Chapter 118 reveals Mu Hanshi's inner joy, "I want everything to go as planned..."
*
The farce ended, but the atmosphere didn't improve much.
The ladies and young women who came to the banquet were not stupid. How could they not see that what had just happened was clearly aimed at Shen Qinglu? They could also see the hostility that Liu Shi and Yu Liuzhu had towards the Shen family.
The people gave the Dou family face because of the name of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion and the face of Consort Dou in the palace, but no one dared to offend Shen Qinglu and the Shen family.
Since Mu Hanshi revealed his identity, the political climate in the court and among the people has changed dramatically. Many people are secretly speculating about the Phoenix Emperor's thoughts, and the more they think about it, the more they feel that the position of Crown Prince is likely to fall to him.
In this way, not only those who have been observing, but even those who have already pledged allegiance to the Prince Xin's Mansion will not openly confront the Shen family and Shen Qinglu.
Therefore, for a time, all voices were advising for reconciliation.
As the head of the household, Madam Liu naturally had to speak up. Her expression was sorrowful, and her eyes were filled with tears. She clasped her hands together and bowed respectfully to the heavens, saying, "Our Dou family has been loyal to our master. Even though our descendants have declined, we have no regrets. I have lost my husband and son and have lived in seclusion for many years, intending to no longer concern myself with worldly affairs. Who would have thought that Heaven would take pity on me and allow me to adopt a lovely goddaughter before I die?"
Yu Liuzhu stood beside her, his back straight and his chin raised.
Seeing this, the crowd looked at each other, and some even stole glances at Shen Qinglu's expression. There were some compliments, but they were sparse and intermittent, tinged with caution.
Gu Ruxu sneered, "Madam Dou has been living in seclusion for many years and probably doesn't know much about what's happening in the capital. Not to mention anything else, just consider that your adopted daughter's own mother's body is still warm and is being kept in the Ministry of Justice. As her own daughter, she doesn't care at all. How can such a heartless person be pleasing to the eye?"
"Madam Shen, my Dou family has adopted a daughter, and we invited you here to be our witnesses, not to listen to your slander and defamation. How do you know she is indifferent? Could it be that she has sent someone to monitor us and keep an eye on my Dou family?" Madam Liu said angrily, her face involuntarily drawn down due to her rarely smiling expression, carrying a hint of gloom.
You could tell from her tone that she harbored a lot of resentment towards the Shen family.
Shen Qinglu was particularly certain of this, and it was no wonder that Consort Dou had such an attitude when she entered the palace last time. It seemed that the two sisters-in-law hated the Shen family to the core.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. This shows that they must have already secretly sided with Prince Xin. That's why Princess Fangfei looked like she was just watching the show from beginning to end.
“Madam Dou, you are mistaken. Since we are here to be witnesses, we will speak out if we have any doubts. We are also afraid that you may be deceived and not know that your adopted daughter once tried to poison her adoptive mother and was therefore expelled from the Shen family.”
“Princess Consort Chen, you know better than anyone whether that matter is true or false. You harbor resentment because of the switch and cannot tolerate my Tang’er. Such a narrow-minded person would be forgiven if you were married into an ordinary family. Now that you are a princess consort, you are still so mean-spirited. Aren’t you afraid of being scorned by the world if word gets out?”
Gu Ruxu immediately retorted, "Madam Dou, the Princess Consort of Chen is the principal wife bestowed upon Prince Chen by His Majesty. It is clearly written in the imperial decree that the Princess Consort of Chen is a quiet, upright, virtuous, and intelligent person. Yet you say that she is narrow-minded and mean-spirited. Are you questioning His Majesty's words?"
Their back-and-forth exchanges were clearly incompatible.
In truth, they had known each other for a very long time, even before they were married.
In their youth, one couldn't stand the other's arrogance, and the other couldn't stand the other's pretentiousness. The arrogance belonged to Gu Ruxu, and the pretentiousness belonged to Liu Shi.
Liu was speechless after being rebuked, and subtly gave Yu Liuzhu a meaningful look.
Yu Liuzhu looked grief-stricken and indignant. “If we’re talking about loyalty, who in the entire capital can compare to the Dou family? My adoptive father and brother died protecting their master. If they knew in the afterlife that my adoptive mother was being so relentlessly persecuted, they would surely be restless in their graves.”
