Chapter Forty-six: Sealing Her Mouth

  My own judgment has never gone wrong before.

  Su Xiaofan suppressed all the thoughts in her heart and calmly met his inquiring gaze, wanting to know what he was up to today.

  "The feast you prepared today tastes great, and everyone present can't help but praise it. My mood is also excellent, and I should reward you for your meritorious service. Coincidentally, there are people from your hometown in this palace, so I called you to come and chat with them." Shangguan Qing raised her eyes, wanting to see some unusual signs in her calm eyes.

  Reward?

  Su Xiaofan's eyes rolled silently, and as she locked gazes with him for a long time, a chill actually arose from the bottom of her heart. Just how terrifying was this person?

  After a long time, seeing his gaze still fixed on himself, Su Xiao Fan hooked his lips and pulled open a shallow smile: "The commoner's fellow villagers are too many, and they haven't become familiar with all the fellow villagers to the point of having something to talk about. If the king turns this reward into silver, the commoner will be grateful."

  As soon as this was said, the hall, which had occasionally burst into laughter, suddenly fell silent.

  Everyone looked at the woman standing upright with a slender body in the hall, their faces filled with horror. They couldn't help but secretly wipe away sweat for her. In this world, there were probably only a handful of people who dared to mention silver in front of King Qing.

  Shangguan Qing raised an eyebrow, his eyes slightly rising to glance at the man beside him who was now in a state of panic, and asked seemingly nonchalantly: "So, Lord Zhang is not familiar with her?"

  Zhang Yun Song hid the panic between his eyebrows and stood up calmly: "In response to your question, Your Highness, although I am from the same hometown as her, we rarely meet."

  "I've heard that she was once your fiancée, and you broke off the engagement after becoming the top student in high school. She even attempted to take her own life by jumping off a cliff and nearly died." The cold intent in Shangguan Qing's eyes condensed into ice, as if wanting to pierce through his hypocritical facade.

  The woman in the magnificent dress sitting beside Zhang Yun Song's body changed color instantly after hearing Shangguan Qing's words, and looked up at Zhang Yun Song standing beside her with a look of astonishment, hoping that he would speak out to deny it, telling her that it was not true.

  Zhang Yun Song had been mentally prepared since he was hastily summoned by King Qing to this silent city, but all along the way, he never found the right opportunity to explain things clearly to Mei Er. King Qing's men were watching him closely, and he didn't have a chance to come back and seal the villagers' mouths. He also didn't expect King Qing to directly bring Fan Er here.

  What's even more unexpected is that in this short period of time, the originally ordinary Su Xiaofan, who was so ordinary that she made herself feel disgusted, has actually changed so much. When did this person with no special skills learn cooking?

  Before Zhang Yun Song could respond, Su Xiao Fan calmly spoke up: "Your Highness is unaware that the divorce was a result of mutual agreement between both families. I, a humble commoner, merely had an accident and fell off a cliff, not intentionally taking my own life."

  Shangguan Qing furrowed her brow, and just now when she was talking about falling off the cliff, she seemed to have turned her head and given Zhang Yun Song a meaningful glance.

  Zhang Yun Song, who was originally thinking about how to respond, secretly let out a sigh of relief upon hearing this, but towards her gaze which had an underlying meaning, the heart that had just been put at ease once again rose up. Having personally witnessed her fall into the cliff bottom several days ago, he was haunted by nightmares every day, restless and unable to end his days. It wasn't until the news from home said she was rescued by someone that he was finally freed from the days of being haunted by nightmares.

  "I suppose you should also know that I, a humble commoner, now have a young husband at home. Since the day of our broken engagement, I have had no further dealings with your so-called Zhang gentleman." Su Xiaofan looked straight into the icy gaze of Shangguan Qing, although she had thoughts of avenging her past self, but it was not yet the time.

  I have no idea what this prince is thinking of doing.

  He thought that he would use himself to deal with Zhang Yun Song, who is now the son-in-law of the Prime Minister's family. The person who can sit stably in the position of Prime Minister must not be a simple character. Even if Zhang Yun Song made some mistakes, he would come forward to calm things down.

  So afterwards, he will definitely come to settle the score with himself. After all, he is a stain on Zhang Yun's career as a government official. If people in the officialdom find out about this, his future prospects will be ruined.

  It's better to be cautious and keep a safe distance when you have no idea what this prince is planning.

  It seemed like he had seen through her thoughts, and Shangguan Qing didn't plan to continue being entangled today. He said to Lan Ming behind him, "You go get some silver for her and send her back on the way."

  Zhang Yun Song gazed at her with a thoughtful expression, his eyebrows furrowed. He had previously heard that she was now someone else's adopted daughter-in-law, and he had an unusual feeling in his heart. Now, he even more urgently wanted to go to her home to see the so-called young husband.

  And having heard what she just said, I've been wondering if she's trying to protect herself by speaking out first, and if I were to clear up the relationship from my side, it would only give Qing Wang more reason to continue questioning me. Perhaps in her heart, she still likes me?

  Thinking of this, I feel overjoyed.

  "Yes." Lan Meng walked away with a puzzled expression, taking Su Xiaofan with him. When did the prince become so considerate? He even specifically instructed him to send her back, although even if he hadn't instructed him, he would have sent the two of them home safely anyway, since it was already late at night.

  "The common people retreat." Su Xiao Fan bowed his head respectfully and bid farewell, turning around in an instant, casting a disgusted glance at Zhang Yun Song, before following behind Lan Ling and walking out slowly.

  Always observing her superior Xiang Qing, after meeting her with that kind of gaze, he raised an eyebrow with great interest.

  I heard she used to like Zhang Yun Song a lot, would she suddenly become so disgusted just because of the divorce?

  "Do you dislike Director Zhang very much?" Lan Meng asked without turning his head as he walked ahead.

  Su Xiaofan silently let out a soft sigh, it wasn't about liking or disliking.

  The original Su Xiaofan died because of him. If it wasn't for her soul crossing over, the Su family would be in a completely different situation by now.

  Lan Meng saw that she didn't respond and stopped asking further questions.

  After all, he was someone who had abandoned her before, so it's normal that she would dislike him.

  Perhaps if she hadn't been jilted, she wouldn't have ended up having to go to someone else's house as a child bride, and the other party was still so young, it would be many years before they could get married. A woman's best years were thus delayed.

  As he thought of this, he suddenly felt some sympathy for the woman behind him.

  "Mei'er, you have to believe me. My relationship with her was just an arranged marriage by our parents, there's no personal feelings involved." In a small courtyard within the imperial palace, Zhang Yun Song had been explaining himself to Liu Mei'er for half a day, drenched in sweat, but the beautiful woman's gentle and charming eyes continued to flow with tears.

  "If this gets out, she'll definitely laugh at me for choosing a scoundrel who abandoned his wife after carefully selecting him from among many. Lu Mei'er sobbed quietly with a belly full of grievances, if this matter were to spread, she would be too ashamed to even go out in the future."

  "Mei'er is indeed my wife, how can I abandon her? Yun Song, this life will definitely follow your orders, if you say go east, I absolutely won't go west." Zhang Yun Song was so anxious that he almost knelt down and swore to the heavens.

  Liu Mei'er heard this and slightly stopped her tears, sank a face, and said in a low voice: "Then find a way to shut her mouth, this matter absolutely cannot be spread out."

  Zhang Yun Song accompanied a smile and wiped his sweaty forehead: "Wife, you can rest assured."