Su Yuntian received a letter from Shen Rong's palace servants, informing him that Shen Rong had fainted in the palace. He rushed to Yongning Palace in the palace.
When Su Yuntian arrived at Yongning Palace, Shen Rong had already woken up. She was lying in bed when she saw Su Yuntian's arrival. She grabbed Su Yuntian's hand with tears streaming down her face.
"Tell your mother, is what's being said outside true?"
Su Yuntian replied, "Which matter is Mother referring to?"
"What else could it be! It's that Ye Shi and Zhang Guangfu had an affair behind my brother's back and had Shen Qianqian!"
With a hoarse voice, Shen Rong grabbed Su Yuntian's hand and asked. Because of the force, deep nail marks were left on Su Yuntian's arm, which showed that Shen Rong was still furious about the rumors in the capital.
"Your subject does not know!" Su Yuntian replied to Shen Rong with a gloomy expression, bowing his head.
Upon hearing Su Yuntian say he didn't know, Shen Rong immediately became anxious, even breathing heavily as she spoke: "How could you not know? With your personality, why didn't you interrogate Zhang Guangfu?"
Su Yuntian patted Shen Rong's back to help her catch her breath, while taking water from the palace maid and feeding it to her.
“Your Majesty has already subjected Zhang Guangfu to severe torture, even severing his tendons and ligaments, but he still refuses to admit that Qianqian is his daughter with Ye Shi. He only says that Shen Shi has been kind to him, and now that Qianqian is the only bloodline left, he has been so dedicated to helping Qianqian plan things. Qianqian is unaware of everything he has done.”
Upon hearing Su Yuntian's words, Shen Rong did not believe what Guangfu said.
"No! My brother has been married to Shen for many years and has a large number of concubines in his harem, but none of them have gotten pregnant. I also heard my mother say that my brother has difficulty having children. So when Ye suddenly gave birth to Shen Qianqian, even though she was a girl, the family treated her like a precious jewel and thought the doctor had made a mistake."
Shen Rong closed her eyes and paused for a moment before saying, "Now that I think about it, Shen Qianqian and Guangfu do look somewhat alike. I thought they looked alike before, but I didn't think about it at the time. I even joked that all the people from the Shen family look the same. Now it seems that the daughters resemble their fathers!"
After Shen Rong finished speaking, she thought of her family that had been wiped out and couldn't help but cry for a while.
“You should divorce Shen Qianqian. We’ve raised her for 18 years, that’s more than enough for her. We didn’t know before, but now that we know, how can you still support her? How can you face your deceased uncle?”
Su Yuntian's expression turned ugly when he heard Shen Rong say that, after all, he still had some feelings for Shen Qianqian.
“Mother, no matter whose daughter Qianqian is, she grew up by our side and is now my concubine. Even if she is Guangfu’s daughter, she is innocent.”
Upon hearing Su Yuntian's words, Shen Rong was so angry that she grabbed the armrest next to her and threw it off the bed.
"Are you out of your mind? Haven't you heard what people outside are saying? You killed your wife for that servant boy. You've thrown away all the reputation you've worked so hard to build over the years? Before, you said it was your own cousin, and that Mu Jin, that bitch, stole her away, so no one could say anything. But now?"
Su Yuntian frowned when he heard Shen Rong call Mu Jin a slut.
"Mother, please don't speak of Ah Jin like that anymore. I've already decided to live a good life with Ah Jin from now on. If others see us as a couple, they won't say anything!"
When Shen Rong heard that Su Yuntian wanted to live a good life with Mu Jin, it was as if she had heard a big joke. Not to mention that the emperor was wary of Su Yuntian's marriage alliance with the Mu family, in her opinion, the only way to regain the emperor's trust was to divorce and show loyalty.
"Even if you don't want that position and want to live a good life with Mu Jin, have you considered whether Mu Jin still wants to live a good life with you? She has already gone to your father to request a divorce; she is determined not to live a good life with you!"
