Transmigrated into a Scummy Alpha Playboy in Ancient Times - Chapter 135

Shen Xingyue rushed toward the imperial palace. At the same time, General Gao was also escorting several soldiers back to the capital who had secretly released prisoners. The rest of the troops remained at their camp, waiting for his return.

Shen Xingyue arrived at the palace quickly. She left Su Muqiu in the care of Zi Yi and a few trusted guards, then made her way into the palace on foot. She headed straight for the Hall of Two Harmonies, and it wasn’t long before she reached her destination.

Upon entering, she immediately saluted Emperor Shen Kaiyuan. The emperor looked surprised to see her at that hour.

“What brings you here so suddenly? Is something wrong?” he asked.

“Yes, Aunt,” Shen Xingyue answered. “Rain’er and I were planning to take Little Erduo to our estate, but just outside the prince’s residence, we were attacked by Su Muqiu. She came at us with a dagger. Rain’er was nearly injured.

But Su Muqiu was supposed to be on the road to exile. I believe someone from the Su family bribed the soldiers responsible for escorting her.”

Shen Kaiyuan’s face turned cold at once. He turned to Wen Jing and said, “Send someone immediately to catch up with the exile convoy. Order a full headcount. If anyone is missing, and their body isn’t found due to illness or exposure, those responsible must be held accountable.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Wen Jing replied and quickly sent someone to carry out the order.

Before the messenger could even leave the palace, General Gao arrived outside the gates with the detained soldiers. He left the prisoners in the care of the guards, removed his armor, and entered the palace.

When he reached the Hall of Diligent Governance, he had a palace attendant announce his arrival and waited outside until summoned.

Soon, Wen Jing informed him that he could enter.

As soon as General Gao stepped inside, he knelt and began to beg for forgiveness.

“I failed in my duties, Your Majesty. Please punish me.”

“General Gao,” Shen Kaiyuan said coldly, “the Princess Consort was nearly assassinated by a criminal who should have been in your custody. How do you explain this?”

“I accept full responsibility,” General Gao replied quickly. “During our headcount this morning, we discovered that several prisoners had been secretly released by soldiers. I ordered an immediate investigation and have brought those men back to the palace.”

“Bring them in. And bring Su Muqiu as well,” Shen Kaiyuan said with a frown.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Wen Jing quickly made arrangements, and soon Su Muqiu and the soldiers who had freed her were brought into the hall.

Shen Kaiyuan’s gaze fell on Su Muqiu.

“You were already facing the death penalty. I granted you mercy by sentencing you to exile in Qingguang River. Yet you escaped and tried to assassinate the Princess Consort. Su Muqiu, you are truly bold.”

Su Muqiu clenched her jaw, glaring at Shen Xingyue with hatred. Meanwhile, Li Jia was kneeling and repeatedly banging his head against the floor, trembling with fear.

“Your Majesty, please have mercy. It was the Su family. They offered me three hundred taels of silver and promised me another one thousand if I helped Su Muqiu escape. I was tempted. I made a mistake. Please punish me, but spare my life.”

“You must have done this sort of thing often,” Shen Kaiyuan said coldly. “Take him out and behead him. Let this serve as a warning to others.”

Li Jia’s screams echoed through the hall as he was dragged away. His cries could still be heard in the distance as he was taken to his execution.

Su Muqiu raised her head and sneered.

“My courage isn’t so great, Your Majesty. If you ask me, I wasn’t nearly as heartless as you. You killed your own daughter without a second thought. I was someone Shen Yijia cared for deeply. But of course, if you didn’t even care about your own children, why would you care about people like me?

“And you, Shen Xingyue,” she continued, her voice rising to a furious shout. “You’ve been completely bewitched by that seductress Su Muyu. You were supposed to love me! I was meant to be your Princess Consort!”

Shen Kaiyuan’s face darkened at the mention of Shen Yijia. His voice thundered across the hall.

“Su Muqiu, Shen Yiqian and Shen Yijia plotted against the Crown Princess. I acted according to the law. As for you, if you don’t want to go to Qingguang River, then you can be executed here and now.

And the Su family, since they dared to bribe soldiers to help you escape, shall be stripped of their property and exiled as well.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Shen Kaiyuan said firmly. As soon as he finished speaking, Wen Jing immediately ordered the palace guards to carry out the command.

Su Muqiu was dragged away by several guards, but she continued to shout curses as they pulled her out.

“Shen Kaiyuan, you’re cruel and heartless. You murdered your own children. You’ll get what’s coming to you! And you, Shen Xingyue, you’ll die a miserable death—”

“Silence her,” Shen Xingyue snapped.

At her command, the imperial guards quickly stuffed a cloth into Su Muqiu’s mouth and dragged her out of the hall.

Shen Kaiyuan then added, “For the other escaped prisoners, if their families bribed soldiers, those households will also be investigated. Confiscate their property and exile them along with the others. Wen Jing, send officials from the Ministry of Justice to conduct a full investigation.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Wen Jing replied and went to arrange it at once.

Shen Kaiyuan then turned to General Gao. “General Gao, you failed to manage your troops. I hereby demote you by one rank and dock your pay for one year. Do you have any objections?”

“I dare not. I thank Your Majesty for your mercy,” General Gao said quickly. “The exile convoy has already been ordered to stop in the outskirts of the capital. Once the investigation is complete, we will send out those newly added to the exile list. I promise, Your Majesty, this time there will be no more ‘missing’ prisoners. Only those who die from illness or cold during the journey will be accounted for.”

