Yan Li returned to the Duke Residence and asked what exactly happened with Ning Yao, the Crown Prince’s wife?
Ning Yao told the truth. Seeing Yan Li’s grave expression, she realized she didn’t do anything wrong, but she did not expect Su Rong and Fen Ling to behave so absurdly with Duanhua which was beyond normal people’s understanding. They caught her off guard and caused her to be the butt of jokes made by every household in the Capital City.
However, she couldn’t claim innocence. Now that outsiders were laughing at her and ridiculing the Crown Prince because of her, she was indeed at fault.
Therefore, she apologized to the Crown Prince, "Your Highness, it is my fault. As the saying goes, ’know your enemy and know yourself.’ I did not understand the Su siblings completely and hence couldn’t devise an effective response strategy. I allowed them to take the lead and act wildly in front of me, leaving me helpless and become an object of ridicule."
Although Yan Li was angry, he couldn’t vent his frustration on Ning Yao. After all, it was he who persistently brought them into the Duke Residence to figure out the truth. He underestimated the Su siblings and invited them into the residence without thoroughly investigating their manners, resulting in this predicament.
With a stern face and lips pursed, Yan Li said in a cold tone, "They dare to behave in this way only because they have Duanhua as their backing. They dared to be capricious under the status of honored guests from the Princess Residence. If it were merely the two of them, would they dare to do it? Even though this situation has caused ridicule, the manners of the Su siblings are far from appropriate. They lack courtesy and will not end up well. I will have someone draft an indictment tomorrow to impeach Su Xu for failing to discipline his daughter, The Emperor will definitely reprimand Su Xu."
The wife of the Crown Prince let out a sigh of relief and nodded, "You are right, Your Highness."
She didn’t mention her plans to take advantage of her brother and get close to Su Rong. However, she didn’t expect that Su Rong would leave early, causing her efforts to be in vain. But it didn’t matter, she would remember Su Rong, this score would be settled sooner or later.
So, the next morning, someone filed an indictment impeaching Su Xu for failing to discipline his daughter, suggesting that he might be incompetent and inappropriate for the position of Inspector of Jiangzhou.
When Su Rong heard this news, she was shocked and wide-eyed, pointing at herself, "Even lack of manners could lead to an impeachment?"
Duanhua was also startled, "Where were you impolite yesterday? When meeting Ning Yao and Zhang Wan, didn’t we hold the necessary courtesies? Even when Fen Ling took Ning Ze to the kitchen, it was with Ning Yao’s consent. Picking flowers and preparing tea were my ideas, and Ning Yao agreed. If we indeed lacked manners, it was only when we ate ’Buddha Jumps Over the Wall’ without offering it to them first and left prematurely after dining."
Su Rong blinked and said, "So, among the three of us who were guests, only I was impeached, right?"
Duanhua nodded.
Su Rong sighed and lamented, "Alas, I must have been too beautiful. Those devoid of jealousy are mediocrities."
Duanhua: "..."She suddenly stood up, "I will go to my mother and ask her why, for what we did together, only you are impeached and not me. Are they looking down on me?"
Su Rong grabbed her, "Forget it, don’t trouble the princess anymore. Let the impeachment happen! This minor incident is just the Crown Prince trying to save face. Even if my father is impeached, the Emperor will only scold him a bit; it will not cost him his position. If that were the case, all offspring of officials in the world would become mute."
Duanhua disagreed, "That is unacceptable. What about your reputation? If you don’t argue your case, people will truly believe you are ill-mannered. You are obviously well-mannered, okay?"
Having stayed in the Princess Residence for several days, Duanhua could clearly see that although Su Rong was somewhat lazy, she was extremely courteous and well-mannered. How could she be impeached?
After speaking, she shook Su Rong’s hand off and went to find Princess Qingping.
Su Rong tried to pull her back twice but failed and gave up. She thought if Princess Qingping interfered and made a statement, it would show the royal family’s support for her, which would be advantageous to her. The status of the Princess Residence in the court would only be beneficial to the Eastern Palace if they fully aligned with them.
When Princess Qingping heard about the impeachment, she was amused and said to her wet nurse, "Look, how narrow-minded Yan Li is! When someone slaps him, he can’t wait to slap back."
