Lihoumen

Chapter 15 Protection
When Qingqing, who was hiding in the cabin, heard Shen Han's voice, her tears suddenly welled up in her eyes.

She stood up and left the cabin, standing at the bow, staring at Shen Han on the shore, choking with sobs, "Husband, I'm here."

At this moment, there were already many people standing on the shore, even the emperor was alarmed and came over. Eunuchs had already come by boat to pick her up. When they arrived at the shore, Shen Han stretched out his hand to her, and then he pulled her up with a little force. Qingqing fell into Shen Han's arms unexpectedly. His chest was firm, and her heart was instantly filled with a sense of security.

Today is Shen Han’s celebration banquet. He is wearing the brown and purple court robes of a first-rank general, looking decent and noble. Looking at myself, I am soaked all over and look extremely miserable.

She subconsciously wanted to step back.

But Shen Han held her hand tightly all the time. Then, he took off his cloak, put it on her, and tied the belt for her, completely covering up her dishevelled appearance.

In the waterside pavilion, many noble ladies who heard the news rushed over to watch the excitement, whispering to each other. Princess Chaoyang took the lead in teasing Qingqing with ill intentions, saying, "Why did Madam Shen run into the water? Haha, she even changed her clothes. The palace banquet hasn't even started yet, and Madam Shen has caused such a commotion. It really broadens our horizons."

As soon as Chaoyang said this, a noble lady immediately echoed him meaningfully, "This Madam Shen is different from us after all."

Faced with everyone's ridicule, Qingqing buried her head in embarrassment, wishing she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Shen Han's expression remained unchanged. He ignored the cold words of those people, but took Qingqing's hand and led her straight into the waterside pavilion. After standing in the crowd, Shen Han swept everyone with a sharp gaze, then lowered his eyes to look at Qingqing and asked, "Who bullied you?"

Before Qingqing could answer, the devil king Ding Wang jumped out and shouted, "I didn't bully her." Then he pointed at Qingqing and complained, "She sneaked into my territory. I asked her about her identity, but she didn't tell me. She just turned around and ran away out of guilt. I thought she was an assassin, so I ordered the guards to chase her."

Although Prince Ding is young, he is very good at telling lies.

As soon as he finished speaking, Princess Chaoyang came over. She glanced at Qingqing arrogantly, then sneered and said, "This is not Long'er's fault. Since I was born, I have never seen such an ignorant person. If it were me, I would also regard her as a villain with ulterior motives."

With Princess Chaoyang taking the lead, the other noble ladies became even more excited. Someone immediately echoed, "What the princess said makes sense, but it's not Madam Shen's fault. After all, she is a commoner, and she has never seen the world. Now that she has suddenly entered the palace, she must be dizzy."

"Such a stupid woman is really not presentable." Chaoyang looked at Shen Han with a squint and said sarcastically.

"Chaoyang, that's enough!"

Princess Chaoyang wanted to continue to ridicule Qingqing in public, but the emperor standing beside her stopped her in a cold voice. Chaoyang pursed her lips, but due to the emperor's majesty, she did not continue to be presumptuous. When the other noble ladies saw that the saint had spoken, they also shrank like quails and dared not say a word.

The emperor stabilized the situation and turned to reprimand Prince Ding who was standing there angrily, "Long'er, you are really getting more and more presumptuous now. This is the imperial palace, not your own palace. From now on, you are not allowed to make trouble again. You offended Madam Shen today, why don't you apologize to General Shen and Madam Shen."

"I did nothing wrong. Why should I apologize? Humph! This Qingsong Garden was given to me by the Royal Grandmother. It's her fault for not knowing the rules and running into my territory." Prince Ding said unconvinced.

After Prince Ding said this, he saw that the emperor looked unhappy, so he immediately knelt down in front of the emperor and complained, "Uncle, the fire in the low room just now was set by this woman. She actually dared to set fire in the palace. This is a serious crime. Please investigate clearly, uncle."

The emperor frowned slightly when he heard this and said in a deep voice: "Long'er, don't talk nonsense."

"My nephew saw it with his own eyes, how could it be false?"

"Shut up!" the emperor said again in a deep voice.

