Chapter 661 I, Xiao Qingyuan, am not a fool!

The night was as dark as ink, and all was silent.

Shenfu.

In the front hall, the candles flickered, casting intermittent light and shadow on Xiao Qingyuan's face as he stood there.

"Shen Guannian, how dare you betray me?!"

His eyes were sinister, and his voice was filled with barely suppressed rage: "You promised to let me steal the bride, but you actually dared to try and fool me by using Shen Mingxuan instead of Shen Wantang!! I think you don't want to be an official anymore, and you don't even want your life!"

After he snatched her back, he didn't lift the veil immediately because he hadn't lifted Shen Wantang's veil in his previous life, which was one of the biggest regrets between him and Shen Wantang. So in this life, he had to be more solemn and ask the wedding officiant to read the blessings, so that Shen Wantang would feel like she was getting married.

Moreover, he never even considered that he might have kidnapped the wrong person, so his first reaction was to hide the person to prevent that madman Gu Qianhan from coming to the Ning Prince's mansion to snatch him away.

But he waited and waited, and after a long time, Gu Qianhan did not come. Not even one of his subordinates came, and the Duke's mansion did not send anyone to demand an explanation.

So much so that his presence at the gate with a large group of guards, standing ready for battle, became a laughing stock.

Xiao Qingyuan understood Gu Qianhan; he knew this was definitely not Gu Qianhan's style.

No one can remain indifferent to the idea of ​​a bride being snatched away, especially someone as proud as Gu Qianhan. Even if he doesn't like Shen Wantang, he can't let him take the bride away. Otherwise, he would become the biggest laughingstock in the entire capital tomorrow, losing all face.

He finally realized something was wrong, hurriedly ran back into the house, and yanked off the bride's large red veil.

Then I saw Shen Mingxuan's face.

No wonder she didn't respond to anything he said to her on the way back after he took her back. He thought she was angry, but it turns out she wasn't. She was afraid that speaking would reveal her identity!

He was so angry he almost fell over. Forgetting all about cursing Shen Mingxuan, he ran out, led his guards, and stormed the Duke's mansion, ready to snatch her back.

Today, the Duke's mansion is celebrating a happy occasion, and there are so many guests that they have blocked the entrance. In addition, there are layers upon layers of onlookers, making the whole street packed with people.

He was anxious but couldn't get through.

After the crowd dispersed a bit, he rushed over, only to hear that Gu Qianhan and Shen Wantang had already completed their wedding ceremony and entered the bridal chamber!

He was desperate to climb over the wall and get in, but the Duke's mansion was heavily guarded, and he was beaten as soon as he showed his face.

The Duke's mansion is not like the Grand Secretary's mansion. Grand Secretary Liu is a civil official, and his home is not well guarded, making it easy for him to slip through. But the Duke of Zhenguo is a military general with military power, so the entire Duke's mansion is protected like an iron barrel. It is not something that Xiao Qingyuan can just walk into.

The reason he was able to break into the Duke's mansion in his previous life was because Gu Qianhan deliberately let him in.

Later, he was still unwilling to give up and even wanted the guards to rush in and snatch the bride. Unexpectedly, Duke Zhenguo, Gu Rongchang, came out to see him in person. After learning that he had come to snatch the bride, he openly and subtly insulted him, and Prince Ning was also scolded.

In the entire Dafeng, besides the Emperor and Empress Dowager, only the Duke of Zhenguo dared to criticize Prince Ning.

Xiao Qingyuan had no choice but to leave dejectedly.

He was furious after being scolded, so he went back to the Prince's Mansion to scold Shen Mingxuan. Still not satisfied after scolding Shen Mingxuan, he brought Shen Mingxuan to the Shen family to scold Shen Guannian.

However, Shen Guannian was also shocked. Looking at the furious Xiao Qingyuan and Shen Mingxuan in her bright red wedding dress, he exclaimed, "Your Highness, I knew nothing about this! Even if I had ten lives, I wouldn't dare to replace Tang'er with Xuan'er!"

"You didn't know? You dare say you didn't know? The only ones who knew I was going to steal the bride were you and me! The only person who could arrange for your eldest daughter to be in the bride's carriage beforehand was you!"

"It really wasn't me! Xuan'er, quickly explain to the Prince why you got into your sister's carriage? And why you were dressed like that? Tell me!"

Shen Mingxuan stood there, her face ashen, her heart sinking to the bottom.

She originally thought that after Xiao Qingyuan took her back, she could naturally become his heir's wife. After all, he had already taken her back, so it would be unreasonable to send her back home, as it would bring shame to the Ning Prince's Mansion.

At the very least, she could get the position of a concubine.

It's better than her being killed at home by Shen Guannian to save face for him.

But she didn't expect that Xiao Qingyuan didn't care about face at all. He scolded her severely, calling her lowly and shameless, and saying that she had lost her mind and was trying to curry favor with the Prince of Ning's mansion.

Then, without any hesitation, he sent her back to the Shen family.

Her future is ruined; she can't get married. So why should Shen Wantang be able to marry into the Duke's mansion? Why should she be able to live a good life?

Her nails dug deep into the flesh of her palms, and she said in a hoarse voice, "This was all planned by Shen Wantang. She gave me my wedding dress and arranged for me to hide in her carriage."

"The carriage had been modified beforehand. There was a hidden compartment inside that could accommodate one person. It seems that Shen Wantang knew that the prince would try to steal the bride, so he had me hide inside beforehand."

"When the young master tries to steal the bride, I'll come out and she'll hide inside. That way, we can both annoy the young master and ensure that she marries into the Duke's mansion smoothly."

“Shen Wantang is scheming and full of bad ideas. I didn’t want to deceive the prince, but Shen Wantang said that if I didn’t do as she said, she would expose my shameful deeds. I had no choice but to listen to her.”

As she spoke, she knelt down and cried out in anguish, "Please scold me, Your Highness! Please punish me, Father! I was forced to collude with Shen Wantang! I deserve to die!"

Upon hearing this, Shen Guannian was furious: "Outrageous! This girl actually threatened her own sister to do such a thing! I knew it, she's all grown up now and doesn't respect anyone anymore! If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have agreed to the marriage with the Duke's family. If she hadn't married into the Duke's family, she wouldn't have dared to be so arrogant!"

Xiao Qingyuan's face was gloomy. He didn't completely believe Shen Mingxuan's words. After all, he had lived a second life and knew clearly what kind of person Shen Mingxuan was. He had learned his lesson well in his previous life and knew that Shen Mingxuan never told the truth.

He said coldly, "Shen Mingxuan, although your story sounds plausible, I'm not a fool you can easily fool."

"If you were really being coerced, you should have whispered a reminder to me when I took you away. I'm not deaf; I can tell the difference between your voices."

"If I hear something wrong with the voice, I'll immediately lift the veil. If I realize I've robbed the wrong person, I'll go and rob Shen Wantang again!"

"But you didn't say anything. Even after I took you back to the Prince Ning's mansion, you still didn't say anything. You even kept holding onto your veil tightly, as if you were afraid that I would see your face!"

"So, I guess you got into that carriage willingly! After all, you wanted to marry me before, so naturally you wanted to seize this rare opportunity!"