Li Rong: “…”

She didn't expect Pei Wenxuan to say this and felt a little embarrassed.

But fortunately, all this embarrassment was just a play in her mind. She remained calm and nodded, saying, "I'll be right over."

"Also," Pei Wenxuan whispered, "If His Majesty starts to investigate, you can let Hongde go to the palace to confront Su Rongqing."

Li Rong nodded, responded, and hurried into the palace.

Before, she might not have known what Pei Wenxuan was doing, but now that Su Rongqing's people brought the letter, Li Rong knew Pei Wenxuan's intention.

The confession was indeed false. If it was not verified, other people would not know. There were so many people in the memorial hall. With Su Rongqing's skills, it was normal for him to arrange a few people in the middle. When they saw her bringing evidence to impeach Su Rongqing by name, they would naturally take the confession away.

If the confession was true, it would be a good idea for them to say that the memorial was missing. At most, the guard would lose his job or be reprimanded. Su Rongqing would be safe.

But the problem is that the confession itself is false. If they take it like this, Su Rongqing will never be able to explain it clearly, and there will always be a lost copy of Hongde's confession here. Even if Su Rongqing's people return the letter quietly, she can still insist that the confession was transferred.

The only flaw in this plan is that Hongde himself may not admit the confession, so what she has to do now is to enter the palace immediately, expose the matter of the memorial, and then summon Hongde to the palace to testify.

Forced Su Rongqing to kill Hongde.

Li Rong raised her eyes, her eyes were somewhat cold. Once Hongde died, all the confessions disappeared, but in Li Ming's heart, this was destined to become an ironclad case. This time, Pei Wenxuan used a false confession to frame Su Rongqing with a real crime.

She withheld the memorials from the Memorial Hall and secretly instigated Concubine Rou to figure out the emperor's intentions and set a trap for her and Pei Wenxuan. The most important thing was that she did all this without the emperor knowing. Each and every one of them pointed directly to what Li Ming feared the most, and they were trying to take advantage of the power in Li Ming's hands.

Pei Wenxuan's move was indeed quite clever.

Li Rong thought about it and went to the palace, and asked someone to inform Li Ming. It was still early in the evening, and Li Ming was still in the study reviewing memorials. When he heard that Li Rong was coming, he couldn't help but frowned: "What is she doing here in the middle of the night?"

Li Rong was naturally prepared.

Coming to the palace so late at night, if they were to discuss business directly, it would certainly seem a bit too deliberate. So Li Rong waited at the door for a while, and after entering, Li Ming saw Li Rong with red eyes, as if she had suffered a great injustice. Li Ming paused and couldn't help but ask: "What's wrong with you?"

"Father," Li Rong sobbed, "please help me control my son-in-law. He, he is going too far!"

Li Ming paused, then realized Li Rong's intention. He hesitated for a moment and asked slowly, "What's the matter?"

"Father," Li Rong put down her sleeves, quite complaining, "some time ago, the son-in-law and I had a dispute, and then he ignored me. He said he wanted to divorce me, and said that you, father, had issued an edict, but I don't believe it. How can a father force his daughter to divorce? If I divorce him, who will I marry in the future? Should I keep such a concubine like my aunt and let others laugh at me?"

"Since you don't want to divorce," Li Ming felt guilty after hearing what Li Rong said. He pretended to be calm and blamed her, "Then why did you ask the people from Nanfeng Pavilion to go boating on the lake?"

Hearing this, Li Rong seemed to have not expected that Li Ming knew about this, and a bit of embarrassment appeared on her face: "I... didn't I want to piss him off?"

Li Ming snorted coldly and didn't bother to pay attention to her. Li Rong smiled and said coquettishly, "Father, I know I was wrong. Please go and persuade him. He is always so stubborn with me and even sleeps in the outer courtyard. What's going on? Give the order now and let him come back."

"Nonsense." Li Ming threw the memorial aside. "I let you be the chief of the Inspection Department, but you just think about these love affairs all day long instead of doing your work. Do you have any brains?"

"Father, you have wronged me," Li Rong stood up quickly after hearing this. "My son and the prince consort had a quarrel, but it didn't interfere with the main business. I have to blame you for this. I have submitted my memorial several days ago, but you have not responded to me," Li Rong said, leaning forward. "What is your plan, father?"

"What memorial?" Li Ming frowned. Li Rong blinked and said in surprise, "It's Hongde's confession. I sent it in several days ago. I have given you all the witnesses and evidence. Whether to prosecute Su Rongqing depends on your words."

"Su Rongqing?" Li Ming asked in surprise, "What is the relationship between Hongde and Su Rongqing?"

"Just..." Li Rong was about to speak, but then she remembered something and waved her hands impatiently, "Just take a look at the memorial, why do you want me to repeat it? But it doesn't matter. I'm here tonight to talk about family matters. Father, Pei Wenxuan always listens to you, so just..."

"Don't talk about this for now," Li Ming said sternly, "Does this matter involve Su Rongqing?"

Li Rong seemed to not understand why Li Ming was so serious, and nodded blankly: "Yes, Hongde said that Su Rongqing asked him to go to the palace and talk nonsense with Concubine Rou..."

"Fu Lai!"

Li Ming raised his head and immediately called the people around him: "Go to the memorial hall immediately and bring the princess's memorial over! I want to review it immediately."

After hearing this, Fu Lai bowed respectfully, turned around and walked out.

