Fang Qingyue held his hand firmly and said gently, "Well, it's as it should be."

"Ning Liangcai and Li Junyi probably don't know we've discovered their scheme yet. Why not hold back for now? Once we have solid evidence and can repel Ning Liangcai and Li Junyi with one strike, we can then defeat them."

Her voice was gentle, and it gradually calmed Shen Yuhan's anger.

Shen Yuhan put the letters away carefully and placed them in a box in the study.

He hugged Fang Qingyue tightly, as if hoping to draw some strength from her.

Fang Qingyue gently hugged Shen Yuhan back.

While eating, Shen Yuhan told Fang Qingyue some stories about his childhood.

Those things happened a long time ago, and he never mentioned them to anyone. It was as if those distant childhood days had long since disappeared with the death of his mother, the scheming of his brother and sister-in-law, and the suffering on the battlefield.

Now that the old things were brought up again, he realized how much he missed them.

"My mother once said that she didn't know what kind of wife I would find." He raised his eyes slightly and looked at Fang Qingyue, with a smile in his eyes.

Fang Qingyue thought of the baby in her belly and said nothing, but just gently patted the back of Shen Yuhan's hand.

A glimmer of hope did emerge in her heart, but she didn't really take Shen Yuhan's words seriously.

In the court, Shen Yuhan was helpless. Even if he was willing to refuse the marriage, would this matter really end so easily?

If what he said was true, then my father wouldn't have gotten into trouble that year.

The two of them lingered for a while before Shen Yuhan said, "However, even with these letters, we can't convict Ning Liangcai and Li Junyi for the time being. We need to find a witness."

"It's just..." He sighed.

When Li Junyi did this, the people in the Marquis' Mansion basically followed her as the young lady, so it would be difficult to find out the secrets.

"Oh right..." Fang Qingyue bit her fingertips and hesitated for a moment, "I suddenly remembered something. Do you remember it?"

Although she was engaged to Shen Qiu Nian, the Fang family and the Marquis' Mansion were not close at that time.

However, she also heard a lot of gossip about the Marquis' Mansion from other people, including the story that when the old lady was still alive, the maid who followed the old lady was entangled with the young master of an official's family.

Originally, the maid and the young master had a secret relationship, and this matter involved the master's family. Generally speaking, the maid would be punished.

But the old lady stood on the maid's side and spoke for her.

Even after this incident, he kept the maid by his side.

This incident caused quite a stir at the time, and the entire capital was in an uproar. So many years later, people in the capital still regarded this incident as an interesting story.

Fang Qingyue had heard about it several times, but she was not sure whether Shen Yuhan knew about it.

"What?" Shen Yuhan put her back and said lightly.

"Back then, the old lady seemed to have a maidservant by her side, and she valued her very much. But I'm not sure about the details." Fang Qingyue hooked her arm around Shen Yuhan's neck and thought carefully, "If we can find a way to find this maidservant, it might be a breakthrough."

Hearing this, Shen Yuhan also fell into deep thought.

He did remember that his mother had a maidservant by her side, but now he could no longer recall what the maid looked like.

"I'll send someone to look for her." He kissed Fang Qingyue's forehead forcefully and whispered, "You are truly my lucky star."

Fang Qingyue smiled and shook her head.

The next morning, Shen Yuhan sent people to search for the maid from that year.

Unexpectedly, someone actually found the whereabouts of the maid.

"Reporting to the prince, the head maid Chunmei lives in a farm outside the northern suburbs of the city." Han Qing lowered his head, his voice a little hoarse, "After the madam passed away, the head maid was sent out of the mansion."

Hearing this, Shen Yuhan nodded and said, "Send someone to fetch the maid immediately and tell her that you want to take her to the capital for a short stay. Don't tell them about what happened to your mother."

If he alerted the enemy and let the people in the Marquis' Mansion discover his intention, they would probably target Chunmei.

Since she is the head maid who serves her mother, it sounds like she has a very close relationship with her mother. Shen Yuhan does not want anything to happen to the head maid.

At the same time, Shen Yuhan was also thinking about refusing the marriage proposal.

It was impossible for him and Liu Yunyun to get married. Now, because of Liu Yunyun, Fang Qingyue had no idea how many times she had quarreled with him, and she had also suffered a lot of grievances in private.

Since he cares about Fang Qingyue now, he should deal with this matter as soon as possible.

Otherwise, if it drags on too long, Fang Qingyue will feel uncomfortable.

The next day during the morning court session, the Minister of Revenue Liu Zhi once again talked about the marriage of Shen Yuhan and Liu Yunyun.

"Your Highness, Yunyun and you are both not young anymore, so it's better to arrange the marriage as soon as possible and not delay it any longer. Don't wait until Yunyun becomes an old maid and loses her beauty before marrying you. Wouldn't that be inappropriate?" There was still a smile on his face.

The other adults echoed, "Yes, Your Highness, you have made great achievements and it is time for you to start a family. Marry as soon as possible and let Miss Liu raise children for you, so that you don't have to worry about the future."

They said a few words, seemingly for Shen Yuhan's own good, but in fact, they were using these things to pressure Shen Yuhan on behalf of Liu Zhi.

Shen Yuhan lowered his head and remained silent, pretending to be deaf and dumb, as if he had not heard what Liu Zhi and the others were saying.

After the court session, he turned to Liu Zhi and said, "Master Liu, I have something to ask you and the Emperor. Please stay for a while."

Liu Zhi turned around and saw the serious expression on Shen Yuhan's face, and was a little confused for a moment.

However, he didn't think much about it and thought that Shen Yuhan wanted to discuss his marriage with Liu Yunyun, so he stayed with Shen Yuhan.

After most of the other officials had left, Shen Yuhan and Liu Zhi went to the Shangshufang together to meet the emperor.

At this time, the emperor was working on the paperwork in his hands. When he saw the two of them come in, he smiled and said, "Please sit down, my dear ministers. Are you going to discuss the marriage of Mr. Shen and Liu Yunyun?"

Shen Yuhan bowed respectfully and then said, "Your Majesty, Lord Shangshu, I'm really sorry. I want to refuse this marriage."

He said it lightly, but the emperor couldn't help but be startled. He put the pen in his hand aside and frowned tightly: "Why did Lord Shen refuse this marriage? Are you dissatisfied with the Shangshu's daughter?"

There was indeed dissatisfaction, but Shen Yuhan came here to break off the engagement, so it was impossible and unwilling for her to have an argument with Liu Zhi.

"It's not Miss Liu's fault. It's just that I'm still young and haven't made any achievements yet, nor have I handled state affairs well. A few days ago, I handled the disappearance of people in the capital poorly, and I feel extremely guilty. Now I really can't waste time on love affairs. I'm afraid that I will treat Miss Liu unfairly. I ask Your Majesty to revoke your order." He lowered his head and said respectfully.