SFL Chapter 24

In all these years, Mu Yunfeng hadn’t expected to be linked to the female lead in any way, and he truly couldn’t understand Su Qianhuan’s intentions.

Beside him, Su Qianluo was infuriated by Su Qianhuan’s recent actions. She recalled those absurd dreams, with two instances of entanglement between Su Qianhuan and Mu Yunfeng. She found herself growing resentful of Su Qianhuan.

“Your Majesty, bringing your own sister-in-law into the Emperor’s harem is not the action of a wise ruler,” an advisor immediately knelt down and advised.

Mu Yunfeng’s expression cleared slightly as he responded, “There is no spare space in our imperial harem.”

The officials were relieved when they heard this response. They thought about it, and there was only one Empress in the imperial harem. If someone were to enter, it would have happened already.

Why make such a scene now?

Even the age of the Fourth Prince’s consort was older than the Empress, and her sole advantage as a female servant was nonexistent. Why would they suddenly make such a move?

However, suddenly, some officials remembered what the Fourth Prince’s consort had said. They looked at the Fourth Prince with suspicion. The Fourth Prince’s consort claimed that it was at his request that she wanted to serve the Emperor. Could it be that the Fourth Prince wanted to send his wife to win the Emperor’s favor, and instead, it backfired terribly?

Most of the civil and military officials looked towards the Fourth Prince, who was currently as black as thunder. He had never expected that Su Qianhuan would have the audacity to act this way. It was as though she was stepping all over his face.

Only Mu Yunfeng and Su Qianluo knew that Su Qianhuan’s behavior probably had nothing to do with the Fourth Prince. They were well aware of her character, and Mu Yunfeng couldn’t interfere in this matter. He signaled to Su Qianluo, the Empress, to handle it.

Seeing the silent understanding between Mu Yunfeng and Su Qianluo, Su Qianhuan’s bitterness deepened. Although she knew that her last-ditch effort today would most likely fail, Mu Yunfeng gave her no hope at all. Fortunately, she had made progress over the years, and this time, even if she acted willfully, she wouldn’t involve her family. Her relationship with Su Qianluo, the closest relative she had, couldn’t be touched.

The Emperor wouldn’t vent his anger on his Empress, but he wouldn’t be lenient with the Fourth Prince. Regardless of the outcome, she would still eventually achieve her goal.

With a clear understanding of all the consequences, Su Qianhuan straightened her spine, maintaining her last trace of pride in front of her cousin, Su Qianluo.

“Fourth Prince’s consort Su, for your insolent and insubordinate remarks, you are hereby punished through exile with a white silk garment,” Su Qianluo ordered sternly.

Su Qianhuan looked up, unable to believe that Su Qianluo was actually sentencing her to death. Wasn’t she afraid the Emperor would be displeased with her actions? She knew well that her current position was all thanks to the Emperor.

The officials sighed inwardly, recognizing that the Empress was using this incident to set an example.

With Su Qianhuan’s fate as a warning, no one dared to entertain the idea of entering the imperial harem and vying for the Emperor’s favor in the future. With life at stake, any hopes of enjoying riches and luxury were extinguished.

Mu Yunfeng then turned his gaze to the Fourth Prince and asked with a smile, “Fourth Brother, do you have anything to say?”

The Fourth Prince, with pale lips, replied, “I have nothing to say, Your Majesty. Qianhuan has offended the Emperor, and it was not at my command.”

However, saying this after Su Qianluo had already dealt with Su Qianhuan seemed more like an attempt to shift the blame.

Seeing the Fourth Prince’s reaction, Mu Yunfeng squinted slightly, instructing someone to investigate Su Qianhuan’s life in the Fourth Prince’s residence.

In the meantime, the white silk garment had been prepared, and Su Qianhuan was restrained, feeling chilled to her bones. Su Qianluo ordered the execution to proceed.

Even without seeing it firsthand, the atmosphere in the court was far less lively than before.

The Emperor at the head of the hall, the more composed First Prince and Second Prince, all looked disapprovingly at the Fourth Prince, reproaching him, “Fourth Brother, do you think your life has become too comfortable that you have to conjure up such trouble?”

“It wasn’t me! I didn’t instruct Su Qianhuan anything,” the Fourth Prince quickly shook his head in self-defense.

“Then who else could it be? It can’t possibly be Su herself, right? You know that if this fails, she’ll lose her life,” the First Prince and Second Prince didn’t believe that the Fourth Princess had the audacity to act on her own.

The Fourth Prince felt his heart skip a beat when he recalled what Su Qianhuan had said earlier, claiming she was lawless and unchanged. He realized that her audacious actions in the past were somewhat consistent with her character now.

But what was the purpose behind all this? Why was Su Qianluo doing this?

Suddenly, the Fourth Prince’s heart raced, and he remembered that Su Qianhuan had found out about his intention to depose her as a royal consort.

Did Su Qianhuan know that she wouldn’t be in the Emperor’s harem unless the Emperor decided to save face, given her age and the Emperor’s unwavering affection for the Empress? The chances of her success were almost non-existent.

If she didn’t aim to enter the Emperor’s harem, what was her true intention?

The Fourth Prince had a vague realization, but he strongly avoided digging deeper into the truth.

The investigation team from the Fourth Prince’s residence returned with their findings. Mu Yunfeng didn’t listen separately. Instead, he had the results openly presented.

The court officials learned about the life Su Qianhuan, the Fourth Princess, had been leading in the Fourth Prince’s residence. Many people in the capital knew that the Fourth Princess had no children, but they didn’t know that the Fourth Prince hadn’t been with her for years. In such a situation, if the Fourth Princess were to have a child, they would have felt sympathy for the Fourth Prince.