At the same time, in the Su Mansion, Su Rongqing held Hongde's confession and Li Rong's memorial, and listened to the official kneeling on the ground saying respectfully: "Sir, if this memorial is submitted, the young master will be punished. Now is the time for the examination of the position of Shangshu. I am afraid of causing trouble, so I secretly took out the memorial first..."

“Lose.”

Su Rongqing suddenly spoke, interrupting the official. The official was stunned for a moment, then looked up at Su Rongqing who was sitting above him. Su Rongqing looked calm, picked up the confession, and said, "This confession is false."

The official was stunned. Su Rongqing said slowly, "Your Highness deliberately took this false confession, waiting for you to steal it. If I am not mistaken, Your Highness should have taken the initiative to enter the palace. His Majesty must have been looking for the memorials by now. You should hurry back."

"Then I will take the letter back immediately."

The official stood up immediately, but Su Rongqing stopped him and said, "No need."

The official was somewhat bewildered. Su Rongqing lowered his head and drank tea, saying calmly, "After you take her back, the princess will insist that her confession was changed. When they investigate in detail, they will find out that it is you. It will be useless, and you will lose your position too."

"Then...what should we do?" The official was in a panic. Su Rongqing drank a sip of tea and said slowly: "Leave the things to me. You pretend to know nothing. Are you on duty now?"

"No... no." The official didn't understand what Su Rongqing was going to do. Su Rongqing just said, "Then go back to sleep. Be careful when you go back. Just pretend you haven't been here."

The official nodded hesitantly. Although he was confused, he did not dare to ask more questions because Su Rongqing was so calm.

After the official left, Su Rongqing raised his hand and placed the confession on the candle. The flames licked the paper, causing the paper to circle with heat. Su Rongqing stared at the flames licking and burning, and calmly ordered: "Let a servant sneak in and burn the memorial hall. Don't let him out after the fire starts, just let him stay inside."

"Sir," the official said hesitantly, "Isn't it too bold to burn down the memorial hall directly?"

"It's more than just audacity." Su Rongqing chuckled, "It's simply audacity."

"That young master..."

"Do it first," Su Rongqing said calmly, "Just do it. After you're done, just wait. What's supposed to come will come sooner or later."

As he spoke, he threw the half-burned confession into the brazier, and then he turned around and looked at the memorials laid out on the page.

The memorial was written by Li Rong, and his crimes were written in great detail. Su Rongqing stared at it quietly for a moment, then chuckled softly, raised his hand and touched the three words "Su Rongqing" written by Li Rong, and remained silent for a long time.

Li Rong and Li Ming waited in Yu's study for a while. Li Rong chatted with him about Pei Wenxuan, and Li Ming responded incoherently, obviously just to get by.

After waiting for a long time, Fulai hurried back. As soon as he entered the room, he knelt on the ground and said anxiously, "Your Majesty, it's bad. The memorial hall has been burned."

"Burned?"

Li Ming stood up in shock: "Say it again, where is it burned?!"

"The memorial hall," Fulai repeated, "is still being put out. But the fire had already started on the way there. I heard that many officials are still trapped inside, and they are still rescuing people."

"How did it catch fire?" Li Rong asked quickly. Li Ming also frowned. Fu Lai shook his head and said, "The cause of the fire is unknown. We have to wait for the results of the investigation."

Li Ming didn't say anything. He seemed a little troubled. Li Rong hesitated for a moment, then stood up and said, "Father, how about I go over and take a look? The burning house is a minor issue. The people and memorials in the house are the most important."

"No need." Li Ming said slowly, "You go back first, I will go there myself."

Having said that, Li Ming stood up and left with Li Rong seeing him off.

Li Rong saw Li Ming off and left the palace. As soon as she returned to her room, before she turned on the light, she heard a voice echoing in the night: "What's going on?"

Li Rong was startled by the voice, then realized that Pei Wenxuan hadn't returned yet. She groped her way over and turned on the light, and saw Pei Wenxuan lying on the bed, with one hand supporting his head and the other on his bent knees. He looked at her confidently, "Your Majesty, are you looking for Su Rongqing for trouble?"

"Looking for trouble?" Li Rong sneered. She took off her coat and threw it on the screen. "Su Rongqing set the memorial hall on fire. How can he find trouble with Su Rongqing?"

"Burning down the memorial hall?" Pei Wenxuan raised his eyebrows. "You are so brave."

"It's because it's big enough. I think you should prepare early." Li Rong sat down on the bed, frowning with some worry. "He's a smart man. He wouldn't rashly do such a thing without a plan. I just went to complain and my father mentioned my memorial, and he burned down the memorial hall. This is too obvious. He shouldn't be that stupid."

"Worried about me?" Pei Wenxuan looked at Li Rong with a smile, not panicking at all. Li Rong looked up at him, "Tell me the truth."

Pei Wenxuan was a little confused: "Hmm?"

"Are you pretending to be calm, but are you panicking inside?"

Pei Wenxuan: “…”

"How did you know that?" Pei Wenxuan frowned. Li Rong stared at him. "Do you know what he's going to do?"

"It's not hard to guess what he's going to do, but it's not important. What's important is," Pei Wenxuan smiled and looked at her face, then suddenly reached out his hand and pulled her in, "I've waited for so long, it would be a pity if I don't do something."

"As for him," Pei Wenxuan bit his belt and pulled it open, saying vaguely, "Your Highness, don't think about it. I will think about it."