"An'an, have you figured out how to deal with Song Shuyun?"
"She insulted my reputation, so let's silence her. She humiliated me by eloping with someone, so let's cripple her legs. Such a proud and arrogant young lady must suffer more in life than in death," Yan An pondered, clutching the ledger in her hand.
"An'an spared her life; she's truly kind-hearted and beautiful. Leave this to me." Daring to insult his wife, it seems his reputation for ruthlessness isn't quite widespread yet.
"If it turns out that the expenditure was indeed used to recruit soldiers, then we'll secretly eliminate them." Yan An still felt uneasy thinking about the hypothetical scenario from earlier.
"Okay, I'll investigate as soon as possible. It's time to clean up the Chen family's mess."
"An'an, what do you want to do with the illegitimate daughter of the Liu family?" Although there was no evidence at the Hundred Flowers Banquet, everyone could see that Song Shuyun was being instigated.
"I think the Song family will give me a good answer before I return to my hometown." Yan An blinked, and her calculating look was quite cute in Yue Xiyuan's eyes.
"Smack..." Yue Xiyuan placed a kiss on Yan An's brow. "It's getting late, you should get some rest."
...If you hadn't come, I would have rested long ago, okay? And who kisses the forehead every time? Can't you see her cherry-like lips opening and closing?!
This really infuriated Yan An. Yan An covered her head and went to sleep, muttering, "Goodnight!!!"
Yue Xiyuan looked at Yan An, who was sleeping with her head covered, with tender eyes. He thought that Yan An was shy because of the kiss just now, and a gentle smile appeared in his eyes. He thought that she was still a young girl who had not yet come of age, and he really had to be gentler in the future so as not to scare her again.
If Yan An knew what Yue Xiyuan was thinking right now, she would definitely dissect his brain to see if it was full of mush. Hadn't she been obvious enough before? She practically pounced on him, and he even got shy after being kissed on the forehead...
The following afternoon, Eunuch Wang sent several boxes of gold and silver jewelry, saying that the Emperor had specially taken some from Song Zhiyuan's donated property to make up for the grievances Yan An had suffered these past few days.
Yan An gave Eunuch Wang a handful of gold melon seeds and saw him out of the general's mansion.
After Yan An put the gold and silver jewelry into her spatial storage, she sensed a dark area on the roof. "Come out."
"Greetings, Your Highness."
"Why are you here?" I guess these boxes must have been requested from the Emperor by Yue Xiyuan. This is a good deal.
"Your Highness, His Highness has sent me to report to you on today's events. After the morning court session, Song Zhiyuan pleaded guilty in the Imperial Study and confessed to all his collusion with Prime Minister Chen over the past few years. However, he only said that the monthly allowance passed through his hands by Prime Minister Chen and that he did not know where it went. Song Zhiyuan hopes that his confession can atone for his crimes. He will give up all his family's property and withdraw from the court, just to save the lives of his family."
"The Emperor was furious at the time. He immediately issued an edict, which included the words the Princess Consort had praised Song Zhiyuan yesterday. Song Zhiyuan's face twitched as he listened. Song Zhiyuan probably wanted to keep some of the embezzled money, but the Prince threw all the collected letters and account books at him, and the guy immediately fainted."
"The prince is currently confiscating property. The gold and silver jewelry that Eunuch Wang sent were all confiscated by the prince from Song Zhiyuan. The prince said that Song Zhiyuan's family has too much wealth, and he needs to keep an eye on it to prevent it from being taken by someone with ulterior motives. So he specifically sent me to inform you."
It's fortunate that Yue Xiyuan thought of sending An Si. An Si's tongue is truly eloquent; it would be a shame if he didn't become a storyteller.
"By the way, Your Highness, there's one more thing. Late last night, Song Zhiyuan sent someone to Yunlaijian, a place that hires assassins. Rumor has it that it's a team of assassins from all walks of life, and every year they elect the most powerful assassin to be the number one assassin. The other assassins are ranked according to their strength and their prices. There are all sorts of talented and extraordinary people there. I went to inquire and found out that Song Zhiyuan went to hire an assassin to deal with Liu Xuening. He spent two hundred taels of silver."
"Tsk tsk tsk, a concubine's daughter is worth quite a bit of money. She really hasn't disappointed me."
"Oh...Your Highness, there is one more thing you might want to know." An Si thought about what his master had done today and felt that the princess probably wanted to know as well.
"...Could you finish your sentence in one go?" Yan An asked An Si with a hint of helplessness.
"When the prince confiscated the property, he left Song Zhiyuan 205 taels of silver." An Si knew what the 200 taels were for, but he didn't know what his prince intended to do with the 5 taels.
Two hundred taels was for the assassin's fee. The Emperor had accepted Song Zhiyuan's "donation," so Yue Xiyuan couldn't let him be unable to pay the assassin's fee. If he were killed, it would damage the royal family's reputation. As for the five taels... they were most likely for travel expenses. Song Zhiyuan was from the south, and the journey was quite long. In addition, he would probably have to go hungry for many days while treating Song Shuyun's injuries. Yue Xiyuan's move was truly brilliant!
Yan An's lips curled into a wicked smile. Yue Xiyuan had won her heart quite a bit. "Is there anything else?"
An Si looked at his princess's malicious smile. The princess definitely knew the prince's intentions, but judging from her posture, she didn't seem willing to tell him. He was torn between asking or not...
"If you want to know, go ask your prince. This young lady is going to get her beauty sleep."
When asked, the prince replied, "How dare I?" and quickly left the general's mansion.
The next day, Yan An sent Bai Su to Minister Liu's residence to see if anything interesting had happened the night before.
"Miss, Miss, haha... Something's happened to the Liu family, hahaha..." Bai Su returned after making inquiries, occasionally letting out a few loud laughs.
"How is it?" Yan An looked at Bai Su, who was laughing so hard she couldn't stand up, and felt that there must be good news today.
“Miss, you don’t know, didn’t you say that the Su family hired someone to kill Liu Xuening and asked me to go and check the news? Who would have thought that as soon as I arrived near the Liu residence, I heard people crying and screaming inside. After some inquiries, I learned that an assassin went to the Liu residence yesterday and went straight to Liu Xuening’s residence. Coincidentally, Liu Ruyan wanted to settle a score with Liu Xuening, so she met the assassin. The assassin thought Liu Ruyan was Liu Xuening. Fortunately, Liu Ruyan had guards protecting her, so she was not in danger, but she was disfigured by the assassin.”
As Bai Su spoke, she pointed to her small face, as if to indicate the long cut that stretched from here to here.
"The Liu family has consulted many doctors, but none of them can heal the wounds on Liu Ruyan's face. It's estimated that her face will remain like that for the rest of her life. This morning, Madam Liu found Liu Xuening in the ancestral hall. Liu Xuening claimed that she broke the family rules and entered the ancestral hall in order to sincerely copy the national laws. Miss, do you think Liu Xuening deliberately hid in the ancestral hall?"
"Xiao Bai Su, you're really smart. Liu Xuening is quite cunning. The assassins Song Zhiyuan sent probably put medicine on their weapons to prevent the wounds from healing. Otherwise, Liu Xuening would be lying on the ground right now."
Unexpectedly, this accidental incident resulted in Liu Ruyan being disfigured; it truly was a "serendipitous coincidence."
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