After the emperor read her mind, the salted fish concubine effortlessly won the title of empress.

Chapter 275 A True Man Should Be Like This!

Shen Shixi didn't speak, closed her eyes, and Li Yuanke's kiss landed on her.

In the capital, preparations were made to welcome the victorious emperor and his soldiers back, but at the north gate on the outskirts of the capital, the people were forced to be bombarded with dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing public displays of affection), creating a lively and enthusiastic atmosphere of welcome.

Shen Shixi was carried into the city on horseback by Li Yuanke, and was surrounded by people who came to welcome him.

The shouts of "Long live the Emperor!" were deafening, like a mountain range and a tsunami. The young, brave, and skilled emperor and the beautiful, virtuous, and intelligent empress were a perfect couple. Wherever they went, the people were more passionate and enthusiastic than the star-struck fans of later generations.

Li Yuanke was very pleased with himself. He had one arm around Shen Shixi and kept gesturing to the crowd with his hand raised. His face was always full of smug smiles.

A beauty rests on his lap, and the empire is held in his palm.

This is what a man should do!

The court officials followed suit, and none of them objected to the appointment of an empress.

Having dealt with Shen Shixi for nearly a year, many court officials quite liked her work style: concise and efficient. If you didn't know how, she would teach you; as long as your attitude was correct, she would never punish you even if you made a mistake. If you knew how to do it, she would never interfere, as long as you got the result.

The Emperor is different. Sometimes he's quite lazy. If you ask him a few more questions, he gets impatient. He doesn't have as many methods as the Imperial Noble Consort. If possible, many of the younger ministers would even prefer that the Imperial Noble Consort continue to rule as regent.

Shen Shixi's appointment as empress was widely expected, and some people even secretly thought that they would definitely oppose it if the emperor dared to replace her with someone else.

However, I doubt even the Emperor would dare!

The Imperial Noble Consort's prestige was unmatched in both the imperial court and the harem; no one else could hold onto the Empress's position so securely.

But not everyone thought so. At least, the lineage of the Duke of Xin felt that the emperor was really unfair. The Imperial Noble Consort didn't even have an heir, so why should she be the empress?

After the emperor personally read the imperial edict to all his subjects at the city gate, Li Fude immediately sent someone back to the palace to announce the edict. Consort De and the other concubines were waiting inside the palace gate when they heard the edict. They swayed and almost fell over.

They actually made her empress just like that, without even giving her a chance to fight.

She had always thought that after the eldest prince was deposed, the emperor did not blame the Duke of Xin's family much, and instead gave her another chance because he treated her specially. But it turned out that was not the case; the person he treated specially was never her.

She gave birth to three children for the Emperor. Shen Shixi has been in the palace for more than three years and has received the most favor, but she has never been pregnant. Yet the Emperor has given her such honor.

She was allowed to rule as regent, to oversee the country, and was given an honorary title, the unprecedented rank of Imperial Noble Consort. Now, she has even been made Empress.

They even added an emblem!

Chen Yuanzhao, Zhao Meiren, Yuan Zhaoyi, Chen Fei, Chen Yuan Huang Guifei, Chen Yuanzhao Empress!

Everything seems to have been premeditated!

The Emperor is so biased!

The emperor's horse stopped at the palace gate. He dismounted, carrying Shen Shixi in his arms, ordered the court officials to leave first, and then led Shen Shixi into the palace.

"Your Majesty, we respectfully welcome Your Majesty's triumphant return to the palace! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Empress!"

Consort De knelt down reluctantly, and Shen Shixi smiled as she watched.

Li Yuanke glanced at Consort De with a cool expression, his brow furrowing slightly. He then surveyed his concubines and said indifferently, "Rise, all of you may leave."

The imperial carriage was brought over, and the emperor and empress boarded it. The concubines watched it depart into the distance before rising.

"How fast time flies!" Consort Qiong exclaimed. "Who could have imagined this day would come? It's exactly what everyone hoped for!"

Among them, the happiest are none other than Consort Qiong, Consort Jin, Consort Yuan, and Consort Guo, as well as Consort Ning, who is now related to Shen Shixi. As long as she doesn't cause trouble, no one can bully her.

Consort Su looked at the Emperor with pleading eyes. In just a few months, she had suffered a living hell and finally realized how ruthless Shen Shixi was. Just by promoting her rank, she had been living a hellish life, going to Cining Palace to serve the sick every day and being tormented by the Empress Dowager until she was no longer human.

Of the four new consorts, Cui Xianhui gave birth to the eighth prince, Shen Shixi was promoted to the rank of Cairen, and Xu Miaoying gave birth to the ninth prince and was promoted to the rank of Baolin. None of them were a month old yet, so they did not come today.

The other two, Wang Yueyao, Consort Wang, and Liang Anlan and Liang Baolin, were the happiest. The Emperor had finally returned, and from now on, they would have a great opportunity to show their talents.

As for the old concubines in the palace, they are all old and faded, and the emperor has long been tired of them. They are the new concubines, and the emperor has only served them twice. The emperor is still very much interested in them.

At this moment, the Emperor was only interested in the Empress. After the Emperor and Empress entered the Qian Yuan Palace, everyone else withdrew.

Li Yuan hugged Shen Shixi and showered her with kisses. He had traveled day and night to get back, covered in mud that dripped down with every movement. Shen Shixi was disgusted. "Go take a shower, don't touch me!"

