Chapter 232 Even if he had a hundred times the courage, he wouldn't dare to say it.

Although the powerful and influential people in the capital are divided into numerous factions, the court is currently stable, and there are basically no major grudges between the different factions. Even if there are some minor disagreements, they are all trivial matters, and no one will resort to any major life-or-death struggles.

The Jiang family and the Duke of Chu's mansion weren't particularly close, but they also had no animosity. In fact, Jiang Hongsheng, seeing Jiang Yu's growing influence, wanted to strengthen their ties. His previous arrangement of Jiang Lihui to work alongside Jiang Yu was precisely for this reason.

But he never expected that his son would ruin his carefully laid plans in just one day. Moreover, he was also largely responsible for the rumors.

Two days ago, after Jiang Lihui sobered up, he was questioned carefully about whether he had said anything he shouldn't have. Jiang Lihui firmly denied it, saying that he hadn't said anything. He also said that he knew the seriousness of the matter, and even if he looked down on Jiang Yu, he wouldn't comment on her outside, since Jiang Yu was the Duke of Chu and had the connections and resources of the Duke of Chu's mansion behind her.

After hearing his words, Jiang Hongsheng felt that his son wasn't hopeless and was quite perceptive, so he believed him. However, to his surprise, just two days later, rumors spread that the Duke of Chu had climbed into the Emperor's bed.

He asked Jiang Lihui again if he had spread the rumors, and Jiang Lihui denied it again. Enraged, he beat Jiang Lihui up again. But even if he killed Jiang Lihui now, the damage was done, and all he could do was try to clean up the mess left by that unfilial son.

So when he saw Jiang Yu, he came over to greet her, but before they could exchange more than a few words, Jiang Yu started making veiled accusations. Jiang Hongsheng was unhappy and felt that Jiang Yu was being aggressive, but no matter how unhappy he was, he had to keep it to himself.

As a seasoned veteran of the court, Jiang Hongsheng knew his wayward son was being used, likely to sow discord between Jiang Yu and the emperor. He didn't care about the final outcome; it was none of his concern. What he wanted was to escape the war.

Judging from the current situation, Jiang Yu already knew that the rumors were spread by his unfilial son. Jiang Lihui forced a smile and said, "Please forgive me, Duke Chu. My unfilial son is spoiled by his mother. If he has done anything he shouldn't have, please forgive him."

Jiang Yu's smile faded, and he said, "How your son grew up is none of my business, but Lord Jiang, you must bear the consequences of your mistakes. Moreover, I believe that what you should be doing now is not apologizing to me, but rather thinking about why your son did something he shouldn't have done."

Jiang Hongsheng also dropped his stiff smile. He naturally knew who was behind the investigation, but he was afraid that the flames of war would ignite at today's Lantern Festival banquet and then spread to him.

“The Duke of Chu is right,” Jiang Hongsheng said. “I just wanted to show the Duke of Chu that my Jiang family has no intention of being your enemy.”

Jiang Yu looked at him with deep eyes, a slight smile playing on her lips, but she remained silent. Seeing her attitude, Jiang Hongsheng clenched his hands tightly, opening his mouth as if to say something, but Jiang Yu had already turned to exchange pleasantries with others.

Jiang Hongsheng's facial muscles stiffened for a moment. At this moment, he believed that Jiang Yu would definitely get through this crisis safely. Not for any other reason than her current demeanor, which surpassed that of most men, let alone women.

With such rumors circulating, many of those present were waiting to see her fail. But she remained calm and composed, as if the sun were shining brightly and nothing had happened. Such composure is rare.

Jiang Hongsheng glanced again at Jiang Yu, who was chatting and laughing with others, then walked back and reprimanded Jiang Lihui with a gloomy face, "Look at her, is she the kind of person you described, someone who seeks fame and fortune by climbing the ladder...? If this happened to you, would you be as composed as she is?"

Jiang Lihui's gaze fell on Jiang Yu, her elegant attire and imposing presence causing his entire body to stiffen. He now understood that he had been used. However, he couldn't reveal who was using him; doing so would only cause more serious consequences.

"Don't you want to tell us who told you those things?" Jiang Hongsheng said angrily in a low voice, "If you don't tell us, the entire Jiang family will be ruined by you."

Jiang Lihui remained silent, his neck stiff. He didn't believe that he was going to destroy the entire Jiang family. Although the Jiang family didn't have a noble title, they had been officials for generations, and the power they held meant they couldn't possibly fail to overcome such a simple crisis.

Seeing his stubborn, ox-like demeanor, Jiang Hongsheng suddenly felt that it was truly time to train someone else.

Over here, Jiang Yu was exchanging pleasantries with someone when she saw Uncle Qingshan walking over.

"Duke of Chu, you are enjoying immense popularity right now. The entire capital city knows of your good reputation." The Earl of Qingshan emphasized the word "reputation."

The scene fell into a deathly silence. Everyone had heard the rumors, and many were waiting to see him make a fool of himself. But the Duke of Chu remained calm and composed, as if nothing had happened. So everyone pretended not to have heard any rumors and exchanged pleasantries.

It's not like they really want to be enemies with the Duke of Chu's mansion; who would be foolish enough to cause trouble for them openly? This is the Duke of Chu, not some woman from the inner quarters.

But now someone has come to cause trouble for the Duke of Chu in person, and everyone is waiting to see how the Duke of Chu will respond.

The Duke of Chu looked surprised. "Oh? I didn't expect that even though I have such a deep grudge with Lord Qingshan, he would still pay so much attention to me. I don't know what I've done recently that has become known throughout the capital. Lord Qingshan, tell me about it."

That was quite interesting. First, she brought up the feud between the two families, which inevitably reminded people of what the fourth young lady of the Qingshan Marquis's mansion had done. Then, with a puzzled look, she said that she didn't know what had happened and asked the Qingshan Marquis to tell her.

But would Uncle Qingshan dare to say it?

The other protagonist in the rumor is the Emperor himself; even if he had a hundred times the courage, the Earl of Qingshan wouldn't dare to speak out. Therefore, the Duke of Chu is not someone to be trifled with.

"Hmph!" Lord Qingshan snorted heavily. "Will the Duke of Chu's self-deception work?"

"I didn't expect Uncle Qingshan to like to play mysterious games. Just say what you want to say," Jiang Yu said with a smile.

"Hmph!" Uncle Qingshan flicked his sleeves, his face darkened, and strode away, while Jiang Yu's smile remained unchanged.

At this moment, the palace gates opened, and everyone walked in one after another. Jiang Yu walked beside Lu Yifang, held her hand, and whispered, "Mother, don't worry."

"Cousin." A joyful voice came from behind. Jiang Yu turned her head and saw Lu Xiaowu looking at her with big eyes and a smile on her face.

“Cousin.” Jiang Yu nodded to him.

"Cousin," Lu Xiaowu said in a low voice, "you were really amazing just now."