The emperor merely glanced at him coldly and said nothing more.
"You may all leave, except the Prime Minister and Prince Chen." The Emperor glared fiercely at Su Yuan.
Before the group had completely left, the Emperor strode up to Su Yuan and, without saying a word, kicked him.
"You have the nerve to ask me for an explanation? Now you give me an explanation!"
Su Yuan looked miserable, wondering if it was too late to sever ties with his daughter.
"Father!" Sheng Jingyu interrupted, "Whether the Princess Consort set the fire or not has not yet been determined."
Sheng Jingyu felt increasingly uneasy. Since Su Wenyuan had saved him, she certainly hadn't set the fire on purpose. Perhaps there was more to the assassination attempt than met the eye.
He shouldn't have sent that unreliable Meng Qi to investigate!
Hearing him say that, Su Yuan felt a glimmer of hope.
The Emperor turned to look at the eunuch beside him; it was he who had told him that the Princess Consort of Chen had set the fire.
The eunuch quickly explained, "This is what the prince's guards said, not something I made up."
Sheng Jingyu explained: "My subordinates said that the princess set the fire because there was no one else in the house at the time. However, the fire could also have been an accident. Before we find out the truth, I don't want to wrong an innocent person. I hope that Your Majesty will give me some time to investigate."
Su Yuan nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, didn't His Majesty say before that it might be an accident? It would be better to investigate further."
The emperor calmed himself down and remained silent for a long time.
In the end, he agreed to Sheng Jingyu's request.
"Then I will spare the Prime Minister for now. After the investigation, it is indeed true that the Princess Consort harbored ulterior motives. Su Yuan, you must give me an explanation." The Emperor's gaze was cold, concealing murderous intent.
"Yes, yes, yes." Su Yuan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, while simultaneously plotting in his mind how to cover up the matter.
He was inclined to believe that Su Wenyuan had done this on purpose.
But if Prince Chen is willing to investigate, there is still a chance to explain.
Even if she really did start the fire, we have to find a way to make her take the blame herself.
The Emperor released Su Yuan, but kept Sheng Jingyu in the palace and had him dressed and groomed.
Upon returning to his residence, Su Yuan hurriedly instructed Wang Shi to inventory the dowry, intending to send it to Prince Chen's residence that very night!
"Dowry? Master, do you know how much her mother left behind? Give it all away?" Madam Wang exclaimed in surprise, her eyes wide.
"Give it to me! That bastard has really made a move! If you don't give it to me now, you can just wait to die!" Su Yuan gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot.
Wang refused to agree, crying and shouting, "That's for Lin'er. She needs to marry the Crown Prince in a grand and glorious way. Without that dowry, how can the Crown Prince possibly look at her?"
Su Yuan didn't want to waste any more words and immediately ordered people to move the dowry, and then found the dowry list from back then.
Wang rushed forward to stop him like a madwoman, but was slapped to the ground by Su Yuan.
"That dowry wasn't yours to begin with! It was left to her by her mother! You want Lin'er to have a grand wedding, so why don't you come up with that much dowry yourself!" Su Yuan roared. "Lock her in the woodshed!"
The Prime Minister's residence was in chaos, everyone was extremely busy, and Su Yuan was eager to clear his name.
The other ministers, however, were not afraid of making things worse and spread the word that Su Wenyuan had set fire to the Prince of Chen's house to murder him.
Sheng Jingyu explained that they were not present during that period, so he firmly believed that Su Wenyuan set the fire in an attempt to burn Prince Chen to death.
They didn't mean to spread it, they just thought it was shocking.
The Crown Prince couldn't understand why Su Yuan had admitted it, and after thinking it over, he decided to go to the Prime Minister's residence to ask him.
Upon arriving at the Prime Minister's residence, one immediately saw box after box of jewels and gold.
"Is the Prime Minister trying to escape?" The Crown Prince frowned, unable to think of any other reason.
Su Yuan said with a bitter face, "This is that wretched child's dowry."
Su Yuan recounted the whole story, and the Crown Prince listened in astonishment.
Was it really Su Wenyuan who did it? No wonder Su Yuan had to admit it.
“Without these dowries, she would say that I ordered her to kill someone…” Su Yuan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, feeling a chill just thinking about it.
The Crown Prince sneered, "The Prime Minister has raised a fine daughter."
Choosing a weak and incompetent princess for Sheng Jingyu was a way to force him to take action, so they could then use that opportunity to launch an attack.
Now everything is ruined, ruined because of Su Wenyuan.
Su Wenyuan never expected that an accidental fire would put her in the spotlight.
Right now, she's in her room pondering, "Something's not right, is it?"
Is the plot really that hard to change? The original owner's leg was broken on her wedding day, but she managed to escape, and now her leg is burned? Is she destined to be lame?
When Sheng Jingyu returned to the Prince Chen's residence, more than an hour had passed since the fire started.
He quickly summoned Meng Qi, intending to interrogate Su Wenyuan.
Meng Qi, looking pleased with himself, said, "I arranged for more than a dozen guards to surround Zhuyue Pavilion. The princess definitely won't be able to escape."
"???" Sheng Jingyu was completely confused, wondering what he was talking about?
"You may all leave. I wish to speak with the Princess Consort alone," Sheng Jingyu ordered, suppressing his anger.
The guards all left, leaving Meng Qi behind.
Sheng Jingyu ripped off the strip of cloth in front of her and asked through gritted teeth, "Her leg is injured, where can she run to? She can't get out without someone watching her!"
"Huh?" Meng Qi stopped smiling and looked at him blankly. Wasn't that what he meant?
Sheng Jingyu's vision went black. He suspected that the assassination attempt on Su Wenyuan was also orchestrated by the man in front of him.
This matter has caused a huge uproar; how will it be resolved?
"Let's talk inside!"
At this moment, Yuexiu ran over. There were too many guards here before, so she couldn't get in. Now she finally had a chance.
"Your Highness! Please release Miss! She didn't start the fire!" Yuexiu cried out in anguish.
Sheng Jingyu said coldly, "Go in and ask her first. If she didn't do it, I will naturally release her."
The door opened, and Yuexiu pounced on Su Wenyuan.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch..." Su Wenyuan cried out in pain.
Yuexiu quickly stood up and asked, "Miss, are you injured?"
"Hmm." Su Wenyuan responded resentfully, and rolled her eyes at Sheng Jingyu, since he couldn't see it anyway.
Sheng Jingyu seized the opportunity and said, "Is the Princess Consort injured? Go and fetch a doctor."
Su Wenyuan looked at him in surprise. Sheng Jingyu had no intention of letting her fend for herself.
"Did you start the fire?" Sheng Jingyu asked bluntly.
"Why would I set a fire?" Su Wenyuan asked instead of answering.
"Assassination on your wedding night, didn't you say so yourself?" Sheng Jingyu narrowed his eyes, exuding murderous intent.
Su Wenyuan blurted out, "How did you know?"
Yuexiu quickly stopped her, not daring to make a sound, and could only wave her hand exaggeratedly to shut her up.
Su Wenyuan realized she had spoken out of turn and covered her mouth for a moment to process what she had said.
Sheng Jingyu chuckled softly, waiting for her explanation.
Su Wenyuan suddenly realized what was going on. Ignoring her leg injury, she stood up and pointed at Sheng Jingyu, saying, "You arranged all those weapons in that room to lure me into making a move?"
Yuexiu was extremely anxious. How could her young lady speak to Prince Chen like that?
"I'm just doing you a favor," Sheng Jingyu said without trying to hide it.
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