Upon hearing this, Shen Zhixiu stood at the door and was silent for a moment before taking off his fox fur cloak and handing it to Wenzhu.
He looked at Su Qingyu again and asked softly, "How did you know?"
Su Qingyu could guess some of the inside story by looking at his expression.
"Li Chaoyun said this in front of his mother and Shen Yue at Qingyuan Residence."
Shen Zhixiu's expression suddenly turned cold, "This scourge."
He sat down on the chair opposite Su Qingyu and asked, "Are mother and Shen Yue okay?"
Su Qingyu shook her head. "They were fine, but I got angry and beat Li Chaoyun's maid. I also punished Li Chaoyun by making him kneel in the ancestral hall."
Shen Zhixiu lowered his eyelashes and took the tea handed to him by Wenzhu.
"Good punishment, she did it on purpose."
"From now on, treat her like a lady of the house and an elder."
Su Qingyu didn't want to talk about Li Chaoyun anymore, so she pressed on, "Brother, what exactly happened to you? Was that why you went to the study last night?"
Shen Zhixiu put down the teacup, stood up and walked to Su Qingyu, gently stroking her back.
"Don't worry, let me explain it to you slowly."
"I just received a secret letter from Northern Frontier, and I've figured out what happened."
Su Qingyu gestured to Shen Zhixiu to sit down and talk properly, and she also sat up straight.
Shen Zhixiu sat down again and spoke.
"A few days ago, Li Yunhuai, the third young master of the Li family, arrived at the army. His original intention was to bring food and fodder to alleviate the army's shortage of food and clothing, and to also erode the military power of Yunzhou."
"But after arriving at the army, he discovered that things weren't what he expected, and the food and fodder he brought had been replaced with dirt. Overnight, the third young master of the Li family became a laughing stock in the army. From then on, he completely harbored a grudge against Yunzhou."
"According to Yunzhou and Song Hongshen's previous plan, he would feign a shortage of food and desperately attack the Tartar border city of Wulan. Then, using a feint to the east and attacking in the west, he would follow Wulan's waterway and lead his men to Linhuangfu, the Liao capital."
"But for some unknown reason, they were ambushed when they entered the waterway, and Yunzhou disappeared after falling into the water."
"My people's investigation revealed that Li Yunhuai had bribed Yunzhou's trusted aides. It's also possible that the man was just pretending to defect, and was actually Princess Yongjia's hidden agent within the army."
At this time, Su Qingyu's expression also calmed down completely.
"According to Third Master, is my brother missing or has he already..."
In fact, she vaguely felt that Li Yunzhou was fine, but she still had to ask clearly before she could feel at ease.
Shen Zhixiu shook his head and said, "He should just be missing. Now everyone in the army is looking for him, including his own people and Li Yunhuai's people."
"But as long as we don't see any dead bodies for a day, it's good news for us."
"Li Yunhuai's people will not deal with him secretly. He must die openly so that Li Yunhuai can legitimately take over the Northern Frontier Army."
Su Qingyu's green fingers slid across the map, which was the location of Ulan City.
Brother...you are destined to be crowned king through your military achievements.
What she feared most was that her rebirth would change the course of events.
Seeing that Su Qingyu didn't speak for a long time, Shen Zhixiu stood up again and walked to her side.
"Qingqing, nothing will happen. Yunzhou is a man of great military skill, both civil and military, and well-versed in military tactics, horse riding, and archery. If he didn't have the talent to be a general, I wouldn't have let him go to the Northern Frontier."
"People like this can always survive in desperate situations."
Even though she knew that Shen Zhixiu was comforting her, Su Qingyu still felt much more at ease.
Shen Zhixiu then instructed Wenzhu to bring in some hot tea to help Su Qingyu calm down.
But before the tea could be served, Han Cui, the maid from Qingyuan Residence, came over with a message, saying that Princess Yongjia had arrived. The eldest young master had also entered the palace with Princess Yongjia. He was currently at Qingyuan Residence, and the old lady was talking to him.
Su Qingyu was not surprised. With Princess Yongjia's love for Li Chaoyun, how could she not come here?
She stood up and said, "Third Master, go and do what you want. I'll go meet Princess Yongjia."
She never dragged Shen Zhixiu along with anything she could handle. She knew he had things he needed to do, so she didn't want him to waste time on trivial matters in the inner chambers.
To some extent, a couple is just a couple living together, each doing their own job. She didn't think she was inferior just because she stayed in the inner house, and of course, Shen Zhixiu didn't think so either.
Shen Zhixiu believed that Su Qingyu's help in caring for his mother and managing the inner chambers allowed him to focus on his official duties. He was not like Lord Qiu, who spent his days judging the affairs of his wife and concubines, nor was he like Yang Wenshi, who ran around for a basket of charcoal.
So as long as he was in the mansion, he was willing to share these chores with Su Qingyu, and he didn't feel that it was a loss of status. On the contrary, it was not easy to handle these trivial matters.
Just like when Princess Yongjia came today, Su Qingyu had to put in no less effort than he did in the court.
"I'll go with you. There are some things you can't say, so I'll say them."
Shen Zhixiu stood up and helped Su Qingyu put on her cloak. He then asked someone to bring a hand warmer. Before leaving, he let her drink two sips of hot tea to warm her body and calm her mind.
On the way, Su Qingyu casually asked Han Cui, who was delivering the message, "Why did the eldest young master enter the palace with Princess Yongjia?"
Han Cui nodded and said "yes," then continued, "When I left, I heard from the servant beside the eldest young master that Princess Yongjia had received the news and invited the eldest young master to the Li family. Afterwards, the two of them came to our house together. I noticed that Princess Yongjia didn't look well."
Su Qingyu nodded without saying anything. Princess Yongjia certainly didn't look happy.
When the couple arrived at Qingyuanju, Han Cui took two steps first, lifted the curtain of the hall, and invited the third master and his wife in.
As I entered the room, I heard the old lady's voice, "Just because the daughter of the Li family married into the Su family, we are not allowed to discipline her? We can't even point out her mistakes? And we can't punish servants for talking back to their masters?"
The old lady spoke in a loud voice, with a hint of dissatisfaction in her tone.
Su Qingyu recalled that at this time in her past life, the old lady's health was much worse than it was now. Before she was murdered, she spent most of the day in a coma. In her past life, perhaps because of Shen Zhixiu's death, she missed him day and night and cried bitterly, which had damaged her health.
In this life, Shen Zhixiu had returned from the dead, and Mr. Zhou had been taking care of her for the past six months. Although she occasionally felt unwell, she was still quite strong for her age.
After entering, Su Qingyu glanced around the hall. The old lady sat on the nanmu armchair at the head of the hall, her face tense and her eyes narrowed slightly.
Princess Yongjia sat at the bottom, and Shen Zhao stood aside.
Shen Yue was not there. I guess the old lady didn't want her to see Princess Yongjia at this time.
After Shen Zhixiu and Su Qingyu entered, they first bowed to the old lady and Princess Yongjia. Then they sat down opposite Princess Yongjia, and the servants brought up two cups of purple bamboo shoots.
Shen Zhixiu took a look and ordered: "Replace the Third Madam's with Taiwangju."
Princess Yongjia frowned. Her daughter was still kneeling. It was not Su Qingyu who should clear away the heat and reduce the fire, but her.
Then Shen Zhixiu said, "The tea for Princess Shanjun should also be replaced with Taiwangju."
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