Chapter 251 Delivering a Coffin to General Su's Mansion in the Middle of the Night

As night fell, the entire street was silent and pitch black. In front of the Su Mansion, two stone lions stood guard, demonstrating the majesty and nobility of the General's Mansion.

In the dead of night, when everyone was asleep, a coffin was suddenly brought to the gate of the Su residence and blocked the entrance.

Immediately following this was a series of loud banging on the door.

The doorman heard the knocking, opened the door, and was so startled by what he saw that he stumbled back several steps and fell to the ground. "A coffin?"

Soon, the Su family also heard the commotion and ran out to see what was happening, only to find a coffin blocking their way in the middle of the road.

At this moment, Su Dehai and Su Xuan heard the commotion and rushed over. No one dared to step forward. Su Dehai said coldly, "You're so afraid of a coffin. Go open it."

Su Xuan also found it strange.

He was afraid of being bombed and dared not go forward, so he ordered the soldiers from the Su family to step forward, saying, "Open it, this general wants to see what's inside."

The soldier, emboldened, opened the coffin and found a man inside, his body battered and mangled. The man appeared to be dead. The soldier was so frightened that he wet himself. "General, there's a ghost!"

Su Xuan walked closer but couldn't see clearly. He took out a lantern and then he could see that the people inside looked somewhat familiar.

The next moment, he hardened his heart, snatched the knife from the soldier, and slashed it open, splitting the coffin open. Wu Changshou's body rolled out.

Upon seeing this, Su Dehai was terrified and broke out in a cold sweat. "Wu Changshou, how did he die? I just met him during the day."

Su Xuan immediately became alert, "Did Father see him during the day?"

“I’ll have him send you a message from the palace,” Su Dehai said.

Su Xuan said coldly, "Wu Changshou is dead, and he was even brought to the gate of our Su family. Father, I'm afraid what we did today has been exposed."

Su Xuan had the body cleaned up again and looked around, but there wasn't a soul in sight.

There were pebbles rolling down the doorway, indicating that the people who brought the body had been far away and had hit the door, making a noise.

Su Xuan followed Su Dehai directly into the study.

Su Dehai asked anxiously, "Wu Changshou's injuries look like he's been whipped. Who did it?"

Su Xuan said, "It cannot be ruled out that it was the Emperor or the Crown Prince. Jiang Fenghua should not have the ability to kill someone and deliver them to our doorstep while in the palace."

"The Emperor knows about our framing of Jiang Huai? How could that be? Xuan'er, your plan was so meticulous, it had nothing to do with our family. I didn't see the Emperor say anything in court today. He even rewarded me today, letting me go to the military camp to help lead the troops and teach them battlefield combat experience."

Su Xuan said, "It's the Crown Prince. He's warning us not to take action against the Jiang family. Even if the Emperor knows that it's our Su family that wants to deal with the Jiang family, he won't say anything because our Su family has military power. But the Crown Prince is different. He's looking for opportunities to promote Jiang Jinyan, probably because he wants to give Jiang Jinyan an important position."

Su Dehai frowned, his eyes filled with anger. "Does the Crown Prince really want Jiang Jinyan, a weak scholar, to lead thousands of troops to guard the country's borders for him? Hmph, he's only been the Crown Prince for a few days, and he already wants to take action against our Su family."

Su Xuan said, "There's another thing, which my son only discovered after returning to Shengjing: the two soldiers beside Jiang Jinyan were actually from the Cheng family."

Speaking of the Cheng family, Su Dehai didn't take them seriously at all. "Cheng Yong has been suffering from illness and is recuperating at home. This is the Emperor's order, which means that the Cheng family has long been removed from the Emperor's list and it is impossible for them to be given important positions again."

Su Xuan said, "But Jiang Jinyan took them to the border."

Su Xuan also pondered carefully, "Without the Crown Prince's permission, how could the Cheng family have gone on the expedition? This can only mean one thing: Xie Shang has begun to be wary of our Su family, and he may even want the Cheng family or the Jiang family to take their place."

We originally thought Xie Shang was the most outstanding of all the princes. Although the emperor had neglected him for many years, he was undoubtedly the emperor's favorite candidate for crown prince, as the Su family had known for ten years.

Xie Shang was exceptionally capable, single-handedly causing the Hu tribe to retreat. At the time, the Su family also vowed to defend the city to the death, but they still suffered repeated defeats. In the end, the emperor did not attribute the credit for defeating the enemy to Xie Shang, but instead gave it directly to the Su family.

