After a while, the servant came in and said, "I greet the princess and wish her the best of luck."
"Is the prince in good health?" Jiang Changning asked.
The servant said, "To reply to the princess, the prince is doing well."
"Nothing happened on the way, right?" Jiang Changning didn't think that the emperor didn't have any tricks up his sleeve.
"The journey was very peaceful. When we were about to reach Hangzhou, we encountered a little trouble. Fortunately, the prince was blessed by heaven and was able to escape danger."
"I'm glad that the prince is alright." Jiang Changning sighed. "Let me ask you, did the prince personally choose the gifts that were sent back to the palace, or did he order someone to buy them?"
"To answer your question, Princess, they were all selected by the Prince himself."
"Your Highness has official duties to attend to, so how can he have so much free time to choose gifts? Didn't the prince ask you to reply like this?" Jiang Changning asked in a deep voice.
"Princess, I dare not lie to you. This gift was indeed chosen by the prince himself for you."
"You are quite eloquent, Xiulan. Give him a reward and ask him to do his job well." Jiang Changning sent the servant away and went to look at the gifts.
Seeing the light in her eyes and the smile on her lips, Xiulan knew that she was happy from the bottom of her heart.
Two days later, one afternoon, Jiang Changning was lazily lying on the chaise longue, listening to the storyteller, when Xiaochun came in, "Princess, Chunlai has something to report."
"Okay, let's stop here for today. We can listen again tomorrow. Xiulan, please send the female teacher out." Jiang Changning sent the female teacher away.
She put on her outer garment, tied her hair up again, and then went into the small hall to see Chunlai.
"I greet the princess and pay my respects to her." Chunlai knelt down and saluted.
"Get up and sit down to talk." Jiang Changning rewarded him with a wooden stool to sit on.
"Thank you, Princess." Chunlai sat down and began to talk about the matter. "The two men confessed. They are not in the same group. Xingzi is from Prince Ding's mansion."
This situation was a little beyond Jiang Changning's expectations. "Which government sent the other one in?"
"Ma Liu is from the Duke's Mansion of Xingzhou."
Jiang Changning sneered. This was another unexpected but reasonable situation. "Did you reveal your accomplice?"
"When we arrested Xingzi and Maliu, we didn't alert anyone else. The accomplices they told us about had been caught and are being interrogated right now."
"How many more did you catch?"
"There are five in total. Xingzi confessed two and Maliu confessed three."
Jiang Changning's mouth twitched slightly. How did the Qiao family manage the household? This mansion was like a sieve. With just a simple grab, seven were caught.
If we look into it carefully, we might find that all the servants in the mansion are spies planted by other families. It's terrifying just to think about it.
"We've caught seven people at once. No matter how careful we are, we'll still find clues. There's no need to hide it. Let's kill the chicken to scare the monkey."
"Yes, Princess." Chunlai responded.
"Go and get busy." Jiang Changning didn't ask any more questions.
She knew that Chunlai must have a secret channel to tell Prince Jin about what happened in the mansion.
If her handling opinions differ from those of the King of Jin, it will be difficult for others to do their work.
Of course she also knew that these people would definitely obey the orders of King Jin.
The next day, the chief steward gathered all the servants in the mansion and asked them to watch the execution.
Jiang Changning thought it would be very bloody and didn't want to let the people from Rujingyuan see it, but Xiulan said, "Princess, you have to let them see it, so that they can also know what the consequences of betraying their master will be."
"Okay, let's go." Jiang Changning manages Rujingyuan in a simple and rough manner.
The tasks were delegated to Xiulan's four maids, Xiaochun, Jinya and others, who were asked to take charge of different tasks.
When something happens, she won't look for the person involved, she will look for the person in charge, and the person in charge will then look for the person involved.
Jiang Changning followed Xiulan's advice and asked the people from Rujingyuan to watch the execution.
"You are now serving in the Prince of Jin's Mansion. You must recognize your master and don't betray him like these fools. Such fools don't deserve to live in this world. Get started."
At first, those people could still twist their bodies a few times, but later, they were dying and beaten to death with their flesh and blood all over them.
"Once they were sure they were dead, they were loaded onto donkey carts and taken to a mass grave outside the city."
The aftermath of watching the execution was that everyone's appetite for lunch decreased significantly.
Jiang Changning laughed at Xiulan, "Tell me, are you asking for trouble?"
"I'm deeply shocked. Let's see if those people still dare to betray their master?" Xiulan said with a pale face.
Those who had been secretly keeping an eye on Prince Jin's Mansion were shocked to learn that the mansion had killed several spies planted by other mansions.
However, no one thought about the role Jiang Changning played in this matter, and they all thought it was the Concubine Dowager who took action.
Jiang Changning's image of being cowardly and incompetent, like a jellyfish, has been deeply rooted in people's hearts.
June passed in a hustle and bustle, and it was the seventh month of the early autumn, which was a month for sacrifices.
Jiang Changning, who had nothing to do, was flipping through the calendar and offering sacrifices to the birthday god, praying for longevity and peace in the world.
After all, it is very difficult for people to live a long life in times of war.
Worship the God of Grain to ensure a good harvest.
Offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God, there is plenty of food.
People along the coast worship the sea god, people on the mountains worship the mountain god, and there is also a worship of Gao Yao.
The God of Grain, the God of Kitchen, the God of the Sea, the God of Mountains, Jiang Changning knew, who was this Gao Yao
"Gao Yao, what do you do?" Jiang Changning went to the study to look for books without any complaints.
After searching here and there, Jiang Changning found a book called "Legends of the Immortals". "When did I get this book?"
I took out the book and flipped through it for a long time before I found Gao Yao.
Gao Yao, also known as Jiu Yao, was said to be a minister during the time of Yu Shun, in charge of criminal justice.
The purpose of worshipping him is to pray for his blessing so that the policy of autumn punishment can be implemented well.
Sacrificing to him means that the death row prisoners in the prison will be executed in the autumn.
Shu Fei went out and brought back a message, "The old lady of the Longxi Marquis's Mansion fell seriously ill and needed to eat steamed buns soaked in human blood to cure her illness. She gave money to the executioner and bought steamed buns soaked in human blood for her to eat."
"Wow" Jiang Changning just drank the red bean paste, and she didn't know what she associated it with, she felt nauseous and vomited it out.
"Miss, you are vomiting blood!" Fu Cui was anxious and used the old name.
"It's not blood, it's red bean paste." Jiang Changning stroked his chest to calm down.
"Fu Cui, what's with that look in your eyes? You can't even tell the difference between blood and red bean paste. I'm really scared to death by you." Shu Fei poured a glass of water and pushed Fu Cui away, "Princess, rinse your mouth."
Jiang Changning rinsed his mouth, pressed it with a piece of cake, and said, "If human blood steamed buns can cure diseases, then what are doctors for? How foolish and ignorant."
It is not known whether the old lady of the Longxi Marquis’s mansion has recovered from her illness, but the Longxi Marquis has been impeached by the Censor.
The old lady of the Longxi Earl's Mansion was not the first one to use human blood steamed buns to treat diseases, but she was the only one who made it known to everyone.
I don't know who is backing her up to be so arrogant.
In fact, this matter was not reported by the people and the officials did not investigate. Now that the censor has impeached it, the emperor has to make a corresponding attitude.
The Earl of Longxi was reprimanded, demoted, and fined half a year's salary.
Note: The old lady of the Earl of Longxi is the aunt of the Crown Prince's wife of Prince Qing. The fact that the Earl of Longxi would be impeached is worth pondering.
(End of this chapter)