I just want to live a good life

Chapter 572 Threats Ineffective

The more Su Nuan thought about it, the more she felt that Zhou Jin was prepared for her by Xun Zheng, but was first used on the Princess of Guang'an.

If Xun Zheng hadn't been imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice, Zhou Jin and the Princess of Guang'an's affair might not have been exposed in this way. In that case, it wouldn't be impossible for her to "recycle" Zhou Jin and reuse him to frame her, the Crown Prince's concubine.

Su Nuan could already imagine what kind of rumors would spread—"The Crown Prince's concubine, drunk, mistook an actor for the Crown Prince," "The Crown Prince's concubine, to get revenge on the Crown Prince, took a principal wife and kept a male concubine who looked just like the Crown Prince"...

Given Xun Zheng's viciousness, she might have even more powerful tricks up her sleeve. Su Nuan couldn't think of any, but even these were enough to ruin her reputation and prevent her from becoming the Crown Prince's concubine.

Clenching her fists, Su Nuan exhaled and said calmly, "I will send people to find the person, but we still need to inform Marquis Zhongyuan about this. You can go now."

After saying that, she called for someone to follow the peach back to the Marquis of Zhongyuan's residence.

As soon as the people left, Su Nuan summoned Lie Feng and Lie Ying, briefly explained that Consort Dong had been kidnapped by Zhou Jin, and then asked the two to go find Zhou Jin.

The two exchanged a glance, and then Falcon spoke up: "Your Majesty, when you released Zhou Jin from the manor, you instructed me to have someone keep an eye on him. I will bring him back right away."

Su Nuan was slightly taken aback; she had forgotten that she had given this order.

I've probably been too tired these past few days. I need to see some old doctors tomorrow to get some treatment.

Now is not the time to think about these things. Su Nuan ordered Falcon and Wind to set off immediately to capture the person.

Knowing that Dong Jingshu would be found soon, she was no longer in a hurry. After a quick wash, she lay down on the bed and fell asleep.

After an unknown amount of time, Su Nuan heard Chun Liu's soft call in her ear.

"Your Majesty, the Marquis of Zhongyuan requests an audience."

Su Nuan opened her sleepy eyes and asked, "What's he doing here?"

The words had barely left her mouth when she realized something and hurriedly asked, "What time is it? Have Hunter Wind and Falcon returned yet?"

"It's past Chen Shi (7-9 AM), and they still haven't returned."

Su Nuan closed her eyes to clear her mind before getting out of bed.

I slept so well last night, I slept for twelve hours straight.

After a quick wash, Su Nuan went to Tinglan Pavilion accompanied by Chunliu.

The two falconers went to capture Zhou Jin but didn't return all night, clearly something went wrong. The Marquis of Zhongyuan requested an audience early this morning, undoubtedly for Dong Jingshu's sake.

Just thinking about it gives me a headache. My nephew is still missing, and now I've lost Consort Dong. The security of the capital city needs to be really improved. How can we keep losing face like this?

While mentally criticizing the Imperial City Guard's dereliction of duty, I arrived at Tinglan Pavilion.

As soon as he stepped inside, he was met with the fury of Marquis Zhongyuan.

"Consort Xia, where is my daughter?"

Su Nuan was startled, not because she was afraid that Marquis Zhongyuan would do anything to her, but because the man's voice was too loud and his shout was so abrupt.

After calming her racing heart, Su Nuan strode to the head seat and sat down before speaking: "Your daughter had an affair with another man and has disappeared without a trace. You actually come here asking me for her? Is Marquis Zhongyuan getting old and confused?"

"You, what nonsense are you talking about? What do you mean by having an affair? It's obvious that you had someone lure her out of the mansion."

"That's what the peaches told you?"

“Thanks to that girl for following us, otherwise we would not have known that Consort Xia was so vicious. She actually found an actress who looked like the Crown Prince to seduce her, and now she is even throwing mud at her. If you do not hand over Jing Shu, I will go to the palace to file a complaint with the Emperor right now.”

Su Nuan suddenly remembered that when Dong Jingshu married into the Crown Prince's residence, it was this old man who went to the Emperor to complain about her, causing her to spend several days in the Dali Temple's prison.

However, times have changed, and the Emperor, out of consideration for his young grandson, would not throw her back into prison.

Besides, Dong Jingshu's disappearance really had nothing to do with her. She wasn't afraid to bring this up in front of the Emperor, so Lao Deng's threat was ineffective.