Although Prince Ding is young, he is good at diverting conflicts. He is also doted on by Empress Dowager Lu. Even the emperor can't do anything about this child. Seeing that he still refuses to bow his head, the emperor glanced at Shen Han's cold expression and winked at the seventh prince Jing Zhao.

Jing Zhao understood, and hurriedly pulled Prince Ding to Shen Han, bowing and saying, "Cousin, Long'er is young and ignorant, I hope you and your wife will be magnanimous and please don't argue with him."

Although there was chaos on the shore, Shen Han remained calm until he heard Jing Zhao's words. Then Shen Han said, "Your Highness, you are too serious. Prince Ding is the Queen Mother's favorite grandson. I am just a humble official. How dare I blame him?" The emperor laughed dryly, then walked over and patted Shen Han on the shoulder kindly, saying, "Yun Tang, you have been calm and self-controlled since you were young. This is the first time I have heard you say such angry words."

Yuntang is Shen Han's courtesy name.

Shen Han clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me for making you laugh."

The emperor said kindly, "Long'er has been spoiled by the Queen Mother. I have wronged your wife today. Don't take it to heart."

After a few words of comfort, the emperor turned the topic to his beloved son. He turned to look at Jing Zhao who was standing beside Shen Han, and said with emotion: "Yun Tang, among all the cousins, Jing Zhao admires you the most. Now that you have finally returned to the capital, let Jing Zhao learn more skills from you in the future."

Shen Han bowed and replied, "Although Jing Zhao is young, he is very intelligent and has the careful instruction of the great scholar Taifu. I am just a military man, how dare I interfere in his affairs?"

Seeing that the emperor was about to speak, Shen Han bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for hosting the celebration banquet today. However, my wife is not used to the palace as it is her first time here. I will take her back now. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."

The emperor said nothing more when he saw this. He just glanced at Qingqing calmly and said to Shen Han, "Go back and comfort your wife."

After Shen Han took Qingqing away, the Saint said to the chief eunuch in a deep voice: "Order someone to take Long'er back to his own palace and pass on my order to punish him by confining him to his own house for a month to reflect on his mistakes."

The Prince of the East was the apple of Empress Dowager Lu's eye. No matter how big a disaster he caused, he had never been punished. Seeing this, the steward stammered, not knowing what to do, and could only wink at the Seventh Prince secretly.

Jing Zhao stepped forward and whispered to the Saint, "Father, I'm afraid that the Empress Dowager will blame you for punishing Long'er like this."

The saint looked at his son and said earnestly, "Silly boy, didn't you understand what your cousin from the Shen family was thinking just now?" Seeing his son's confused look, the saint patted his shoulder and sighed, "You! You are too naive."

It was originally a celebration party for Shen Han, but as Shen Han's wife, she made him lose face today.

On the way back, when they were alone in the carriage, Qingqing finally couldn't help crying.

In the past, Qingqing thought too simply. She thought that she liked Shen Han, and as long as Shen Han also liked her in his heart, they could be happy.

Therefore, even though she had been tortured by the old lady in the Marquis' Mansion for so many years, Qingqing still held hope for her future with Shen Han. It was not until today, when she left the Shen Mansion and stood in front of the world as a couple with Shen Han for the first time, that Qingqing realized that she and Shen Han were so incompatible.

The disparity in their backgrounds is a chasm that they can never overcome.

Shen Han saw her crying silently, he approached her, with self-blame in his tone: "I was negligent and didn't take good care of you."

Qingqing choked with tears and said to Shen Han: "I'm so sorry, I embarrassed you."

Shen Han saw that she was crying even harder. He sighed slightly, then stretched out his arms and gently held her shoulders, and replied: "The evil people deliberately made things difficult for you. This is not your fault."

His deep sense of justice made Qingqing feel even more guilty.

She was silent for a long time, then said hesitantly, "You shouldn't have married me in the first place."

"How can you say that?" Shen Han heard the voice and helped Qingqing up, frowning and saying, "You lost your only relative in order to save me. Since I, Shen Han, promised to take care of you for the rest of your life, I must keep my promise. I failed to protect you today, and it is my fault."

(End of this chapter)