“Good. Return to the outskirts and wait there. I’ll have the guards escort the others who are to be exiled to meet you there,” Shen Kaiyuan replied after a moment of thought.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I take my leave.” General Gao bowed deeply and left the Hall of Diligent Governance.

Meanwhile, the Imperial Guards had already received their orders and surrounded the Su family estate. One of the gate servants noticed the situation turning bad and immediately ran toward Su Changyuan’s private quarters.

“Master, something’s wrong! Something terrible!”

Su Changyuan frowned and looked up coldly. “What is it? Why are you panicking like this?”

“There’s a large group of soldiers outside. The whole estate is surrounded!”

Before the servant had even finished speaking, a crowd of soldiers poured into the courtyard. Without asking questions, they shackled everyone they saw and drove them to the front yard.

Su Changyuan stood frozen in disbelief. He quickly walked out to confront them.

“Who are you? I am a fifth-rank official of the court! How dare you barge into my home and arrest people at will?”

“We’re Imperial Guards, acting under the direct orders of His Majesty,” the leading soldier replied coldly. “Your Su family bribed soldiers to help your exiled daughter, Su Muqiu, escape. She then attempted to assassinate the Princess Consort. She has already been executed by His Majesty’s decree. As for the Su family, your entire household is to be exiled. Restrain him!”

Su Changyuan tried to back away, but the soldiers grabbed him roughly.

“This isn’t true! It’s not possible! I didn’t send anyone to help Su Muqiu. It wasn’t us! The Su family didn’t do this!” he shouted in panic.

The soldier ignored Su Changyuan’s protest and ordered the guards to drag him to the front courtyard. Then they continued rounding up everyone else in the estate.

Li Qinglan was also brought out in shackles, thrown into the chaos in the front yard. The entire Su family estate was in complete disorder.

When Su Changyuan saw Li Qinglan, he finally realized what had happened. Furious, he charged at her and kicked her hard.

“You vile woman! Was it you? Did you send someone to rescue Su Muqiu? Are you trying to get the whole Su family killed? Is that what you want?”

Li Qinglan was filled with regret. Sitting on the ground, she cried and pleaded through her tears, “I just wanted Qiu’er to suffer less. I didn’t know it would come to this. If I had known, I never would have done it, truly! Husband, your third daughter is the Princess Consort. Please, talk to them. Ask them to let us go!”

Before her sobbing even ended, another cry rang out. Concubine Zhou’s voice echoed across the courtyard.

“Master, what is happening? Everything was fine just a while ago. How could it turn out like this?”

Su Changyuan felt like his head was going to explode. He shot them both a glare, then quickly rushed forward to speak with the officer leading the guards.

“Sir, can we please talk? I’m willing to give up everything—all of my family’s fortune. Just spare our lives, I beg you.”

“Spare you?” the officer replied coldly. “The Su family has been named directly by His Majesty. You are to be exiled. Don’t even think about bargaining.”

“The Princess Consort at Ankang Prince’s residence is my third daughter. Please, let me see her—just once. Let me speak to her!” Su Changyuan was completely flustered. His eyes were red, and his words came out in a rush.

The officer sneered.

“Save your breath. Do you really think someone like you deserves to see the Princess Consort?”

Then he turned to his men and shouted, “Move faster. We need to get all of them to the outskirts before sunset!”

The Su estate fell deeper into chaos. Everything valuable—gold, silver, and jewels—was collected in the back courtyard. Meanwhile, all the Su family members had been shackled and were gathered in the front.

Treasury officials came to seize the confiscated goods, while the imperial guards forced the family members to march out. Anyone who resisted was beaten without hesitation.

In the midst of the crying and screaming, Su Changyuan walked blankly with the group, his face pale with regret. If only he had kept a closer eye on Li Qinglan, maybe the Su family wouldn’t have ended up like this.

—

On her way back to the prince’s residence, Shen Xingyue’s carriage happened to pass by the group of Su family members being marched out. She lifted the curtain slightly and glanced outside. Among the crowd, she spotted Su Changyuan.

Su Changyuan saw her too. He waved frantically and shouted with all his strength, “Princess! Your Highness, please save me! I’m your father-in-law! You can’t just leave us like this!”

Shen Xingyue simply stared at him coldly from behind the curtain. A nearby guard, annoyed by the noise, struck Su Changyuan several times with a whip. As a scholar, he couldn’t withstand the blows. The lashes tore into his skin, and he cried out in pain.

Shen Xingyue let the curtain fall and gave no more attention to the scene. She ordered the guards to continue driving the carriage toward the residence.

When she got out, she quickly returned to the estate and headed straight for Feixue Courtyard. Entering the bedroom, she saw the baby sitting on the bed with Su Muyu, playing with a little bunny doll. Only then did she finally feel a little relief.

She washed her hands with warm water before walking over to the bed. She gently snatched a little tiger plush from the baby’s hands. The child immediately scrunched her nose in protest and glared at Shen Xingyue.

“Yaya!”

“Oh, is this yours?” Shen Xingyue teased with a grin. “Is Little Erduo really this stingy? You won’t even let me play with it for a second?”

She leaned in and gave the baby a kiss on the cheek.

The child stared at her, clearly reluctant to share, with a pouty little face that looked like she couldn’t bear to part with her toy.

Shen Xingyue couldn’t help but laugh and quickly returned the toy to her stubborn little girl.

Su Muyu chuckled beside them. “Stop bullying the baby. You’re a grown woman. Why are you fighting over toys with her?”

“How could I not?” Shen Xingyue replied, laughing. “Isn’t she just the cutest? Her little hands are still so soft and chubby.”

She gently held and squeezed the baby’s hand.

The child pouted again and made another tiny protest. “Yaya~”

Support