Chapter 265 - The Case in Qingzhou

When Song Yixiao and her husband bore a grudge against Grand Princess Daiguo, in the Su Family’s residence on Cuihua Mountain, Su Shaoling tried her best to persuade her sister to leave, and then she reported this matter to her brother Su Shaoge. “Although Shaomo spoke rashly and I didn’t check Madam Song’s pulse, I observed her statements and actions and found that she is pregnant indeed. Shaomo guessed if Duke of Yan told Madam Song to be with another man in order to conceal his weakness…”

After all, she was unmarried, so she felt ashamed to finish such words. After a pause, she added, “However, I think that Duke of Yan is young and arrogant, so he is probably unwilling to endure such a humiliation. Moreover, Madam Song looked calm and gentle on her brows. She didn’t seem to compromise out of consideration for the general interest.”

“So I guessed wrong in the past.” Su Shaoge nodded slightly after hearing that, with disappointment in his eyes, yet he was not too annoyed. Then he continued calmly, “Maybe there is other inside information but nothing wrong with this couple.”

Su Shaoling offered a chance to extricate him from the awkward position. “In fact, perhaps you didn’t make a mistake. Maybe Duke of Yan has been healed recently. It’s only that we didn’t expect that he could be treated.”

“When I paid attention to Madam Song, I happened to know that, so I keep my eyes open.” However, Su Shaoge smiled and then added, “The fight for the throne matters much and is related to the country and society. It can’t be decided with women’s dirty tricks. Now the plan is in vain, but fortunately, we didn’t tell Madam Song the truth, so we won’t suffer a loss.”

Seeing that he wasn’t frustrated, Su Shaoling heaved a sigh of relief and then asked, “How should we treat Madam Song in the future?”

“Let it be!” Su Shaoge muttered. “After you get married, everything should be handled after you ask Grand Princess Daiguo and her husband. Although the two sides have joined hands now, and logically, she won’t treat you unfairly as long as the alliance exists, you also know that this grand princess is not as magnanimous as Grand Princess Jinguo. When you are her daughter-in-law, you’d better obey her. After all, we make you suffer from injustice as we marry you to Ji Zifu. We can’t bear to see that your mother-in-law dislikes you.”

“If the skin does not exist, what can the hair adhere to?” Su Shaoling didn’t think so. “Not to mention that our family has provided me with beautiful dresses and nice food and raised me as a beloved daughter for so many years, in this country, a girl’s honorable identity is related to her parents since ancient times. How would I stand by and do nothing when they fight for the throne?”

Then she continued, “Although Ji Zifu is idle, he is not badly-behaved. He is handsome and at my age. A son from a noble family like him is average. As for me, am I so perfect that nobody can surpass me? So even if they don’t join hands, I’ll have no objection if I have to marry him.”

She paused for a moment and then stated seriously, “Shaoge, don’t say that I suffer from injustice. As they say, all the girls would get married, but I am a member of the Su Family. I am willing to help our family and endure in crisis.”

Su Shaoge pursed his lips. After quite a while, he raised his hand and caressed his sister’s hair while saying gently, “So I have to win.”

“Of course, you will win.” Su Shaoling giggled, with trust and firmness in her bright eyes.

Since Yuan Xuepei and Jiang Muting were engaged, the gossips on Cuihua Mountain gradually disappeared after spreading for several days.

It was in the middle of the lunar seventh month, and the summer would end. In a few days, they would pack up and prepare to return to the imperial capital.

However, before they returned, a piece of news was sent from the imperial capital. The governor of Qingzhou, Zhao Wu, reported to the emperor to impeach Duke of Ji who was not strict with his family members and indulged his eldest grandson Su Bofeng and the servants in beating a merchant’s son Lei Mo on the street.

Because Su Bofeng was from a powerful family and the only grandson in the Fufeng Hall, the officials staying in the imperial capital didn’t dare to act arbitrarily, and they sent somebody on a fast horse to urgently deliver the impeachment to Cuihua Mountain the same night, asking for the emperor’s opinion.

“How would Bofeng do something like this?” Su Shaoling got the news and hurried to see Su Shaoge. As soon as she saw him, she said doubtfully, “Although he is spoilt, he is sensible. Even if he got mad at Lei Mo, he wouldn’t tell the servants to beat somebody else on the street and give others a chance to find fault with him.”

