"What's wrong with you?" Su Wenyuan turned her head, puzzled.

Is it that hot? Or am I just not wearing enough clothes to feel it?

Sheng Jingyu retorted, "What's wrong with you? Why are you so easily startled?"

Su Wenyuan suddenly realized that she had been frightened.

"It's nothing. I just suddenly remembered that the Crown Prince still owes me money. Didn't Consort Wan say that he would pay it back? Why hasn't he done anything? Should I go to the palace to ask for it?"

Sheng Jingyu was speechless; so that's what it was about.

"Go to the Prime Minister's residence tomorrow and ask your sister. On the day she entered the palace, Consort Wan had already prepared the money, but she generously refused it for you."

Su Wenyuan's eyes widened, and she slapped the blanket, saying, "Who does she think she is?"

"Why do you think she suddenly invited you back to the manor for a meal? If she's using your money to do someone a favor, she should at least tell you first," Sheng Jingyu replied casually, his eyes glancing at Su Wenyuan's back.

His mind was still preoccupied with those things, Su Wenyuan that night... she was very alluring.

But Su Wenyuan was completely unaware of this and continued to sit there cursing Su Lin'er.

After he finished cursing, Sheng Jingyu lay down and quickly closed his eyes.

He's really had enough of pretending to be blind; when will this ever end?

Back at the Prime Minister's residence, everyone started to get anxious after Su Wenyuan sent the message that she was going back home.

Su Lin'er, in particular, regretted it more and more the more she thought about it, and even regretted entering the palace that day.

What should we do now? We can't just go back on our word and ignore it, can we?

Early in the morning, everyone in the manor started to get busy. Before Su Yuan went to court, he reminded Su Lin'er not to provoke Su Wenyuan.

The Princess Consort of Prince Chen is no longer the concubine's daughter she once was, someone who could be manipulated at will.

Although Su Lin'er was unconvinced, she knew the gravity of the situation. She was in the wrong, so softening her attitude would make things easier.

Unexpectedly, the situation changed dramatically in just one morning court session.

This morning at court, General Lu filed a lawsuit on behalf of his fallen soldiers, accusing some local magistrates of mistreating the soldiers' families and encroaching on their land.

They also presented evidence, including those who died in battle when An Chuan Kingdom lost the war thirteen years ago due to the Marquis of Anle's treason.

General Lu also said that some soldiers' sons had joined the army, and upon closer inquiry, it was learned that the funeral expenses from that year had been embezzled and had not reached them.

While filing the complaint, General Lu also apologized, saying that he had not cared enough about the soldiers who died in battle, and that he had only discovered the matter now.

The emperor was furious and ordered a thorough investigation into the embezzlement of soldiers' funeral expenses to find the root cause of the corruption.

Those implicated must also be severely punished.

As for those local county magistrates, the emperor also sent people to investigate the situation.

After all these arrangements were made, another problem arose: the reimbursement of funeral expenses.

The Emperor didn't mention it, after all, he had already given the money; it was embezzled by his subordinates, not by him. Asking him to give up another portion would be somewhat unwelcome.

In addition, so much time has passed, and the battles thirteen years ago resulted in the most deaths.

The emperor felt the expense of paying back the funeral expenses from thirteen years ago.

General Lu kept describing how hard these people's families had worked, and by the end he was crying bitterly. He then began to talk about the military achievements of these soldiers when they were alive.

He died fighting for his country, but his family received no compensation. Instead, they suffered many hardships and injustices over the years.

After several heartfelt words, the emperor felt too embarrassed to pretend to be dead any longer.

"I also want to compensate them, but the embezzled silver has not yet been found, and the national treasury is empty. We simply cannot come up with any extra silver," the Emperor sighed.

When General Lu saw that his pleas were in vain, he suddenly began to berate Marquis Anle.

The name that no one dared to mention for so many years suddenly appeared, and many people cursed it, causing the emperor's expression to freeze.

Everyone says that if Marquis Anle hadn't betrayed the country and sent messages to Qikong Kingdom, they wouldn't have suffered such a crushing defeat.

They would not have taken the initiative to seek peace or send a princess to marry into the country, and so many soldiers would not have died tragically.

When they said these words, Su Yuan could only shrink his neck, afraid that others would notice him.

At the same time, everyone unanimously thought of Su Wenyuan, who is currently in the eye of the storm.

Marquis Anle caused such a huge disaster that countless soldiers lost their families, yet his granddaughter became the Princess Consort of Prince Chen, living a life of luxury and extravagance, without showing any restraint.

Su Yuan, as the father, couldn't escape it either, and received a few eye rolls in return.

The court was in an uproar, and no conclusion could be reached. Su Yuan had no choice but to step forward.

He was willing to give some money to appease the families of the soldiers.

The reason given was that he had, after all, married the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Anle, and should pay the price for it…

General Lu then shut up and stopped dwelling on the matter.

After the morning court session, the news spread, and the treason case, which had disappeared from everyone's memory, was brought up again.

Then I thought of Su Wenyuan's dowry, which was worth a fortune, while the families of the soldiers who died in battle couldn't even get enough to eat.

In an instant, Su Wenyuan was subjected to unprecedented insults.

Su Wenyuan was so angry when she heard this that she laughed, and then felt like she couldn't defend herself.

"Does General Lu really like his daughter Lu Wanying?" Su Wenyuan asked.

She had just slapped Lu Wanying when General Lu started bringing up old stories during the morning court session.

This old story is enough to make Su Wenyuan unable to hold her head up or recover.

From then on, every action she took was criticized, as if those soldiers had died because of her.

Now that she's the only one alive, she can't shake off this infamy.

Ye Shan looked at Su Wenyuan's gloomy face, nodded and said, "Yes, Lu Wanying has been living in the countryside for many years. In fact, it was General Lu who protected her. She was born to a concubine. If she had stayed in the capital, the General's wife would not have let her go."

During the time Lu Wanying was away from the capital, General Lu was stationed at the border.

Now that she's reached marriageable age, and with General Lu having returned, they finally brought her back.

Su Wenyuan was so angry that her mind was in a mess. It was General Lu who said that Marquis Anle was a traitor back then. She hadn't even gone to cause trouble for him yet, but he had come to her door first.

Since General Lu has the audacity to bring up old matters again, he had better be able to withstand investigation!

"Your Highness, someone from the Prime Minister's residence has come and says..." Yuexiu hesitated, wanting to speak but not daring to.

Su Wenyuan asked irritably, "What did you say?"

"They said that when the princess returns to the mansion, she should take some silver notes with her. The prime minister only agreed to give the soldiers funeral expenses because of the princess. The princess should pay for these silver notes."

Su Wenyuan stood up angrily, her hair practically standing on end in anger.

"That father and daughter are shameless. Su Lin'er used my money to do favors, and Su Yuan was currying favor with the Emperor. Now they want me to pay for everything? They get all the good things, and you want me to pay for everything? Do I look like a sucker?"

Su Wenyuan wasn't actually that angry, but one thing after another happened, and she was just looking for an outlet for her anger.

They've practically delivered themselves to our doorstep!