Infanta Ceylon was in danger now; if she was not treated timely, she would probably die in An Mansion!
Before Minister An could speak, another maid rushed over.
“My Lord, Infanta Ceylon has been out of danger now. The doctor says he can save her.”
Hearing this, Minister An immediately changed his face. “Come on, Su Muge intends to murder Infanta Ceylon. Arrest her!”
The guards of An Mansion stepped forward to catch Su Muge, but Su Muge stared at them coldly. “Don’t touch me! I can walk by myself!”
When Su Muge left, she winked at Yueru who had just come over, hinting that she should not let Zhao get involved.
Knowing her meaning, Yueru could only grit her teeth and watch her being taken away.
Xia Houkun took a deep glance at Su Muge with his eyes darkened.
“Humph, she is troublesome at first glance. How could such a money-losing thing be born in the Su family!” Old Lady Su was watching aside supported by Haitang. Seeing that Su Muge was taken away by the guards of An Mansion, she was not worried at all but gloated.
Su Lun frowned, thinking of finding an opportunity to talk to Minister An in private.
Everyone had their own thoughts. After Su Muge was taken away by the guards, they were invited back to the banquet.
Minister An and Madam An hurried to the guest room where Infanta Ceylon was. A doctor in his forties was treating her.
“Doctor Lu, how is Your Grace now?” Doctor Lu often treated the masters of An Mansion, so his medical skills were very trustworthy.
Dr. Lu stepped forward and said, “My Lord, rest assured, Your Grace has been stabilized. She has got out of danger for the time being, but…”
“But what?”
“But I have no idea when she can wake up.”
After Doctor Lu left, Madam An put on a stern look instantly.
“My Lord, what shall we do? It’s Su Muge’s fault. We are just unlucky to have it happen in An Mansion. You must explain it to the Emperor!”
Minister An was thinking with a sullen face.
“Treat the guests outside well. Leave it to me.”
Although Minister An looked like Maitreya Buddha, he was decisive and his words were indisputable, which was clear to Madam An after so many years being with him.
“Yes, I’ll do it right away.”
Madam An walked out of the guest courtyard, feeling so unlucky. She originally intended to trouble and embarrass Su Muge and others from Su Mansion in the banquet; however, she didn’t expect that something like this would happen.
After Madam An left, Minister An immediately called in the housekeeper.
“Go to prepare the carriage. I’m going to the palace.”
“Yes.”
Su Muge was temporarily imprisoned by the guards of An Mansion in an abandoned house in the backyard. Since it hadn’t been made clear yet, they dared not be too hard on Su Muge, considering that she had interaction with the Emperor.
Su Muge sat in the empty and shady house, recalling what happened today.
Infanta Ceylon’s appearance was strange enough. Judging from her personality, she wouldn’t come to celebrate the birthday of an irrelevant official for no reason.
It would certainly make people feel strange.
As soon as she stepped onto the corridor, Infanta Ceylon fell into the water. How could it be so coincidental?
She was certain that something was wrong, but she couldn’t think of any flaw. It made her so uncomfortable!
Knowing Su Muge in trouble, Zhao was extraordinarily anxious.
“Don’t worry, Madam. My Lord has gone for Minister An. This matter must have been misunderstood. As long as the misunderstanding is solved, Miss will be fine.” Meihua could only keep comforting Zhao; they didn’t believe that it was done by Su Muge.
Zhao didn’t know the conflict between Infanta Ceylon and Su Muge at the banquet, so she had no idea of the seriousness of this matter.
After being consoled for a while, Zhao finally calmed down. She knew they couldn’t act capriciously in An Mansion.
However, when An Mansion began to see off the guests, there was no news about Su Muge.
“My Lord is back.”
Su Lun came back with a serious look.
“My Lord, how is Mumu?”
Su Lun shook his head. “Minister An has entered the palace to inform the Emperor of this matter. Let’s go back and wait for the result.”
“But Mumu…” Hearing his, Zhao was even more anxious. How could she rest assured to leave Su Muge alone here?
“What a trouble-maker! She is so good at making troubles for Su Mansion. Go back!” It was the first time for Old Lady Su to attend such kind of banquet. In addition to her weird temper, she had few topics with those old ladies in the capital, so she had long wanted to leave.
“Let’s go back first. The Emperor will deal with it.”
Now that the Emperor had known the matter, he could do nothing but wait for the results!
But Su Mansion must not be implicated in this matter!
No matter how reluctant Zhao was, she was carried out of An Mansion by Su Lun’s followers.
With such a big accident, the banquet could only be dismissed in disappointment, but the incident of Infanta Ceylon in An Mansion was quickly spread.
Minister An galloped to the palace. When he arrived, his robe had been wet with sweat.
Xia Hourui was sitting and writing in the Imperial Study, and Minister An knelt in the room.
He described the matter to the Emperor, but the Emperor kept silent for quite a while, making Minister An confused.