Being childless and without the Emperor’s favor was one thing; after all, there were very few women like the Empress, who had the Emperor’s affection and had sons. Most couples in the imperial court lived day by day.

What people didn’t know was that the Fourth Prince, despite having a concubine who had borne him a son, was thinking of deposing his legitimate wife to make way for the concubine. Without the events of today, it’s likely that the Fourth Princess would have passed away soon.

Now, the looks the court officials cast at the Fourth Prince had completely changed. They hadn’t expected that the Fourth Prince, who was usually competent in his official duties, would be manipulated by the whims of a few women and make his home so chaotic that he would consider killing his wife to promote the concubine’s son.

The Fourth Prince, despite his best efforts to avoid it, also realized that Su Qianhuan was taking revenge on him.

Su Qianhuan’s revenge encompassed his failure to fulfill his husbandly duties for many years. His favoritism toward other women at the expense of his legitimate wife, and her displacement to make room for other women. The Fourth Prince knew he was finished. Su Qianhuan had successfully ruined his future with the price of her own life.

From today onwards, even if the Emperor didn’t punish him, the court officials wouldn’t look favorably upon him, and he no longer had any face to show in public.

“Fourth Brother, Su has made a mistake, and she has paid for it. What about you? You harbored thoughts of killing your wife and acted on them. You are no longer fit to hold an official position in the court,” Mu Yunfeng said to the Fourth Prince with a calm tone.

The Fourth Prince’s face turned ashen, his lips trembling, and he knelt down, surrendering his official seal.

The First Prince and the Second Prince both had a touch of melancholy in their hearts. They hadn’t expected the Fourth Prince, their former rival, to fall so directly at the hands of women. They were glad they hadn’t encountered a similar fate.

With these thoughts in mind, the First Prince and the Second Prince found themselves more respectful towards their respective wives.

“Your Majesty, the Fourth Princess has been sent back to the Fourth Prince’s residence,” a court lady reported to Su Qianluo.

Su Qianhuan had secured her revenge. After the events of today, the Fourth Prince wouldn’t have a chance for a comeback.

That night, Su Qianluo couldn’t sleep. She tossed and turned in Mu Yunfeng’s embrace. Mu Yunfeng held her still and asked, “Thinking about your elder cousin?”

“No, I’m thinking about the Fourth Prince and how men like you all think. The reason Su Qianhuan ended up like this is absolutely related to the Fourth Prince,” Su Qianluo replied with her eyes lowered.

She was contemplating whether Su Qianhuan would have walked this path if the Fourth Prince had fulfilled his duty as a husband.

Su Qianhuan wasn’t naive. Just like the time she ran away from her arranged marriage while still in her maiden chamber, she knew that her family would help resolve the situation. Even if her actions imposed costs on her distant cousin, they would get the job done.

Similarly, in this case, Su Qianhuan had no family to support her. She endured everything in the Fourth Prince’s residence until her mother’s death, only then acting with determination.

If she succeeded, she could enter the Emperor’s harem. After all, there were emperors in history who had brought their sisters-in-law into the harem. If she failed, she could make the Fourth Prince pay a heavy price.

The only thing she might not have anticipated was her decisiveness and not giving the Fourth Prince any more opportunities. But she believed that her elder cousin had considered her fate. After all, they were cousins, and they knew each other’s temperaments well.

“We can’t control other people’s lives, but we can live our own lives well,” Mu Yunfeng told Su Qianluo.

“To have met you in this lifetime is my greatest fortune,” Su Qianluo said to Mu Yunfeng.

Mu Yunfeng smiled as his lips curved slightly. “To have met you is my fortune as well.” So, in order to take her with him, he had to work even harder.

And so, from his ascension to his abdication, during Mu Yunfeng’s reign, the entire Empire underwent a remarkable transformation. The Empire’s face was renewed under his rule, and when Mu Yunfeng eventually stepped down, he left a time of prosperity for the Crown Prince.

Unlike the previous abdication of the former Emperor, the abdication of Mu Yunfeng was met with reluctance from both the civil and military officials and the common people. After all, who wouldn’t prefer an Emperor who could lead them to wealth and a worry-free life? They were all apprehensive about their living standards declining after Mu Yunfeng stepped down, and the pleas for him to stay became heartfelt and genuine.

Even the Crown Prince felt a sense of anxiety about whether he could lead on his own. He clung to his father’s sleeve, just as he did in his childhood. However, Mu Yunfeng had confidence in his son and said, “I believe in you. I believe in the guidance your grandfather and I have given you. I also believe that you can go even further with the foundation I’ve laid for you.”

This was all he could leave for his son.

Unable to persuade Mu Yunfeng to stay, the Crown Prince could only watch as he left. His eyes welled up with tears, for people, regardless of their age, were still children as long as their parents were around.

So, in order to give their child a better environment to grow up in, Mu Yunfeng and Su Qianluo left the capital together.

They traveled, enjoying the beauty of nature that they hadn’t seen in the first half of their lives.

Finally, after who knows how long they traveled, until Su Qianluo couldn’t walk any further, they returned to the capital.

At this point, the Emperor already had his own Crown Prince. He had grown even more mature, just as everyone had hoped he would, and had become a qualified Emperor. Yet, when facing Mu Yunfeng and Su Qianluo, one could still faintly see the shadow of the child he once was.

“Father, Mother, can you please not leave again?” the Emperor implored Mu Yunfeng.

With silver streaks in his hair and the wear of time on him, Mu Yunfeng smiled and replied, “Alright, we won’t leave again. Your mother can’t walk anymore.”

This statement sent a sense of foreboding through the Emperor. He immediately summoned the imperial physician to examine Mu Yunfeng and Su Qianluo.

The results revealed that Su Qianluo’s life was nearing its end.