The Marquis of Pingyang was in an extremely gloomy mood. The grief in his heart sapped his strength to get angry.
Looking up at Lady Tong who was talking to the memorial tablet as if there was someone there, he said hoarsely, "Forget it. She was separated from the Marquis's Mansion for so many years and endured more than a decade of hardship. Let these 50,000 taels of gold be what we owe her. From now on, we have no further connection with her. You should also tell her not to swagger around in the name of the Pingyang Marquis's Mansion and the Tong Family in the future."
Su Zeqian opened his mouth but finally didn't voice his doubts about Lady Tong.
The result of the blood - relation test was right there. Whether Su Qingyu was really their flesh and blood remained to be verified. Before everything was confirmed, one couldn't jump to conclusions easily. This was the knowledge he had learned in the Ministry of Punishment.
Gritting his teeth, Su Zeqian said, "Yes, Father. I understand."
Although it was a bit late, the Marquis's Mansion's action finally gave the deceased Su Yuanyuan a proper place to rest. It announced to the world that Su Yuanyuan was still the legitimate second daughter of the Pingyang Marquis's Mansion and that the mansion had never given up on her.
The Marquis's Mansion didn't deliberately conceal this action. So within half a day, the news that the Marquis of Pingyang had retrieved the bones of his second daughter and planned to bury her properly quietly spread to every household in Shengjing City.
Some people said that since Su Yuanyuan had entered the Lu Mansion back then and died because of the Lu Mansion's downfall, she should be considered a member of the Lu Mansion even in death. The Pingyang Marquis's Mansion had done more than enough and should be praised for generations.
Some others said that the Pingyang Marquis's Mansion did this to safeguard its reputation. Because the legitimate eldest daughter of the Marquis, Su Qingyu, had undressed herself on the street for no reason a couple of days ago, which was indecent and had led to her being splashed with feces, making the Marquis's Mansion lose face. So the mansion remembered they still had a second daughter and sent people to the mass grave to retrieve her bones.
There were also those who said that there were so many corpses in the mass grave. Maybe the bones they retrieved weren't even Su Yuanyuan's at all. The Marquis's Mansion was just putting on a show.
As for whether those bones were really Su Yuanyuan's, only the Marquis of Pingyang and Lady Tong knew.
Naturally, the movements of the Pingyang Marquis's Mansion didn't escape the notice of the Liuyun Pavilion. Under Cang Xuan's deliberate arrangement, this news was also passed on to Su Yuanyuan by Caiyun.
Hearing about all that the Marquis of Pingyang, Lady Tong and others had done for "Su Yuanyuan", Su Yuanyuan couldn't help laughing.
"If they truly felt remorse in their hearts, they should have done this half a year ago. Not to mention it's half a year late. Even if they had hesitated for a single moment, all they've done today is in vain."
Su Yuanyuan put the letter in her hand on the candle flame and burned it clean.
"The harm has already been done. It can't be erased just by shedding a few tears and saying a few words of repentance. If I were 'Su Yuanyuan'..."
Her eyes turned cold. "I would never forgive them even a little bit."
In the courtyard of the Prince of Cangjun's Mansion, there came a tinkling sound.
Picking up the guqin in his hand, Cang Xuan reached out to brush off the snow on it and asked the person beside him, "Your lady really said that?"
Caiyun replied, "Absolutely. I remember it clearly."
"Indeed. If they had known this would happen, why did they do it in the first place?" Cang Xuan said indifferently.
The actions of the Marquis of Pingyang and others going to the mass grave to retrieve the bones made him think of the emperor when they were in the Yandang Mountain villa.
To some extent, the emperor, the Marquis of Pingyang and others were all the same kind of people. Whether it was Su Yuanyuan or Shu Moyun, they were supposed to be the closest people around them. They had lived together for so long and knew each other well, but in the end, they couldn't overcome the word "trust", which led to a tragedy.
Were they really regretting? No. They were just trying to save face and ease their consciences.
The harm had already been done. No amount of repentance later would help.
Moreover, the emperor didn't even seem to be truly repentant. After all, he not only married the daughter of the Wang Family as the queen but also had a crown prince with her and other princes with his concubines.
How much credibility could the so - called "remorse" from an unfaithful and immoral person have?
The so - called "regret" was just an excuse to build up their own images.
He said the same thing as Su Yuanyuan: "That's right. Never forgive them even a little bit."
Just as he was about to continue polishing the Jiaowei Qin in his hand, Tian Xuan landed in the courtyard like a ghost. He knelt on one knee in front of Cang Xuan and said, "My lord, the fish has moved."
When Tian Xuan looked up again, Cang Xuan was no longer in the courtyard. Exchanging a glance with Caiyun, they both lowered their heads and quietly retreated.
The night was deep and the snow was falling. A figure left the Wang Family's fur shop and walked in the direction of the palace. From the back, it could be seen that it was a woman. She was holding a rather large package in her arms, but no one knew what was inside.
She walked while being vigilant and careful of her surroundings. Her steps were so light that no one could detect them.
But she didn't know that there was a shadow silently following her.
With the queen's access token and the fact that the guards at the gate belonged to the Wang Family's camp, the woman passed through the palace gate smoothly. She walked along the palace path in the direction of the Fengyi Palace. When she reached the outside of the Fengyi Palace, the woman stopped, turned around and looked behind her. After confirming that there was no one there, she entered the Fengyi Palace.
Although it was already late at night, the queen wasn't asleep. She was just pretending to doze on the bed.
When she heard the sound of the palace door being pushed open, she immediately opened her eyes and sat up on the bed.
After a while, her chief maid, Chen Fang, came over holding a package.
"Your Majesty, this servant has retrieved the item."
Queen Wang snatched the package from Chen Fang's arms. Just as she was about to open it, she looked up and said coldly, "Get out."
Chen Fang didn't dare to look any further. She lowered her head and exited the bedroom as ordered.
After Chen Fang left, Queen Wang quickly opened the package in her hand, revealing the fur inside.
On the beam, Cang Xuan, who had been hiding in the dark and witnessed everything, squinted his eyes slightly. For the past month, he had followed the caravan every day and had seen them collect all the furs. He could almost tell the origin of each fur.
The red fox fur in Queen Wang's hand was bought by the caravan from a hunter.
When the hunter brought the fur, the blood on it hadn't completely dried. According to the hunter, he had just skinned the fox, and the skinned fox was hanging in the yard to dry. From start to finish, there seemed to be nothing wrong.
After getting the fur from this hunter, they stayed in the Jiutang Mountain villa. But Cang Xuan had explored the villa in Jiutang Mountain. It was very simple and had no traps or secret passages.
Why did Queen Wang specifically ask the caravan to collect the red fox fur for her?
Was it just because she liked it?
Just when Cang Xuan was confused, Queen Wang below took a further action.
She put the red fox fur in her hand on the fire to roast. Immediately, a burnt smell filled the air. But a more miraculous thing happened. On the inner side of the fur - the skin side, the part that had been roasted by the candle flame gradually melted, and then a piece of leather the size of half a palm peeled off and fell on the table.