Halfway through their carriage ride, Su Xingze came to meet them.
Fen Ling, sitting in front of the carriage, noticed Su Xingze’s arrival and turned around to say to Su Rong, "Sister, the eldest young master has come to meet us."
Su Rong nodded, "I know."
The Grand Madam had not seen her son for some time, but she did not show any longing. She waved her hand at Su Rong, "Tell him that we’ll talk when we return. What’s the use of him coming here? It’s freezing cold. He should be waiting at home, instead of making such a fuss."
Su Rong poked her head out, grinned, and waved at Su Xingze, "Big brother, mother said she does not miss you, we’ll talk when we get home."
Su Xingze: "..."
Su Rong nonchalantly lowered the curtain.
Fen Ling took a look at Su Xingze with pity. What was this situation of hard labor without any reward? The carriage did not halt and continued to advance forward.
As Su Xingze rode his horse alongside, he asked Fen Ling softly, "Are mom and the sisters safe and sound? Have they been hurt?"
He had just received the news of his mother and sisters being kidnapped by the Precious Concubine, and to his surprise, Su Rong had known about it long ago but had kept him in the dark. Furthermore, she had dealt with the matter herself.
He sighed deeply, finally realizing, through this incident, Su Rong was telling him not to worry about her even when she would be in Nanchu in the future. Uncowed by a situation of this magnitude, was there anything that could perturb her?
When the carriage arrived at the Shen Residence, Shen Xian and his wife were waiting at the entrance to welcome them.
As the Grand Madam alighted from the carriage, she was startled to see Shen Xian and his wife there, and immediately paid her respects to them.
Upon confirming that everyone was safe and unhurt, Shen Xian sighed in relief, "As long as everyone is safe, Madam Su, there is no need to be so formal."
Shen Xian’s wife clasped the Grand Madam’s hand tightly, "You really scared us. Xiaoqi managed to keep things under wraps so well that we had no idea you all had encountered trouble. We thought that you wouldn’t arrive so soon, at least another six or seven days. And who would have thought you’d be kidnapped?"
The Grand Madam explained, "Not long after we had left home, we were taken captive. We had a good number of guards with us, but they were no match for our captors. However, we endured no hardships on the way, except for the hurried pace of the journey causing some discomfort. Xiaoqi made the right call by not informing you, there’s no sense in worrying more people about our situation."
Shen Xian’s wife nodded, "As long as everyone is safe."
The Grand Madam nodded in agreement.
Early on, Shen Xian’s wife had prepared the courtyard for their stay. The Shen Residence was enormous, and with Shen Xian not keeping concubines, many of the courtyards lay vacant. As she led the Grand Madam in, she reassured her, "Sister, while you are in the Capital City, please make yourself at home here. We’ve had the courtyard cleaned up for you. While I can’t guarantee ultimate comfort, I hope you can make yourself at home."
The Grand Madam shook her head, "We’ll only be here for one night. Tomorrow, we’ll move to the Xie Residence in East Four Hutong. We can’t overstay our welcome."
Shen Xian’s wife disagreed, "Sister, where does that leave me? My residence has been quite deserted. Since Xingze and Xiaoqi moved in, our home has felt livelier. If you leave, I might find it hard to adapt."
The Grand Madam chuckled, "That’s not my problem."
Feeling helpless, Shen Xian’s wife turned to Su Rong.
Su Rong said to Madam Shen, "Aunt Shen, my mother is not like me. If she says she’s staying for one night, then it’s just one night. There’s no need for you to insist. Besides, the Shen Residence isn’t too far from East Four Hutong."
Hearing this, Madam Shen finally stopped insisting, "Fine. If I had known earlier that you’ve grown tired of my food and felt uncomfortable staying at my house, I wouldn’t have bothered."
Su Rong cheekily stuck her tongue out.
Seeing Su Rong’s antics, the Grand Madam gave her a thump on her head, "Behaving like a child, shamelessly."
Had it been any other time, Su Rong would have dodged this slap to the head. But this time, she did not. She winced, "Mother, why are you so strong? Is being a captive that nourishing?"
The Grand Madam laughed, "One meal, one bun. What do you think?"
Su Rong commented, "That’s quite good. Eating white buns gives you energy." She turned and asked Fan Yu, "Do you like buns?"
Fan Yu paused, "I don’t like it."
He liked rice.
