Chapter 336

As for the Prince Ji Mansion, after Shen Jing Bin left, Su Jin Xiu had no more scruples and then asked Li Xiao in detail about everything concerning Su Qing Ci.

Confirming that Su Qing Ci had died thoroughly eight years ago, her heart was finally completely at ease.

The servants soon set up a sumptuous lunch.

After the meal, Su Jin Xiu digested for a while in the courtyard and then went into the bedroom to rest.

She had always paid attention to maintenance, so she had the habit of taking a nap.

But for some reason today, she tossed and turned, unable to sleep peacefully; her heart felt like it was stuffed with a ball of karmic fire, unable to go up or down, feeling very restless.

In the end, she couldn't stand it anymore and simply got out of bed.

Hearing the summons from the room, Shang Chun quickly walked in with a basin of warm water and smiled: "It's still early, why didn't the Princess Consort sleep a little longer?"

Su Jin Xiu raised her hand to stroke her forehead. "I won't sleep anymore, I have a headache."

"A headache is no small matter." Shang Chun's tone was full of concern. "Should I find a doctor to take a look?"

"No need, I'm just a bit tired."

Su Jin Xiu sat in front of the dressing table, took the wet towel handed over by Shang Chun, and pressed it gently on her somewhat mediocre face. Looking at herself in the mirror, she suddenly paused.

After a long while, she said gloomily: "Tell me, why is Su Qing Ci so lucky?"

Shang Chun didn't dare to answer this.

While observing Su Jin Xiu's expression through the mirror, she tried hard to guess her master's thoughts.

Su Jin Xiu didn't expect her to answer and continued to speak to herself: "Back then, I clearly made an agreement with that kidnapper, and he also promised me that he would definitely sell Su Qing Ci into the worst brothel, letting her live a miserable life in her next life, being slept with by thousands of men and ridden by ten thousand, living a life worse than death. But why, after all this, did she end up marrying Jiang Mo Nian by mistake..."

Shang Chun understood immediately.

The Princess Consort was feeling unbalanced.

"What's so great about marrying Jiang Mo Nian?" Shang Chun's eyes rolled, and she curled her lips in disdain. "No matter how talented Jiang Mo Nian is, no matter how famous he is, in the end, he's just a farm boy; how can he compare to our Prince's noble birth..."

"What do you know!"

Before Shang Chun could finish, Su Jin Xiu suddenly flew into a rage and threw the towel in her hand into the basin in resentment.

*Splash! * Water splattered everywhere.

"That year, my brother came back from the capital and nagged for half a month, saying how handsome Jiang Mo Nian was, how outstanding his literary talent was, and how devoted he was to his wife, even refusing to look at a princess for her sake."

"Why? What virtue or ability does Su Qing Ci have to find such a good man?"

"Does she deserve it?!"

Su Jin Xiu became more and more excited as she spoke, her voice growing higher. "Compared to her, look at the man I married: idle, unlearned, and on top of that, he spends his days fooling around in brothels, bringing in a concubine today and taking in a top courtesan tomorrow; this huge backyard is almost full."

"He thinks my looks are ordinary and doesn't come to my courtyard for ten days or half a month; sometimes when he goes out, I don't see him for a year or half a year."

"How is my life as a Princess Consort any different from a widow?"

Shang Chun was so anxious she almost covered her mouth. "Oh, Princess Consort, you shouldn't say such things."

She walked quickly to the door to look around, confirmed that no one had heard, and then returned to the room.

She began to comfort her master.

"Princess Consort, you are very wrong to think this way. Yes, Jiang Mo Nian is good in every way, but he has one bad thing: he married a wife who cursed her husband and was cursed to death early. Once he died, look at the life Su Qing Ci lived: her mother-in-law didn't like her, her luck was bad, and didn't she follow him to see the King of Hell a few months later?"

"Now, no one knows which rat fed on her bones, while you, Princess Consort, are still alive and well, enjoying glory and wealth in the world. So in the end, you won."