After a while, Xia Hourui dropped the last stroke on the rice paper. As soon as he put down his writing brush, Eunuch Yi hurriedly handed him a cup of hot tea.
Xia Hourui took a sip of tea before looking at Minister An, “Infanta Ceylon had an accident in An Mansion. Lord An, you are too careless.”
Hearing the Emperor’s words, Minister An still couldn’t understand his meaning.
“Yes, I was too negligent.”
“You mean Su Muge pushed Infanta Ceylon into the water?”
“Yes, the maid who was serving Infanta Ceylon at that time witnessed it. Previously, Infanta Ceylon had a grudge against Su Muge and fought with her at the banquet. Second Prince was also present and witnessed it.”
“So she has every reason to push Infanta Ceylon into the water?”
“I think it is possible.”
Xia Hourui put down the teacup and walked to Minister An. “Lord An, you’ve already arrested Su Muge?”
“Yes, I’ve imprisoned her in my house.”
“Since she dared to murder the Infanta, Jing Zhaoyin (the capital’s mayor) will put her into prison. Hand her over to Jing Zhaoyin.”
As long as this matter was handed over to Jing Zhaoyin, An Mansion would have nothing to do with it!
“Yes.”
“Eunuch Yi, send someone to An Mansion to take Infanta Ceylon back to the palace, and go with some imperial doctors.”
“Yes.”
After Minister An left the Imperial Study, he immediately went for Jing Zhaoyin and handed everything over before returning to An Mansion.
Jing Zhaoyin had Su Muge escorted out of An Mansion. Hearing the news, Su Jingwen waited on the road to laugh at Su Muge.
“Su Muge, let me see how arrogant you are this time!” A woman, who had been put in jail, couldn’t marry to any decent man even if she was lucky enough to be released. Her life had almost been ruined completely!
After Infanta Ceylon was taken away by Eunuch Yi’s people, An Mansion finally quieted down.
After gloating over Su Muge, Su Jingwen was to return to her yard happily.
As she walked through the garden where the banquet was held, she found a familiar figure standing there. “Mother?”
Hearing her voice, An turned around and looked at Su Jingwen.
Su Jingwen trotted to her happily and held her hands. “Mother, you must have not known that the little bitch Su Muge has met Waterloo!”
After a few days’ stay in An Mansion, An looked much better now. Moreover, there was a charm in her complexion that she had never had before.
Hearing Su Jingwen’s words, she chuckled gently. “Of course I know she will be doomed and she will have no way to recover!”
Su Jingwen looked at An in surprise. “How do you know, mother? The maids have told you, right?”
An smiled with flickering eyes, “Yes, of course. Well, I’m a little tired and want to take a rest. Go back.”
An’s incident in Su Mansion was not glorious for An Mansion after all. After she came back, Minister An said nothing but asked Madam An to settle her in a remote courtyard.
Her daily accommodation was excellent, but she was not allowed to attend any formal occasion.
An understood the rule and had been staying in her yard obediently.
Watching An’s leaving figure, Su Jingwen frowned, feeling her mother somehow alienated from her. She shook her head and believed that she must have thought too much.
…
The news that Su Muge was sent to jail by Jing Zhaoyin was quickly spread in the capital.
After all, Su Muge had been famous in the capital recently. Everyone began to discuss and speculate about what would happen to Su Muge next.
Xia Houmo, who was in Jiangnan prefecture far away from the capital, received the news the day after Su Muge was imprisoned.
“Your Royal Highness, here is a massage from the capital.”
Since they were in the mountains, the messages were delivered much more slowly.
As soon as Xia Houmo opened the letter, his dark eyes became even darker.
A few days ago, Xia Hourui suddenly asked him to go to Jiangnan prefecture to suppress the bandits.
There were many mountainous areas around Jiangnan prefecture of the Chu, as well as many rich trade caravans.
The wealthier people there were, the greater the gap and the contradiction would be between the rich and the poor.
Half a year ago, a group of extremely brutal bandits appeared on the road from Jiangnan prefecture to other prefectures.
The bandits murdered and burned, committing all manners of crimes, and complaints were heard everywhere.
The Chief of Jiangnan prefecture had sent officers and soldiers to encircle and suppress the bandits many times but failed. These bandits were extremely clever; they were good at taking advantage of the terrain in the mountains to hide and attack. As a result, they not only failed to suppress the bandits but also lost plenty of officers and soldiers.
As a consequence, the Chief of Jiangnan prefecture dared not to act rashly and could only report to the imperial court, hoping that someone could be sent to destroy those bandits!
In the eyes of Donglin and others, Xia Hourui was wasting Xia Houmo’s talent on a petty job to suppress the bandits!
Seeing Xia Houmo with a sullen face, Donglin was curious about the letter. “Your Royal Highness, what happened in the capital?”
Xia Houmo clenched the letter tightly in his hands and burned it to ashes the next moment.
“Before tomorrow dawn, I don’t want to see any bandit in this mountain anymore!”