Su Rong earnestly educates him, "That won’t do, you have to eat more steamed buns in the future to build up your strength."
Fan Yu nodded in struggle, "Okay."
The Madam wanted to lash out at Su Rong again, taking advantage of the fact that children are easy to bully, dictating what they eat.
Everyone moved into the residence, laughing and chatting. Mrs. Shen took the Madam directly to get settled, the housekeeper took Fan Yu to get settled, Su Rong did not accompany them, but joined Shen Xian in his study for a discussion.
Seeing that his mother and sisters didn’t want him around, Su Xingze also broke away from the others, joining Shen Xian and Su Rong in the study.
Once in Shen Xian’s study, Su Rong told him about the premeditated plan before he had a chance to ask, to which Shen Xian praised her after hearing it, "Excellent plan. Well thought out, not only did your mother and sisters get saved, you also lured out the precious Imperial Concubine."
Su Rong smiled, "The key was that King Rui’an cooperated well, falling ill at just the right time."
"Rui’an King ah..." said Shen Xian, "That scheming old fox."
Su Rong nodded.
Shen Xian turned to Su Xingze, "Xingze, the world of officialdom is a battlefield, even more unpredictable than the actual battlefield. You were educated by Xie Yuan as well, what do you think of your sister’s strategy?"
Su Xingze glanced at Su Rong, "I am not as good.
He hadn’t noticed, he thought she went back to the room to sleep and didn’t expect her to sneak out of the residence, doing such a big thing.
Shen Xian laughed heartily, "That’s more like it, so don’t worry about her. Don’t think about going to Nanchu, build up your reputation in Daliang. Based on your abilities, there will definitely be a place for you among the important officials in the future."
Su Xingze nodded, "With such a capable sister, I have nothing to worry about."
Su Rong gifted Su Xingze a triumphant smile.
The three of them chatted for half an hour, Shen Xian knew Su Rong was tired, he waved them off, "Go rest, the Emperor is probably going to call off the court session today."
With such a big incident, the Emperor won’t be able to attend the morning court.
Su Rong nodded, and with Su Xingze, they left Shen Xian’s study.
The snow was still falling and it was pitch dark outside, probably the darkest period before dawn. Su Xingze turned to Su Rong, "You should have told me about our mother’s situation, why did you have to carry the burden alone?"
Su Rong gave him a sideways glance, "Big brother, the list of successful examination candidates hasn’t been released yet. Are you anxious in these days of waiting?"
Su Xingze pressed his lips together.
Su Rong smiled at him, "You’re anxious, aren’t you? Even though you’re worthy of being the Number One Scholar, after coming to the Capital City, you found out there are too many talented scholars. There are so many others battling for the position of Number One Scholar. Not to mention Zhou Gu, there are Lu Fengyan and Zhao Li’an. Becoming the Number One Scholar isn’t that easy, even though you don’t express your emotions daily, I can see it."
Su Xingze helplessly glared at her, "This has nothing to do with you telling me."
"Of course it does." Su Rong bravely declared, "If I can handle it alone and safely rescue mother, why should I add to your worry? If I can’t handle even a small thing like this, how can I go to Nanchu and compete with the Nangong family who have been there for hundreds of years?"
She narrowed her eyes, "It would be nice if dealing with the Nangong family was as simple as dealing with the precious Imperial Concubine. Clearly, it’s not."
Su Xingze gave up arguing with her, having heard her mention the Nangong family, he asked her, "When will the Second Young Master Ye set off? Aren’t you really going to leave with him? You have helped the Crown Prince break the stalemate. It would be safest for you to leave with him."
Su Rong shook her head, "There’s no rush to leave, there’s still a lot of work to do. Just dealing with the precious Imperial Concubine is not enough. The mother of the Crown Prince’s wife from the Marquis Nanping’s Residence hasn’t been dealt with yet, let alone the mother of the second Prince’s wife from the Residence of Pingxi General in the North. That’s the most difficult one to handle. Because they wield military power, especially the Residence of the Pingxi General, presumably they have a real relationship with the precious Imperial Concubine. The precious Imperial Concubine might not be able to bring down the Pingxi General. This case isn’t much related to the Second Prince. There will be more struggles in the days to come."
Hearing her talk like this, Su Xingze knew she had her own plans, he nodded, "Hurry back and rest! The things that follow, there’s the Crown Prince. Under the pressure from the Crown Prince and the court officials, the Emperor should not let them get away lightly."
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