She refused to marry.

Sitting in the carriage, Su Wanwan said to Lu Huai'an, "Do you know when I was happiest since the Princess's birthday banquet?"

"When?" Lu Huai'an asked.

"now."

Su Wanwan put away the snack bag. "In the past, she was manipulated by the Eldest Princess and Feng Chenjun, but now she has the leverage to fight to the death."

"Miss Wanwan is exceptionally wise; forbearance is also a form of wisdom." Lu Huai'an, riding his horse, kept an eye on the person in front of him.

Su Wanwan sighed, "Forget it, let's not talk about these discouraging things. Are there any places to rest when we get to town?"

Lu Huai'an nodded.

"I still owe you money. Come find me once you've settled down." Su Wanwan lifted the curtain. "The Su residence of Magistrate Su is not hard to find."

"Mm." Lu Huai'an lowered his eyes, somewhat reluctant. "Okay."

"Farewell, Lu Huai'an," Su Wanwan waved.

After the city gates opened, Su Wanwan led the convoy around the corner towards the Su family home after parting ways with Lu Huai'an.

Upon returning to the Su family home, they found that their third uncle and Su Xian had already returned home.

The father was sitting in a wheelchair, and the mother was pushing the wheelchair out to greet her.

"Father, Mother, are you well?" Su Wanwan stepped forward to greet her parents, and then bowed to her third uncle, saying, "Third Uncle, are you well?"

"Get up quickly, let your mother see if you've lost weight?" Madam Wang held her hand tightly with heartache.

"Mother, I'm perfectly fine." Su Wanwan turned around.

"You've lost weight! You've gotten darker!" Mrs. Wang said with concern.

"Mother, you've recovered in just half a month," Su Wanwan comforted her, then turned to ask Su Xian, "Sixth Brother, was the journey safe?"

Her biggest worry was whether the copper ore had been transported to the capital.

"It went very smoothly, thanks to Uncle Wu," Su Xian said.

"Where is Uncle Wu?" Su Wanwan walked behind her father's wheelchair and pushed it into the front hall.

The group walked towards the front hall.

"I went back to Suzhou with your eldest uncle," Su Hongxuan said. "This time, we owe a lot to my elder brother and third brother. I'm so old, yet I still cause my family worry. I shouldn't have done that."

"What are you saying, Second Brother? We're all family. Fortunately, we escaped unharmed this time and made a great contribution. Maybe in a few months, we can go back to Suzhou," Su Hongsheng comforted him.

"Third Uncle, Sixth Brother, thank you for your hard work." Su Wanwan walked up to the two men and bowed again.

The two were both dark-skinned and thin, and they had suffered a lot this time.

"We're all family. If you do this, your third uncle won't be happy." Su Hongsheng helped her up.

"Besides, thanks to you, this kid has become more sensible. When he came back today, he actually told me that he wants to participate in the autumn imperial examination."

"That's fantastic news! We'll go find the academy another day and prepare in advance," Su Wanwan said with a smile.

"Second sister, let's forget about it. I don't like reading," Su Xian said lazily, lying on the chair.

"Let's not talk about him. I want to talk about you. You're clever and quick-witted. The cargo ships entered Linqing and the Sanhe River junction were thoroughly inspected. If we hadn't been prepared in advance, our Su family would have been finished this time." Su Hongsheng took a sip of tea to calm his nerves after surviving the ordeal.

Su Xian became interested and sat up straight.

"Father, let me tell you, especially at the confluence of the three rivers. Luckily, it was Old Wu who was on duty, and luckily I was clever enough to be there. They were inspecting the grain transport boats when I caused trouble here, and Old Wu took the opportunity to go over there... Let me tell you the details..."

Outside the bustling front hall.

Corridor.

Above the beam, a dark figure flashed by, climbed onto the eaves, listened for about half an hour, and then stepped onto the tiles and jumped out of the yard.

They rushed towards the Princess's residence.