The Su Family was wealthy for hundreds of years and naturally had their own way to teach the children. Su Bofeng was the eldest grandson, and the family spoilt him, yet they would never allow him to become a playboy who knew nothing but to cause trouble.

Hearing that he was in trouble at the crucial time, his aunt Su Shaoling naturally didn’t believe it.

“It must be Gu Shao who is behind the scenes.” Su Shaoge gave his sister the secret letter which had just been unfolded. “Brother’s birthday is at the beginning of the next month, so Bofeng went out in person to find a suitable birthday gift. As a result, he took a fancy to a pair of luminous cups in a shop, while Lei Mo suddenly rushed out and said that he had bought the cups, telling Bofeng not to think about them. Bofeng is young and arrogant. If that guy talked politely, it would be fine, but he spoke rudely, so Bofeng was angry and told some people to beat him up.”

In fact, Su Bofeng didn’t plan to take Lei Mo’s life, yet he was angry about that guy’s rudeness and wanted to teach him a lesson. The servants from the Su Family knew when to stop and controlled themselves while beating him, but nobody knew if Lei Mo suffered from an unmentionable disease or he was a man of sacrifice sent by Gu Shao. Anyway, he died in less than one hour after he was beaten. His family carried his dead body to the government. Under the watchful eyes of all people, how could the Su Family hide Su Bofeng?

“Several years ago, the governor of Qingzhou Zhao Wu once asked our family to marry Shaomo to his son, but his son is mediocre and not a good person. How would our family like him? So we refused politely.” Su Shaoge sneered. “This time, he put Bofeng in prison and even personally reported to His Majesty to impeach us. He obviously wants to avenge a personal wrong in the name of public interests.”

“Wouldn’t Bofeng suffer from injustice in his hands?” Su Shaoling read the secret letter about what had happened, which was the same as what Su Shaoge had said, and then she was astonished and resentful. She asked in a hurry, “What should we do now?”

Coldness flashed in Su Shaoge’s eyes, and he replied, “Qingzhou is one thousand miles away. No matter how much we worry about Bofeng, we can do nothing but wait and see what Shaoxin and his wife would do. However, as long as the empress and Prince of Zhao are there, Zhao Wu doesn’t dare to do anything to Bofeng. Bofeng may be humiliated, and it is just a trial to toughen him. How can a boy from our family be unable to sustain such a hardship?”

After all, men were different from women. It was not that Su Shaoge didn’t love his nephew, yet he could still keep calm, while Su Shaoling couldn’t rest assured. Their elder brother Su Shaoxin was mediocre, and Duke of Ji cultivated him with effort but failed, so he married this eldest son at the age of fifteen and told him to concentrate on having children for the family. These years, Su Shaoxin’s family was left in the hometown to manage the estate handed down from their ancestors in name, while in fact, the people who dealt with the internal and external affairs were several stewards from the Fufeng Hall.

Su Shaoxin was idle and didn’t have any skill, and his wife Madam Qian was from an aristocratic family. Although she was a woman, she had more insight than him, yet she was confined at home and couldn’t surpass him.

Otherwise, why did the stewards manage the affairs of the Su Family in Qingzhou instead of Su Shaoxin and his wife, the eldest legitimate son and daughter-in-law?

What could the couple do when Su Bofeng was in prison?

It would be fine if they didn’t mess up anything when they helped.

However, no matter how anxious Su Shaoling was, it was pointless, and as Su Shaoge said, they could do nothing now.

The Su Family suspected Gu Shao, and meanwhile Gu Shao suspected the Su Family. “When Zhao Wu took office in Qingzhou, he asked to visit the old house of the Su Family and then visited them respectfully according to the rules. Later, they would visit each other on holidays. Even though they are not close, they are polite to each other. He fell out with the Su Family because he liked Miss Shaomo and wanted her to be his daughter-in-law, which was a daydream to him.”

