jdhmnovel Chapter 64 Life is like a play
Chapter 64 Life is like a play
The eldest princess said with red eyes, "You must not let anyone else hear what you said."
“You are the ruler of a country, so you must treat everyone equally. The Imperial Guards did not fulfill their patrol duties, but the guards at the banquet are all my men. If it really came down to a fight, all the people in my residence should be killed.”
The emperor's face darkened. "Why make such a fuss? You still don't know how those people in Yanjing are spreading rumors about you?"
The eldest princess scoffed, "She's just jealous that I'm of royal lineage."
"Since you are the emperor, they naturally wouldn't dare to use you as a pretext. That leaves only me, your younger sister. Besides saying that I'm arrogant and domineering and that I caused the deaths of four husbands, what else can they say?"
"Royal sister," the emperor said softly.
"Now that you and your husband are living in harmony, do not bring up the past again."
The princess's expression shifted slightly, and she flicked her handkerchief. "Anyway, I don't care about my reputation, it's bad enough already. But I can't let it affect yours. I've come here to ask you to issue an edict to punish me."
The emperor was both amused and exasperated. "Why should I punish you?"
The eldest princess's eyes suddenly lit up, "The way of a ruler is to combine kindness and punishment."
“His family suffered an undeserved calamity with me. No matter how loyal he is to you, it is hard to guarantee that he will not have any reservations.”
"He dares!"
The eldest princess lowered her head and said in a slightly coquettish tone, "Of course I don't really want to be punished. I'll take the punishment voluntarily, so he won't have to cry in front of you, and you won't have to feel embarrassed."
The emperor lowered his head. "You are the eldest princess, and he is a subject. How can the royal family accommodate its subjects?"
“Your Majesty, I am also a subject,” the eldest princess insisted.
“I am idle all day long and of no use to Your Majesty, but he is different. He serves Your Majesty diligently in court. Such a person should not be mistreated.”
"Besides, the position of crown prince has not yet been established, so it's good to see which side they will stand on."
The emperor pondered for a long time, then said, “Alas, my sister always thinks of me. I truly feel ashamed before you.”
"Your Majesty, you can't say that. Over the years, without your care, I wouldn't have been able to thrive."
"If you really feel you've wronged me, why don't you replace the salary you deducted from my pay with something else?"
The emperor smiled helplessly, "In that case, my sister didn't lose out at all."
The eldest princess said leisurely, "Well, who told me that besides supporting myself, I also had to support a weak consort? If it weren't for the fact that he was good-looking back then, and that looking at his face could calm me down when I was angry, I wouldn't have married him."
He had just left the Imperial Study when he encountered Prince Chu.
"Is my elder sister being punished?" Prince Chu sneered.
The princess rolled her eyes at him. "What's it to you?"
Before he finished speaking, he left behind a silhouette.
Before the palace gates were even opened, two imperial edicts were sent out one after the other.
They went together to the Marquis of Zhongjing's residence and together to the Princess's residence.
The previous imperial edict was to express condolences to the family of the Marquis of Zhongjing who had been frightened at today's spring banquet, and to bestow upon them a certain amount of medicine and money.
The second sentence reprimanded the princess for her extravagance and mismanagement, and fined her four months' salary.
When Marquis Zhongjing received the imperial edict, he was overjoyed but also had doubts.
He secretly sent a letter to the Princess's residence, stating that although his family members had been frightened at her banquet, it was their bad luck and had nothing to do with the Princess, and that he harbored no resentment whatsoever.
He wrote another letter to Prince Jing, explaining the situation.
He returned to the courtyard after finishing writing the letter.
The news that the emperor had issued imperial edicts to the Marquis of Zhongjing's residence and the Princess's residence reached Jiang Zhi's ears.
After Qinghuai finished telling Jiang Zhi the contents of the imperial edict, he added, "His Highness asked me to tell the Princess Consort that what she did today has not been spread, and the Eldest Princess has not mentioned it to His Majesty."