Su Yuntian couldn't bear to hear Mu Jin's words about divorcing him, so he interrupted Shen Rong.
"Mother, please stop talking. You should rest and not think too much. Whether it's Qianqian or Ajin, I will make my own decision."
As the mother and son were talking, a young eunuch came to report that Su Mu had summoned Su Yuntian to an audience.
Upon hearing this, both Su Yuntian and Shen Rong were taken aback. Shen Rong, in particular, looked at Su Yuntian with a tense expression and asked, "Did your father hear the rumors in the capital and dislike you? Is he going to summon you to reprimand you?"
Su Yuntian told Shen Rong not to overthink things, and then followed the little eunuch to the Imperial Study to meet Su Mu.
As soon as Su Yuntian stepped into the Imperial Study, he saw Su Mu angrily throwing several memorials on the ground, repeatedly saying that this was reasonable.
Su Yuntian was taken aback when he saw Su Mu's fury, and immediately stepped forward to bow: "Father, are you looking for your son?"
Su Mu pointed to the memorials on the ground and said, "Look at these people, as soon as the year ends, they all submit memorials to me complaining about being poor! Or they give me all sorts of difficult problems."
Su Mu threw several memorials in front of Su Yuntian and said.
"These letters are about the earthquake in the Rilong area a few months ago that caused a wave of refugees. They say that the silver and grain I gave them before were not enough, and that there has been a large-scale plague recently. They ask me for money, medicine, and doctors. They also say that some refugees have already reached the outskirts of the capital and will soon enter the capital. What am I feeding these people for!"
After saying that, he tossed another memorial to Su Yuntian.
"And this too, take a good look and see what your good father-in-law mentioned to me."
Upon hearing Su Mu mention his father-in-law, Su Yuntian's brow twitched involuntarily.
He picked up the memorial that Su Mu had thrown on the ground and opened it. In the memorial submitted by Marquis Muwei, it was written that the heavy snow had come early this year and had been falling continuously.
Much of the grain in the counties near the pass was destroyed by the heavy snow, and Zhou County was unable to transport grain on time. In addition, it was reported that Beiqi Kingdom seemed to be making unusual moves, and the court was asked to send people to increase the grain supply.
After reading the memorial, Su Yuntian closed it and lowered his head, remaining silent.
Su Mu looked at Su Yuntian, who was bowing his head and remaining silent, and couldn't help but snort coldly.
"Didn't your mother always say that you were the one to share my burdens? What? You're speechless after reading this?"
Su Yuntian said, "Your subject dares not. As long as Father commands, your subject will not hesitate to die for you."
"I summoned you here to offer your opinions, not to make me the sole source of solutions for everything. What use are you then? You are increasingly disappointing me. You can't even manage the affairs of the inner quarters properly, causing a great uproar throughout the city. With your mind entirely focused on the inner quarters, how can you shoulder any important responsibilities!"
After saying that, Su Mu casually picked up a calligraphy brush and threw it at Su Yuntian, splashing ink all over Su Yuntian's face.
Upon seeing the enraged Su Mu, Su Yuntian immediately knelt on the ground. Su Mu's words were like knives, piercing his heart.
“Father, please calm down. It’s not that I don’t have any ideas, but I’m afraid I might say the wrong thing and make you even angrier.”
Su Yuntian knew that because Dongyue Kingdom and Beiqi Kingdom had been at war for the past few years, the national treasury had suffered huge losses in terms of military supplies.
Furthermore, the disaster in Rilong has cost a lot of money, and now the national treasury has very little money left that can be diverted. Therefore, Su Mu cannot find a better solution, which is why he is so angry.
Su Mu looked at Su Yuntian kneeling in front of him, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty. After a long while, he finally softened his tone and said...
"Feel free to speak your mind."
"Yes!" Upon receiving Su Mu's reply, Su Yuntian raised his head and shared his thoughts with Su Mu.
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