Raising a wife? The mistress of the Hou family divorced and remarried her younger uncle

Chapter 319 Dead End
Su Qingwan brought Lu Yunshu back to the Prince's Mansion. She was still somewhat emotional and felt extremely guilty. Li Yue had killed someone for her sake and her reputation had been tarnished. She felt really bad about it. She was restless in the carriage. Li Yue rode outside, humming a little tune, seemingly unaffected at all. Lu Yunshu was also curious as to why Li Yue seemed so indifferent. A girl's reputation is the most important thing.

Qingyun said, "Second Miss, don't worry. Li Yue's real name isn't Li Yue. People only know her as a maid in the Prince's mansion, but they won't recognize her face. She's not from a high-ranking family, so no one cares. After a while, everyone will forget about her. If this had happened to you, it would have been a crime you could never get rid of for the rest of your life. It's good that this is the way it is now. That person is dead, so they won't slander you anymore."

Lu Yunshu stood next to Su Qingwan, still shaken. Su Qingwan patted her arm and said, "I'm sorry for what happened. She came after me, so you should take the blame for me."

“Sister-in-law, how could this be your fault? It’s the bad guys who deliberately tried to harm people. It’s their fault, and it has nothing to do with you.”

Su Qingwan said softly, "Don't worry, I will definitely give you justice and won't let you suffer in vain."

Back at the Prince's residence, the steward settled several young ladies, and Su Qingwan then summoned Li Yue and Qingyun to the study. In truth, she didn't necessarily intend to deal with the Anping Earl's family. The Anping Earl was loyal and upright, and his son was serving in Jiangnan. Li Xueying was already dead, and she should show mercy where possible; she didn't necessarily have to go to extremes.

She didn't want to invite Lady Anping to the banquet because of her own selfish reasons. She couldn't get along with Lady Anping peacefully. Of course, she also thought that if Lady Anping dared to make things difficult for her, she could settle both old and new scores at the same time. So when Lady Anping brought people to the outskirts to ambush her, Su Qingwan deliberately provoked her, intending to settle scores.

If Lady Anping had known to show weakness and kept to herself, perhaps she would have forgiven her. But who knew that she would spread rumors everywhere, ruining her and Lu Jing's reputation, trying to incite public opinion and drag Lu Jing down with her.

Lady Anping is far too naive. Although she is from a military family, she has been pampered in the capital for so many years and has long lost her sensitivity. Since the late emperor's death and the new emperor's ascension to the throne, with the eldest princess and Lu Jing in power, the power of the Marquis of Anping has been undermined. Even if the eldest princess knows about the feud between the Marquis of Anping and Lu Jing, and even if the Marquis of Anping is a royalist, she would not choose to confront Lu Jing directly. At least not now. If the eldest princess wants to use people, she has many choices and does not necessarily have to use the Marquis of Anping.

The power of the Marquis of Anping is far less than when the late emperor was in power. The status of men also determines the status of women. The Marquis of Anping's wife's appeal and influence among the clan ladies is also far less than before. If she still wants to compete with Su Qingwan, that would be courting death.

Su Qingwan did not want to engage in a propaganda war with the Lady of Anping. Her methods were extremely straightforward, still targeting the foundation of the Lady of Anping and the military power of the Marquis of Anping and his two sons.

She didn't need to take the initiative to handle this matter; the eldest princess could take care of it. The eldest princess was always willing to grant her requests in the short term, so this small matter would surely be handled properly.

Within a day, the news that the Earl of Anping and his two sons had returned to the capital to report on their duties spread throughout the court and the country.

Jiangnan is the stronghold of the Earl of Anping and his son, where power is deeply entrenched. Unless something extraordinary happens, the Earl of Anping would not be transferred away from Jiangnan. Especially since Xilin and Huainan are at war, the Jiangnan navy must also be on high alert, fearing a surprise attack from Xilin and the neighboring country taking advantage of the situation. The entire Jiangnan region is also preparing for war.

