Farmer girl swaps husbands: buys a sickly villain and pampers him

Chapter 244 Rescue
When Zhang Zhaodi came out of the outhouse, she found that the palace maid who had brought her there was gone.

These palace servants are used to flattering the powerful and belittling the weak. They were already somewhat reluctant when they brought her to the outhouse, so it was no surprise that they left immediately.

"Luckily, I'm not bad with directions. I can remember the way after walking it once. Otherwise, I would have been killed by these snobbish lackeys."

Zhang Zhaodi returned along the same route and soon saw a familiar figure—Su Rende.

If it were only Su Rende, she would simply pretend she didn't see him. He was General Su, and she was just a small village woman; there was no need for her to try and build a relationship with him.

However, Su Rende was not alone as he walked past; there were also two eunuchs supporting him.

Su Rende lost consciousness and was helped forward by two eunuchs. He looked like he had drunk too much. The eunuchs were about to find him a place to rest.

“Something’s not right…” Zhang Zhaodi was about to step over the corner when she thought about what had just happened and felt increasingly uneasy. “Weren’t those two eunuchs acting too suspiciously? They seemed nervous and something seemed off.”

Zhang Zhaodi turned around nimbly and quickly followed.

She wanted to go and see for herself.

Putting everything else aside, we at least need to find out where Su Rende is being taken.

As the palace banquet drew to a close, the Crown Prince was preparing to wrap things up when the commander of the Imperial Guards rushed in and said to him, "Your Highness, something has happened."

"Why are you so startled? What happened?" the Crown Prince frowned.

"The Grand General... he seems to be acting strangely. You should go and check on him!" the Imperial Guard Commander shouted.

"Lead the way."

When the other officials heard that the Grand General of the Nation was in trouble, they all followed the Crown Prince, wanting to see what might have happened to the Grand General in the palace.

The officials went, and of course the women couldn't miss it, since no one loves gossip more than the women.

Su Yaoguang and Zhou Wangshu were originally enjoying a peaceful time in the pavilion outside the palace, planning to wait until the palace banquet was over before returning, but they were surprised to see so many people coming out in a grand procession.

"What happened?" Su Yaoguang asked Zhang Yingdi.

"I don't know. My husband and I were having drinks with other people when suddenly someone said something had happened, and then everyone went to check it out."

As they were talking, they saw Xiao Yanci walk over from the side.

Su Yaoguang found this person annoying and pulled Zhou Wangshu away to avoid him. She then asked about the others and learned that the person in trouble was the Protector General.

"What could possibly happen to the Grand General who protects the nation in the palace?" Su Yaoguang muttered to herself.

The current plot is completely different from her previous life, and even if it were the same, she wouldn't know, since she had never attended a palace banquet.

She thought of Su Rende and didn't want anything to happen to such an upright person in the palace, so she pulled Zhou Wangshu to follow the people in front of her.

"Have you seen my mother?" Su Yaoguang asked Zhang Yingdi.

Zhang Yingdi said she didn't see it.

A large group of people entered the inner palace and arrived at a place called Derong Hall.

"Isn't this Consort Rong's palace? Commander Wang said that the Grand General of the Nation had an accident and sent us to find him. How did we end up in Consort Rong's palace? Could it be..." The officials made a bold guess and immediately fell silent.

Is that General Protector of the Nation really that bold?
Consort Rong is the Emperor's new favorite. He cherishes her dearly. If anything were to happen to her, I'm afraid even her entire family would be executed.

The sounds of moaning and groaning emanated from the palace; one could easily imagine what the scene inside must have been like.

The crown prince flew into a rage and said to the imperial guards beside him, "Who dares to commit adultery in the harem? Guards, seize the person inside!"

At this moment, the crown prince appeared furious, but was even more furious inside.

From the moment we left until now, it's clear that someone has set up a trap, and this trap is aimed at Su Rende.

As the Grand General Protector of the Nation, Su Rende commanded 300,000 troops, and he was also a member of the Crown Prince's faction, a key minister who was committed to protecting the Crown Prince.

If Su Rende were to commit adultery in the harem right under everyone's noses, the crown prince would have to sacrifice his own family for the greater good if he wanted to maintain his authority. Even if he knew it was a scheme to cripple his supporters, he would still have to painfully sacrifice this capable general.

Such a despicable tactic—I wonder which of his royal brothers came up with it. Regardless, the other party's methods were dirty, but they severed his lifeline.

