Cheng Zhiye and Zhou Yuncheng widened their eyes, thinking that this guy was too much of a pretentious person. Just now, the girl came forward to feed him, but he yelled at her and she was almost scared to death. Now, as soon as his sleeves came, he started to act coquettishly again. What kind of person is this
Xie Nanjia was also quite speechless. Considering that he had contradicted the emperor for her, she resisted the urge to splash wine on his face and forced the glass into his hand: "Do you want to drink it or not? If not, I'm leaving!"
"..." Zhao Jingyu failed to act coquettishly, so he had to pick up the wine and drink it in disappointment.
After finishing the wine, everyone got back to the topic. Xie Nanjia recounted what happened at the manor to the three of them, and then said, "In view of this, General Wu'an and I both think that Li was most likely used by someone. She doesn't have the courage to do this alone. So, now as long as we can find Li, we should be able to follow the clues and find the person behind it."
After listening to her story, Zhao Jingyu couldn't help but think of the fact that he had abandoned her, and felt very guilty.
If he had not left in a rage that day, but instead brought her back to Beijing and placed her directly in the west wing, would she have suffered less and would there have been fewer twists and turns between them
It was too late to say anything now. He could only sincerely apologize to her and ask her to forgive him for leaving without saying goodbye.
Xie Nanjia recalled how she felt when she learned that Zhao Jingyu had left alone that day. She was frustrated and angry at the time, and secretly vowed to take revenge on Zhao Jingyu when she saw him after returning to Beijing. Now thinking about it, she felt that she was being unreasonable. Zhao Jingyu had no obligation to take her away at that time. She was just too impatient.
Two years had passed and she had long stopped taking this matter to heart. She even thought that it was the right thing to do not go with Zhao Jingyu. If she had followed Zhao Jingyu at that time, she would have to stay in the west wing to serve him after returning, which would have been detrimental to her search for the painting building and to find out the truth.
But she didn't say this to Zhao Jingyu. After receiving Zhao Jingyu's apology, she just smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. Everything is the best arrangement for us by God. Because of a wrong decision, we have the opportunity to experience so many things later. Because of experiencing so many things, we will slowly solve them, slowly trust each other, and slowly integrate into each other's lives. I like this process very much."
Zhao Jingyu also smiled, her peach blossom eyes curved into crescents, reflecting Xie Nanjia's shadow.
"Well said. Just for what you said, I have to drink another glass." He poured himself a glass of wine and put it down. He caught a glimpse of Cheng Zhiye and Zhou Yuncheng's sour expressions and couldn't help but frown and said in disdain, "Can you two leave now? Don't you think you are in the way here?"
"..." Cheng Zhiye and Zhou Yuncheng were almost furious. This guy valued women over friends. Who forced them to go out for drinks in the first place? He shouldn't be so quick to destroy the bridge after crossing it, right
"Don't listen to him." Xie Nanjia kindly comforted the two. "People like him who get furious and don't care about anything when encountering problems are a hindrance. If anyone wants to leave, he should leave. Let's continue talking."
Zhao Jingyu: “…”
Wife, doesn’t your husband have any dignity
"You said that Li herself doesn't have the courage to do this, but others may not have the courage to do this either!" Zhou Yuncheng brought the topic back to the topic, "Now the whole world knows that you are going to marry into the East Palace to become the Crown Princess. Slandering you is trampling on the dignity of the royal family. Unless that person is crazy, who would dare to do this?"
"Maybe it's a foreigner." Cheng Zhiye said, "The foreigner has a grudge against our Great Zhou, and wants to use this incident to alienate the relationship between the Crown Prince and the Emperor, and take the opportunity to do something bad."
"Impossible. How could an outsider know what happened to Xiu'er in the manor? Could it be that he went to the manor to investigate in order to create trouble?" Zhao Jingyu said, "The people in charge of the manor are all arranged by Song Ce. If someone really went to inquire about the matter, he would definitely be notified."
"That's right. The possibility of a foreigner is very small." Xie Nanjia said, "We don't need to think too much about the scope. The most effective way right now is to find Li. As long as we find her, things will be easy."
"Okay, let's go all out to find her!" Zhou Yuncheng said, "Let's mobilize all the manpower we can. As long as she's still alive, we'll dig deep to find her."
"I will go back and ask the emperor to mobilize troops, and search from the capital to Hongou Manor." Zhao Jingyu couldn't wait a moment, so he stood up and was about to leave.
Xie Nanjia laughed at him: "If I were the emperor, I would ignore you."
"..." Zhao Jingyu said awkwardly, "I can go back and kowtow to him to apologize, right?"
The four of them went downstairs together and walked out under everyone's inquiring gazes. Zhao Jingyu unexpectedly found Xie Nanfeng waiting outside the door.
"Nanfeng is here too?" He greeted her with a smile, "You go back first, I'll let Xiu'er accompany me to the palace."
Xie Nanfeng said with a straight face: "Are you going to let her be a shield for you?"
Zhao Jingyu: “…”
This awkward child is really awkward. He doesn't even give face to his brother-in-law.
In the end, Xie Nanjia was still worried about him, afraid that he would quarrel with the emperor again when he returned, so she coaxed Xie Nanfeng to go back first and she would accompany him to see the emperor.
Song Wanji was sulking in his study room when he heard Si Fangzheng report that the Crown Prince had returned. He was delighted at first, but then he put on airs and said, "No, tell him to get out!"
“…” Si Fangzheng shivered at the door and spread his hands helplessly towards Zhao Jingyu.
Zhao Jingyu rolled his eyes, dragged Xie Nanjia in regardless, and said, "I didn't come back voluntarily. Xiu'er forced me to come back."
