After the emperor had been scolding for a long time, the empress, seeing that she could not change the situation, changed her attitude.
Suddenly enraged, she stood up and said, "And I've even spoken up for you! You are a bunch of heartless wolves! How much have you embezzled over the years? Hand it all over!"
Granny Gao quickly admitted her mistake, repeatedly saying that she had been confused and that's why she had been greedy.
Su Wenyuan said, "When I discovered their embezzlement, I wanted to get rid of them, but they brought in Consort Yu and the Empress for help, so I couldn't get rid of them. I had no choice but to hire a few more cooks."
“Now that they’re kept in the manor, they don’t do any work, yet they still get paid a monthly allowance. I have no way to complain about this.”
They didn't want the Empress to be uninvolved and wanted to drag her down with them.
But the Empress quickly distanced herself, saying, "I am unaware of the details. I was afraid that the people you found would not take good care of Jingyu, so I wanted to keep them here."
The Emperor had no doubts about this; everyone knew that the Empress had always cared deeply for Sheng Jingyu.
In desperation, Granny Gao thought of another way out and cried out, "We may have been a little greedy, but we really had no other choice. We have never mistreated the Prince and have always taken good care of him!"
"It's been over ten years. Even if he hasn't done anything outstanding, he's certainly put in a lot of hard work. We remember that His Highness had dietary restrictions when taking his medicine, and he was always very careful when cooking. If it were someone else, they certainly wouldn't have been able to take good care of him..."
"Shut up!" Su Wenyuan shouted angrily.
She remained calm from the moment she entered.
Even though they made all sorts of sophistry, slander, and unreasonable arguments, Su Wenyuan didn't get angry.
But when Sheng Jingyu was mentioned, Su Wenyuan couldn't hold back anymore!
Sheng Jingyu had previously exposed her own wounds, making her feel guilty. Now, do they still dare to say that they took good care of her?
"Do you think I'm punishing you because of the little bit of silver you embezzled? The manor isn't short of money. If you've really done well, you deserve a reward after all these years!"
"But you shouldn't have treated the prince so harshly. Tell me all the meals you've prepared over the years! Let Father Emperor know how you've taken care of him, so he won't wrong you."
Upon hearing this, Sheng Jingyu felt a sudden surge of emotion, yet also a sense of unease.
Su Wenyuan was indeed standing up for him. These old women hadn't taken good care of him at all when they were in the mansion, and their cooking was always perfunctory.
But when Su Wenyuan said it, it sounded like he was easy to bully and that someone was finally standing up for him.
The emperor glared angrily at the group and demanded, "What do you do every day?"
"On the day I first entered the manor, I ate only plain porridge," Su Wenyuan said.
Granny Gao retorted indignantly, "That day I also made stir-fried lotus root, boiled cabbage, and cucumber salad..."
Halfway through the conversation, she suddenly realized she had been tricked.
"There's also a dish of pickled vegetables and a few steamed buns," Su Wenyuan said with a smile, adding them for her.
Ye Shan added, "On the same day, the old women ate shrimp and egg custard, almond cookies, pork tenderloin, steamed fatty duck, spicy stir-fried rabbit shreds, and fish soup."
The Emperor was momentarily convinced that they had reversed the two completely different treatments.
In her dying struggle, Granny Gao said, "The prince has dietary restrictions when taking his medicine; he cannot eat meat."
Su Wenyuan angrily rebuked: "Even I, someone who has just entered the manor, know that the prince's medicine is intermittent, not taken continuously! The last time he took his medicine was a month ago, yet you have insisted on cooking vegetarian dishes for more than ten years!"
"You claim to serve him wholeheartedly, yet you don't even know when the prince is on a dietary restriction list. You've been shirking your duties, and all the good food has ended up in your stomachs!"
Granny Gao collapsed to the ground, her face ashen.
The others were in the same situation; one of them had already fainted.
In front of the Emperor, their mistreatment of the Prince for over a decade was exposed, and they were doomed.
"Jingyu! You've suffered so much injustice all these years, why didn't you tell me?" The Emperor's eyes were overflowing with heartache.
The Empress burst into tears, wiping them away as she said, "It's all my fault. I didn't care enough for Jingyu and failed to discover that there were such unruly servants in the mansion."
She wore a heartbroken expression, wishing she could kill those old women with her own hands.
Su Wenyuan watched this scene with a cold eye, thinking that the Empress's acting was really good.
She was familiar with these old women, so how could she not know that they were perfunctory in their work?
Knowing this but doing nothing, and even wanting them to stay in the manor indefinitely—is she truly sincere towards Sheng Jingyu? Su Wenyuan had doubts once again.
"Jingyu, these people are yours to deal with. Do whatever you want with them!" The Emperor waved his hand and ignored them.
Granny Gao scrambled forward and pleaded, "Your Highness, please spare our lives. Please remember our past kindness. Back then, which of us didn't serve Your Highness sincerely?"
“Back then, Your Highness was gentle and kind, which allowed us to act lawlessly. We beg Your Highness to give us a chance. We will serve Your Highness well in the future and will not neglect you in the slightest.”
Su Wenyuan didn't say anything; she agreed no matter what Sheng Jingyu did.
The Empress roared, "Drag him out and behead him!"
The Empress had initially refused to allow any action, but after the matter was investigated, she became anxious.
Sheng Jingyu remained silent for a long time without saying a word.
Su Wenyuan thought to herself that even if Sheng Jingyu softened his heart and kept them in the mansion, she wouldn't mind. After all, she wasn't the one who had suffered so much injustice all these years.
It turned out that Su Wenyuan was overthinking things; Sheng Jingyu was never soft-hearted.
"Alright then, you're all too old to handle any more stress. If you die, I'll have lost out. From today onwards, lock you all in the dungeon, give you three bowls of plain porridge a day, and forbid anyone to visit you."
“Every year during festivals, we’ll add a vegetarian dish for you. The two old women, Gao and Dong, will be locked up until they die. As for the rest of you, let’s give them five years for now!”
Whether or not it will be released in five years is still uncertain.
Su Wenyuan gasped. This method of tormenting people without letting them die must have been something he had been thinking about for a long time.
The empress was so frightened that she forgot to cry. How could she bear the despair of being locked up until death?
Every day after that, when they drank porridge, they would think about what they had done, and their only expectation was the plate of vegetarian dishes during festivals.
The guards dragged the people away, and even after they had gone a long way, their heart-wrenching cries could still be heard.
The Emperor ordered the account books to be returned to Su Wenyuan, and said with a smile, "I am very relieved to have you taking care of Jingyu."
She had only been married into the household for a few days when she had managed to run the household in an orderly manner, which naturally pleased the Emperor.
The Empress was filled with hatred, but she had to pretend to be satisfied and said a few words against her will through gritted teeth.
Su Wenyuan smiled and said, "It is my duty to take care of the prince. Please rest assured, Mother. I will take care of all the big and small matters of the Prince Chen's mansion in the future. You cannot keep an eye on things all the time, or you may be taken advantage of by villains."
“They deceive their superiors and subordinates, and they rely on your support. I can't do anything about it or scold them. It's really unbearable.”
The Empress gritted her teeth and said, "From now on, I will refrain from interfering in the affairs of Prince Chen's residence."
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