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

Chapter 249 Rumors

After Li Yuanyin left, the Empress Dowager said to Qingruo, "The Emperor is holding a grudge against me. He didn't even care about my birthday. Sending Yuanyin out of the capital at this time clearly shows that he doesn't want me to have a proper birthday celebration."

Qingruo said, "Empress Dowager, it's a good thing that the Emperor is willing to let the Prince of the County handle this matter!"

The Empress arrived regarding the selection of the Princess Consort of Jin. She brought several lists of candidates along with portraits, clearly indicating that she had come prepared.

Those who were good-looking came from poor families, while those from good families were not presentable. In the end, two were selected, one of whom was Shen Shixi's younger sister, Shen Shiwan, who was sixteen years old this year.

Another one is Wang Linyao from the Wang family of Taiyuan.

The Empress said, "These are the only unmarried women in the capital who are considered worthy. There are some good ones that I haven't listed because I was thinking that if there is a selection next year, they will all be candidates. It's unreasonable for the Emperor and the Prince to choose the less desirable ones while giving the better ones to the Prince of Jin as his second wife."

"It's not that I'm saying Chenyuan's sister is bad, but I'm worried that Chenyuan might not be willing to share a husband with her sister. If there's a selection next year, it wouldn't be good if her sister wasn't on the shortlist."

That's true. Back then, Chen Yuan only agreed to enter the palace after Consort Shu had passed away.

But the Empress Dowager must have been out of her mind to allow a girl from the Shen family to become the Prince of Jin's second wife.

She then chose the daughter of the Wang family of Taiyuan.

Shen Shixi quickly learned of this and reported to the emperor, "The Pei family has won over the Wang family of Taiyuan. Back in Bingzhou, the Wang family of Taiyuan wanted to offer their daughter to you, but I thwarted that. Now, the Pei family is going to betroth the elder of the twins to the Prince of Jin."

"Oh dear, it's all my fault. Just think, a pair of twin sisters serving Your Majesty, what a wonderful thing that would be! Just like Feiyan and Hede, they might even be remembered in history. Your Majesty, is it too late for me to apologize?"

She pouted and looked at Li Yuanke with a smile.

Li Yuange threw down the folded paper, looking at her coldly, "Shen Shixi, when will you ever say anything serious?"

Shen Shixi chuckled, then sat down on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. "So tell me, do you feel regret?"

"Get off!" Li Yuanke shouted, still holding her waist.

Shen Shixi shoved him twice, "Seriously, I really want to know what you're thinking? Aren't all men lustful? Tell me, what if you were being served by twin sisters at the same time..."

Li Yuanke covered her mouth and shouted, "Someone, bring needles and thread! Call the Imperial Clothing Bureau over here!"

Li Fude raised his eyes and glanced in this direction, then lowered his head again, pretending not to have heard.

Shen Shixi burst into laughter, broke free, and threw herself into his arms. "Li Yuanke, aren't you still quite disappointed? Hahaha, that's definitely what you're thinking. You're afraid that if I say anything, you won't be able to resist issuing an edict to let those twins..."

Li Yuanke pinched her mouth shut. "Shen Shixi, didn't I teach you not to say things you shouldn't say?"

Shen Shixi stopped acting up and slapped his hand away. "Oh, did you say that? When did you say that? I don't remember. Hmph, stingy. You have quite a few people in your harem already. Two more or two less won't make a difference!"

"Life is short, so seize the day and enjoy it to the fullest. Especially since you're the emperor, it's only natural for you to bring a few women into the palace to serve you!"

Li Yuanke picked her up and threw her to the ground. Shen Shixi was thrown to the ground, her tailbone hurt, and she howled.

Li Yuanke thought she was faking it, and seeing tears welling up in her eyes, he quickly picked her up and rubbed her bottom, asking, "Where are you hurt?"

"Li Yuanke, if you dislike me, just say so. What kind of behavior is this, bullying me like this?" Her tears rolled down like beads.

[You bastard, you dare throw things at me? Hmph, typical domestic violence! If you piss me off, I'll kill you!]

Li Yuanke was now completely convinced that he had really hurt her when he fell, and he was extremely regretful. He was terrified that her bones might be fractured. He thought about calling the imperial physician, but what could the imperial physician do? Examine her tailbone?