The wet nurse said, "The Princess must be angry. She was clearly the one who proposed to destroy the Chrysanthemum Garden of the Crown Prince’s wife when visiting the Princess Residence, and Lady Su Qi merely provided the means of doing so. Yet, she is the only one taking the blame for it. The Princess will certainly be annoyed. She has been bold and accountable since young, and she does not like others taking the blame for her." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
Princess Qingping nodded, "She definitely will come see me."
She thought for a while, "Well, I should send a letter of apology too. If it comes to failing in teaching a daughter, I am partly to blame too."
Therefore, when Duanhua arrived, she saw Princess Qingping composing an apology letter. Even though it was supposed to be an apology, there was not a hint of remorse in the letter’s content. Instead, it subtly criticized the Crown Prince for being petty and the Crown Prince’s wife for being hypocritical. The wife claimed to be kind-hearted and had agreed to let the chrysanthemums in her garden be made into Chrysanthemum Tea to honor her royal brother, her precious imperial concubine, and herself as an aunt. Yet, she turned around and conspired against the young lady of the Su family. What wrong had the young lady of the Su family done? She merely praised the beauty of the chrysanthemums and suggested that the tea made from them would taste good. Was this considered a mistake? Was this considered disrespectful? Having invited the young lady as a guest, she should have shown the hospitality of a hostess. If unable to do so, and became a laughing stock, she should have swallowed her pride instead of making a fuss over such a trivial matter. It was uncalled for. Lastly, the Princess bluntly criticized the Minister who impeached the Su family for being narrow-minded and posing a threat to the empire. It was advised that the Emperor dismiss him and prohibit his descendants from public career.
Duanhua was dumbfounded watching her mother scold others. After Princess Qingping sent her letter of rebuke, Duanhua finally spoke, "Mother, you are so powerful!"
Princess Qingping hummed and poked her forehead, "After being scolded a lot, I’ve naturally learned how to do so."
Duanhua understood. The First Princess of Sheng An could always scold someone until they were red-faced and ashamed, without using any dirty words. Many officials had been scolded to tears by her. Her mother, too, had done many foolish things in order to marry her father, and consequently earned her share of scolding. So, had she now turned out to be a master in the art of scolding too?
Seeing Duanhua’s understanding expression, Princess Qingping was annoyed, "Go away now, go play with Su Rong, don’t bother me."
Duanhua nodded, not bothering her anymore and happily left immediately.
Seeing her leaving so quickly, the princess smiled out of exasperation, "Truly, a grown woman is not cherry."
The wet nurse laughed softly, "The Princess is much happier than before. It’s pleasing to see. It would’ve been great if the Princess could always stay like this. It appeared she was not very occupied with the young lord Zhou anymore."
After all, it had been ages since she had visited the Duke Residence and bothered them.
Princess Qingping nodded, "Under the influence of Su Rong, it does indeed seem like a good thing for now."
But she did not know what the future held.
The impeachment statement against Su Xu might seem like a petty matter, but because of the recent rumors about Su Rong in the Capital City, it had sparked interest at the court meeting.
Everyone knew that the current Inspector of Jiangzhou, Su Xu, was recommended by the Crown Prince Yan Huisheng. People under the Eastern Palace did not make any comments upon the Crown Prince’s hints, and neither did they react to those who were criticizing Su Xu for lacking education as a father. They understood: the Crown Prince’s silence meant he was instructing them to stay out of it.
Hence, no one from the Eastern Palace refuted the charges. In fact, upon the Crown Prince’s orders, his supporters agreed and endorsed the allegations. Those who belonged to the second prince’s faction also came out in support, as they were currently allied with the Crown Prince. Those from the neutral faction maintained their neutrality.
And so, during the court meeting, half of the officials seemed to agree that Su Xu was not a good father and they doubted his ability to govern well as a result. Regardless of his capability as a governor, it appeared he had bitten off more than he could chew as the Inspector of Jiangzhou.
The Emperor sat on his golden throne, looking down at the hundreds of officials. Fifty of them belonged to the factions of his two sons, comprising half of the gathering. He was very pleased with these results, which were the effect of his efforts over the years to empower the two of them to counterbalance the Crown Prince.
Looking at the Crown Prince again, he was calm and unruffled, maintaining tranquility and stability. The Eastern Palace faction remained quiet. The Emperor was also pleased with this. The Crown Prince seemed to have learned to restrain himself, no longer demonstrating his presumptive power in every situation. Otherwise, he, the Father Emperor, would have had to abdicate and yield to the capable one.
The Emperor waved his hand, "We will discuss this matter further later. All may leave the court for now."
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