In other words, the Su family was still highly valued by the Emperor. Another reason was that my grandfather died in that battle, and the Emperor compensated the Su family by appointing you, Father, as the Grand General.

“That’s right. Many years later, I also want to give this position to you.” Su Dehai said, “Xie Shang is the next monarch. We were all right about that. We just don’t know why he doesn’t trust our Su family anymore. If Xie Shang were a smart man, he wouldn’t have abandoned our Su family when he first became the crown prince and wanted to secure his position, or even when he ascended the throne in the future.”

“Father, Wanwan said that Jiang Fenghua will never become Xie Shang’s empress. The position of empress belongs to the Su family. But looking at the current situation, I feel that something went wrong. The Jiang family has taken all the benefits, and Wanwan has become the one who is neglected by Xie Shang.”

“Wanwan is useless.” Su Dehai felt unlucky. “She picked the best-looking one, but the dumbest one. She can’t even win a man’s heart. What use is she? I’ve already told Liu’er to bring her daughter here. With the status of our Su family, if the Crown Prince wants to choose a concubine, we can send him another daughter from the Su family. There will always be a chance.”

Su Xuan no longer held onto this hope. Xie Shang had already grown tired of the Su family, so he would no longer want any of the Su family's daughters. Therefore, he had long been prepared.

-

Jiang Fenghua returned to the Crown Prince's residence and hadn't seen Ye Susu for several days. She wondered what Ye Susu was doing in the courtyard, so she went directly to Ye Susu's courtyard.

Upon seeing her arrive, Ye Susu quickly rose and bowed, saying, "This concubine greets the Crown Princess."

Jiang Fenghua looked at the exquisite and delicate silver needles on the table and asked, "Did Steward Cheng make these silver needles for Concubine Ye Liang?"

"Yes, I haven't had a chance to thank the Crown Princess yet. I like it very much." Ye Susu said respectfully. She has also learned a lot of etiquette. It seems that the old lady's teaching was not in vain. Ye Susu learned these etiquettes much faster than Su Tingwan.

"I'm glad you like it." Jiang Fenghua added, "It's good that you can find something you like to pass the time after you enter the manor, so I won't bother you anymore."

"This concubine is seeing off the Crown Princess." Ye Susu slightly bent her knees.

Jiang Fenghua paused, glanced at Ye Susu, and then left to return to Lanyue Pavilion.

Hongxiu entered and knelt before Jiang Fenghua, holding a rattan cane in her hand. "Please punish me, Your Highness. It was all my carelessness that caused such a disaster today." She had left the palace with Steward Cheng.

Jiang Fenghua took the rattan cane and struck Hongxiu's palm twice heavily, saying in a deep voice, "The mistake you made today must be punished. Hongxiu, I hit you, do you have any complaints?"

"This servant has no complaints; it's all this servant's fault."

"You've been with me since you were little, and you're the most reliable person in everything you do. That's why I entrusted you with managing all the affairs of the household. The fact that you didn't check the gifts from Steward Cheng today only shows one thing: you trust Steward Cheng a lot, doesn't that mean it?"

Hongxiu was stunned. "Yes, I wasn't on guard against Steward Cheng because I felt he was like a father to me and taught me many things. Miss, I didn't mean to, I..."

Jiang Fenghua frowned slightly, but did not help her up. "I feel sorry for you too, and I know you are full of self-blame. But if you are not punished today, you will not remember today's lesson and will suffer more in the future. Not everyone is trustworthy. I have taught you that."

She believed Butler Cheng so easily; there must be more to it than that!

Jiang Fenghua sat on the soft chair, lost in thought. She wanted to say that feelings were the cheapest and most worthless thing. She had already seen that Butler Cheng's son had feelings for Hongxiu that were not ordinary, but Hongxiu was not Jiang Fenghua after all. They had better lives ahead of them.

Lianye and Aoxue stood to one side, wanting to move but not daring to. They had never seen the Crown Princess so cold and unapproachable before.

"This servant knows she was wrong." Tears welled up in Hongxiu's eyes.

"Get up. Today's events aren't entirely your fault." Jiang Fenghua finally softened.

When the Crown Princess spoke, Lianye quickly stepped forward to help her up, saying, "Get up quickly!"

"Thank you, Miss." Hongxiu stood up without any hesitation. If the young lady didn't punish her, she would never feel good. She thought back to when she came to the Prince's Mansion. Steward Cheng had been very attentive to her. Later she found out that he wanted her to marry his son, Cheng Feng.