Chapter 420
~ THE GRAND PRINCESS COMES TO ADD SOME FIRE ~
Before Yue Wang could leave the Palace, he was summoned to the front hall by the Emperor. At this time, kneeling inside the room were Shuntian Manor Official - Shen Binghuai, the Public Officials’ Minister - Su Wenyuan, the First Prince, and the Third Prince.
After Yue Wang entered the hall, he bowed respectfully. “This son greets Imperial Father.”
At this time, Ling Wang, Jin Wang, and others were kneeling, so the Emperor naturally did not ask him to get up. “Fourth Son, Shen Binghuai came over today to report the Su family’s framed murder case. It also involved you, so he called you here to confront you. Shen Binghuai, you can begin.”
“Yes. Reporting to the Emperor, the case is like this. This humble subject heard the bailiff report that a woman had fainted at the entrance of Shuntian Manor. Thus, This humble subject personally checked it and then asked the doctor to rescue her. After she woke up, This humble subject found out that her name was Su You. She is the legitimate daughter of Su Zhiyuan, the counselor of the General Administration Department. She is also the niece of Lord Su, Minister of Public Officials.She recounted that today was the day she and Mu Yunyao would hold the coming of age ceremony together. While the two of them were waiting in the east wing room, a woman dressed similarly to her suddenly jumped into the back window of the east wing, intending to kill her. This humble subject was extremely shocked upon hearing this and was afraid that something even more serious was happening. I quickly brought Su You back to the Su residence.”
“After arriving at the Su family’s residence, This humble subject discovered that all the guests had surrounded the pond in the front yard, saying that Su You had been killed and that the killer had been ordered by Mu Yunyao. Shen Ce confessed that he had an affair with Mu Yunyao, and the reason why he would assassinate Su You was because she had met with the two of them in private. He was afraid that the news would leak out, so he could only silence her. However, after inquiring into some details, the words of Shen Ce and the servants are inconsistent, and it is impossible to form a valid confession. This humble subject had also asked Su You personally, but she had never seen Mu Yunyao and Shen Ce get into any contact. This humble subject personally interrogated the Su family’s servants overnight and finally obtained the truth. The confession documents are here. Please take a look, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor’s face was calm as he took over the case file that Shen Binghuai had presented from Xu Li’s hand. After carefully looking through it, he looked down at Su Wenyuan, who was pale. “Su Wenyuan, Shen Binghuai interrogated your people and found out that the person who secretly ordered her subordinate to slander Mu Yunyao for the murder was your wife, Lady Meng. Do you have anything to say?”
“Reporting to the Emperor, my wife has a small stomach. She had already secretly hated Mu Yunyao because of some contradictions. This subject had privately advised her, but she was stubborn and did not listen to my advice. This humble subject thought that she would at least have some measurement. But I did not expect that she would actually do such a bold and audacious thing. I am naturally ashamed to defend her, so all is to be dealt with by the Emperor.”
“So you’re saying that everything that happened on the day of ceromony from beginning to end was caused by your wife, Lady Meng. She is also the person who framed Mu Yunyao?”
“… Yes.” Su Wenyuan gritted his teeth,” This humble subject only found out about the truth from my wife after asking her. This humble subject did not manage to stop her in advance because this humble subject are not strict in ruling the family. Please ask the Emperor to confess the crime.”
“Alright, let’s put this case aside for the time being and deal with it together after asking clearly. There’s one more thing, why do you have private soldiers in your residence, and why those private soldiers use military longbows. As an Imperial Court official, you should know the significance of this....” The Emperor did not finish his sentence. However, the chill contained in the unfinished words made Su Wenyuan shiver.
Su Wenyuan took two steps forward on his knees and kowtowed as he pleaded, “Your Majesty, please be clear-headed. This humble subject has always been loyal to the Emperor. Even if I had the guts, I would not dare to do something so outrageous and against the law.”
Prince Jin opened his mouth, “Imperial Father, Lord Su has always been diligent in his duty during his tenure as Minister of the Public Official Department. His loyalty can show the sun and the moon. Please ask Imperial Father to see clearly.”
“I haven’t even asked you about it, but you’ve already spoken. According to what I know, the ten archers in Su Wenyuan’s residence were transferred over from your residence?”
“Yes, Imperial Father. I’m also responsible for this. During this period of time, many things have happened in the Su family. Therefore, Lord Su found me and said he wanted to borrow some guards maintain the Su family’s order, so that no matter what happened, it would not affect the madams and young ladies who went to attend the coming of age ceremony. This son saw that Lord Su’s intentions were hard to come by, so this son lent ten guards to him.”
Su Wenyuan raised his head, “Your majesty, the Old Madam in this humble subject’s residence was seriously ill. Sister Su Qing and Yunyao were the Old Madam’s knot in her heart. After searching for so many years, she finally found the child back. If she woke up and found out that Sister Su Qing and Yunyao had left, I don’t know how sad would she be? This humble subject only wishes to make my mother happy, and the means will inevitably be extreme. However, this humble subject has never thought of letting the archers take action. I only wanted them to stand to the side and intimidate them. On the contrary, His Royal Highness Yue Wang actually ordered his subordinates to kill those people directly.
Prince Jin turned to look at Yue Wang, “Fourth Imperial Brother, your words and actions are too impulsive. Even if you like Mu Yunyao, you shouldn’t act without scruples.”
Yue Wang looked at Jin Wang coldly, “Then, according to the intentions of Third Imperial Brother and Lord Su, should I wait for the archers to kill Madam Su and Miss Mu before making a move?”
“Your Royal Highness Yue Wang, I did not give the order for the archers to attack. It was you who misunderstood....”
“Then why did I hear Lord Su say that as long as Madam Su and Miss Mu dared to step out of the Su family’s residence, they would be killed?”
“Your Royal Highness, I have never said this. Where did you hear it from?” Su Wenyuan looked like he had been wronged, and his tone was filled with anger.
Yue Wang frowned, and just as he was about to speak, he heard a report from the door: “Your Majesty, Grand Princess Yi De is here.”
“Imperial Elder sister is here. Why don’t you invite her in?”
The Grand Princess Yi De slowly walked into the hall. When she saw Su Wenyuan kneeling on the ground, a deep killing intent flashed in her eyes. “I greet the Emperor.”
“Imperial Elder Sister, why are you so courteous? Come and sit on top.”
Xu Li ordered someone to arrange a chair beside the Emperor and respectfully invited the Grand Princess Yi De to sit on it.
“I should not have come here in the first place. But since this matter concerns Mu Yunyao, I inevitably have to be more concerned about this matter. After thinking about it, I decided to choose her because I still like her the most. This little girl is not old, but she has a amiable temperament. She also speaks dan does things extremely measured. I want to recognize her as a granddaughter and write her down in my daughter’s name.”
The Emperor was surprised. “Imperial Elder Sister, you’ve decided so quickly?”
“The relationship between people is mainly based on fate. Yunyao is very much in line with my heart. In addition, she also saved my life before. This is the fate between her and me. Today, I came here to tell Imperial Brother, and I want to discuss this with you. I also want to let the Imperial Oversee choose a day with a great opportunity and fortune. In that day, I will record her name in the family tree.”
Su Wenyuan trembled fiercely in his heart and sweated profusely on his forehead: Princess Yide wanted to recognize Mu Yunyao as her granddaughter at this time and wanted to record her name on the genealogy. At this time, Grand Princess Yi wanted to recognize Mu Yunyao as her granddaughter and even wanted to record her name onto the family tree. This honor was a great honor for Mu Yunyao, but to the Su family, it is a mountain that makes it difficult for them to stand up again!