Facing Su Huaiyuan's skeptical look, Wei Linlang sighed and explained to him. "Yuanbao was plotted against and fell into the water in the Qingyi Garden. It was Cang Xuan who saved her. He also gave her this outer robe to keep her warm and testified in front of the empress that it was all the doing of the eldest legitimate daughter of the Pingyang Marquis Mansion, which made that woman receive due punishment."
"Maybe knowing that it was a gift from her savior, Yuanbao insisted on keeping this outer robe. So I had no choice but to wash it and send it here."
Su Huaiyuan didn't expect to get such an answer from Wei Linlang. He was silent for a moment and gritted his teeth, saying,
"Humph, this scoundrel must have had ulterior motives when he saved Yuanbao. Maybe he's plotting against our Duke's Mansion again. He's really extremely treacherous!"
Seeing Su Yuanyuan's eyes fixed on the outer robe all the time, Su Huaiyuan felt a chill in his heart.
The younger sister he had watched grow up was actually starting to take a fancy to an outsider, and such a person!
This won't do!
Taking a step forward to block Su Yuanyuan's sight, Su Huaiyuan said, "Yuanbao, Second Brother doesn't know if you may not understand, but no matter what, Second Brother has to explain it to you. Don't think that just because Cang Xuan gave you the robe to keep you warm and spoke up for you, he's actually a sinister villain!"
"Every single thing he does has a purpose and is calculated. You must never get close to him and be bewitched by his words! Maybe, he's secretly planning to kidnap you for alchemy!"
In her previous life, Su Yuanyuan had heard some terrifying rumors about this grand councilor, so she naturally knew that he wasn't a good person.
However, compared to this, she was more curious about the entanglement between their Duke's Mansion and Cang Xuan.
"Why?" she blurted out subconsciously.
Seeing that Su Yuanyuan still looked confused, Su Huaiyuan was anxious. Regardless of whether Su Yuanyuan could understand or not, he spilled out all the inside information at once:
"Yuanbao, the reason why Father brought us to Shengjing and became the Duke of Yong was all because of this great scoundrel's interference!"
"Our Su family has guarded Xuancheng for generations to resist foreign enemies. The whole family is loyal and heroic, dedicated to the Great Chu and the common people of the world. Our loyalty can be witnessed by heaven and earth, and by the sun and the moon!"
"But this scoundrel actually slandered Father in front of the emperor, saying that he observed the stars at night and found that the imperial star was dim, and there might be a rebellion in the northwest, implicitly suggesting that Father had the intention of treason!"
"The emperor sent an imperial edict to Xuancheng, ordering Father to hand over the tiger tally immediately. He conferred the title of 'Duke of Yong' on Father, appointed him as a grand scholar of the Wutao Pavilion, and bestowed a mansion in Shengjing. Father must return to Shengjing to take office within a month."
"Cang Xuan is the enemy of our Su family! Sooner or later, I will cut off that scoundrel's head so that he can no longer bewitch the sage emperor!"
After Su Huaiyuan finished speaking, his face was full of indignation. Even Wei Linlang beside him was very angry. Obviously, this incident had left an indelible pain in their hearts.
After learning all this, Su Yuanyuan was so shocked that she almost dropped the dagger in her hand.
She never expected that there was such a reason behind it?!
Since ancient times, emperors have both respected and feared military generals. They respect them for their ability to lead troops to fight and defend the border, but they fear that their merits will overshadow the emperor and make the common people "only know the general but not the king".
"The imperial star is dim, and there may be a rebellion in the northwest." Framing others for treason without any evidence at all, only relying on celestial phenomena to convict people. He really deserved to be the great treacherous official that everyone wanted to kill. His methods were really ruthless!
After figuring this out, the outer robe immediately took on a different meaning in Su Yuanyuan's eyes.
The experience of last night emerged in her mind again, and she noticed more details that she had overlooked.
Why was it so coincidental that Cang Xuan appeared in that pavilion at that time? And after she appeared, he wasn't surprised at all. He even asked his attendant to inform Lady Mo.
Moreover, why would Cang Xuan, who never associated with others, be willing to testify for her at the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet? And he even severely dampened the arrogance of that brother and sister, making them pay the price.
Was he trying to win over the Duke of Yong's Mansion through this? Or was he plotting something else?
Second Brother was right. This man was full of schemes and shouldn't be befriended. Later, she would have someone throw this outer robe away!
Su Yuanyuan clenched her fists and said to Su Huaiyuan, "Villain!"
Su Huaiyuan heaved a big sigh of relief and touched Su Yuanyuan's head lovingly. "That's right, he's a villain. Good girl Yuanbao, let's stay away from him in the future."
Maybe talking about Cang Xuan opened Su Huaiyuan's chatterbox. After badmouthing Cang Xuan to Su Yuanyuan, he turned to chat with Wei Linlang about other gossips.
Naturally, they were talking about the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet and the fact that Su Yuanyuan, the second miss of the Pingyang Marquis Mansion, had the same name as their Yuanbao.
Su Yuanyuan had heard these things so many times in the past two days that her ears were almost calloused, and her mood was no longer affected by them. Maybe it was because she had calmed down that she belatedly noticed something was wrong.
Fortunately, Lady Mo only called her "Yuanbao" at the banquet, making everyone think that her name was "Su Yuanbao". If the people of the Pingyang Marquis Mansion found out that she had the same name as "Su Yuanyuan", it might bring a lot of unnecessary trouble to the Duke of Yong's Mansion.
After all, in her previous life, her reputation was extremely bad. It wasn't a good thing that the original body had the same name as her in the previous life.
It seemed that in the days to come, besides trying every means to expose Su Qingyu's true face and avenge herself and the original body, she also had to clear her own name.
She couldn't let others blame and laugh at "Su Yuanyuan" for the mistakes made by "Su Yuanyuan".
Su Huaiyuan and Wei Linlang sat in her room for a while longer before getting up to leave.
It was time to go to bed. Under the service of Chunxiao and Xialu, Su Yuanyuan took off her outer clothes, shoes, and socks and untied the hair bun on her head.
Her black hair cascaded down like a waterfall behind her. In front of the dressing table, the flickering candlelight made the reflection of the young girl in the bronze mirror look even more charming.
Well... it was just that because she had been overly doted on, she was a little bit chubby, especially...
Her gaze fell on her obviously bulging chest, and Su Yuanyuan's cheeks couldn't help but flush slightly.
This was much more spectacular than in her previous life.
After a while, Su Yuanyuan got into the warm quilt and squinted her eyes contentedly like a cat. Chunxiao tucked the quilt in for her and said,
"Miss, this servant will be in the side room next door. If you need anything, just call out."
Seeing Su Yuanyuan nod, Chunxiao got up and left with peace of mind.
Worried that she was afraid of the dark, a small bedside lamp was lit in the room. Su Yuanyuan didn't close her eyes to sleep. Instead, she rested her head on her arm and pondered over what had happened at the birthday banquet.
At this birthday banquet, she finally managed to get the better of Su Qingyu and didn't fall into the trap set by her.
Was she happy? Naturally, she was. But there was always a sense of unease in her heart.
This victory had come too easily.
Moreover, she always felt that there was something she had overlooked.
What was it?