"The Crown Prince is making things difficult for your Princess Consort, aren't you going to do anything about it?" Hua Ling had just finished taking a bath and was feeling refreshed.
Sheng Jingyu yawned and said, "You made this trouble, so you have to clean it up yourself."
Hua Ling sighed, "That's heartless enough."
The two men in the front yard were still locked in a standoff, neither willing to give way.
Su Wenyuan led a group to block the road, and Sheng Yuanhe dared not let anyone force their way through.
"Princess Consort Chen, you were very obedient when you were in the Prime Minister's residence!" Sheng Yuanhe gritted her teeth in hatred.
Su Wenyuan laughed and said, "Is being obedient a compliment? Your Highness, leading troops to storm the Prince Chen's residence is no small crime. You should think carefully."
Sheng Yuanhe angrily said, "It was clearly you who committed the torture in the mansion, and the two young ladies are witnesses. The capital city government has every reason to search the mansion!"
"What if they're making false accusations? They've only been at the Prince's residence for a day, and they've already set their sights on the position of Princess Consort?" Su Wenyuan asked.
"Whether it's a false accusation or not, let us search and we'll find out!" the prefect added.
Su Wenyuan sneered, "Prefect, think it over carefully. You have a reason, but not the right. You need the Emperor's decree to search the Prince Chen's residence!"
“It will be too late then. I’m determined to search tonight.” Sheng Yuanhe’s gaze was firm and ruthless.
At his command, the soldiers forcibly entered the mansion, and chaos immediately ensued.
Su Wenyuan didn't stop him; she just looked at him calmly, knowing that she was going to let him search anyway.
Despite the commotion outside, Sheng Jingyu still had no intention of going out.
Hua Ling said urgently, "The Crown Prince really searched the mansion."
“I’m not deaf, I heard it. Isn’t that perfect? That prefect has always been the crown prince’s man. Leading troops to search the prefecture, what a bold move.” Sheng Jingyu smiled, waiting to reap the benefits.
Hua Ling suddenly realized, "No wonder you didn't stop me."
As time went on, Sheng Yuanhe's expression grew increasingly grim, and he still hadn't found anything.
The prefect kept wiping his sweat, sensing that something was wrong.
If they can find it, his actions are nothing; if they can't, and he leads troops to search the Prince Chen's residence tonight, he's really asking for trouble!
"Your Highness..." The prefect panicked.
Sheng Yuanhe angrily rebuked, "Shut up."
Su Wenyuan, in a leisurely mood, ate melon seeds and drank tea, watching them with a smile.
Sheng Yuanhe felt he had fallen into a trap, but was this plan specifically aimed at him? It seemed like he had come to them on his own.
"Be careful, the princess's hairpin is worth tens of thousands of taels of silver. If you break it, you'll have to pay for it!" Meng Qi warned.
Su Wenyuan looked at him with newfound respect; he had suddenly become quite clever.
The palace was searched again and again, but the scene described by Yan Jiao and He Meiqiu simply did not exist.
As for the three people who were tortured, they couldn't be found at all.
"Su Wenyuan, where did you hide her?" Sheng Yuanhe's tone weakened.
Su Wenyuan stood up angrily and said, "Is Your Highness here to cause trouble? Searching the Prince Chen's residence in the middle of the night, what a show of power! After dawn, I would like to ask Your Highness to enter the palace as soon as possible. Don't wait for Father to invite you. I will arrive early as well. Don't forget to bring this Prefect with you!"
Sheng Yuanhe was flustered; this wasn't the first or second time he had targeted Sheng Jingyu.
When the Prince Chen's mansion caught fire, he filed a complaint, but the Emperor did not pursue the matter. Now he's doing it again.
"Your Highness, this..." The prefect was equally panicked.
Sheng Yuanhe angrily rebuked, "What's the panic? She's the one who did wrong. Those two girls can't even utter a complete sentence yet!"
