Chapter 319: Dead End
Su Qingwan brought Lu Yunshu back to the palace. She was still a little emotionally unstable and felt extremely guilty. Li Yue had killed someone for her and her reputation was tarnished. She felt really bad. She was fidgeting in the carriage. Li Yue was riding a horse outside, humming a little tune, and seemed not to be affected at all. Lu Yunshu was also curious, why Li Yue didn't seem to care at all. A girl's reputation was the most important thing.
Qingyun said, "Second Miss, don't worry. Li Yue's real name is not Li Yue. Others only know that she is a maid in the palace, and they will not recognize her face. She is not a girl from a noble family, so no one cares. After a while, everyone will forget about it. If this happened to you, it would be a crime you will never get rid of. Now it's good. That person is dead and will not slander you anymore."
Lu Yunshu was next to Su Qingwan, still frightened. Su Qingwan patted her arm and said, "I am sorry for you. She came after me. You should take the blame for me."
"Sister-in-law, how can this be your fault? It's the bad guys who are trying to hurt people. It's their fault. It has nothing to do with you."
Su Qingwan said softly, "Don't worry, I will give you justice in this matter and will not let you be frightened in vain."
After returning to the palace, the housekeeper settled several girls, and Su Qingwan asked Li Yue and Qing Yun to come to the study. In fact, she didn't have to deal with Anping Bo's family. Anping Bo was loyal to the emperor and upright, and his son was also serving in Jiangnan. Li Xueying was dead, so she didn't have to kill them all.
She didn't want to invite Lady Anping to the banquet because of her selfish motives. She couldn't get along with Lady Anping in peace and harmony. Of course, she also felt that if Lady Anping dared to embarrass her, she could just take revenge on both old and new grudges at once. So Lady Anping brought people to the suburbs to surround her, and Su Qingwan deliberately angered her because she wanted to settle the score.
If Lady Anping knew how to show weakness and kept out of her way, perhaps she would let bygones be bygones. But who knew that she would spread rumors everywhere, ruining her and Lu Jing's reputation, trying to incite public opinion and drag Lu Jing down with her.
The wife of the Marquis of Anping is too naive. Although she is the descendant of a military general, she has been accustomed to being flattered in the capital for so many years that she has long lost her sensitivity. Ever since the death of the previous emperor, the ascension of the new emperor to the throne, the reign of the Princess and Lu Jing, the power of the Marquis of Anping has been undermined. Even if the Princess knew about the feud between the Marquis of Anping and Lu Jing, even if the Marquis of Anping was a royalist, she would not choose to confront Lu Jing head-on, at least not now. If the Princess wants to employ someone, she has many choices, and it is not necessarily the Marquis of Anping.
The power of the Earl of Anping is far less than that of the previous emperor. The status of men also determines the status of women. The appeal and influence of the wife of the Earl of Anping among the ladies of the clan are also far less than before. She still wants to compete with Su Qingwan, which is courting death.
Su Qingwan also did not want to engage in a public opinion war with Lady Anping, so her method was extremely straightforward, and she still wanted to shake Lady Anping's foundation, the military power of Lord Anping and his two sons.
She doesn't even have to take the initiative in this matter. She just needs the eldest princess to do it. The eldest princess will respond to her requests in a short period of time, and this small matter will definitely be handled properly.
Within a day, the news that the Earl of Anping and his two sons had returned to Beijing to report on their work spread throughout the court and the country.
Jiangnan is the base of the Earl of Anping and his sons, and power is deeply intertwined. If nothing special happens, the Earl of Anping cannot be transferred away from Jiangnan, especially since Xilin and Huainan are fighting each other, and the Jiangnan navy must be on guard at all times, fearing a sneak attack from Xilin or a neighboring country taking advantage of the situation. The entire Jiangnan is also preparing for war.
At this time, the three sons of Anping Earl were transferred back to Kyoto, which was unusual.
When Lady Anping heard the news, she was stunned. She didn't expect it to be so serious. Moreover, there was no evidence against Su Qingwan at all. She was able to transfer her husband and son back to Kyoto just because she suspected that Su Qingwan was stirring up trouble behind the scenes.
The wife of the Marquis of Anping hurriedly came to the princess's mansion to ask for an audience, but was refused.
The princess was leisurely brewing tea in the mansion and said calmly, "This Anping Marquis's wife is also stupid. She looks down on Xiaowu from the bottom of her heart and thinks Xiaowu is Zhaolan. She relied on her beauty to turn the Lu brothers against each other and let Lu Jing bear the infamy to marry her. She is just a demon concubine who brings disaster to the world. But how could she forget that if someone like Lu Jing really abandoned his family and bore the infamy for her, he would not be a good person. She has met a tough guy."
The maid said, "The princess hates the Anping Earl's family. Even though she killed Li Xueying, I'm afraid... she won't let it go."
"Xiao Wu has been protective of his children since he was young. He is vindictive and likes to implicate others. How could he really let the Lady of the Marquis of Anping go? I'm afraid he won't let it go until they are tormented to the point of destruction of their families, including Lu Feng." The eldest princess blew the hot air from the teacup, thoughtfully.
"But the princess married Lu Jing and protected several girls from the Lu family. Will she really attack Lu Feng?"
"If Xiaowu wants to kill someone, she won't do it herself. Just wait and see." The princess said calmly, "She can fool Lu Jing, but she can't fool me. In her eyes, Lu Feng is already a dead man. When to take his life depends on Xiaowu's mood."
After all, Li Xueying was the mastermind and Lu Feng was the source of Zhaolan's death, and she would not let Lu Feng go.
"If the princess kills Lu Feng, won't she and the prince be..."
"That's great. I'm happy to see it happen." The princess smiled faintly. "Xiao Wu's mind must be on Huainan and Nian Qing. If he really falls in love with Lu Jing and is on the same page with him, that would be a big worry for me."
"I understand."
The eldest princess chuckled. She was sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai, and there would be many good things to come in the future.
The Lady of Anping stood for a long time in the scorching heat, and was extremely anxious because she was not summoned. The eldest princess's maid had told her that the princess was not in the house and should come back another day.
Lady Anping knew it was an excuse. She saw the princess enter the mansion with her own eyes, but she just didn't want to see her.
She racked her brains but couldn't understand why the princess would help Su Qingwan and remove the military power of her husband and son. Why? She just dealt with Su Qingwan and dared to plot against Lu Yunshu because she had the confidence.
She knew that the eldest princess and the regent were irreconcilable. The Li family of Anping Earl was a royalist family, loyal to the emperor and the eldest princess, and was the eldest princess's most important force. Even if she offended the regent, the eldest princess would help her stabilize the situation. As long as her husband and son still had military power, the Anping Earl's Mansion would not be afraid of Lu Jing and Su Qingwan.
Earl Anping was eager to meet the princess and ask her why she cut off her own arm to help Su Qingwan. They were political enemies, and Earl Anping and the princess were on the same boat.
She was sweating all over and looked miserable. The maidservants advised her, "Madam, let's go back first. The princess doesn't want to see you, and she won't see you even if you stand there until dark."
Lady Anping was determined to wait, but Su Qingwan's carriage passed by the princess's residence. She lifted the curtain of the sedan chair, smiled and said calmly, "Madam Li, how does it feel to lose more than you gain? You dared to plot against my sister, but did you ever think this day would come?"
Su Qingwan thought to herself that she would step by step push Lady Anping into a desperate situation and make her seek death on her own initiative.
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