The wicked mother-in-law doesn't try to whitewash herself; she only abuses her awful children.

Chapter 785 The Imperial Palace Turns into a Gossip Spot

"Prince Yu has gone to the palace to file a complaint with the Emperor. I don't know what the Emperor's attitude is. In any case, this time, Prince Yu and the Su family are now completely enemies."

Liu Yue'e grabbed a handful of melon seeds from the plate and started cracking them as she spoke.

"Let alone a princess, even a concubine's daughter from a noble family wouldn't want to marry an old man with two grown sons as a second wife. The Su family really knows how to stir things up. Su Shihang has already abandoned his first wife once for his future, and now he's demoted her to a concubine again to climb up to the royal family. If I were the first wife, I'd just kill Su Shihang." Liu Yue'e complained. "Su Shihang is at least a second-rank official in the court. How could he be so stupid? I think the court is just a makeshift organization. I could do better if I were in charge."

"Alright, let's talk about the Su family. Why bring up the imperial court? Is that something for us common folk to discuss?" Tong Huaqiong interrupted Liu Yue'e's criticism of the imperial court.

Although Liu Yue'e's complaints were not without merit, Tong Huaqiong still felt that Su Shihang was not so stupid as to want to marry Princess Mingyue.

He's old enough to be Princess Mingyue's father.

Since the Crown Prince returned, the Emperor has maintained a lukewarm attitude towards Prince Yu, so even if Su Shihang wanted to marry Princess Mingyue, it was impossible for him to propose marriage at this stage.

Wouldn't that arouse the emperor's suspicion?

This marriage was orchestrated by Old Mrs. Su.

An old mother like Grandma Su is like the Yaozu mother that Tong Huaqiong encountered in modern times. She thinks her son is the most capable and that he is worthy of any girl in the world. She even thinks that it would be unfair to her son if he were to marry a fairy.

Grandma Su truly felt that although her son was of age to be a father-in-law, he was still quite handsome among all the older men, more than a match for a princess.

It's normal for older men to marry younger women, so why can't my own son?
The news that Old Madam Su had visited the Prince Yu's mansion to propose marriage to Princess Mingyue for her aging son spread throughout Shengjing in an instant.

Only Su Shihang, the person involved, was unaware of this.

The aftermath of this incident was that when Su Shihang went to court, he encountered Prince Yu at the palace gate. Prince Yu spat a mouthful of phlegm onto his face, and he was still unaware of what had happened.

None of his passing colleagues spoke up for him; instead, they looked at him like he was an idiot.

"You old bastard, don't you have a mirror or a pee? Take a piss and look at yourself. Do you even deserve to look like one? You're like an old cucumber painted green, your wrinkles are so deep they could trap a mosquito. And you dare to paint yourself like a young girl?"

"Don't think that just because the Emperor trusts you, you can get cocky and dare to set your sights on my daughter. You want to be my son-in-law? You don't even know if I agree to it."

"You've tasted the sweetness of marriage twice, and now you're dreaming of tasting it a third time? I think you're just having a pipe dream."

Su Shihang was scolded by Prince Yu for no apparent reason.

During court sessions, censors and officials who were on good terms with Prince Yu began to impeach Su Shihang.

Even Yu Wang's rivals seized the opportunity to use this matter to impeach Su Shihang for attempting to form a faction with Yu Wang through marriage.

After being thoroughly scolded by the censor, Su Shihang realized that his mother had gotten into trouble.

For a moment, Su Shihang didn't know if his mother thought he was too old to live, or if she was really planning for his future.

Su Shihang almost died in front of the Emperor because he couldn't catch his breath.

"Your Majesty, I have no way to defend myself."

No matter how much Su Shihang claimed he knew nothing about it, Prince Yu and the other officials didn't believe him, and even the Emperor didn't believe him.

After all, Su Shihang has a history of deceiving his wife into marriage for the sake of his future. Now that his legal wife is dead and his first wife has been sent back to her hometown, Su Shihang is starting to waver again when it comes to marriage.

As for why he asked to marry Princess Mingyue, that's easy to understand.

Princess Mingyue has a bad reputation, and the young and talented men of Shengjing would rather disappear into the ground than live among them. Perhaps Prince Yu will agree to the marriage because of this?