"You bastard, you heartless wretch, tell me first, did you miss me?" Li Yuanke wouldn't let go. All the way here, he was almost dying of arousal. With such a warm and soft woman in his arms, he could only look but not touch her, which was driving him crazy.

"I haven't thought about it, I don't have time to think about you!"

"I miss you!"

Despite his words, Li Yuanke still released her, stripped off his clothes, entered the hot spring, and sighed comfortably, "Xi'er, help me rub my back!"

"Should I get a knife and shave you?" Shen Shixi grabbed a pig bristle brush and started brushing it on him.

Li Yuanke couldn't help but laugh, pulling her down into his arms. "Let me kiss you a few times to satisfy my craving! I've missed you so much!"

"You're fighting a war abroad, and you still have time to think about this?"

Li Yuanke laughed, "With the army on the move, don't they sleep at night? I hear them talking about their wives all day long, and all I miss is you!"

"Oh, you only thought of me? Didn't you think of anyone else?" Shen Shixi said sarcastically.

Li Yuanke burst into laughter, "Jealous?"

[Jealous my foot!]

Shen Shixi rolled her eyes.

Her magnificent robes, now soaked and utterly heavy, were stripped off piece by piece by Li Yuanke, who tossed them onto the ground. "You don't need them anymore. I've had a phoenix robe made for you; wear that from now on!"

The two hugged and kissed for a while, then Li Yuanke couldn't resist any longer. He washed himself clean and pressed her down onto him.

Both of them shuddered.

Li Yuanke buried his face in her chest, kissing her fiercely, then kissed her cheek, asking, "Did you miss me?"

"Um."

"Hmm, is it something you're thinking about or not?"

"I didn't expect it!"

Li Yuanke then fiercely...

Shen Shixi snorted, and Li Yuanke only let her go after she said she wanted to.

It was a bit difficult in the water, so Li Yuanke carried her onto the bed. Shen Shixi clung to his shoulders. He had several scars on his body, none of which were fatal, but the scars showed that he had been seriously injured at the time.

Shen Shixi kissed the scars on his body, and Li Yuanke felt as if lava was rolling through his heart. Every moment he had longed for day and night was touched in this instant.

They also had to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager, which would have brought this affair to a quicker end.

Li Yuanke rushed back day and night, and he was truly exhausted.

On the imperial carriage, Shen Shixi told him about things in the palace, "You've had three more sons. Pei gave birth to the seventh prince, who is a bit frail, but I've consulted the imperial physicians, and with proper care, he might make it. Also, Consort Cui and Consort Xu each gave birth to a prince. Congratulations, Your Majesty!"

Li Yuanke didn't even remember who Cui Cairen and Xu Baolin were, so he just gave a faint "hmm," then, feeling that it might not be quite right, said, "Just take good care of yourself!"

Shen Shixi knew he wasn't taking it seriously, so she asked, "What do you plan to do about Li Yuanyin's matter? The Empress Dowager will definitely ask about it later."

Li Yuanke rested his head on her shoulder. "I'm too lazy to think. My head hurts. Come back and sleep soon, I'm sleepy!"

Shen Shixi touched his neck and cheek, then stopped talking.

The Empress Dowager had been waiting for this for a long time. How could she not be worried when her own son went to the battlefield?

It's not that she doesn't care about Li Yuanke, it's just that she doesn't put him at the top of her list.

Upon seeing the two arrive, the Empress Dowager was both pleased and annoyed. She was pleased that Li Yuanke had returned safely, but annoyed that she was unhappy to see Shen Shixi.

"Your subject greets Your Majesty!" Li Yuanke and Shen Shixi bowed together.

"Get up quickly, the ground is cold!" She pulled Li Yuanke, and Li Yuanke pulled Shen Shixi.

After the two were seated, the Empress Dowager asked a few questions, such as whether they were tired, and remarked that they looked tanned and thinner. She added that as the Emperor, he only needed to sit on the banner and didn't need to personally participate in the ceremony. Then, she changed the subject, focusing solely on Li Yuanyin.

"I never expected you to personally lead the expedition. After all, you are my own brother; how could you not be present at his wedding? So I postponed his wedding. Now that you're back, we can have the Imperial Observatory recalculate the date. He's still being held captive by the Empress!"

This is a complaint against Shen Shixi in front of Li Yuanke.

Shen Shixi smiled and said, "Although I have imprisoned him, I have not said that I would not allow him to get married. After doing such a disgraceful thing, if I don't imprison him, am I supposed to let him out and disgust people every day?"

"With His Majesty away on campaigns, these kinds of things keep happening among the concubines in the harem. How can I, your subject, bear this?"

The Empress Dowager finally couldn't hold back and said angrily, "Wasn't this something you started? On that day, Yuan Yin only said that she would help Xie get the two princesses back to raise. It was you who falsely conveyed the Emperor's decree, saying that Yuan Yin had suggested that according to ancestral rules, only a princess of a high position could raise her own children. You then sent Consort Que's children to two high-ranking officials to raise, which caused a rift between the two of them."

"Chenyuan, do you think I don't know you did this on purpose? You wanted to use Consort Que to get rid of the Xie family, but you've implicated my Yuan Yin! How has he gotten in your way by committing such a wrong act? How can someone as wicked as you be worthy of being Empress?"