Li Rong: “…”

She hadn’t expected Pei Wenxuan to be talking about this. She felt a bit awkward.

But fortunately, all this awkwardness only played out in her mind. Her face remained calm and unmoved as she nodded, “I’ll go right away.”

“Also,” Pei Wenxuan said quietly, “if His Majesty begins to investigate, have Hongde enter the palace to confront Su Rongqing.”

Li Rong nodded in agreement and quickly entered the palace.

Before, she might not have understood what Pei Wenxuan was doing, but now that Su Rongqing’s people had taken the memorial, Li Rong understood Pei Wenxuan’s intention.

The confession was indeed fake. Without verification, others wouldn’t know. With so many people in the Memorial Office, given Su Rongqing’s capabilities, arranging a few people inside was perfectly normal. Seeing her submit evidence that specifically accused Su Rongqing by name, they would naturally take the confession away.

If the confession were real, doing this would of course be good for them. They could just say the memorial went missing. At most, the people responsible for safeguarding it would lose their positions or receive a reprimand. And Su Rongqing would be perfectly safe.

But the problem was, the confession itself was fake. With them taking it, Su Rongqing could never explain himself clearly. There would forever be a missing confession from Hongde. Even if Su Rongqing’s people quietly returned the memorial, she could insist that the confession had been switched.

The only flaw in this plan was that Hongde himself might not acknowledge this confession. So what she needed to do now was immediately enter the palace, expose the matter of the memorial, and then summon Hongde to the palace to testify.

Force Su Rongqing to kill Hongde.

Li Rong looked up, her gaze somewhat cold. Once Hongde died, all confessions would disappear, but in Li Ming’s heart, this would definitely become an ironclad case. This time, Pei Wenxuan was using a fake confession to pin a real crime on Su Rongqing.

Intercepting memorials from the Memorial Office, secretly instigating Consort Rou to guess the Emperor’s thoughts and set a trap for her and Pei Wenxuan, and most importantly, doing all this without the Emperor’s knowledge—each and every item pointed directly at what Li Ming found most taboo, seizing power from right under the Emperor’s hand.

Pei Wenxuan’s move couldn’t be called anything but brilliant.

Li Rong contemplated this as she arrived at the palace and had someone announce her to Li Ming. It was still early in the evening, and Li Ming was in the imperial study reviewing memorials. Hearing that Li Rong had come to see him, he couldn’t help but frown, “What’s she doing here so late at night?”

Li Rong was naturally prepared.

Coming to the palace so late at night, if she directly discussed official business, it would inevitably seem too deliberate. So Li Rong took a moment at the door to prepare herself. When she entered, Li Ming saw Li Rong with reddened eyes, as if she had suffered a tremendous grievance. Li Ming’s movements paused, and he couldn’t help but say, “What’s wrong with you?”

“Father Emperor,” Li Rong sobbed, “please help your daughter manage the Prince Consort. He, he’s gone too far!”

Li Ming’s movements paused. He understood Li Rong’s purpose. He hesitated for a moment, then slowly said, “What happened?”

“Father Emperor,” Li Rong lowered her sleeve, quite aggrieved, “A few days ago, the Prince Consort quarreled with your daughter. Afterward, he ignored me. He said he wanted to divorce me, even said that you, Father Emperor, had issued an edict. But I don’t believe it. What father forces his own daughter to divorce? If I divorce him, who will I marry in the future? Should I keep male companions like Aunt and be mocked by everyone?”

“Since you don’t want a divorce,” Li Ming felt somewhat guilty hearing Li Rong speak, but he pretended to be composed on the surface and blamed her, “then why did you have people from Nanfeng Pavilion go boating on the lake?”

Hearing this, Li Rong seemed not to have expected Li Ming to know about this matter. Her face showed some embarrassment, “I… I just wanted to make him angry, didn’t I?”