Shang Chun had been by Su Jin Xiu's side for decades and naturally understood her best.

And these words touched Su Jin Xiu's heart.

Su Jin Xiu had loved to compare herself with Su Qing Ci since she was a child. Her appearance and status were innate, and she couldn't compare to Su Qing Ci, but even in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, needlework, and cooking, no matter how hard she tried, she was inferior to this younger sister in every way.

Seeing that Su Qing Ci was about to marry into the Prince Ji Mansion and become a high-ranking Princess Consort, Su Jin Xiu was so jealous her eyes turned red.

So, she hardened her heart, bribed Su Qing Ci's maid Lou Dong Er, and secretly sold Su Qing Ci to a kidnapper.

And she herself took the place of her younger sister and married into the Prince's mansion as she wished.

Although her relationship with her husband wasn't harmonious, whenever she thought of Su Qing Ci living a life of fire and water in a place she couldn't see, she felt very satisfied.

Until today...

But Shang Chun was right; what was there to argue about with a dead person? Su Qing Ci was more beautiful than her, married better than her, and gave birth to a son who was more promising than her own son, but so what?

She was dead.

And she was still alive.

That was enough.

Su Jin Xiu's blocked heart finally cleared up a bit, and a smile appeared on her face. "Alright, help me comb my hair."

Shang Chun breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes, Princess Consort."

"Oh, by the way, order the kitchen later to simmer a bowl of lotus root and pig tongue soup and keep it, so Bin'er can drink it when he comes back later." Su Jin Xiu ordered. "Bin'er has been a bit inflamed lately, and this works well."

"Understood, Princess Consort."

Shang Chun deftly helped Su Jin Xiu with her hair bun, while glancing at the sky outside the window. "The Heir Apparent has been gone for several hours; he should be back soon, right?"

Su Jin Xiu said "Hmm."

When Bin'er came back, she would know how things were progressing.

If that Du woman was as beautiful as Bin'er said, Prince Yu surely wouldn't be able to resist. As long as Prince Yu had thoughts, the Jiang family would lose face at best, and their lives at worst.

Hah, it would be best if they lost their lives.

After all, separation of flesh and blood was a painful thing; it was better to send Jiang Li and his siblings to the underworld to see Su Qing Ci early!

A smile rose imperceptibly on Su Jin Xiu's lips.

Just at this moment, rapid and panicked footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door, and immediately after, the maid Nanzhi stumbled in. "Princess Consort, Princess Consort... something happened!"

Su Jin Xiu's heart skipped a beat, and the smile froze on her face.

"Nanzhi, you are usually steady, what's going on today?" Shang Chun frowned and scolded.

Nanzhi pointed outside, her voice trembling violently. "Princess Consort, you should go out and see, the Heir Apparent, he, he..."

"What happened to the Heir Apparent? Tell me quickly!"

Nanzhi burst into tears.

Su Jin Xiu suddenly had a bad premonition, and regardless of her disheveled clothes and messy hair, she stood up abruptly and ran outside.

Just as she ran out of the courtyard gate, she saw several Qilin Guards carrying a wooden board toward her.

Lying on the board was a person.

Looking at the clothing and attire, it was her own son, Shen Jing Bin.

"Bin'er!" Su Jin Xiu rushed to the front in two or three steps. When she looked at the wooden board, her body swayed, and she almost fainted.

Shen Jing Bin's appearance was terrifying.

His face and clothes were covered in blood, a shocking red.

His eyes were wide open, his eyes splitting, and seeing Su Jin Xiu, his expression immediately became excited, his mouth opening as if to say something, but what came out was a vague, muffled sound.

And blood gushed out of his mouth again.

Shen Jing Bin trembled all over, tears streaming down, carving two clear gullies through the blood on his face.

"Bin'er! Bin'er, what's wrong with you? What on earth happened?"

Su Jin Xiu's eyes were red, and she kicked the weeping page Wen Liu beside her. "You tell me!"