Su Wenyuan said calmly, "The two of them entered the manor as guests, and instead of sleeping in the middle of the night, they ran around everywhere. I don't know how they got frightened, but they still blame it on me. I am truly innocent."
"You're talking nonsense!" Sheng Yuanhe was so angry that he went crazy.
Even though he was clearly in the right, he couldn't win the argument with Su Wenyuan. It seemed like Su Wenyuan was always right no matter what she said!
Su Wenyuan looked at the two of them coldly, "You should think about how you're going to explain this to Father Emperor after dawn."
Sheng Yuanhe forced out a voice through gritted teeth, "Surround the Prince Chen's residence completely! Don't let a single person get out! We'll talk about it at dawn!"
Before Su Wenyuan could speak, the prefect hurriedly said, "The Prince of Chen's residence? This... won't do!"
“Why not? If we can’t find them, it means the Princess Consort has hidden them very well. Let Father issue an order to search again tomorrow; we’ll surely find them eventually.” Sheng Yuanhe winked at him.
The prefect was in a difficult position and had no choice but to obey him, ordering his men to surround the Prince Chen's residence.
"Close the door and go to sleep!" Su Wenyuan got up nonchalantly.
The crown prince is courting death, and there's nothing she can do about it.
As soon as the gates of the mansion closed, the prefect eagerly asked the crown prince what his ideas were.
The Crown Prince said, "If we can't find them, then we should investigate the remaining people in the manor. Three maids have disappeared out of nowhere; we need to give an explanation."
The prefect suddenly realized that Su Wenyuan was indeed very eloquent, but in front of the emperor, sophistry was useless.
When the news reached the study, Hua Ling finally realized what was happening.
"No wonder even the people being tortured were me and another guard in disguise; we didn't use any maids, for fear of being discovered."
Sheng Jingyu added, "The maids sent to serve Yan Jiao and the other girl came from Zhuyue Pavilion. The fake courtyard was prepared by Meng Qi, and he was the one who splashed the chicken blood on the ground."
The rest of the people were unaware of what had happened in the mansion. The people Yan Jiao asked were also arranged by Su Wenyuan.
Hua Ling asked doubtfully, "Did you exhaust yourself trying to get revenge for those two slaps? Was it really necessary to go through all that trouble?"
“It’s not just about those two slaps.” Sheng Jingyu pondered, realizing he had overlooked something.
That night, the Crown Prince stayed up all night with bloodshot eyes, while Su Wenyuan slept soundly inside.
As dawn broke, almost everyone knew that Prince Chen's residence had been surrounded by soldiers.
Everyone knows about the situation of those two concubines. However, after only one day at Prince Chen's residence, they were so frightened that they declared they would not marry and would no longer serve as concubines.
No one knew what had happened, but they vaguely guessed that it was related to Su Wenyuan.
Su Wenyuan got up early and ate breakfast before entering the palace. Although she was full of energy, she deliberately pretended to look haggard.
As I came out of the mansion, I saw the Crown Prince walking towards me.
Su Wenyuan gave him a cold glance, then got into the carriage.
Inside the palace, the emperor had just finished his morning court session.
Before the morning court session even began, I heard about this matter and was about to summon the Crown Prince to ask him what had happened when Su Wenyuan arrived.
After bowing, Su Wenyuan remained silent, standing there at a loss for what to do.
The Emperor frowned and asked, "Princess Consort Chen entered the palace so early in the morning; she must have something to discuss. Why don't you speak?"
Knowing she had come to file a complaint, the Emperor wanted to see how she would accuse the Crown Prince.
Su Wenyuan choked up and said, "It's nothing important. I just wanted to ask Father and His Highness the Crown Prince to discuss withdrawing the troops outside the mansion. If they want to search the mansion again next time, they should come earlier. Such a big commotion at night makes people feel uneasy."
The Emperor feigned surprise and said, "Search the residence? And you even led troops to surround the Prince Chen's residence?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
