When Su Qingyu returned to the west courtyard, Shen Zhixiu had already returned and was pruning the branches of the bonsai under the window.
Seeing her come back, he put down the scissors in his hand and walked towards her.
"Is my mother-in-law okay? After Su Chengyan was beaten today, the emperor ordered people to carry him around the capital as a warning to the public."
"When the plaque is delivered to my mother-in-law's house in two days, the previous rumors will naturally be dispelled."
Su Chengyan's humiliation of Lin Wanyin had a significant impact. Fortunately, Su Chengyan was punished, and the rumors dissipated a lot. Once the plaque bestowed by the emperor was hung, no one dared to say anything.
Su Qingyu was very satisfied with the outcome. She picked up a pair of scissors and cut off an extra branch. "Mother is fine. She has been traveling with her grandfather since she was young. She has seen a lot of hardships."
"These rumors can't defeat my mother."
As the two were talking, Wenzhu came over.
"Madam, I have already investigated the matter you asked me to investigate."
Su Qingyu became excited after hearing this and told Wenzhu to go into the study to talk.
After entering the study, Wen Zhu said, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Second Miss Su met in the peach forest on the back hill of Huguo Temple. The Second Miss Su was alone at the time, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince only brought his trusted confidant, Chen Zhong."
"I have not yet been able to find out what happened between His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Second Miss Su in the peach forest. However, since that day, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Second Miss Su have been in frequent contact."
"We delivered gifts five times and had meals together three times. We also went to the Huguo Temple and the Shanjun Prince's Mansion together."
Su Qingyu subconsciously twisted her hands together. Although Su Xiangling was pretty, she wouldn't be so beautiful that the Crown Prince would be completely captivated by her after just one look, right?
As she was thinking with her head down, she heard Shen Zhixiu ask, "What happened at the city gate yesterday? Was there anything unusual?"
After the incident yesterday, he ordered Wenzhu to investigate the matter at the city gate. It wasn't that he was suspicious, but he was used to checking everything thoroughly.
Wen Zhu replied, "Nothing else is wrong, except that one of the generals said something a little strange."
Su Qingyu raised her head and asked, "Why is it strange?"
Wen Zhu briefly recalled, "He said that when Master Su Er fell to the ground, he deliberately tripped. That's how Master Su Er fell on the weapon, causing the bleeding on the back of his head."
"I asked him why he tripped me on purpose. He said that three or five days ago, he saw Master Su Er talking to a Taoist priest for a long time, and they were acting very suspiciously."
"After the Taoist priest left, he jokingly asked Master Su Er when he had come to believe in these things. Unexpectedly, Master Su Er got angry at his joke and warned him not to mention the Taoist priest again. He was so angry that he deliberately tripped him."
After Wenzhu finished speaking, Su Qingyu remained silent for a long time. The hexagram and the bamboo stick engraved with the Taoist talisman reappeared in her mind.
"Find me this Taoist priest. I'll question him in person after I find him."
Wenzhu received the order and went to work. Su Qingyu continued to ponder, wondering if the prince believed that Su Xiangling was the destined queen because of this hexagram?
Seeing her stunned, Shen Zhixiu asked softly, "What's wrong? What's wrong with that Taoist priest?"
Su Qingyu then told her about Su Xiangling's bamboo stick, including the hexagram on it and the prince's birth date at the back.
Shen Zhixiu lowered his head and thought for a moment, then said, "Don't worry, as long as Wenzhu is in the capital, he will definitely be able to find her."
"As for the Su family, your father wouldn't dare to easily appoint someone from the second branch as the heir. After all, Zhou Bu Ren, who holds the evidence against you and him, is still in our hands."
Su Qingyu nodded and leaned on Shen Zhixiu's shoulder. "Third Master, do you think I can still find my brother?"
Shen Zhixiu held Su Qingyu's hand tightly, and their fingers were interlocked.
"Believe me."
*
In the following days, Su Qingyu cut off the Su family's supply of goods, and the Su family's silk shop soon closed.
As for the farmland outside the city, Su Qingyu didn't touch it. She could ignore the Su family's life and death, but she couldn't harm those innocent tenants. If the farmland was flooded, the ordinary people would suffer the most.
Fortunately, those farms could ensure that the Su family would not starve to death, but they could not cover the family's huge expenses.
In the Su family's inner house, inside the old lady's Songhe Hall.
Except for the injured Su Chengyan and a few young children, everyone else was there.
Su Chengye sat next to the old lady with a dark face.
A servant brought in tea, and Su Chengye took a sip and spit it out.
"Is this tea leaves, or the water used to wash the tea? The water used to wash the tea is thicker than this."
Now it was Second Madam He who was in charge of the household affairs in the mansion, so she could only explain.
"Brother, the tea we used to drink in the mansion was 80 taels of silver per catty. Now that the money in the palace is limited, we can only make do with this tea."
Su Chengye frowned, "Tea is tolerable, but what about the other things? The ginseng soup this morning was so bland it looked pale."
"Also, the fish from last night wasn't very fresh. It didn't taste fresh at all."
Even a good cook cannot cook without rice. He Shi has been very anxious these days. She said something a bit rude, "Brother, don't yell at me. If there is no money in the treasury, how can I make tea and ginseng?"
"I also want to ask, how did your family get by all these years without any extra money?"
As he spoke, he glanced at Su Shunci and said, "If the fourth young lady had been more careful in managing the shop before, her retreat would not have been cut off by others."
Su Shunci naturally would not indulge He, so she put down the clear tea in her hand and wiped the corner of her lips.
"Second Aunt has a bad memory, I will help her recall it."
"Where did the money from the public treasury go? Second Aunt, don't you know? Over the years, our family sent a lot of money to Qianzhou. All the money we spent before was my mother's dowry. Later, when my mother divorced, she took away everything she was supposed to take. This has been checked in the court account books."
"And the fact that the shop's supply was cut off this time was also because Second Uncle angered my mother and eldest sister first, didn't he?"
"My mother used to be in charge of the household expenses. She gave a lot of money from the dowry to the family, and the profits from the dowry shop also had to be used to support the family's food and drink. Why is it that now that Second Aunt is in charge, she is unwilling to do so?"
"If Second Aunt is willing to live like my mother did when she was in the mansion, then our family can naturally continue to live as before."
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