Gu Shao was from an aristocratic family, so he was clear about the thoughts of the noblemen. “Although it’s not like the past when the Six Warlords fought for the nation, the Su Family is not declined like the other five warlords. Is the marriage of the legitimate children from this family insignificant? Zhao Wu is from a poor family and became an official after taking the imperial examination, and he had the chance to be promoted. He is only in his early forties, but he is a commanding officer. In ordinary people’s eyes, his achievement may be excellent, yet in the eyes of the Su Family, even if a concubine’s daughter is married to his son, he would have a great honor, let alone a legitimate daughter. There are few legitimate daughters of this generation in the Su Family.”

Gu Shao didn’t say anything. Not to mention that Zhao Wu wanted to ask a legitimate daughter from the Fufeng Hall to marry his son, even the Gu Family in Hongzhou, which was inferior to the Su Family, didn’t want to be related to Zhao Wu by marriage.

So, “The letter sent by Zhao Wu in secret showed his hope to follow the crown prince, but we’d better wait silently to see if this letter is true. Otherwise, if we fall into his trick to gain an end by enduring bodily suffering, we will be a laughingstock.”

If Zhao Wu didn’t fall out with the Su Family, but the crown prince’s followers made a fuss about this matter as they thought it was a Heaven-sent chance, and they were harmed seriously by Prince of Zhao as a result, what should they do?

The outsiders didn’t know what the two parties thought about. Seeing that after the news about Su Bofeng spread to Cuihua Mountain, it didn’t cause an uproar, and even the crown prince just said something vague with official jargon and didn’t plan to add insult to injury and keep fiercely attacking the other party, they were astonished and thought that they would go back to the imperial capital soon, so the crown prince was afraid that the trip would be delayed if they irritated Emperor Xianjia to get sick after they made a scene.

Under this situation, the last days at the summer resort this year were peaceful.

At the beginning of the eighth lunar month, the emperor and the Empress Dowager returned to the imperial capital.

They came in a big way and made the imperial capital where the hot air was still on return to be clamorous.

However, next day, the clamorous city was shocked to be silent by an urgent letter sent from Qingzhou.

“Su Bofeng is disabled?” Jian Xubai raised his head in astonishment. “Is the news true? Is Zhao Wu so bold?”

Yuan Xuepei looked serious. “It must be true. The steward in charge of the affairs for the Su Family in Qingzhou personally told somebody to send the letter. It’s said that the two young ladies of the family passed out in anxiety after getting the news. Su Shaoge and Duke of Ji have brought the letter to the imperial palace and asked to see the empress.”

While speaking, he smiled. “Zhao Wu wouldn’t have gone so far. Not to mention that he sent somebody to play up to the crown prince but the latter didn’t reply, even if the crown prince agrees, he can’t do anything to Su Bofeng now.”

Jian Xubai frowned. “How was Su Bofeng disabled?”

“Zhao Wu’s son, who wanted to marry Miss Shaomo in the past,” Yuan Xuepei answered. “You know that Zhao Wu is from a poor family. He swore that he wouldn’t let his descendants suffer the same as him after he became powerful, so he spoilt his son and made him a playboy. The youngest son from the Zhao Family is famous in Qingzhou as he doesn’t study and knows nothing. How did he know that the Su Family is horribly powerful? He hated the Su Family as they refused to marry the lady to him. After Su Bofeng was put in prison, he went to torture and humiliate the boy to seek pleasure almost every day. As a result, he cut Su Bofeng’s foot off by accident while torturing.”

“Even though he is a playboy, he should know that Su Bofeng’s great-aunt is the empress.” Jian Xubai pondered for a moment and then murmured, “Zhao Wu’s son is too stupid, right?”

Yuan Xuepei said, “It’s said that Zhao Wu wanted to follow the crown prince since long ago, so he disdains the empress and her son inevitably when he talks at ordinary times. His son is influenced by what he constantly sees and hears, thinking that the empress is not favored by the emperor and even Prince of Zhao has a bleak future, so he wouldn’t be in awe of them.”

After he told the cause and effect, he narrowed his eyes. “Among the Six Warlords in the past, the Su Family is the most powerful now, but there are not many descendants in this family. There is only one grandson in the Fufeng Hall, Su Bofeng. Although he is still young and doesn’t have a good or bad reputation, logically, the Su Family is unwilling to make him a sacrifice.”

If that was true, Zhao Wu must be sincere to follow the crown prince. After all, who could protect him and his whole family except the crown prince now?