"If Your Excellency wishes to complain to the Emperor, I will accompany you. But do you really want the Emperor to know that Consort Dong had a secret rendezvous with an actress and did not return home all night?"

Marquis Zhongyuan naturally did not want to, otherwise he would not have come to the Crown Prince's residence so early in the morning. Wouldn't it have been better to go directly to the palace to meet the Emperor?

The reason he came to the Crown Prince's residence to find Su Nuan, and spoke to her in a harsh tone as soon as they met, was to overpower Su Nuan in terms of momentum, so as to gain the upper hand in the negotiations between the two later.

Hearing Su Nuan say this, he knew that he had miscalculated. So he quickly changed his expression, sighed sadly, and said in a low voice, "Jing Shu has always been pampered by me. She has never experienced any setbacks in her life, except for the matter of choosing a husband."

To be honest, I didn't want her to marry the Crown Prince. He doesn't love her, and she'll face countless hardships after marrying him. But this child is too stubborn and won't listen to advice.

On the day of her wedding, His Highness the Crown Prince did not appear. I was so happy at the time, but unfortunately, I couldn't escape it. The Empress Dowager only sent a message, and Jing Shu eagerly went to the Crown Prince's residence by herself.

"She's already married, there's no point in saying anything more. As her father, I don't ask her to achieve a high position or bring glory to the family; I only hope she can live a life of luxury and comfort."

At this point, Marquis Zhongyuan paused, seemingly wanting to see Su Nuan's reaction, but Su Nuan's face remained unusually calm, revealing no emotion whatsoever.

"Consort Xia, I assure you today that as long as Jing Shu returns safely, she will never compete with you for the position of Crown Prince's principal wife."

Su Nuanxin thought to herself that this old man was very cunning. They didn't care about the position of Crown Princess, but there were many other positions they could compete for. Besides, was it up to him to decide whether or not to compete? He couldn't even control Dong Jingshu's marriage to the Crown Prince, so how could he care whether she competed for the Emperor's favor? Using something like this as a bargaining chip, he really thought he could get help just by talking!

After organizing her thoughts, Su Nuan said, "What's the use of telling me all this, Lord Marquis? That actress isn't one of my people. I'm just as curious as Sister Jing Shu, except I met her inside the manor with guards protecting me, so I was perfectly safe. But Sister Jing Shu went outside to meet her, and that's why this happened."

"To be honest, I was terribly worried when I learned of Jing Shu's accident yesterday. But His Highness isn't here, and I can't command the guards in the manor. So yesterday, I paid out of my own pocket to hire some helpers, and they're already searching for Jing Shu. The problem is, getting these people to work and keeping them quiet is really expensive; my little bit of personal savings won't last long."

After saying this, Su Nuan sighed and looked at Marquis Zhongyuan.

Marquis Zhongyuan was dumbfounded. He had expected Consort Xia to refuse to help, and he had also expected her to negotiate with him, but he never expected her to directly ask for money. And with such a lame excuse.

The Crown Prince spoils her rotten; how could she not be able to command the Crown Prince's guards? You're kidding me.

However, Consort Xia is currently the only one who knows the actor's background. As long as the actor is found, her daughter can be found. It's not that Marquis Zhongyuan doesn't want to investigate the actor himself, but it's not something that can be done in a short time to investigate someone in such a large imperial city.

If my daughter stays with that actor for even a moment longer, something bad might happen. If outsiders find out that the Crown Prince's concubine is having an affair with an actor, my daughter's life will be ruined.

It's all that fool Pan Tao's fault. Instead of immediately reporting the incident to the Marquis's residence, she came to find this Consort Xia first.

His thoughts, once unleashed, wandered aimlessly. Marquis Zhongyuan stopped him in time and said, "I will pay for the money that Consort Xia has spent to hire people. I have only one request: that Jing Shu return safely."

"It would be wonderful if the Marquis provided the money, but I cannot guarantee his request. It's uncertain whether we can even find the person. If the Marquis provides the money, I will have people do their best to search. If we still can't find the person, I have enough money to last until tomorrow, so we'll search until tomorrow. I'm just a woman, you can't ask too much of me, can you?"

Marquis Zhongyuan was so angry he wanted to curse. They just wanted him to spend money, but they couldn't guarantee they would find the person. If he spent the money, he would be a sucker!