She didn't think Xu Zimo seemed like someone who would be easily seduced by beauty.
Forget it. Returning power to the emperor wasn't out of the question either. This guy had been dealing with state affairs since he was practically a kid, so taking over shouldn't be hard.
The emperor didn't decline either. He knelt directly before the Empress Dowager and kowtowed.
Shen Yunyun was quite satisfied with how their story was unfolding. After all, she'd seen plenty of power struggles between empress dowagers and emperors, so encountering such a harmonious mother-son relationship was rare.
Shen Yunyun also felt she should go back to sleep. If she didn't get some rest soon, she'd drop dead from exhaustion.
She said directly to the Empress Dowager, "What I brought today is actually supplies. These are all military provisions. You can send someone trustworthy to go with me to the front lines, so you won't have to transport them over long distances."
The emperor's face lit up, and he immediately said, "Why don't I go with you?"
Shen Yunyun quickly refused. "You've just taken over the government. How can you leave with me at a time like this?"
But the Empress Dowager said, "It's fine. I'll be here in the court. You two can go without worry."
Shen Yunyun felt something was off.
The Empress Dowager had changed.
She glanced at the emperor and thought maybe it was okay for him to go.
After all, she hadn't kept her secrets from him. He knew she had not only a flying vehicle but also an enormous space.
Just as she was about to speak, the emperor said, "Yunyun, aren't you a bit sleepy? Why don't you rest for a while, and we'll go later? The capital isn't far from the northern border."
Shen Yunyun remembered that their country was only the size of a palm, and she really couldn't handle staying up any longer, so she nodded in agreement.
The Empress Dowager also said she wanted to take an afternoon nap and left, supported by a eunuch.
After seeing the Empress Dowager off, the emperor invited Shen Yunyun behind the screen.
Only then did Shen Yunyun realize there was a couch to lie on in the imperial study.
"I'm resting here?"
The emperor nodded. "I'll be outside reviewing memorials. When you wake up, we'll set off."
Shen Yunyun looked at the pile of memorials on the desk outside. "You should take care of yourself too. Don't stay up late at night. As for those memorials, you can have someone trustworthy sort them into categories—urgent and non-urgent, important and unimportant."
"Alright," the emperor replied, telling her to sleep first before heading out.
Shen Yunyun thought she might have trouble sleeping in a strange place, but she fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.
The emperor was indeed outside reviewing memorials. Though many of them were full of nonsense, he still had to go through them.
After all, if routine greeting memorials could still reach his hands, it meant he hadn't lost control over the regions.
If he stopped receiving memorials from a certain area for a long time, something must have gone wrong there.
With his past life experience, handling these matters came naturally to him.
Maybe it was just his imagination, but he felt that with Shen Yunyun here, his efficiency in reviewing memorials had improved significantly.
After working for a while, he remembered that Shen Yunyun was lying behind the screen, and a wave of sweetness washed over him. He put down his brush and went behind the screen to check on her.
Shen Yunyun's sleeping posture wasn't great. The weather wasn't cold yet, and the bedding was newly made. She felt a bit hot under it, so she rolled over, tucking the blanket between her legs, sleeping soundly and deeply.
The emperor couldn't bear to wake her. He silently watched her for a moment, gently covered her with the blanket, and then went back out.
Shen Yunyun slept until she naturally woke up. When she opened her eyes and saw the faint light outside, she felt a bit disoriented.
"You're awake?" the emperor asked from behind the screen.
Only then did Shen Yunyun remember that she had fallen asleep in the imperial study.