Of course, Su Shihang's accomplices raised questions. Since Su Shihang wanted to curry favor with the Prince Yu's family, there was no need for him to marry Princess Mingyue himself. He could have asked for the princess to marry his youngest son, Su Chengji.

Wouldn't a marriage between two young people be easier for people to understand?

Such a glaring flaw clearly indicates someone else's conspiracy.

The censor retorted, "Give me a break! Do you think he didn't want to ask for a marriage proposal for his youngest son with the princess? It's just a pity his youngest son is childless. Otherwise, do you think he would be willing to risk his old, frail body to propose marriage for the princess?"

There wasn't a single censor in Shengjing who didn't know the gossip. He even knew about such a secret matter as Su Chengji's hymen being severed.

The crowd let out a collective gasp and a sigh of dismay.

The imperial palace instantly transformed into a scene of gossip and spectacle.

Even the emperor was gossiping about Su Chengji's extermination of his lineage, asking, "Was Su Qing's second son murdered by thieves or did he offend someone?"

The imperial censor said, "Your Majesty, that纨绔 (wan ku, a spoiled brat) is utterly wicked and habitually bullies the weak. Even a rabbit will bite when cornered. Who knows whether he has provoked a rabbit or angered a tiger?"

“Shut up and drag my son into this, slander, pure slander.” Su Shihang’s chest heaved.

The Su family's dignity was completely ruined from the day of Old Madam Su's birthday banquet.

Now, a new scandal has emerged.

The Su family kept Su Chengji's castration a complete secret. His servants were either beaten to death or had their tongues cut out and sent to the estate.

This matter was actually exposed by the censor in court.

Su Shihang was so angry that he wanted to pounce on the censor.

The censor, however, did not let Su Shihang off the hook. He accused Su Shihang of failing to manage his family properly and of allowing his son to harass respectable women in the street, based on the fact that his son had been castrated. He also accused Su Shihang of having ulterior motives and being suspected of forming a faction when he proposed marriage to Princess Mingyue.

Su Shihang's breathing stopped abruptly when he was hit by the bullet.

The Prince Yu's Mansion was originally in a very favorable position, but the censor indiscriminately labeled it as Su Shihang's accomplice, which infuriated them.

"Who knows if you two are just putting on an act?" The censor sneered, taking the opportunity to give Prince Yu a good dressing down.

They brought up the incident of Princess Mingyue riding her horse recklessly in Shengjing, injuring and killing civilians, again.

“Your Majesty, the Prince Yu’s Mansion will never form an alliance with Lord Su, and Xi Yue will never marry into the Su family. Xi Yue already has someone she loves.”

Unable to refute the censor's words, Prince Yu swallowed his anger and, without hesitation, revealed in court the scandal of Zhao Xiyue's affair with the married young man Gu Jingzhe.

This is really shameful. It's embarrassing enough that a princess would fall for a married man.

Moreover, the person he had his eye on was a country scholar who had no official rank whatsoever.

The Emperor, having been gossiping about the Su family, now turned his attention to Zhao Xiyue and asked, "Which young master has Xiyue taken a fancy to? Tell me, and if he is a good match, I will grant him a marriage."

The Emperor also had a terrible headache dealing with Zhao Xiyue.

After all, she often caused trouble, which also made the royal family lose face.

In the spring, the new king of the northern desert, who had suffered a defeat, came to Shengjing to surrender and submit to the emperor, and also asked to marry the princess. The emperor wanted to bestow the title of princess upon Zhao Xiyue and marry her to him.

Prince Yu and his wife pleaded and begged, and in the end, the emperor married the spoiled Princess Jing'an to the King of Mobei.

Zhao Xiyue is indeed of marriageable age.

He would grant marriage to any young man she took a liking to who was not from a prominent family or held military power.

Prince Yu hesitated and refused to speak.

"Your Majesty, Princess Mingyue has taken a liking to a scholar from the Imperial Academy named Gu Jingzhe."

The censor smiled knowingly; there was no gossip in the entire capital that he didn't know.

Those who are familiar with the Eight Trigrams can draw inspiration from them to impeach high-ranking officials.

Prince Yu's vision went black. "You talk too much."