The Imperial Guards pushed open the door and rushed in.

The door opened, and officials who were at odds with Su Rende rushed in.

They can't wait to kick someone when they're down.

"General Su, you have quite the nerve..." The first minister to speak froze when he saw the scene before him.

The sounds of moaning and groaning coming from in front of them were not from Su Rende and Consort Rong, but from two old and ugly eunuchs.

The two eunuchs were having a very suggestive time; the scene was so disgusting that it was nauseating to watch.

"Ah..." The women behind her accidentally saw it and almost vomited.

"Your Highness, it was two old eunuchs inside committing filthy acts. There was no General Su or Consort Rong there."

"What are you all doing here?" An old nanny returned from outside and asked in confusion when she saw so many people in the hall. "Consort Rong is currently accompanying the Emperor. Do you have something to discuss with her?"

"Commander Wang, tell me what happened? Didn't you say General Su was in trouble? Now tell me, what happened to General Su?" The Crown Prince stared sharply at Commander Wang opposite him.

Commander Wang wiped away his cold sweat and said, "Your Highness, I only heard about this from my subordinates. This matter is of great importance, and I dare not make a decision on my own. That is why I asked Your Highness to make the decision. I never expected that two old eunuchs would be here so recklessly."

"Guards, take those two old bastards away and give them each twenty strokes of the cane, then throw them into the Censorate so that Lord Li can properly discipline his men."

"Your Highness, we still haven't seen General Su. Could something have really happened to him? We should find him."

"You're looking for me?" Su Rende walked in from outside. "This general was just passing by when I heard many people talking, and some of them mentioned me, so I came to see what was going on. Your Highness, gentlemen, what brings you to the inner palace? Is it inappropriate for a man from outside the palace to enter?" "And how did General Su end up in the inner palace?" an official asked.

"The reason I am in the inner palace is, of course, because the Emperor summoned me. I have just returned from the Emperor's presence and am about to leave the palace."

"It seems someone is using General Su's accident as a pretext to expose the two old men's dirty laundry. Alright, this farce should end now."

The crown prince dismissed everyone.

The Crown Prince's last gaze lingered on Su Rende.

"General Su, come with me."

After the palace banquet, everyone had to leave the palace.

The Crown Prince summoned Su Rende and led him to the Eastern Palace.

As soon as he entered the East Palace, the Crown Prince's attendants brought over the imperial physician to bandage Su Rende's wounds.

Su Rende casually spread his arms, revealing several dagger cuts.

"The Crown Prince has a keen sense of smell. I am extremely fortunate to have such a caring lord."

"General Su, what exactly happened just now?"

When the matter was brought up, Su Rende's expression became serious.

He was just woken up by someone splashing water on him, and when he woke up he saw Zhang Zhaodi's worried face. Zhang Zhaodi pointed to the side of him and said, "I saw two eunuchs help you in and carry you to the bed. There is a very beautiful woman lying next to you now. Do you want to see what's going on?"

Before Su Rende could analyze the situation, she pointed to the two eunuchs lying on the ground and said, "They're the ones who carried you here. I figured we knew each other, and I couldn't just stand by and watch you get tricked by two shrill-voiced eunuchs, so I knocked them unconscious from behind."

Seeing these people and this scene, Su Rende could easily guess what trouble he had encountered.

He discovered aphrodisiac in the room and told Zhang Zhaodi to extinguish it. After Zhang Zhaodi finished, he struggled out of bed and splashed cold tea on Consort Rong to wake her. He then told Consort Rong that someone in the palace wanted to use them as a pawn to get rid of them, and that she should go to the Emperor immediately. Only when Consort Rong was with the Emperor would the gossip be silenced.

After Consort Rong left, Su Rende told Zhang Zhaodi to go out first. After Zhang Zhaodi went out, he lit the aphrodisiac incense and then led Zhang Zhaodi away from Consort Rong's palace.

He was under the influence of aphrodisiac and had lost some control. To keep himself sane, he cut his arm with a dagger and forced himself to stay calm.

As for Zhang Zhaodi, she is a simple village woman, and we shouldn't involve her in this bloody turmoil.

He was worried that he had offended Zhang Zhaodi, so he cut himself with wounds, one after another, just to keep himself sensible.

Zhang Zhaodi originally didn't need to meddle in other people's business, but in order to save him, she risked following the two eunuchs and rescued him from their clutches.

