His Father Emperor, apart from Virtuous Consort, didn't show a good face even to his own Mother Empress.
Today, he was surprisingly amiable to Su Xiuer, which could only mean one thing: he had taken a liking to Su Xiuer.
Lust is human nature.
Although Su Xiuer had a humble background, she indeed possessed the capital to make men's hearts flutter.
Moreover, Su Xiuer and Wei Mingze had already divorced, so she was free to remarry.
However, his Father Emperor ultimately did not keep Su Xiuer, likely still maintaining some reason.
Taking a former subject's wife into the palace so soon after a divorce would indeed invite criticism.
Now that Su Xiuer has been sent out of the palace, it will be difficult for the Father Emperor to see her again.
It's estimated that he will forget about Su Xiuer before long.
Thinking this, Su Jinghan temporarily put the minor incident from earlier out of his mind.
He always liked to leave his name when doing good deeds.
Su Jinghan lowered his voice, "Little village woman, you're putting on quite a show, but whether you truly can't get up from the pain or are faking it, no one knows better than this Prince!"
It was just halved and halved again; sixty heavy planks becoming thirty heavy planks would hurt, but one could still manage to get up.
Su Jinghan pursed his lips in dissatisfaction.
Su Xiuer's eyes suddenly lit up, even showing some excitement, but she cautiously played dumb, "This commoner's wife doesn't know what the First Prince is talking about. I am truly in too much pain to move after receiving sixty heavy planks."
Su Jinghan chuckled, "Keep pretending. It was I who had them reduce the water."
Su Xiuer's eye color shifted.
With things having reached this point, she was certain that the First Prince before her was not trying to trick her.
Su Xiuer shifted her body lying on the stretcher, looked around, and whispered in a suppressed voice, "So you are Duan Gehong's political enemy!"
"Duan Gehong's political enemy?"
Su Xiuer nodded, "You're not helping me because you want to bring down Duan Gehong, so that I could live to report him to the Emperor?"
As a Prince, he indeed had the ability to tamper with things before the Emperor.
Su Jinghan thought about it. Although he felt Su Xiuer's words weren't entirely accurate, it could indeed be understood that way.
He nodded in tacit agreement, "Little village woman, you're quite clever."
Su Xiuer pursed her lips in disdain.
The name "little village woman" was truly unpleasant.
Since Su Jinghan was her benefactor, she endured it and said, repaying his kindness, "No matter the reason, you saved me. I will definitely repay your kindness when I have the opportunity!"
Su Jinghan pouted arrogantly. He didn't care about a village woman's gratitude; how could a mere village woman possibly repay the kindness of a Prince?
However, when he met Su Xiuer's sincere gaze, Su Jinghan suddenly felt that this little village woman might not just be saying it.
He suddenly felt a bit guilty and said, "Actually, this Prince is only half your benefactor. Someone asked this Prince to help you."
"Who?" Su Xiuer was curious, a face flashed in her mind, and at the same time, she had an answer in her heart.
Su Jinghan smiled slyly, straightened up, and left, only leaving behind the words, "No rush, I'll tell you later."
Su Jinghan signaled the young eunuch to escort Su Xiuer out of the palace again and nodded to Zhou Chang as he turned.
Zhou Chang watched silently, understanding that Su Jinghan was unaware of the Princess Manor's involvement in Su Xiuer's affairs, thus acknowledging this kindness.
Young Lady Chun Tao had already instructed that the Princess Manor's involvement should not be revealed, so Zhou Chang naturally wouldn't say anything. He bowed slightly.
At the same time, he didn't forget how to respond to Duan Gehong.
Since the First Prince was actively approaching Miss Su, pushing all the blame onto the First Prince shouldn't be considered excessive.
After the Emperor left the Hall of Supreme Harmony and returned to the Imperial Study, he stared blankly at the amethyst prayer bead bracelet.
Fu Delu, seeing this, knew the Emperor was missing the Eldest Princess again.
The Emperor missed the Eldest Princess a few times a year, which made him feel down.
At these times, the Emperor was particularly irritable and explosive.
Fu Delu was used to it. He quietly waved away all the palace servants attending in the Imperial Study.