At this time, the three members of the Anping family were transferred back to the capital, which was quite unusual.

When Lady Anping heard the news, she was stunned. She did not expect it to be so serious, especially since Su Qingwan had no evidence whatsoever, and only suspected her of stirring up trouble behind the scenes, yet she had the ability to transfer her husband and son back to the capital.

Lady Anping came to the princess's residence in haste to request an audience, but was refused.

The eldest princess leisurely brewed tea in her residence and said calmly, "That Lady Anping is also foolish. She looks down on Xiao Wu from the bottom of her heart, thinking that Xiao Wu is Zhao Lan, who used her beauty to turn the Lu brothers against each other and made Lu Jing bear the infamy to marry her. She thinks Xiao Wu is just a bewitching concubine who brings disaster to the world. But how could she forget that if someone like Lu Jing really wants to abandon his family and bear the infamy for her, he is no pushover. She has met her match."

A maidservant said from the side, "The princess harbors a grudge against the Marquis of Anping's family. Although she killed Li Xueying, I'm afraid... she won't let it go." "Little Fifth has always been protective of his own, vindictive, and prone to implicating others. How could he possibly let the Marquis of Anping's wife go? He won't let it go until they've been tormented to the point of ruin, including Lu Feng." The princess blew on the steam from her teacup, lost in thought.

"But now that the princess has married Lu Jing and is protecting the Lu family's daughters, would she really still harm Lu Feng?"

“If Xiao Wu wants to kill someone, she won’t do it herself. Just wait and see,” the princess said calmly. “She can fool Lu Jing, but she can’t fool me. In her eyes, Lu Feng is already a dead man. When she takes his life depends on Xiao Wu’s mood.”

After all, Li Xueying was the mastermind behind Zhaolan's death, and Lu Feng was the source of it; she wouldn't let Lu Feng off the hook.

"If the princess kills Lu Feng, wouldn't she and the prince be..."

"That's great, I'm happy to see it happen." The princess smiled faintly. "Xiao Wu's heart must be in Huainan, on Nian Qing. If she really falls in love with Lu Jing and is of one mind with him, that would be my biggest worry."

"My slave understands."

The eldest princess chuckled, remaining calm and collected, knowing that there would be plenty of interesting developments to come.

Lady Anping stood in the sweltering heat for a long time, but was not summoned. She was extremely anxious. The princess's maid had already told her that the princess was not in the mansion and that she should come another day.

Lady Anping knew it was an excuse; she had seen the princess enter the mansion with her own eyes, but she simply didn't want to see her.

She racked her brains but couldn't understand why the princess would help Su Qingwan by stripping her husband and son of their military power. Why? She had just dealt with Su Qingwan and dared to scheme against Lu Yunshu because she had the confidence.

She knew that the Eldest Princess and the Regent were irreconcilable enemies. The Li family of the Marquis of Anping were royalists, loyal to the Emperor and the Eldest Princess, and were the Eldest Princess's most important force. Even if she offended the Regent, the Eldest Princess would help her stabilize the situation. As long as her husband and son still held military power, the Marquis of Anping's mansion would not be afraid of Lu Jing and Su Qingwan.

The Earl of Anping was eager to see the Princess and ask why she would sacrifice herself to help Su Qingwan, since they were political enemies and the Earl of Anping and the Princess were actually on the same side.

She was sweating profusely and looked disheveled. Her maids advised her, "Madam, let's go back first. Since the Princess doesn't want to see you, you can stand there until dark, but she still won't see you."

Lady Anping stubbornly insisted on waiting, but just then Su Qingwan's carriage passed by the Princess's residence. She lifted the curtain, smiled radiantly, and said calmly, "Madam Li, how does it feel to try to steal a chicken and lose the rice instead? You dared to scheme against my sister, did you ever think this day would come?"

Su Qingwan secretly thought that she would drive Lady Anping to a dead end step by step, until she would take her own life.