She has been settled by him and must have been reunited with her family.

After the palace banquet ended, Zhang Zhaodi rushed back to the palace where the banquet was held, met up with Su Yaoguang who had come to find her, and then the family went home.

"Mother, where did you go just now?" Su Yaoguang asked Zhang Zhaodi in the carriage.

Zhang Zhaodi said, "Go to the outhouse! The outhouses in the palace smell better than the ones outside, and there's no strange smell at all."

Seeing that Zhang Zhaodi looked natural and didn't seem to have anything on her mind, Su Yaoguang stopped asking about it.

“I never imagined I would be able to enter the palace one day,” Zhang Yingdi said. “And our child, he has also gained knowledge while he was still in our womb.”

"Auntie, Uncle did so well in the exam. He will soon be promoted to an official position. Then you will be an official's wife. Congratulations, Auntie and Uncle."

"I think this girl just wants us to praise Wang Shu. After all, who can compare to Wang Shu when it comes to being outstanding? Don't worry, we've prepared a gift. In the future, Wang Shu will be serving in the same court as your aunt's husband, so he'll inevitably benefit from his nephew-in-law's fame," Zhang Yingdi teased Su Yaoguang.

Su Yaoguang hugged Zhou Wangshu's arm and said, "Our Wangshu is already very good-looking. People outside are saying that this year's top scholar is better looking than the third-ranked scholar."

Zhang Zhaodi looked in the direction of the palace gate, watching it turn into a small black dot, a look of worry flashing in her eyes.

"Have you seen the Great General Protector of the Nation?" Zhang Zhaodi asked casually.

Su Yaoguang and Zhang Yingdi exchanged a glance.

When did Zhang Zhaodi become so close to the General Who Protects the Nation?

“Mother, something sordid happened in the palace just now,” Su Yaoguang said. “You went to the outhouse and didn’t see the scene. I heard that when the commander of the Imperial Guards rushed into the palace looking for the Crown Prince, he said that the Protector General was in trouble, and led everyone to Consort Rong’s palace. After entering the palace, there were ambiguous sounds, and everyone thought it was the Protector General and Consort Rong, but when they opened the door, they found two eunuchs.”

“Even if the eunuchs are usually quite dissolute, they would never do such a sordid thing in the master’s palace. Something is clearly wrong with what happened today. Mother, what do you think happened in the palace tonight? How could it be so bizarre?”

Zhang Zhaodi said, "Actually, it's not that strange. Someone knocked out the Grand General and then sent him to Consort Rong's bed. Consort Rong was under the influence of a sleeping potion and was lying in bed with the Grand General. If someone had barged in at that moment, they wouldn't have been able to explain themselves. Your mother is an unsung hero who happened to witness this scandal. I knocked out the two eunuchs first, then woke up General Su and told him what I knew. But he doesn't seem to have left the palace. Could it be that he was punished because of Consort Rong?"

"Mother, do you mean you were involved in tonight's events?"

Several pairs of eyes stared at Zhang Zhaodi in surprise.

Zhang Zhaodi felt uncomfortable being looked at like that, and said, "I just happened to see it, and I thought that he was a decent person, so it would be too pitiful if he was tricked like this."

“Mother, you’re really brave,” Jiang Jing said. “That’s the palace. Besides, the person who plotted against General Su is definitely not simple. If you help General Su, wouldn’t you be putting yourself in danger?”

"I'm just an ordinary citizen, no one should bother me, right? No one else saw it at the time, and General Su wouldn't tell anyone."

“Mother did nothing wrong. General Su is an upright man and should not be murdered by such despicable means. If he is convicted in this matter, General Su will most likely not survive. After all, she is the emperor’s woman. The emperor’s woman may not be his own, but he must not let other men covet her.”

"So, you are General Su's savior. General Su is really lucky to have met you, elder sister," Zhang Yingdi said. "If he had met any other woman, he might not have been so lucky."

"In that situation, the General Protector of the Nation actually stabbed his own arm with a dagger, several times before he regained consciousness. His willpower was truly extraordinary, which shows how much suffering he had endured in the army over the years," Zhang Zhaodi said.

“Mother, you seem to care a lot about him,” Su Yaoguang said. “You’re not doing this because he looks like Father…”

"No. Your dad is your dad. I like him as a person, not his face. How could I like someone who looks like him?"