After the divorce, I pursued the Ninth Prince 100 times.

Royal study room.

The emperor sat behind his desk, reviewing memorials, but he did not put down his pen.

Before the table stood a man in black clothes with dark patterns. Since the emperor didn't speak, he also didn't speak, but just stood there silently.

The two were silent for a long time.

The emperor was defeated. He put down his pen and rubbed his brow. "Minister Fu, what are you doing?"

"You said that Prince Jing stayed elsewhere on his wedding day, which was inextricably linked to that woman. He deserves thirty lashes as a warning to others. Shi Lei, the Minister of War, is a man of integrity. Since this matter concerns the prince, he is the most appropriate person to carry out the execution."

"I listened to you and beat him. As you said, let Shi Lei carry out the punishment."

"You also said that Shen Nanxing disguised herself as a man and fought for the Northern Yue Kingdom for many years, making great contributions. Now that she has returned to female attire, since her general title has been revoked, she should be compensated in other ways. Shen Nanxing's mother should be made a first-rank imperial consort."

"I listen to you and seal it."

"You've asked to go to Liangzhou to alleviate the flood today. What are you planning to do?"

"You are in charge of the huge East Factory. The stable operation of the entire capital and even the entire North Vietnam depends on you! You said that if you go to Liangzhou, who can I rely on?"

"Besides, I've already handed over the Liangzhou flood issue to Prince Jing, and he's been preparing for it for a long time. Now not letting him go... How can this be justified?"

Fu Jiuli listened quietly, and after a while she uttered, "Prince Jing is incompetent."

"As far as I know, Prince Jing and his staff have been discussing this for many days, and the solution they came up with is to repair river dikes, block the water, and build more reservoirs to store water."

"Not only would this method be extremely labor-intensive and resource-intensive, but North Vietnam already has numerous rivers and lakes, so we don't need to store large amounts of river water."

“There are indeed drought-stricken areas, but they are extremely far away from Liangzhou. Transporting water there would be extremely expensive.”

"I think this method doesn't work."

The emperor pondered for a moment, frowning, "Then, according to your opinion, what method should be used?"

Fu Jiuli bowed and said, "I need to go to Liangzhou and see it in person before I can make a final conclusion."

"Can't you send someone else?"

"No."

......

Xie Tingyu held Shen Nanxing's hand all the way to Xiyue Palace.

There was no one else at the door except a few maids and servants who were cleaning.

None of the maids who served Concubine Duan were seen.

Shen Nanxing glanced at Xie Tingyu and said tentatively, "My mother must be busy with something right now. Your Highness, please go see His Majesty first! I'll wait here for a while. My mother will see me when she's done..."

Xie Tingyu twitched his lips. His father was now obsessed with government affairs and often stayed in the wing room east of the imperial study when he was busy late. He rarely came to his mother's place once a month.

What could possibly be wrong with his mother? Sending away the maids at this moment was clearly intended to provoke his princess...

If Nanxing waited here, who knows how many hours she would have to wait? It was just past afternoon, and the weather was still very hot. Nanxing's delicate body, if exposed to the scorching sun for a few hours, I'm afraid her fair cheeks would be sunburned.

But if she rashly went in like this, her mother would definitely say she didn't know the rules, and she would be punished by kneeling...

Of course, if Nanxing didn't go in, her mother might say that she had waited for her for so long, but she didn't know how to go in after coming here, and that she had waited for so long in vain, so she should be punished by kneeling...

Xie Tingyu shook his head helplessly, took Shen Nanxing's hand and walked towards the main hall, comforting her as he walked: "It's okay, don't worry, I'm here."

Inside Xiyue Palace.

The beautiful woman was now lying comfortably on the chaise longue in the hall, her legs casually crossed. Two maids were fanning her, two were massaging her calves, one was feeding her cut fruit, and another was offering her tea from time to time.

She asked casually, her voice soft and lazy, but the words she said were completely unrelated to being generous and decent: "Is that bitch here?"

The maidservant waiting nearby knelt down and replied, "Your Majesty, I just received news that Princess Jing entered the palace a quarter of an hour ago. She should be almost at the gate of Xiyue Palace by now."

Concubine Duan sneered: "None of you are allowed to go out to greet her. I want to see how she will respond!"

"Yes!" All the maids knelt down in response.

"Jinxin, is the cushion ready?"

"Your Majesty, the cushions are ready!" The palace maid named Jinxin leaned over and responded.

"Is the core inside firmly placed?"

"My Lady, this time I followed your instructions and put in more than double the amount than before. It looks solid enough."

"Well, not bad." Concubine Duan smiled complacently. Just thinking about the miserable state of that bitch later made her feel happy.

Did that bitch still think she was so great? She was a woman but she had been in the army for many years, hanging out with the soldiers day and night. I wonder if her body was still clean.

Moreover, because she had delayed her marriage by disguising herself as a man, she was already an old maid. Yu'er not only did not despise her, but was willing to marry her as his principal wife, which was already a great blessing. Yet, she was still ungrateful and even went to His Majesty for such a trivial matter...

It's really a disgrace to Yu'er!

If this temper of his is not disciplined, won't he cause chaos in Prince Jing's Mansion in due course?

Concubine Duan was so angry just thinking about it that she couldn't even eat fruit.

Just then I heard footsteps outside the hall.

Before anyone outside could come in, she immediately sat up and shouted, "How dare you! Shen Nanxing, you have such a guts! How dare you trespass into my Xiyue Palace!"

"Mother, it's your son."

"Your son and the princess are here to see you!"

As soon as the voice fell, the two walked in hand in hand, and after stopping, they smiled at each other.

It stung Concubine Duan's eyes.

She frowned, and although her tone was still stern, it was much kinder: "Yu'er, mother just wanted to see my daughter-in-law, why did you come too?"

Then he looked at Shen Nanxing again. She was wearing a gorgeous dress, with curved eyebrows, red lips, white teeth, and a smile. There were two dimples at the corners of her mouth. She was looking at her son affectionately.

She immediately became furious: "Shen Nanxing, your mother can't even see you alone, right? You even specially called Prince Jing here!"

"Why? Are you afraid that Mother will bully you?"

Shen Nanxing's expression stiffened, then she stomped her foot angrily and glared at Xie Tingyu: "It's all your fault! I told you I would do it myself! Look, even Mother Consort has misunderstood me!"

After saying that, he turned his face to the side with a look of grievance.

I almost felt sick and vomited.

Xie Tingyu was amused by the woman's coquettish look. He put his arm around her shoulders and held her in his arms.

He smiled and said to Concubine Duan: "Mother, Nanxing wanted to come by herself, but I insisted on following her. If you want to blame someone, blame me!"