curiosities—along with his comments about her.

He had even recorded improvements he heard about in different regions.

And most of all… his regret that she could not travel beside him.

He had treated escorting Sang Guo home as a journey of leisure.

After supper, she continued reading what remained.

Until the bed curtains were lowered.

---

“Zhou Xinrou has entered the palace. Be careful,” Shen Lanxi said lazily with her eyes closed.

Cheng Zheng, who had nearly fallen asleep, perked up immediately.

After two breaths, his eyes widened.

He nodded softly.

“Sleep.”

But now he had no sleepiness left.

Zhou Xinrou brought the three brothers back to the Shen family home.

“Come here, all of you—see who’s arrived!”

The Shen family children stood together, not daring to move.

The household had been informed a day in advance; none of the children had gone to the academy today.

The previous evening, Zhou Xinrou had kept the three brothers in the palace under the pretext of motherly concern.

“These children have studied etiquette so much they’ve become wooden.”

“Your fathers are back—why aren’t you stepping forward to greet them?” Zhou Xinrou said warmly.

The children were even more afraid; Grandmother had never smiled at them before.

Madam Liu and Madam Miao stepped forward to smooth things over.

“They haven’t seen their fathers in so long—it’s only natural they didn’t react at once.”

“When Yuanhao returned from campaign, I almost didn’t recognize him either!”

“Emei, Peng’er—quickly greet your father!”

The children stepped forward stiffly.

“Father!”

Seeing their children after so long, the three brothers’ eyes reddened.

“I came back in such haste that I couldn’t bring your mothers or prepare gifts. I’ll make it up to you later.”

Before they could say much more, Zhou Xinrou urged them to see Shen Congwen.

“I brought a lingzhi mushroom from the palace—presented just yesterday. Have the imperial physician see if it can be used in medicine.”

Shen Conglian said carefully, “Your Majesty has already brought many precious medicines from the palace. The storeroom can hardly contain them.”

Zhou Xinrou smiled approvingly at his tact. “It’s nothing. If it can preserve a life, no amount is too much.”

Shen Congli almost blurted out flattery about how deeply she cared for his elder brother—but stopped himself.

She was no longer their sister-in-law. She was now the Empress Dowager. The former Crown Prince was soon to be posthumously honored as Emperor.

He absolutely could not say that.

“Elder Brother will certainly be fine!”

When Shen Yuanjing and his brothers finally saw their father’s condition, they could barely accept it.

“Father… how did he become like this?”

No one answered at first. Shen Conglian finally spoke.

“Your father… drank too much in the past.”

Shen Congli added quickly, “You didn’t see it—he practically soaked himself in wine vats. It was frightening to watch.”

Madam Liu hurried to add, “We tried to stop him. Everyone did. It was useless.”

Madam Miao chimed in, “He even hit your third uncle for trying to stop him—split his head open.”

Afraid of being outdone, Madam Liu pointed at a scar. “Your second uncle was scratched too. The mark’s still here.”

They were determined not to bear blame for neglect.

The three brothers immediately thanked the second and third branches of the family.

“No need, no need—we’re family.”

“Now that you’ve returned, perhaps your father will recover out of joy.”

“Don’t be too grief-stricken. We’ve all done our best.”

“His Majesty and the Empress Dowager even brought all the imperial physicians and the finest medicines from the palace.”