"Who bullied Madam Dou?" Shen Qinglu's eyes grew colder, her gaze chillingly dark. "The Dou family is loyal and virtuous, and has never been short of imperial favor over the years. His Majesty has shown great favor to the Dou family, yet you say that Madam Dou was forced into this situation. Do you think His Majesty has not been kind enough to her?"
"I'm just stating the facts, but you're dragging His Majesty into this. What are your true intentions?"
“If we’re talking about malicious intent, who can compare to you?” Shen Qinglu’s gaze shifted from her to everyone present. “It’s truly baffling that someone who poisoned her adoptive mother and abandoned her own mother’s remains could catch Madam Dou’s eye. I cannot condone such testimony that goes against my conscience, so I can only leave now. Please forgive me.”
“Aunt, you misunderstand. Today is not a day for witnessing, but Madam Dou’s birthday. If you leave like this, wouldn’t that be disrespectful to Madam Dou? If the Imperial Concubine in the palace finds out, she will think you look down on her family.”
Princess Fangfei's words sounded like advice, but they actually had a deeper meaning.
She and Liu exchanged a glance, a look only they understood.
Lady Liu held her head high, her face filled with grief and indignation, "Princess Consort Chen looks down on my Dou family..."
"What are you saying, Madam Dou? I have never looked down on the Dou family. I just look down on Yutang."
Shen Qinglu spoke clearly, and everyone heard her clearly.
She feigned annoyance, "To be honest, when I heard that Madam Dou had adopted Yutang as her goddaughter, I really didn't want to come. If it weren't for the fact that the Dou family is full of loyal and righteous people and shouldn't be tainted by such despicable individuals, I wouldn't have said any of this. But now, I see that Madam Dou is extremely satisfied with Yutang. If I were to say anything more, I'm afraid it would only make me unpopular and damage the harmony between the two families. Therefore, I had no choice but to take my leave first. I hope Madam Dou and everyone else will forgive me."
After saying that, she walked away.
As he passed by Yu Liuzhu, he didn't deliberately lower his voice. "You too, trying to harm people without even looking where you are. The heroes of the Dou family are watching. I really don't want to see the Dou family's long-standing reputation ruined in your hands. You'd better watch yourself."
Yu Liuzhu harbored resentment in her heart, but feigned a pitiful appearance, attempting to gain sympathy from others. She acted as if she were afraid of her, and her words were choked with sobs, "Princess Consort Chen, I know you resent me for taking your identity for more than ten years and for making things difficult for me at every turn. But I have already been driven out of the Shen family by you. Do you still want to drive me to my death?"
She curled the corners of her lips into a smile.
He moved closer, his tone mocking, "You're right, I'm going to wipe them out completely. What can you do about it?"
Those cold, dark eyes and chilling voice sent shivers down one's spine.
Yu Liuzhu's pupils contracted sharply as she stared at her in horror. "What do you want to do?"
"You'll find out soon enough."
After she, Gu Ruxu, Meng Shi, and others left, some people hesitated for a moment and also made excuses to say goodbye.
Before long, half the people had left, barely managing to stay afloat. But then, unexpected news arrived. Many of those who hadn't left before showed subtle expressions, and some even pointed at Yu Liuzhu.
"Do you think this is true or false? Did Yu Qingxue really have an affair back then? And even get pregnant? In other words, this Yu Liuzhu is not a daughter of the Su family, but an illegitimate child. Good heavens... This is really too much to keep up with."
"I heard that the Su family hasn't written to inquire about the mother and daughter all these years, so it must be true. Otherwise, Su Er wouldn't have considered himself a cuckold."
"If that's really the case, then wouldn't the Dou family have adopted an illegitimate son as their goddaughter, and we'd actually be supporting an illegitimate son..."
Some people couldn't stand it any longer and began to say goodbye.
It was one thing for others to leave, but who would have thought that Princess Fangfei would also be leaving?
Before leaving, he said to Madam Liu meaningfully, "If Madam Dou wants to adopt a daughter, she should find out more details to avoid making things difficult for the witnesses."
As the guests gradually dispersed, Madam Liu's expression grew increasingly grim. She glared at Yu Liuzhu with displeasure and asked in a low voice, "What's going on here?"
Yu Liuzhu would never admit it, so she pretended to be ignorant and shocked, "It must be the Shen family's doing! They are turning black into white, and they clearly came prepared."
"I don't care whether they were prepared or not. I adopted you as my goddaughter because you said you had a way to help me deal with the Shen family. If you not only can't help me, but you also bring me trouble, then my Dou family will not tolerate you!"
