I just want to live a good life

Marquis Zhongyuan didn't want to be taken advantage of, but he also wanted Su Nuan to help him find his daughter, so he said, "Jing Shu is now a member of the Crown Prince's household after marrying into it. If something happens, the Crown Prince's household should provide manpower and financial assistance."

“That makes sense, but the Crown Prince hasn’t married his principal wife yet, and all the important matters in the household are handled by His Highness personally. I have no right to use such a large sum of money. Besides, there’s no cash in the household. His Highness has used all the money to reward the soldiers on the border.”

Marquis Zhongyuan did not believe the previous statement. Dong Jingshu had returned to the Marquis's residence and mentioned that Consort Xia was managing the affairs of the Crown Prince's residence.

However, he believed about 70% of what they said about the Crown Prince's residence having no money.

It was common knowledge among the nobles in the capital that the Crown Prince was using his own money to reward the soldiers. As a result, some noble ladies who wanted to win the Crown Prince's favor held several private fundraising events. Unfortunately, the Crown Prince had a bad reputation, and no family was really willing to marry their daughter to him. So the ladies' fundraising efforts were not supported by their families, and in the end, they made a lot of noise but little progress, and the amount of money raised was limited.

I heard that this reward for the soldiers almost emptied the Crown Prince's mansion of all its money, and the mansion has been living frugally for the past year. The two concubines' allowances are pitifully small. Concubine Xia makes a living by doing small business outside, while Concubine Dong can only maintain a decent appearance thanks to the dowry given to her by her family.

The more Marquis Zhongyuan thought about it, the more aggrieved he became. Not only did his beloved daughter marry the Crown Prince as a concubine, but he, as her father, had to provide for her every need. His daughter was not as favored as the other prince, and at most, the Crown Prince would give her the title of concubine after he ascended the throne.

An unfavored concubine's position offers no benefit to her maternal family, and her own efforts seem to yield no return. What's most infuriating is that because her daughter marries the crown prince, her son offends the crown prince, effectively ruining her future.

For a moment, he didn't even want his daughter anymore, but reason prevailed over the resentment in his heart, and he coldly said, "As long as Consort Xia can help me find my daughter, you can name your price."

Su Nuan chuckled and held up five fingers.

"Fifty...ten thousand taels?"

Marquis Zhongyuan asked tentatively.

"Correct answer. Once the money is paid, my people will do their best to find Sister Jing Shu."

While 50,000 taels wouldn't be a crippling sum for Marquis Zhongyuan, it wasn't a small amount either. However, compared to his daughter's reputation and his children's uncertain future, he gritted his teeth and agreed.

"Fifty thousand taels it is. Please send someone with me to collect the silver, Consort Xia."

After seeing Marquis Zhongyuan off, Su Nuan immediately summoned Liefeng and Lieying. The two had just arrived outside Tinglan Pavilion and were discussing whether to reveal Consort Dong's whereabouts in front of Marquis Zhongyuan. Su Nuan overheard their conversation, which is why she dared to ask for 50,000 taels of silver.

Hunter Wind and Falcon searched outside all night. The guards responsible for tracking Zhou Jin did lose track of him, but guards are guards after all. Although they followed the right person, they found the person who was covering for Zhou Jin. They investigated this person all night and finally found Zhou Jin, as well as Consort Dong, who had disappeared with him.

However, the two discovered Zhou Jin's big secret and were unsure whether to take him down immediately. So they left someone to keep an eye on him and then hurriedly returned to report to Su Nuan.

The three of them whispered in Tinglan Pavilion for a while, and then fell silent. Liefeng and Lieying dared not make a sound and stood silently to the side waiting for Su Nuan to make a decision.

Su Nuan pondered for a moment, then slammed her hand on the table, stood up, and said, "Let's go to the palace to see the Emperor."

This matter is neither a big deal nor a small one. If Mu Yunting were here, she could simply leave it to him and not worry about it. But since he's not here, Su Nuan is unsure of what to do and feels it's best to report it to the Emperor.

Half an hour later, Falcon had already stopped the carriage at the palace gate.

The Emperor is quite busy today, discussing matters with people in the Imperial Study, with groups of people coming and going.

Outside the Imperial Study, ministers who had not been summoned but had important matters to report to the Emperor lined up silently.

Su Nuan wasn't sure if what she had to say was as important as what these adults were talking about, so she could only stand silently at the back of the line and wait.

The wind was howling outside, and even a strong, young man was shivering from the cold, so Su Nuan was naturally quite cold as well.

When Eunuch Cao came out to summon people, he noticed Su Nuan and quickly came over to greet her.

"Is Consort Xia here to pay her respects to His Majesty? His Majesty is busy today, so Consort Xia, you may return first and come another day. This old servant will certainly inform His Majesty that Consort Xia has come."

Eunuch Cao meant well. To the Emperor, a daughter-in-law's greeting was insignificant compared to the important matters of the ministers. The Emperor certainly wouldn't set aside state affairs and his ministers to chat with his daughter-in-law. So he advised Su Nuan to go back first, and he would deliver her greeting to her.

But Su Nuan wasn't there to pay her respects. She had been the Crown Prince's concubine for almost a year, and she had never taken the initiative to come to the palace to pay her respects.

“Eunuch Cao, I have something to discuss with the Emperor, but I’m not sure if it’s important. Perhaps we should wait a while until the Emperor has finished seeing these officials before I speak to him.”

Eunuch Cao glanced at the long queue ahead, nodded slightly to Su Nuan, and then led the official he had just summoned into the Imperial Study.

Su Nuan thought she would have to wait a while, but soon the door to the Imperial Study opened, and Eunuch Cao announced loudly, "Summon the Crown Prince's concubine, Lady Xia, to an audience!"

After saying that, he personally came over to greet Su Nuan.

The Imperial Study was much warmer than outside. As soon as Su Nuan entered, she saw a young eunuch bring her a chair.

The emperor's head was still buried in his desk, intently reading the memorial in his hand.

"Xia Qingyan greets the Emperor."

Su Nuan knelt on the ground and bowed to the Emperor.

The Emperor looked up at her, then looked down at the memorial again.

"Cao Wenfu said you have something to report, sit down and talk."

Su Nuan looked at the only chair in front of her and, thinking of the several gray-haired adults who had just left, felt a little embarrassed to sit down.

But she only hesitated for a moment before sitting down without hesitation.

On her way here, she had already thought about how to speak to the Emperor, so as soon as she sat down, she said everything she wanted to say in one breath.

Yesterday, Lie Feng and Lie Ying went to find Zhou Jin. At first, there were some minor mishaps, but they quickly found him. At the time, Zhou Jin was being held captive by a group of people in a casino in the southern part of the city.

The two went to great lengths to infiltrate the casino, but only found Zhou Jin, not Dong Jingshu.

At that time, Zhou Jin was being held captive, and Lie Feng and his companion were unaware of the group's purpose and background, so they did not act rashly.

While keeping an eye on the leader of the group, the two secretly deployed their men, preparing to capture the group at dawn and extract information about Dong Jingshu's whereabouts from them.

Just as dawn was breaking, two more people entered the casino. As soon as these two appeared, Hunter Wind and Falcon became alert, because they recognized one of them from a wanted poster.