He gently rubbed it himself and asked, "Where does it hurt? Tell me!"

The ground was still covered in lichen, and Li Yuanke didn't exert any force. Shen Shixi was in a bit of pain, but it subsided quickly. She leaned on Li Yuanke's shoulder and whimpered, "It hurts everywhere! Li Yuanke, you're treating me worse and worse these days. Humph, as expected, once you get something, you don't cherish it!"

Li Yuanke massaged her lips, and he got so aroused that he kissed her on the lip.

"If you don't use your mouth against me, I won't look down on you anywhere. But the moment you open your mouth, I want to kill you! Can't you tell right from wrong?"

"You weren't like this before. Why didn't you say you disliked me before?"

"You were young then, how could I hold it against you? Back then you were so adorable, all pink and cute, I only thought you were good with words. Later, I could hardly even see you again, how was I supposed to know your mouth could be even more venomous?"

After her elder sister entered the Crown Prince's residence, Shen Shixi never saw Li Yuanke again.

Shen Shixi snorted, "So, all you're saying is that you don't have a good mouth anymore? Humph, what you can't have is always the best—that's the truth of the world! Men are all bastards and scoundrels; they don't even cherish what they have!"

Li Yuanke scoffed, "In this world, find someone who cherishes your mouth and let me see who that person is!"

Shen Shixi chuckled, bit his lips, and kissed him deeply before releasing him. "So tell me, do you mind? Tell the truth, no lying!"

Li Yuanke looked at her; her peach blossom eyes were bright and sparkling, overflowing with smiles. His heart fluttered, and he lowered his head to kiss her, never letting go.

I didn't do it for most of the day, fearing that court officials might come.

The vaccination program has made progress.

Judge Zhang and Jiang Lingyou arrived and finally found a cow with smallpox in the outskirts of Beijing. Although they were unsure if it was a cow with smallpox, Shen Shixi didn't recognize it either; she only had a basic understanding of the subject.

We can only experiment.

After telling Li Yuanke, he was stunned. Smallpox could be treated in this way?

He had unconditional and absolute trust in Shen Shixi, and therefore supported him, even ordering that a death row inmate be selected from prison to test the waters.

After the experiment, it was determined that the symptoms of death row inmates were the same as those of smallpox, but indeed, much milder.

Seven days later, the person pulled through.

Shen Shixi wanted to be the first to conduct the experiment, but Li Yuanke forbade it, ordering the Imperial Hospital to conduct more experiments on death row inmates.

Jiang Lingyou has a mysterious trust in Shen Shixi.

He led several imperial physicians to conduct experiments on two groups of more than twenty death row inmates. Fifteen were successfully inoculated, but only one died from a high dose of the vaccine. Several others died from low doses and did not become infected.

After obtaining this result, Jiangling You took the initiative to conduct an experiment.

Who wouldn't want to be immune to smallpox!

Shen Shixi wants it too.

This time, Li Yuanke couldn't stop him even if he tried.

Not only Shen Shixi was vaccinated, but she also had the people of Zhaoyang Palace vaccinated, of course, mainly on a voluntary basis, in batches and at different times.

Surprisingly, someone in Zhaoyang Palace had previously contracted smallpox—Qinghao—who took on the responsibility of caring for Shen Shixi.

The recovery period is approximately seven to fourteen days, after which Zhaoyang Palace will be closed.

No one knows what Zhaoyang Palace is doing, but closing the palace is a good thing. The Emperor is the main person to be quarantined, because Shen Shixi doesn't know whether the people who are vaccinated are infectious.

If the emperor can no longer go to Zhaoyang Palace, does that mean he shouldn't summon the women of the inner palace?

But Li Yuanke was filled with anxiety. What if Shen Shixi fell ill and died? Who would he cry to then?

Under such circumstances, how could he possibly be in the mood to summon anyone?

Shen Shixi's condition is actually quite good. She had a fever for two days, felt weak all over, and had muscle aches, but the severity was not high. After Jiang Lingyou successfully received the vaccination, he was taken care of at Zhaoyang Palace.

Shen Shixi wasn't the only one vaccinated at Zhaoyang Palace; several other people were vaccinated as well.

Rumors started circulating that Shen Shixi and Jiang Lingyou were having an affair.