After returning to the palace, Shen Jun reported everything he had seen to the emperor, who then fell into deep thought.
"According to you, Su Xiaoning is not quite the same as the image you described before. Perhaps she is sincere towards Xiao Jiu?"
"I am guilty. I was not careful enough during the investigation and that is why I misjudged him. As far as I can see now, Su Xiaoning should not have drugged the Ninth Prince. As for whether their relationship is genuine, I do not know, but I am willing to believe it."
Shen Jun knelt on the ground and answered calmly.
He witnessed Su Xiaoning heal and save lives, and spared his life despite past grievances. Now, he only wanted to speak well of Su Xiaoning in front of the emperor as much as possible to make up for the harm he had caused her by his previous false investigation and subsequent report.
The emperor stared at Shen Jun for a long time before saying coldly, "Perhaps she really does drug people, which is why even the leader of my Imperial Guards is speaking up for her."
"Your subordinate dares not!" Shen Jun lowered his head, not daring to meet the emperor's gaze, but his tone remained resolute.
"Hmph, I really underestimated this kind of woman!" The emperor snorted coldly, his opinion of Su Xiaoning not improving much. "I want to see if she is truly sincere towards Xiao Jiu. If either of them harbors ulterior motives, then Xiao Jiu's marriage is out of the question!"
"Pass down the order: the Ninth Prince's selection of a consort is open to all, including noblewomen from the capital and commoners!"
...
"Did you know? A few days ago, the palace said that the Ninth Prince was going to choose a concubine. I thought I would never have a chance in my life, but I didn't expect the news to change now!"
"Yes, choosing a concubine without considering social status—this has never happened before! I used to tell my parents I liked the Ninth Prince, and they laughed at me. Now they're actually interested and saying they'll arrange it for me. For the sake of us being good sisters, please don't try to compete with me..."
"Why can you do it but I can't? Since we're best friends, let's compete fairly!"
On the street, a pair of young girls were talking, and their faces flushed as they spoke.
Suddenly hearing the words "Ninth Prince," Su Xiaoning, who was out buying medicinal herbs with her maid, stopped in her tracks.
After eavesdropping on their entire conversation, her eyes widened and her face turned extremely ugly.
Along the way, she'd heard many people talking about a chance for a commoner to rise to prominence, but she hadn't paid much attention. Only now did she realize what it meant. So, everyone in the capital knew the Ninth Prince might choose a commoner as his concubine, except her?
And what about her? What is she anyway?
"So the news about choosing a concubine that I heard last time I went out wasn't false..."
Su Xiaoning muttered to herself, feeling utterly disappointed, and returned home without even buying any medicinal herbs.
As soon as he returned to the Prince's Mansion, he ran into Su Qingcai.
Su Qingcai glanced at Su Xiaoning's empty hands and asked, "Didn't you go out to buy something? Where is it?"
"None of your business!" Su Xiaoning said, somewhat annoyed, her tone rather harsh.
Su Qingcai glanced at her, puzzled, thinking she had encountered some trouble on the street. He wanted to ask her more, but since he had important matters to attend to, he gave up.
He took Su Xiaoning's hand and led her towards the study. "Do you remember you said you would help me get ahead? Now that the situation has stabilized, let's discuss what to do next."
Su Xiaoning struggled to shake off Su Qingcai's hand. She stared straight into Su Qingcai's eyes and asked, "Don't you have anything else to say to me?"
She didn't believe he was unaware of the rumors circulating on the street that he would choose a concubine regardless of her background.
Su Qingcai was completely bewildered. He had no idea what Su Xiaoning was going on about. He said irritably, "If you have any complaints about me, you can say so directly. We have important matters to discuss now. Don't let trivial things delay important matters."
"What I'm thinking is just trivial to you?" Su Xiaoning felt increasingly irritated. She rolled her eyes, turned around and left. "Fine, you can figure it out yourself, don't worry about me!"
She stormed off without even turning her head, leaving Su Qingcai completely baffled.
Su Qingcai was also annoyed. He was holding a grudge and wanted to have a good talk with Su Xiaoning when suddenly a servant ran over and reported, "Your Highness, another matchmaker has come to propose marriage. What should we do?"
"Send them away as before." Su Qingcai coldly gave the order. He knew that the emperor was deliberately spreading news about selecting concubines, but he had no choice but to drive away each matchmaker who came, trying his best not to let Su Xiaoning see it and be bothered.
But now it seems that Su Xiaoning doesn't care about him at all, and throws tantrums whenever she wants without any logic.
Su Qingcai was furious and immediately called the servant back, saying coldly, "Wait! From now on, there's no need to stop those matchmakers. Let them come if they want, and see how good they are at arranging marriages!"
The servant hurried off to do his business, while Su Qingcai went to the reception room with a gloomy expression.
Little did he know that Su Xiaoning was staring at him from not far away, her eyes clenched as if she wanted to devour him.
She wondered if it was wrong of her to throw such a tantrum, so she ran back to apologize to Su Qingcai, only to bump into him saying he was going to meet a matchmaker! It seemed he wasn't bothered by it at all, but rather enjoying it!
Su Xiaoning's face darkened completely. She vowed in her heart never to care about Su Qingcai again and left in a huff.
...
In the following days, matchmakers from the capital practically wore out the threshold of the Prince's mansion. The usually quiet mansion suddenly became bustling with activity. Su Qingcai spent all his time except for mealtimes meeting these matchmakers, which exhausted him considerably.
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