To divorce his wife, the top scholar preferred being cuckolded to wearing a red hat.

Hearing Su Mingyue's words, Su Sihai laughed loudly: "So what if it is? I didn't marry her for her as a person, but for the property she left behind. Who told her to be so weak and die a year after giving birth to you? At that time, I hadn't fully taken over the property in Luzhou yet, so she couldn't die, and I kept it a secret."

"Why was it suddenly announced three years later? Was it because you didn't want to hide it anymore, or what?"

"Su Mingyue, you'd better not know too much about me. The more you know, the faster you'll die, understand?"

"When I met the Fourth Prince yesterday, he said something ambiguous to me, asking if I wanted to know what my relationship with him was. Father, what did he mean by that? What could my relationship be with him? I can't possibly be his sister, can I? That doesn't make sense, do you think?"

Su Sihai looked at her and frowned: "Su Mingyue, I admit you are a bit smarter than your mother. Just say what you want to say."

“I know all of Father’s secrets. Father must wish he could get rid of me as soon as possible. Father, why don’t you guess what I found out about these things a long time ago? If I disappear or am harmed, will these things be made public?”

"So what if I know?" Su Sihai said dismissively. "Whether you survive or not is another matter."

The carriage stopped, and Su Sihai jumped out.

Voices could be heard outside, and soon the curtain was lifted again.

The person who came in this time was not Su Sihai, but Zhou Wenjun.

Zhou Wenjun looked at Su Mingyue, who was bound hand and foot, and felt good.

She lifted Su Mingyue's chin with one hand: "Princess Su, do you know that your meddling in Qingzhou City has ruined my grand plan? Now that your father has handed you over to me, tell me how I will treat you."

"The princess wouldn't be trying to use me to get some kind of bargaining chip, would she? If so, the princess has chosen the wrong person. I'm not worth much money and can't get the bargaining chip the princess wants."

"I heard you are Xiao Zhan's fiancée. I'm really puzzled. How could he bring himself to sleep with a divorced woman like you? What makes you a woman worthy of him? Write him a letter of annulment, saying that your fate has run its course and that you are now separate from each other. I will let you go."

"Does the eldest princess like Prince Zhan?"

"What's it to you?"

"You like him, but he doesn't like you. If he liked you, he wouldn't have gotten engaged to me, and he wouldn't be so oblivious to you. Do you think he'll respect you more if you make me write a letter announcing the engagement? Or are you just trying to annoy him by using me, to let him know that it's his loss that he didn't marry you?"

"You have quite the sharp tongue," Zhou Wenjun said, looking at her. "You really think he wants to marry you? He's just using you as a shield."

"No matter how he treats me, we are an openly engaged couple. Now, everyone in the world knows that I am his betrothed princess. Princess, my marriage to him has been approved by the Emperor. You are asking me to write a marriage certificate, aren't you putting our Su family in a very difficult position? I don't know if my father will agree to it."

Su Sihai's voice indeed rang out from outside: "Your Highness, this girl is utterly disobedient, daring to even kill her own father. I hereby declare that I sever all ties with her. She is no longer the eldest daughter of the Su family, and has no relation to me whatsoever."

"Did you hear that? Your biological father wants to sever ties with you. What a pitiful little thing. He and his own father handed you over to me, and now he wants to cut ties with you."

“Okay, then let him write a letter of severance, so that he won’t regret it later and cry and beg to acknowledge me as his daughter.”

"Lord Su, did you hear what your daughter said? She said you'll regret it later, and you'll cry and beg to acknowledge her as your daughter. What do you say to that?"

"She really dares to think that way. It's just a letter of severance of ties, I'll write it for her right away." Soon, Su Sihai handed in a letter of severance of ties, with Su Sihai's fingerprint on it.

Zhou Wenjun had a servant bring in the inkpad, and then pressed it onto Su Mingyue's hand.

"Alright, you're no longer a member of the Su family. From now on, you have nothing to do with the Su family." Zhou Wenjun quickly brought in a letter of annulment, the contents of which were nothing more than that the two were not compatible and that her crippled body was not worthy of Prince Zhan.

Su Mingyue looked at the letter annulment and couldn't help but smile.

"I always thought the Eldest Princess was an upright and magnanimous person who disdained such petty tricks. Only someone like her deserved to inherit the throne and ascend the throne. Since I started dealing with the Eldest Princess, all I've seen are her petty schemes, like those of a vermin, which are truly unbearable to witness. If I were your father, I would also find the Eldest Princess's behavior distasteful; it's just too insidious."

If someone like you were to ascend the throne, how much suffering would the people endure, and neighboring countries would likely never have a day of peace.

"Shut up." Zhou Wenjun picked up the annulment letter: "I will help you deliver the annulment letter to Xiao Zhan. From now on, you and Xiao Zhan have nothing to do with each other."

"Fine, I'll wait for you to give him the annulment letter." Su Mingyue said indifferently, "It also shows me the Princess's methods. Just as I imagined, they are all low-down tricks, not respectable at all."

"Su Mingyue, this princess wants you dead." Zhou Wenjun was indeed enraged upon hearing her words, and she took out a dagger and stabbed it at Su Mingyue's face.

……

The Emperor was furious when he saw the information Xiao Zhan had brought back.

"How dare Su Sihai! Consort Mei is my woman, yet he dares to be with her behind my back. Even the Fourth Prince and his legitimate son are his children with Consort Mei, not mine. Bring him to the palace immediately, and I will exterminate his entire family."

“Your Majesty, Lord Su is not in the manor at the moment. He tied up Mingyue as soon as he returned home, and he should have already left the city. I suspect that he tied up Mingyue and left the city in order to use her as bait to cooperate with Princess Zhou Wenjun of Western Qi.”

"So, he's plotting a rebellion?"

"Whether it is true or not, news will come soon."

"Report!" A guard rushed in: "We have received an urgent report that a large army of Western Qi, numbering around 100,000, has been discovered about 50 miles outside Qingzhou City."

Upon seeing the urgent report, the emperor was so angry that he pushed all the memorials on the table to the ground.

"Xiao Zhan, listen to my command! The Fourth Prince, Xiao Ze, has dared to defy the laws of the world and is plotting a rebellion to usurp the throne. You shall immediately lead your men to surround the Fourth Prince and bring him before me."

"Father, there's no need to trouble yourself to invite me. I've already arrived." The Fourth Prince entered with a squad of imperial guards. He looked at Xiao Zhan: "Uncle, your information is still a step too late. I've already infiltrated the palace."

"Fourth Prince, do you know what you are doing? You are plotting a rebellion. Lay down your weapons immediately, and the Emperor might show you leniency. If you insist on going down this dark path, you know what the consequences will be."

"Who's plotting a rebellion? Isn't it you, Uncle Wang? I'm here to protect you." The Fourth Prince's lips curled into a faint smile.