"Don't worry, godmother, I won't let you down."
"That would be for the best." Madam Liu's face darkened, her gloom deepening. "The Su family is guilty, but the child is innocent, which I can still accept. However, if you are not of the Su family bloodline, but an illegitimate child, even if you can help me, I cannot let you live."
Upon hearing this, Yu Liuzhu's fingernails almost dug into her flesh.
Those people are truly cunning; they secretly escorted Su Qihe to the capital, and as soon as Su Qihe appeared in the capital, rumors about him spread like wildfire.
She desperately told herself that Su Qihe must not know who was having an affair with Yu Qingxue, otherwise he would have used this information to distance himself from the Demon King back then.
Now that Yu Qingxue is dead, and the servant who knew the inside story is also dead, there is no way to verify the truth. No matter how much suspicion or speculation there is, no one will think of that layer.
Thinking of this, she felt much more at ease and repeatedly assured Madam Liu.
After thinking for a moment, Liu said, "You should think of a way to meet with Su Qihe. I don't need to tell you how to do it, do I?"
She bit her lip and nodded in agreement.
*
As darkness fell, the Shenwu Camp, shrouded in darkness, appeared even more mysterious and solemn.
Suddenly, a bright light appeared, and a group of Heavenly Guards appeared outside the gate, accompanied by personnel from the Ministry of Justice.
Both groups were led by someone surnamed Guan: one was Guan Hu, and the other was Guan Bao.
Without dismounting, Guan Hu directly commanded the Divine Martial Guards standing outside the gate, "Open the gate!"
Upon seeing this, one of the Divine Guards quickly went inside to report.
A short while later, Mu Wei came out with his men, a smile playing on his lips. "Who do you think it is so late at night? It's Lord Guan again. Lord Guan hasn't forgotten that he used to be a member of the Divine Martial Camp. He really doesn't consider himself an outsider."
When Guan Hu saw it was him, he was a little annoyed. "Where's Shen Kunyao? Is he afraid of me and deliberately avoiding me?"
"Lord Guan is joking. Your name is Guan Hu, but you're not a real tiger. If you were, our Divine Martial Camp has the best bows and crossbows, so what would we have to fear?"
"Don't interrupt. All the matters left over from the chaos of the Demon King are the responsibility of our Tianwu Guard. Now that the exiled people have come to the capital, they should be handed over to our Tianwu Guard. I'm here to take them away."
"Lord Guan, you are mistaken. Su Qihe's escort to the capital this time is not related to the case of the Demon King, but to a murder case." Mu Wei chuckled, but his reaction was not to open the door.
Guan Hu glared at him. "What murder case?"
"Do we, the Shenwu Battalion, need to consult you about cases?"
Under the firelight, the shadows of people and objects overlapped, creating a magical yet unreal scene.
In the shadows not far away, someone thought he was well hidden, but little did he know that his actions had been completely exposed.
Two people were standing on the upper floor of the Shenwu Camp.
One was as graceful as bamboo, the other as ethereal as a flower; they were Mu Hanshi and Shen Qinglu.
Shen Qinglu looked down at the person in the shadows and said, "Are you really not going to get involved?"
Mu Hanshi clenched his fist behind his back, his slightly lowered eyes filled with sadness and disappointment.
His Azhu still didn't believe him!
"Words are useless; let's just talk about actions."
"It's not that I don't believe you, it's just that when I first met you were so desperate for her that you wanted to kill me. I'm terrified just thinking about it."
"That will never happen again."
Mu Hanshi's knuckles turned white as he clenched his fist, regretting that he hadn't recognized the person he had been longing for back then.
The mistake has been made, and there is no other way but to do everything possible to make amends.
"I believe in Your Highness."
Shen Qinglu's words were true. Judging from recent events, she found that this person was indeed helping her in every way, letting her do whatever she wanted.
"Don't call me Your Highness."
"No restrictions." She forced a smile, trying to hide the strange feeling in her heart, and changed the subject, "I wonder where these two words come from?"
To her, it was just a casual question, but to Mu Hanshi, it was a sign. It meant that she was starting to care about him and pay attention to him, which was why she asked that question.
The night can cover everything, including human emotions and desires, joy, anger, sorrow and happiness.
Mu Hanshi was overjoyed, "I want everything to go my way, without any taboos."
Shen Qinglu's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this.
She had heard that phrase before!
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