Their entire family relied on the Empress for their livelihood.
Now things are much better. He married the legitimate daughter of the Vice Minister of Rites, and he can live off He Meiqiu for the rest of his life.
When He Meiqiu learned the truth, she made a scene on her wedding night and was subsequently locked up by the family.
Today is my return visit to my parents' home, and I've come to complain to the Empress.
Upon seeing Su Wenyuan, he immediately avoided her, his former arrogant demeanor completely gone.
Granny Cheng welcomed Su Wenyuan inside first, without even glancing at He Meiqiu.
He Meiqiu's mother had four daughters, so she didn't care much about this one.
When the Empress saw Su Wenyuan again, her smile was noticeably gentler.
She didn't get any benefit from the incident with the concubine last time, and the emperor is still angry with her.
Sheng Jingyu was the same; he only came to pay his respects twice, and left after saying only a few words.
The Empress had no other choice but to think of Su Wenyuan again.
The root of the problem lies with her; if we appease her, the situation will improve considerably.
"I am truly delighted to see Your Highness today. While I was cleaning the storeroom the other day, I found a pair of bracelets that would suit you perfectly. Please try them on." The Empress once again adopted a gentle and graceful demeanor.
Su Wenyuan took it and looked at it. It was a good item. Finally, they weren't being stingy.
Su Wenyuan smiled and said, "Thank you, Mother, for remembering me."
"Of course, I am very grateful to you for taking care of Jingyu for me."
The two were incredibly hypocritical, chatting for ages in a pretentious manner, until He Meiqiu outside couldn't take it anymore.
She called out a few times from outside, and the Empress's face darkened. She gave Cheng Mama a look.
Granny Cheng went out to chase them away, but she couldn't get rid of them; the shouts outside grew louder and louder.
Su Wenyuan said with a smile, "Since you're here, Mother, please meet her. After all, she's your niece-in-law."
The Empress doesn't even want to acknowledge her nephew, let alone this daughter-in-law.
But the constant noise outside couldn't be tolerated, so the Empress ordered He Meiqiu to be invited in.
When He Meiqiu entered, she rushed directly at the Empress, startling the servants around her.
"Your Majesty! I don't want to marry him, I won't marry him!" He Meiqiu said incoherently.
The Empress said sternly, "It was your mother who specifically requested this marriage, which is why I went to the Emperor to ask for a decree to grant us the marriage. Now you're telling me you don't want to marry? The marriage is already arranged. If you're not satisfied, go find your mother."
If He Meiqiu's mother hadn't been so persistent, the Empress wouldn't have arranged this marriage for her.
It's too late to say anything now; it's too late to take it back.
He Meiqiu was unwilling to give up and kept praying.
She couldn't bear the difference between being a concubine of Prince Chen and marrying a man without an official position.
Su Wenyuan calmly drank her tea, without even glancing at her.
The Empress, annoyed by her noise, said angrily, "It's no use coming to me now. Send her back to her residence immediately. Blame your mother for being ungrateful and daring to threaten anyone."
Seeing that the Empress really had no intention of helping her, He Meiqiu got angry and scolded, "You were the one who coaxed us to go to Prince Chen's mansion to find the Prince! You even taught us to cry and make a scene at the mansion gate, forcing the Princess Consort to accept us."
"Now that this has happened, you're starting to blame us again. If it weren't for you, things wouldn't have come to this!"
The palace servants stepped forward, grabbed her, and dragged her out, but He Meiqiu kept talking.
If she weren't the Empress, she could have easily found a man of equal social standing, at least she would have had something to look forward to in the future.
The man she married was just an ordinary commoner, and only a distant relative of the Empress; he couldn't benefit from her influence at all.
Her mother had inquired about the matter before deciding to marry her off to the Empress's nephew.
They learned that the young masters in the manor all had great potential.
Even if there are those with mediocre talent, they are still the Empress's nephews, and the Empress will surely help them.
Who would have thought it would end up like this?
People were dragged out, and the shouts still echoed inside the house.
Su Wenyuan scoffed, thinking to herself that the Empress was truly generous, sharing all her knowledge and even the worst ideas.
He Meiqiu shattered the pretense the two had just put on.
The Empress was very embarrassed. She wanted to explain, but felt it was unnecessary, since Su Wenyuan wouldn't believe her anyway.
The ensuing waiting time was extremely awkward.
On Sheng Jingyu's side, things had already begun. The Minister of Justice presented evidence from his investigation, insisting that the matter was done by the former Vice Minister of Rites, and that the money had disappeared.
The Emperor was furious. This man had already been killed by Sheng Jingyu. Where were they going to find the money now?
Lu Guanfeng seized the opportunity to reproach, "Your Highness Prince Chen acted too impulsively. Now that the money is nowhere to be found, what will happen to the funeral expenses for those soldiers?"
Sheng Yuanhe sneered, "When Prince Chen killed someone, it was only for a golden cup, but he ruined everything."
They not only want to make a dead person take the blame, but also want Sheng Jingyu to pay for his funeral.
The Emperor did not speak, but frowned as he looked at Sheng Jingyu.
This matter cannot be entirely blamed on Sheng Jingyu; he secretly supported the killing of that vice minister.
It's just that no one else knows this, and we can't say it now.
Lu Guanfeng suggested, "Since it was His Highness Prince Chen's fault, then it would be troublesome for His Highness to issue the supplementary funeral expenses this time. It just so happens that Princess Chen is the granddaughter of Marquis Anle, so everything is reasonable."
This proposal was unanimously approved.
Marquis Anle's ancestors were merchants and were already wealthy. Although Su Wenyuan only received a dowry, it was still a considerable sum, so they shouldn't be short of money.
When Su Wenyuan was mentioned, Sheng Jingyu, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up.
"It's one thing for you to insist on pinning the blame on me, but you've also dragged the Princess into it. I also had someone investigate the matter of embezzling funeral expenses, and the results were completely different from what the Ministry of Justice found!"
Lu Guanfeng smiled disdainfully. This time, the evidence was all arranged by him personally, and the people were all carefully selected by him. What could be different?
Sheng Jingyu added, "I not only found out about the embezzlement of funeral expenses, but I also found out that during the war between the two countries, someone embezzled military funds and supplies, and even... there are other suspicious circumstances surrounding the Marquis of Anle's treason."
The first part was already alarming enough, but upon hearing the last sentence, the emperor's expression changed completely.
Sheng Jingyu continued, "The Ministry of Justice's investigation revealed that the funeral expenses were allocated to the Ministry of War, and the Minister of War at the time handed the matter over to Dong Qi. Dong Qi distributed the funds according to the roster, but he falsified the roster and also gave bribes to the officials who distributed the funds, which is why it wasn't discovered."
At this moment, the Minister of War stepped forward and said, "This matter was indeed entrusted to Dong Qi at the time. I remember it very clearly. At that time, I had to take care of other things and could not supervise it personally, so I found Dong Qi, who was quite responsible."
He intended to promote Dong Qi; otherwise, Dong Qi would not have been transferred to the Ministry of Rites as a vice minister.
Sheng Jingyu said, "There is no objection to that point. The key issue is what happened later. The roster was indeed falsified, and officials were bribed. But it wasn't just the roster for distributing funeral expenses; there were also records from the Ministry of War!"
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