Wen Liu was so scared he knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing, crying bitterly. "Princess Consort, spare me, this servant doesn't know... The Heir Apparent was fine when he went in, but when he came out, he had lost half his tongue, and his legs, his legs were broken... Woo woo woo..."

Su Jin Xiu's vision went black.

Shang Chun hurriedly supported her, sobbing: "Princess Consort, you must hold on, the Heir Apparent still needs you."

Su Jin Xiu used a lot of effort to keep herself from falling. She pushed Shang Chun away and turned to look at the several Qilin Guards, finally landing her gaze on the round-faced girl leading them.

The round-faced girl was none other than Zongzheng Yun's maid—Ziyu.

Ziyu sighed. "Princess Consort, the Heir Apparent was foolish."

Su Jin Xiu stared at her, squeezing the words out through her teeth. "What do you mean?"

By now, she could see that the reason her son had ended up like this had everything to do with Prince Yu.

She just couldn't understand.

Why?

Why would Prince Yu deal such a heavy hand to Bin'er?

Bin'er was his own cousin!

Ziyu quickly cleared her doubts. "Princess Consort should know that my master spent the first ten years or so somewhat absurdly, so the Emperor didn't like him. Now that my master is sensible and has pulled himself together, he has done several major things in succession and finally regained the Emperor's heart, and he is thinking of doing great things to share the Emperor's worries. But the Heir Apparent jumped out at this time to lobby my master to seize a common woman, inciting my master to indulge in female beauty, and inducing my master to neglect his proper work. If the Emperor finds out about such evil deeds, do you guess he will be furious? If he descends with punishment, the entire Prince's mansion, including the Prince and you, Princess Consort, will all be severely punished."

"My master was forced to do this to punish the Heir Apparent to stop the mouths of the people."

"Only in this way can the Emperor's anger be calmed, and my master can protect the Prince Ji Mansion."

These words were reasonable.

And sincere.

Su Jin Xiu's face twitched violently, her lips bitten until they bled, and she sneered: "So, Prince Yu hurting Bin'er was for the good of our Prince Ji Mansion?"

Ziyu nodded. "Naturally."

Bullshit!

Su Jin Xiu wanted to eat Ziyu alive.

But she couldn't.

You have to look at the master before beating the dog; Ziyu represented Prince Yu. If she acted against Ziyu, it would be equivalent to breaking with Prince Yu.

The Prince Ji Mansion couldn't afford that price.

What's more, there were several Qilin Guards watching covetously; these people were experts who had fought through thousands of troops and horses. Even if she gathered all the guards in the mansion, they wouldn't be their match.

She could only endure.

"Alright, we have sent the person back, so we won't hinder the Princess Consort from taking care of the Heir Apparent here. Farewell."

Looking at Su Jin Xiu's twisted face, Ziyu didn't want to stay any longer, lest she anger the other party into a bad state. "By the way, my master also asked me to bring a message to the Princess Consort: please teach the Heir Apparent to be cautious in his words and actions in the future, and do not cause trouble again, lest he bring about a great disaster."

After saying this, she led the people away.

Watching their departing backs, Su Jin Xiu's nails dug deep into her palms.

Cautious in words and actions, indeed.

To make Bin'er cautious in words, he directly cut out his tongue, making him unable to speak forever, turning him into a mute;

To make Bin'er cautious in actions, he cruelly broke his legs, making him unable to stand up again.

Zongzheng Yun, you are ruthless enough!

"Princess Consort, it's better to find a doctor to take a look at the Heir Apparent first; if the bleeding doesn't stop, I'm afraid it won't be good." Shang Chun reminded.

Su Jin Xiu looked coldly at Wen Liu. "What are you crying for? Go and invite a doctor quickly."

Wen Liu wiped away his tears and ran out in a panic.

Shang Chun shouted from behind: "Go to Baohe Hall and find Doctor Huangfu; his medical skills are good!"