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

Chapter 321 Lu Jing
In Lady Anping's memory, the dramatic mutual destruction did not go as planned. The fuse on her body did not ignite. Lady Anping was stunned and incredulous. She looked down at the gunpowder on her body and found that the fuse had broken at some point and had not been lit.

Su Qingwan said indifferently, "Since I'm determined to make you seek your own death, I will definitely have people watching your every move. I know exactly what you want to do, so of course I won't shoot myself in the foot. If you want to avenge your daughter and clean up the mess with your own life, you'll have to ask me for my consent!"

Lady Anping was shocked, her gaze sweeping over the maids beside her. "Who betrayed me? You have all been my maids for over ten years. I have treated you well, so why did you betray me?"

The maids lowered their eyes, none daring to meet her gaze. Whether out of fear or guilt, it was unclear. Lady Anping was enraged and suddenly drew her sword, stabbing one of the maids beside her.

Su Qingwan's hidden arrow flew out and struck Lady Anping's wrist. The longsword fell to the ground, and the maid knelt down and kowtowed, "Madam, it wasn't me, I never betrayed you!"

An arrow pierced her wrist. She angrily pulled it out, blood flowing freely. She clutched her wound and looked around. The maids knelt and begged for mercy. Su Qingwan, dressed in a lake-colored palace gown, was confident and composed, as if nothing she did could diminish her dignity or shake her position.

Even though she was once Xie Zhaolan, married Lu Feng, and almost died tragically at the hands of her daughter, she has now transformed into the Princess of Huainan, Lu Jing's wife, and the Regent's Consort. Her husband is the most powerful man in Dayuan.

She won; she turned a terrible situation around and won against all odds.

"The victor is king, the loser is villain. Kill me if you want, I have nothing to say." Lady Anping accepted it; what could she do if she didn't? She knew she was doomed. "You're vengeful; killing my daughter wasn't enough, you've long wanted the lives of the entire Li family, haven't you?"

"What good would killing you do? It would only bring temporary relief." Su Qingwan's heart was heavy. She would rather let go of her hatred and save her sister's life, but Li Xueying had cut off all her escape routes. "I originally thought that if you didn't make things difficult for me, I could forgive and forget, considering the merits of the Marquis of Anping for the country. But Madam didn't do as I wished, spreading rumors about me and Lu Jing. I come from Huainan, and I know one thing best: if you don't cut the weeds at the root, they will grow back in the spring breeze. Once an enmity is formed, it will be an inescapable grudge for life. Now that I am in power, you are forced to lie low. But if one day I lose power and the Marquis of Anping's family gains power, then your butcher's knife will definitely be turned against me and Lu Jing, leaving no trace of life. Since you see through this, of course I must eliminate any future trouble!"

Lady Anping laughed. Su Qingwan was right. That was what she thought. The Emperor would eventually rule in his own right. The Anping Marquis's family was a royalist and would eventually be valued by the Emperor and the Princess. A new emperor brings a new court. As long as the Emperor took power and the Anping Marquis's family gained power, she would definitely avenge Li Xueying. A gentleman takes revenge even after ten years.

But Su Qingwan forced her step by step into the trap, and she lost.

“I am nearly twenty years older than you, but I am far less cunning and manipulative than you. Xie Zhaolan, you have won! I am convinced that I will die at your hands. But if you are so intelligent, why were you so easily fooled by Lu Feng? You didn’t even know that he had changed his mind. If you could have controlled him, my daughter would not have been so stubborn. We should have kept to ourselves.”

“Li Xueying is wicked, yet you blame me? How ridiculous!” Su Qingwan was too lazy to argue with her any longer and said indifferently, “I am not a bloodthirsty person. The crimes you have committed will naturally be punished by law. Unlike you, I am not eager to kill me with my own hands. You can stay in the prison of the Prefect of the Capital.”

"What did you say?" Lady Anping was furious and incredulous. "You won't kill me, but you want me to be humiliated in prison? Xie Zhaolan, don't even think about it!"

Lady Anping came prepared to perish with Su Qingwan. She was neither able to kill Su Qingwan nor was she prepared to be killed herself. As the dignified Lady Anping, she absolutely could not accept being imprisoned and subjected to humiliation.

If she were killed today, people would speak of her with praise, at least for being willing to oppose the Regent to avenge her daughter. Her death would lessen the guilt of sending someone to kill Su Qingwan.

The dead are great!
Her husband and son would also incite their relatives to stand up for her; her death would have been worthwhile. Tonight, she sent someone to kill Su Qingwan. Whether they succeeded or not, she was doomed. It was a dead end, and she knew it from the beginning and was prepared for it.

If she were alive, arrested, and imprisoned, the ladies of the noble families in the capital would only think she was foolish, throwing an egg against a rock, and even living to implicate her family.

Her life's work and reputation could be ruined in an instant.

Her husband and sons would also complain about her, wondering why she would cause such turmoil in the family for revenge, causing them to lose their military power, and she would have to face the trial of the governor of the capital.

This is something she absolutely cannot accept.

"You want to kill me? It's not a personal grudge. First you spread rumors about me and Lu Jing, then you sent people to kill me. Lu Jing is the regent. If I kill you, it will be a personal grudge. You wish!" Su Qingwan chuckled. "Madam Li, it's still a long way off if you want to reunite with your daughter."

Lady Anping, provoked, picked up a long sword from the ground and attempted suicide, but was stopped by Li Yue. The Prefect of the Capital also arrived late with his men, and after learning what had happened, arrested Lady Anping.

Lady Anping lost control and screamed, "Xie Zhaolan, kill me! Kill me!"

She was determined to die. Lady Anping knew very well what kind of disaster she would bring to the Li family if she lived. She would even drag the entire Li family down. She originally planned to use her own life to pay for it!
Su Qingwan stood with her hands behind her back, her expression as cold as the early spring wind. "My lord, Madam Li sent people to kill me tonight and set fire to the estate. The evidence is irrefutable. I hope you will take her into custody properly. She cannot die before the formal interrogation!"

The Prefect of Kyoto nodded repeatedly. He knew the gravity of the situation. He had known about this from the beginning. The Princess Consort had calculated that the Lady of Anping would come to kill her. Their people just needed to wait to make the arrest. The evidence... was indeed irrefutable.

"Your Highness, rest assured. He's in the Kyoto Prefecture prison. It's not so easy for him to die. I know what to do."

Su Qingwan nodded. The Lady of Anping was too noisy, and someone knocked her unconscious. The Prefect of the Capital took the person away, and the matter came to an end. Su Qingwan breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, the sound of galloping hooves came rushing in. Lu Jing rode against the firelight, followed by more than a dozen Imperial Guards. He was still wearing the Regent's regular clothes.

Lu Jing leaped off his horse and rushed over, his anxiety barely concealed. "The estate is on fire! What happened? Are you injured?"

Su Qingwan, who had hoped to resolve everything before he returned to the capital, fell silent.