"I understand. Please convey this to Your Highness, Commander Qing. I am well aware of the situation."
She didn't want to show off in front of anyone; she only wanted those who deserved to pay the price in their past lives to pay the price.
"Your Highness." Wu Shi entered from outside.
He whispered in Jiang Zhi's ear, "Xiangyi is almost at the Zhenyuan Marquis's residence."
Jiang Zhi's lips curled into a smile. "Let's go."
At this moment, a carriage was slowly heading towards the Zhenyuan Marquis's residence.
The carriage came to a steady stop in front of the Zhenyuan Marquis's residence. A bloodstained hand lifted the curtain.
Immediately afterwards, a woman covered in blood came down from above, and she glanced at the doorplate.
With a "bang," he knelt down in front of the gate of the Zhenyuan Marquis's mansion.
"Lady Liu of the Zhenyuan Marquis's Mansion conspired with Xiangyi to trick Xiangyi into stealing the dowry of the late Lady Lu!"
"This humble woman, Xiangyi, knows her sins are unforgivable and has come to confess to Marquis Zhenyuan!"
"Lady Liu of the Zhenyuan Marquis's Mansion conspired with Xiangyi to trick Xiangyi into stealing the dowry of the late Lady Lu!"
"This humble woman, Xiangyi, knows her sins are unforgivable and has come to confess to Marquis Zhenyuan!"
A sharp, piercing sound entered the mansion.
The Jiang family was enjoying a harmonious dinner together.
Before we even picked up our chopsticks, we saw two servants, panting heavily, run in from outside.
"Master, Madam, something terrible has happened."
"Xiangyi from Zuiyulou knelt in front of the mansion gate, saying that she had come to the Jiang family to confess her sins."
The people inside the hall were no longer calm.
"What? Xiangyi is here?"
"Why is Xiangyi here?"
Upon hearing Xiangyi's name, Jiang Shuyue stood up from his chair, glanced at the Marquis of Zhenyuan, and hurriedly headed towards the gate of the Marquis of Zhenyuan's residence.
Marquis Zhenyuan frowned, watching Jiang Shuyue leave, and subconsciously asked, "Didn't Xiangyi elope with someone? Why is she here?"
The servant said, "They said it was because of the late madam's dowry, and also..."
He glanced at Madam Liu subconsciously, "It's also related to... Madam, who came to the Jiang family to confess her sins."
The Marquis of Zhenyuan's expression instantly turned cold, and he stood up from his chair.
"I'll go out and see what's going on."
Seeing this, the people inside the hall got up and headed towards the gate of the Zhenyuan Marquis's residence.
At this moment, Madam Liu's expression was extremely unpleasant.
The closer they got to the gate, the more the sharp, piercing sound reached their ears.
The servants in the mansion all lowered their heads and whispered among themselves.
"You swindled the late madam's dowry, and it's even related to her?"
"That's impossible. Madam is the daughter of the Duke of Protectorate. How could she possibly collude with a courtesan to swindle the late Madam's dowry?"
"Madam manages the household affairs and is not short of money. How could she even cheat the late Madam out of her dowry?"
When Marquis Zhenyuan arrived at the gate of the mansion first, he saw a young woman kneeling on the ground.
The woman's arms were stained with blood, and the cuts on her arms were still faintly visible. Her hair was disheveled, and hatred welled up in her eyes.
At this moment, Jiang Zhi arrived, got off the carriage, and looked at the scene before him with a shifty gaze.
Upon seeing Jiang Zhi, Lu Nianqiu quickly stepped forward and took her hand, saying, "Zhizhi, you've come at just the right time."
"Cousin, what's wrong?" Jiang Zhi asked softly.
“She is Xiangyi, she came to confess,” Lu Nianqiu said in a softer voice, “saying that she conspired with Liu to swindle her aunt’s dowry.”
Jiang Zhi's eyes widened. "Really? So that's what kind of person Liu Xiaoniang is."
Lu Nianqiu nodded firmly.