The war god prince climbs the wall every night, and the princess is angry

Shen Qionghua shook her head slightly and said, "I'm afraid it's not that easy."

Seeing Lin Wanru looking over with a puzzled expression, Shen Qionghua said, "The Yongning Marquisate is still useful to the Emperor."

As for what the use was, Shen Qionghua did not say. The fight for the throne was too sensitive, and the Shen family was currently in the vortex. If A Niang didn't know, it would be less dangerous.

Hearing Shen Qionghua say this, Lin Wanru thought that the Yongning Marquis' Mansion was too powerful and was highly valued by the emperor, so it would not be so easy to fall. She felt depressed for a moment, and soon her attention was all focused on Shen Qionghua's legs.

Because she felt sorry for her daughter, Lin Wanru asked Shen Qionghua about her well-being and personally served her tea and water. She stayed with Shen Qionghua until she finished lunch and gave her medicine again. Seeing that Shen Qionghua was about to take a nap, she reluctantly took her maid back to her own yard.

After Shen Qionghua woke up from her nap and had some snacks, it was almost dusk when the palace announced the punishment for Marquis Yongning.

As Xie Nanyuan expected, there was no severe punishment, but the hereditary title was downgraded from Marquis to Earl.

Even though he had anticipated this, when the facts lay before him, Shen Qionghua still felt a sense of absurdity.

More than one million taels of silver, which may involve the resettlement of tens of thousands of disaster victims, are just let go just because of the emperor's desire for "balance"?

He was not demoted, nor did he lose his military power. He was merely downgraded from a marquisate to a baronate. The people in Yongning Marquisate... oh no... it was Yongning Baronate's Mansion still lived a life of luxury.

When Shen Qionghua heard the news, she locked herself in the study and did not pull her out until Shaoyao came to report that people from the palace had sent rewards.

Shen Qionghua tidied her clothes and went to the front hall with Shaoyao.

Li Shunquan stood in the middle of the hall. Same position, same person, same day, but his attitude was very different.

"Manager Li."

"Princess Jialin, I'm here on the orders of the emperor." Li Shunquan said with a smile.

Shen Qionghua slowly knelt down.

"I hereby declare that Princess Jialin is virtuous, intelligent, and upright. I bestow upon her a gift of silver, two pieces of floating brocade, two ruby-studded gold hairpins, and a colorful butterfly-shaped hairpin."

As Li Shunquan finished speaking, the eunuch beside him immediately brought the reward forward, and the maid in the front hall hurriedly took it.

"Your Majesty, I thank you for your reward." Shen Qionghua said solemnly, then stood up.

Li Shunquan said, "The Emperor is aware of the grievances suffered by the County Lady, and therefore has specially ordered me to bring the reward to the Shen Residence."

Under normal circumstances, even if a small merchant family gave birth to a county lady, there would be no need for the emperor's chief eunuch to come to the family in person with rewards. This was a special arrangement by the emperor in order to appease Shen Qionghua.

Shen Qionghua understood the hidden meaning of Li Shunquan's words, "I am grateful for the honor bestowed upon me by the Emperor. Thank you for your hard work, Steward Li."

Li Shunquan smiled and waved his hands, "It's not that hard for a clerk to be so busy, it's really hard for the emperor to handle state affairs every day."

He paused, staring into Shen Qionghua's eyes and said, "Before I came to the Shen Mansion, I went to the Yongning Marquis' Mansion and read out the emperor's decree. From now on, the Yongning Marquis' Mansion will be downgraded to a Marquis' Mansion as a punishment for what happened today."

"The wife of the Earl of Yongning fainted on the spot. However, I would say that what the Earl of Yongning did this time was truly excessive, and he deserved this fate. What do you think, Princess Jialin?"

"Butler Li is right. Disaster relief is the most important thing right now. All other matters can be put aside. The Yongning Marquis's mansion has been demoted in title. I'm afraid I'll be ridiculed when I go out in the future. This can be considered as a way to vent my anger." Shen Qionghua said, his eyes full of joy.

Seeing that Shen Qionghua showed no resentment towards this treatment, Li Shunquan finally smiled sincerely and said, "That's exactly what the Emperor meant."

"However, with this happening, the Emperor has already handed over the disaster relief matter to His Royal Highness Prince Rui. I believe His Royal Highness Prince Rui will be able to complete this matter successfully."

A hint of surprise flashed in Shen Qionghua's eyes, and he said, "The Emperor has his reasons for making such an arrangement. As a subject, I should obey the Emperor's orders."

Li Shunquan nodded in satisfaction, then said seriously, "Princess Jialin, the Emperor has already punished you for this matter. I hope this matter ends here. Do you understand?"

Is this because he is afraid that she will spread the matter and let the refugees know, causing Prince An to lose the support of the people and lose the ability to fight against Prince Rui?

Shen Qionghua was unwilling in her heart, but facing the threatening look in Li Shunquan's eyes, she gritted her teeth and finally smiled: "Qionghua understands, this matter is understood, Qionghua will not cause more trouble for the emperor."

After hearing this, Li Shunquan smiled again, "The Princess of Jialin County is indeed a smart and intelligent person. It's getting late, so I'll leave first."

"Goodbye, Manager Li." Shen Qionghua nodded.

It was not until all the people in the palace had left and Shen Qionghua returned to the house with the rewards, leaving only Shaoyao, Gancao, Poria and three others, that the anger on his face appeared.

The emperor really knows how to strike a balance. He hits two people with a stick and gives them a sweet reward, and both of them have to be grateful to him.

He took away Prince An's disaster relief funds and gave them to Prince Rui in exchange for a lighter punishment for Marquis Yongning. This was because he was afraid that Prince An and Prince Rui would not quarrel.

He also used some so-called reward to send Li Shunquan to warn her not to disrupt his plan.

I'm afraid that if she showed a little dissatisfaction with the Yongning Marquis's treatment, or if she didn't listen to him and insisted on making a big deal out of this matter, the emperor would think she was ungrateful and would find any excuse to deal with the Shen family in the future?

When Shen Qionghua thought of this, she felt a chill in her heart.

The emperor handled the matter this way probably because he wanted her and Prince Rui to keep their mouths shut and not make a big deal out of the matter, so he gave the disaster relief task to Prince Rui.

It is estimated that the imperial edict that General Manager Li read out at the Yongning Marquis' Mansion did not clearly state why the Yongning Marquis' Mansion was punished with demotion, or he just found a random reason to fool people.

I'm afraid that those people in Beijing who are not aware of the situation are still confused.

As for the officials in the Ministry of Revenue, they would naturally not be stupid enough to go against the emperor's wishes.

The emperor is determined to protect the Yongning Marquis' Mansion!