Li Ming snorted coldly and couldn’t be bothered with her. Li Rong smiled ingratiatingly and acted coquettishly, “Father Emperor, your daughter knows she was wrong. Please go persuade him. He keeps being so cold to me and even sleeps in the outer courtyard. What kind of situation is this? Give the order now and make him come back.”

“Nonsense.” Li Ming threw the memorial aside. “I made you the Director of the Constabulary Bureau, yet all day long you only think about these romantic affairs and don’t do proper work. Do you have a brain?”

“Father Emperor, you’re wronging me,” Li Rong quickly straightened up upon hearing this. “Although the Prince Consort and I are quarreling, your daughter hasn’t neglected proper matters. Speaking of which, I must mention you, Father Emperor. I submitted my memorial several days ago and you haven’t given a response.” Li Rong leaned forward slightly. “Father Emperor, what are your intentions?”

“What memorial?” Li Ming frowned. Li Rong blinked, somewhat puzzled. “The memorial about Hongde’s confession. I sent it in several days ago. I’ve given you both human and physical evidence. Whether or not to deal with Su Rongqing is just a matter of your word.”

“Su Rongqing?” Li Ming exclaimed in surprise. “What relationship does Hongde have with Su Rongqing?”

“Well…” Li Rong was about to speak, then remembered something and waved her hand impatiently. “You’ll know once you read the memorial. Do I need to repeat it? But this isn’t important. Tonight I came to discuss family matters. Father Emperor, Pei Wenxuan has always listened to you, so you should just…”

“Don’t talk about these things first,” Li Ming said seriously. “The matter involves Su Rongqing?”

Li Rong seemed not to understand why Li Ming was so serious. She nodded blankly, “Yes, Hongde said it was Su Rongqing who found him and had him enter the palace to speak nonsense with Consort Rou…”

“Fulai!”

Li Ming looked up and immediately called the person beside him. “Go to the Memorial Office immediately and bring the Princess’s memorial here! I want to review it at once.”

Receiving these words, Fulai bowed respectfully, turned, and walked out.

At the same time, in the Su mansion, Su Rongqing held Hongde’s confession and Li Rong’s memorial, listening to the official kneeling on the ground speak respectfully, “Sir, if this memorial goes up, Young Master will find it hard to escape punishment. Now is the critical examination period for the Minister position. This humble official feared complications, so I secretly took the memorial out first…”

“We’ve lost.”

Su Rongqing suddenly spoke, interrupting the official’s words. The official froze, then looked up at Su Rongqing sitting above. Su Rongqing’s expression was calm as he picked up the confession and simply said, “This confession is fake.”

The official stood there stunned. Su Rongqing slowly continued, “Your Highness deliberately took this fake confession, waiting for you to steal it out. If I’m not mistaken, Your Highness should have already taken the initiative to enter the palace. His Majesty must now be retrieving the memorial to look at it. You should hurry back.”

“Then I’ll immediately bring the memorial back.”

The official quickly stood up. Su Rongqing stopped him, “No need.”

The official was somewhat bewildered. Su Rongqing lowered his head to drink tea, saying flatly, “After bringing it back, the Princess will definitely insist the confession was switched. When they investigate thoroughly, they’ll trace it to you. It won’t help matters, and you’ll also lose your position.”

“Then… then what should we do?” The official panicked. Su Rongqing took a sip of tea and slowly said, “Leave these things with me. Pretend you know nothing. Are you on duty now?”

“No… no.” The official didn’t understand what Su Rongqing intended to do. Su Rongqing only said, “Then go back and sleep. Be careful when you return, and act as if you were never here.”

The official nodded mutely. Though his heart was filled with panic, seeing Su Rongqing so composed, he didn’t dare ask more questions.

After the official left, Su Rongqing raised his hand and held the confession over the candlelight. The flame licked at the paper, causing it to curl from the heat. Su Rongqing stared at the flame consuming it and calmly ordered, “Have a menial worker secretly enter and burn down the Memorial Office. After the fire starts, don’t let him come out. Let him stay inside.”