Just as he exited, a carrier pigeon kept by the palace flew back. The palace servant who raised the pigeons took the note from the pigeon's leg, and after checking it, presented the note to Fu Delu without a moment's delay.
Fu Delu squinted as he read it, then turned and ran into the Imperial Study.
"Running before the Emperor, Fu Delu, have you lived too long?" The Emperor, propping his forehead, looked up upon hearing the noise, his eyes bloodshot, as if ready to kill at any moment.
Fu Delu quickly knelt and replied, "Your Majesty, please be merciful. Lord Lu sent news that the Eldest Princess has been found."
"Eldest Princess is found!" The Emperor stood up excitedly, his prayer beads falling to the ground.
Xiangping Town.
A scenic riverbank.
A beautiful woman wearing a bamboo hat, a foxtail grass in her mouth, leaned lazily on a bamboo chair, holding a fishing rod.
She had been fishing for nearly half an hour, but the fishing rod hadn't moved.
About another half hour passed. The people around her had all caught something, but she still had nothing.
"Widow Su, your luck is bad today. How about you call me 'good husband,' and I'll give you all the fish I caught today?"
A widower, looking at Su Tianjiao's tender face, comparable to an eighteen-year-old girl, said slyly.
"Haha, Widow Su, how about you call me 'good husband' too, and I'll give you the fish I caught. With your rotten luck, you haven't caught a fish in three days. If your daughter didn't earn money selling herself, I'd really worry you'd starve to death."
Someone else chimed in.
They deliberately referred to selling pork as selling oneself, using ambiguity to take advantage.
With that, the men on the riverbank burst into laughter.
Su Tianjiao didn't even lift an eyelid, maintaining her lazy demeanor.
Her voice was also so charming it could make one's heart itch, "Alright, come closer, and I'll call each of you!"
"Really, you won't go back on your word!" Seeing Su Tianjiao agree, the two men truly walked closer to Su Tianjiao.
A cold glint flashed in Su Tianjiao's eyes.
Just then, a group of people in brocade uniforms, looking like officers, ran over from a distance. They were all armed with swords and appeared imposing.
Su Tianjiao glanced back, the cold glint receded, and she continued to sit lazily.
"What's going on? Why would officers come to this remote riverbank? Fishing isn't illegal, is it?"
Since ancient times, commoners feared officials. The crowd instinctively panicked upon seeing the officers.
Su Tianjiao spat out the foxtail grass from her mouth, her eyebrow not even twitching, and comforted them, "Don't worry, they're here for me."
"Widow Su, what bad thing did you do? Did you steal a chicken, or did you steal someone's husband?" someone immediately asked out of concern.
Su Tianjiao's tone was dismissive, "Do I need to steal? Whether it's a chicken or a man, if I beckon, I can have as many as I want."
Just then, her fishing rod moved, and she stood up.
Someone said with a dark expression, "Widow Su, will you die if you don't brag for a day?"
"The officers are coming," someone else said, "Kneel down quickly!"
Then everyone knelt down uniformly, leaving only Su Tianjiao standing, making her particularly conspicuous.
They might tease and joke, but after fishing on this riverbank every day, they didn't want to see Su Tianjiao truly meet her doom.
Someone noticed Su Tianjiao wasn't kneeling and quickly pulled her, "Widow Su, kneel down quickly, the officers are here."
"Kneel for what? They should be kneeling to me!" Su Tianjiao stretched lazily.
"Widow Su, you can't joke in front of officers. You've really gone mad with bragging!" The person was speechless, "When your head is chopped off later, it will be too late to regret it."
"The Embroidered Uniform Guard is here on official business!" The officer in the lead took out a badge, glanced at the kneeling crowd on the riverbank, and then added, "This has nothing to do with you. Non-essential personnel, leave quickly!"
In an instant, everyone stood up and left quickly. Before leaving, they couldn't help but look at Su Tianjiao with pity.
However, besides curiosity, they were all concerned about Su Tianjiao. After leaving, they didn't go too far, uniformly squatting in the distant reeds.
They sighed, Widow Su was truly finished this time.
Letting her speak so recklessly.
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