About an incense stick's time later, the shadowy figure slipped into the east garden of the Princess's residence.

In the East Garden Study, the Eldest Princess sat in a chair drinking tea, while Xiao Xuanjing sat at his desk, deep in thought as he looked at the weight of the copper ore being delivered to the West Market Copper Workshop.

They actually transported a full 600 tons.

"How is it?" the princess asked with a smile.

Xiao Xuanjing pondered for a moment, "Did Mother leak the news about the copper mine to Prince Changxin?"

"So what if it is? Does Prince Fengchen want to question his mother?" The eldest princess said unhappily.

"The Su family worked themselves to the bone for Mother. How is Mother any different from the Su family in doing this?" Xiao Xuanjing took a deep breath and put the account book aside.

"The Su family serves me faithfully, so I can't just get rid of them. Otherwise, who will serve me in the future? Besides, this idea was proposed to Su Tailing by you, so what does it have to do with me?" The Princess said firmly.

"I did suggest transporting the copper ore, but I didn't involve the canal transport department, nor did I send any information to Prince Changxin," Xiao Xuanjing said, frowning.

He only wanted to evade the Crown Prince's spies and transport the copper mine back to the capital.

"You blame me."

"Your subject dares not."

The room fell into a deathly silence.

The palace maid beside the princess tactfully withdrew and prepared to close the door from the outside.

Before the door could be closed, a dark figure pushed it open.

The dark figure entered the room and knelt down, revealing Xie Yunzhou's face. "Your Highness, my lord, the copper mine was transported into the capital by Su Hongsheng's youngest son, Su Xian, and a man named Uncle Wu."

"How could this be?" The princess's hand, which was sipping tea, froze in mid-air. "The canal transport workers have been guarding the area the whole time. How could they have done that?"

"Your Highness, the patrol officers missed their target. In Liaocheng, the Su family transported all the copper ore onto cargo ships at midnight. The patrol officers only focused on the grain transport ships and neglected the cargo ships, which is why they missed their chance."

"Where are the men of Prince Changxin?" the princess asked in surprise.

"It's all thanks to the second young lady of the Su family." Xiao Xuanjing sat in his chair, toying with a dagger in his hand.

"Mother, I met her outside Cangzhou City. She was with men from a security escort agency, and her carriage showed signs of being slashed by bandits. It seems that the Prince of Changxin's men were attracted by her."

"She's so clever, escaping death time and time again. Su Tailing is already at her last gasp, and there are no rising stars to replace her. Her cleverness is useless to me!"

Xiao Xuanjing stood up and threw the dagger at the dartboard hanging in the distance, hitting the bullseye.

"Su Tailing is useless, but Su Hongsheng is somewhat useful. He was able to transport the copper ore to the capital, which has already solved Chen Kingdom's urgent problem. How about promoting him to the capital?"

The eldest princess stood up. "Suit yourself, but this second young lady of the Su family cannot be allowed to live."

"Yes, Mother, take care." Xiao Xuanjing saw her to the door.

Just as the eldest princess left, Jian Qingshan came in from outside. "Your Majesty, there's news. The travel permits that were approved last time have been put into action."

"Where are we?" Xiao Xuanjing asked, lowering his eyes.

"We've already passed Cangzhou. We'll check the city gates again tomorrow to see if we've entered the capital." Jian Qingshan cupped his hands in greeting.

"Prince Changxin, we're almost at the capital." Xiao Xuanjing smiled and sat down.

"My lord, there is still no news from the Crown Prince." Jian Qingshan stepped forward.

"It's alright. The Crown Prince has been busy choosing a consort lately, and in his spare time he's always going against me. Both the Prince of Changxin and the Crown Prince are of royal blood, so how they fight is their business." Xiao Xuanjing tapped his hand rhythmically on the table.

He has something more pressing to do now; he's never been defeated by a woman since he was a child.

Let her have some fun before she dies.