“Young Master,” the person carrying out orders hesitated somewhat, “directly burning the Memorial Office—isn’t that too audacious and reckless?”

“More than audacious and reckless?” Su Rongqing laughed lightly. “It’s absolutely outrageous.”

“Then Young Master…”

“Do it first,” Su Rongqing’s voice was flat. “Just do it. After it’s done, wait. What’s meant to come will come sooner or later.”

As he spoke, he threw the half-burned confession into the brazier, then turned his head to look at the memorial spread out on the page.

The memorial was written by Li Rong, with bold, flowing strokes listing his crimes. Su Rongqing gazed at it quietly for a moment, then laughed softly. He raised his hand to caress the three characters “Su Rongqing” that Li Rong had written, remaining silent for a long while.

Li Rong and Li Ming waited in the imperial study for a while. Li Rong chatted idly with him about Pei Wenxuan. Li Ming responded half-heartedly, clearly just humoring Li Rong.

After waiting for a long time, Fulai hurried back. As soon as he entered, he knelt on the ground and said urgently, “Your Majesty, disaster! The Memorial Office has been burned.”

“Burned?”

Li Ming stood up in shock. “Say that again. What was burned?!”

“The Memorial Office.” Fulai repeated. “They’re still fighting the fire now, but on my way there, it was already burning. I heard that quite a few officials are trapped inside. They’re still rescuing people.”

“How could it catch fire?” Li Rong asked extremely quickly. Li Ming also frowned tightly. Fulai shook his head. “The cause of the fire is unclear. We’ll have to wait for the investigation results.”

Li Ming didn’t speak. He seemed somewhat troubled. Li Rong hesitated for a moment, then stood up. “Father Emperor, why don’t I go take a look? The burned building is a small matter. The people and memorials inside are most important.”

“No need.” Li Ming said slowly. “You go back first. I’ll go personally.”

With that, Li Ming stood up and left under Li Rong’s respectful send-off.

After seeing Li Ming off, Li Rong got up and left the palace. As soon as she returned to her room, before even lighting the lamps, she heard a voice leisurely ring out in the night, “How did it go?”

Li Rong was startled by this voice, then realized Pei Wenxuan hadn’t left yet. She fumbled around to light a lamp, and saw Pei Wenxuan lying on the bed, one hand propping up his head, the other resting on his bent knee, looking at her with confidence, “Did His Majesty give Su Rongqing trouble?”

“Trouble?” Li Rong scoffed. She took off her outer coat and tossed it onto the screen. “Su Rongqing set fire to the Memorial Office. Where do you think he’s going to find trouble with Su Rongqing?”

“Burned the Memorial Office?” Pei Wenxuan raised an eyebrow. “That’s quite bold.”

“Precisely because it’s so bold, I think you need to prepare early.” Li Rong sat on the bedside, frowning somewhat worriedly. “He’s a smart person. Without a plan, he wouldn’t recklessly do this kind of thing. I just went to complain, Father Emperor asked for my memorial, and he burned down the Memorial Office. This is too obvious. He shouldn’t be that stupid.”

“Worried about me?” Pei Wenxuan looked at Li Rong with a smile, showing no trace of panic. Li Rong looked up at him. “Tell me the truth.”

Pei Wenxuan was somewhat puzzled, “Hmm?”

“Are you pretending to be calm right now while actually panicking inside?”

Pei Wenxuan: “…”

“How did you figure that out?” Pei Wenxuan frowned. Li Rong stared at him. “Do you know what he’s going to do?”

“What he’s going to do isn’t hard to guess, but it’s also not important. What’s important is,” Pei Wenxuan smiled as he turned his gaze to her face. He suddenly reached out and pulled her into his embrace. “This humble subject has waited so long. If I don’t do something, it would be such a waste.”

“As for him,” Pei Wenxuan bit and tugged at his clothes ties, mumbling, “Your Highness needn’t think about it. I’ll do the thinking.”