Chapter 271 He really repays kindness with enmity!

Princess Ning said with a stern face, "If you are truly capable, you can solve cases whether you are in the Ministry of Justice or the Court of Judicial Review! If you are not capable, even if your father gets you the position of Minister of Justice, you still won't be able to solve them!"

“You always have to compare yourself to Gu Qianhan, why don’t you compare your filial piety with him? Madam Gu doesn’t allow him to bring those disreputable women home, but he doesn’t. Madam Gu wants him to marry the daughter of Minister Liu, and he’s ready to marry her. Why don’t you learn from him?”

"Has he ever disobeyed his elders like you, becoming a monk for a woman who is pregnant with an illegitimate child?"

"Did he ever think so foolish as to bring home the daughter of a corrupt official who had embezzled a million taels of silver? Did he ever bribe the son of the Minister of Justice to get that corrupt official out of the Ministry of Justice prison?"

"As far as I know, Ye Lingyun was the first to beg Gu Qianhan, but Gu Qianhan just told her to get lost. Why don't you learn from her and tell those with ill intentions to get lost?"

Xiao Qingyuan frowned: "Why is Mother bringing this up again? Isn't Ye Lingyun's matter already in the past?"

He turned to look at Shen Wantang: "Shen Wantang, did you say something to my mother again? Why is she suddenly bringing up old grievances about me?"

Shen Wantang: "..."

If she were to die again in this life, it would be because she was wrongfully killed by Xiao Qingyuan.

However, before she could even speak up, Princess Ning had already scolded Xiao Qingyuan for her: "You scoundrel! What does this have to do with Tang'er? Before you came in, she was still speaking well of you!"

"You ungrateful wretch! Tang'er treats you so well, yet you always doubt her!"

"You were so adorable and cute when you were little, everyone praised you. How come you've become less and less likable as you've grown up? How come everyone dislikes you? It's probably because some scheming bastard around you has led you astray!"

"What are you standing there for? Apologize to Tang'er right now!"

Xiao Qingyuan's face was icy cold: "I did nothing wrong, why apologize? Mother praises Gu Qianhan one minute and Shen Wantang the next, but never me! Since you like them so much, why don't you just kick me, your own son, out the door and make them your sons and daughters!"

Princess Ning's anger flared: "Shut up! Go back to your courtyard!"

“I can forgive my mother for scolding me about other things, and I admit that I was infatuated with Yan Luo before! But I don’t admit to what happened with Ye Lingyun! I only have merit in this matter, not demerit!”

Princess Ning stared in disbelief: "What did you say?!"

"If I hadn't brought Ye Lingyun back to the Prince's Mansion and helped her rescue Magistrate Ye from prison, thus gaining her trust, would Magistrate Ye's embezzled silver have been found so quickly? Would the case have been solved so quickly?"

Princess Ning exclaimed incredulously, "You really think you've done something right? I think you're blinded by greed!"

"You took a serious criminal like Magistrate Ye out of prison without permission. This should have been a capital offense, but the Emperor didn't punish you because your surname is Xiao!"

"The entire royal palace was almost implicated because of you. If it weren't for your father's lack of ambition and his complete indifference to power, do you think you would still be alive today?!"

The current emperor is an extremely suspicious person. He will not allow anyone to covet his imperial power or challenge his authority. Anyone who shows such a tendency has been killed!

The stronger one's abilities, the more unruly and rebellious one becomes, posing a greater threat and naturally, the shorter one's lifespan.

Prince Ning has always been mediocre and obedient. His hobbies are nothing more than looking at the stars and the moon, which is why the Prince Ning's mansion has been able to live peacefully in the capital for so many years.

In addition, Xiao Qingyuan was also idle and did not do his job properly. He was always chasing after a woman and even made a fuss about becoming a monk. He was less of a threat than Prince Ning, so the emperor could just laugh it off when he did something outrageous.

If it were Gu Qianhan who brought Ye Lingyun home and then secretly released Magistrate Ye from the Ministry of Justice prison, the emperor would probably think that the Gu family was deliberately going against him and deliberately slapping him in the face. He might even think that the Gu family was plotting a rebellion and would regard Gu Qianhan as a major threat, finding a pretext to cut off his head!

"Mother, that's alarmist!"

Xiao Qingyuan never thought that anything serious would happen to the Ning Prince's Mansion. Even if he had caused trouble in the past, he would at most be punished by the emperor by being made to kneel and reprimanded. He was the emperor's nephew and the empress dowager's grandson. How could he possibly lose his head?

"I have clearly done the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review a great favor, otherwise they would never have been able to find any evidence against Magistrate Ye! Now when I go out, everyone praises me, saying that I am resourceful and have helped the court to expose corrupt officials and recover the embezzled silver!"

Princess Ning was furious: "The common people outside don't know the truth. They praised you a few times, and you took it seriously? You've forgotten the stupid things you did? Do you even know why the people praised you? Why your reputation suddenly improved?"

"What other reason could there be? It's because I've exposed the corrupt officials' misdeeds for the people!"

"opinionated!"

Princess Ning slammed her hand on the table and said, "The real reason is that Tang'er helped you spread the news! She secretly helped you reverse public opinion, exaggerating your achievements and downplaying your crime of letting the corrupt official go without permission!"

"What?! This is impossible!"

“Why is it impossible? The people outside used to curse you. As your mother, I was too ashamed to leave the house. When I talked to Tang’er about my worries about your reputation, she said she had a way to turn your reputation around. And later, just as she said, your reputation really did improve.”

"I don't believe it! Mother has always favored Shen Wantang, this must be a made-up excuse you made up to deceive me!"

As Xiao Qingyuan spoke, he stared intently at Shen Wantang: "Why did you do this to me?!"

Shen Wantang sighed: "Your Highness has misunderstood, I..."

Xiao Qingyuan coldly interrupted her: "I've already given you the dignity of being the Crown Prince's consort, and I've already made you my principal wife. Isn't that enough? Why do you even try to steal my little bit of credit and claim it all as your own?! Do you really enjoy stealing other people's things that much?"

Shen Wantang never expected that after the mother and son argued back and forth, the blame would fall on her again.

Because of her past life's experience, she seemed to have made a habitual mistake—she always believed that husband and wife were one, and her husband's reputation was her reputation, so she used her own power to help Xiao Qingyuan reverse his reputation.

But she forgot that her husbands in her two lifetimes had completely different personalities. Xiao Qingyuan was not Liao Youhe, and his needs were also completely different from Liao Youhe's.

She helped Liao Youhe gain a good reputation, and Liao Youhe was very grateful and respected her even more.

She helped Xiao Qingyuan gain a good reputation, but Xiao Qingyuan felt that she was stealing the credit.

He really is... ungrateful!