Song Wanji was about to lose his temper, but when he heard that his daughter-in-law was also here, he suppressed his anger, raised his head from the pile of memorials, and said with a stern face, "Xiu'er is here?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. Xiu'er heard that the Crown Prince made you angry, so she asked him to come back and kowtow to you and confess his guilt." Xie Nanjia dragged Zhao Jingyu to kneel down with her and saluted, and advised kindly, "The Crown Prince has a bad temper. Your Majesty is broad-minded. Don't argue with him. He already knows that he is wrong, but he is stubborn and can't bring himself to do it. He just said that he would kowtow to you."
"Humph!" Song Wanji glared at Zhao Jingyu, "Your sins cannot be offset by kowtows!"
Zhao Jingyu bit her lip and said, "If that's the case, forget it."
"You..." Song Wanji was about to get angry, and Zhao Jingyu immediately said, "Then I will call you Father!"
"..." Song Wanji suddenly became speechless, stood up excitedly, and his eyes turned red.
Zhao Jingyu bowed to him respectfully and solemnly said, "Father, I know I was wrong."
Song Wanji's emotions instantly got out of control and he couldn't help but burst into tears.
Seeing this scene, Xie Nanjia's eyes also became moist.
Si Fangzheng stood outside the door wiping his tears with his sleeves, crying even more miserably than the emperor.
For so many years, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has never called him "Father" at any time or place, not even at the enthronement ceremony. The Emperor has always dreamed of hearing him call him "Father", and today he finally got his wish.
Song Wanji excitedly came out from behind the desk, and helped Zhao Jingyu and Xie Nanjia up one by one. His lips trembled, and he didn't utter a word for a long time, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably.
Zhao Jingyu had not expected that his calling of "Father" would have such a huge impact. Seeing the emperor crying like a fool, he was shocked and sad. He did not like such a sad scene, so he joked, "So you like this, old man. If so, I will call you that a hundred times a day from now on, so that you can enjoy it."
"Pfft!" Song Wanji was immediately amused by him, then he frowned and said, "You said it. I'll sign a document and you'll put your fingerprint on it a hundred times a day. I won't agree if you do it once less."
Zhao Jingyu: “…”
Is this true? Aren’t you afraid of getting calluses on your ears from listening so much
…
The father and son reconciled and their relationship was even better than before. Song Wanji personally ordered a nationwide search for Li's whereabouts. Based on Xie Nanjia's description, he asked court painters to draw Li's portrait and post it everywhere. Whoever found Li first, whether it was an officer or a civilian, would be rewarded handsomely.
As a result, a wave of searching for the person swept across the country. Although the notice did not specify what crime Li had committed, it did not stop people from digging deep into the ground to look for her.
Three days later, someone found Li in an abandoned house on the outskirts of Beijing. Several people worked together to capture her and sent her to the Kyoto government office.
The governor of Kyoto rewarded those people heavily on the spot and reported the news to the court.
Upon hearing the news, Zhao Jingyu personally led people to the yamen to interrogate Li.
The news about the Crown Princess's infidelity has spread all over the city. Only through an open trial in the government office can the truth be made public and Xie Nanjia be cleared of all charges.
When people got the news, they all rushed to the government office to watch. People from the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion, the Marquis of Dingyuan's Mansion, and the General Wu'an's Mansion also went.
It was the first time that the Kyoto government office received so many important figures at the same time. There were not enough chairs for audience in the hall, so the prefect had to order people to move all the chairs used at home in the backyard.
As the one with the highest status among them, Zhao Jingyu sat behind the desk with the prefect and jointly tried the case.
Xie Nanjia, wearing a veil on her head, sat between Sheng Qingyun and Sheng Qingluan, and quietly looked at Li, who was kneeling in the hall, through the veil in front of her.
Ever since she left the farm with the Fourth Aunt, she had never seen Li again. She didn't expect that the next meeting would be under such circumstances.
This woman's son killed her cousin Jinping, and she and Song Ce teamed up to kill this woman's husband Hu Sanmu. Although Hu Sanmu was the first to kill and deserved to die, it was she who made Li a lonely person. Therefore, even though Li almost killed Xiu'er Niang later, she did not try her best to track down Li's whereabouts. She just let her go out of pity for her loneliness and helplessness.
She didn't expect that after such a long time, Li would do this to her again.
If a person thinks his life is too long, even the King of Hell will take him away.
The interrogation began. The prefect slammed the gavel heavily. Li, who was kneeling in the hall, was so frightened that she trembled and collapsed to the ground.
"Kneel down!" the prefect shouted.
Li knelt tremblingly, with her head hanging on her chest and not daring to raise it.
The prefect said, "Who is kneeling in the hall? Tell me your name."
She introduced herself in a trembling voice.
The prefect asked her, "Do you know what crime you have committed?"
Li burst into tears and said, "Sir, I am innocent!"
"So, you know why we arrested you?" Zhao Jingyu interjected.
Li was stunned and quickly argued: "I didn't know. It's because I didn't know that I feel wronged."
"What a treacherous woman!" Zhao Jingyu sneered, "Do you think that now that your son and husband are dead, you can be free of worries? The person who instigated you probably didn't tell you that slandering the royal family without reason will result in the death of nine generations of your family. If you don't tell the truth, all nine generations of your Li family will die because of you. Think carefully!"
Li was shocked and raised her head suddenly. She saw a young man in an apricot-yellow dragon robe staring at her with a cold gaze. She was so frightened that her heart stopped and she fainted with her eyes rolled back.
In and out of the hall, inside and outside the door, there was absolute silence. Everyone was intimidated by the fierce aura emanating from Zhao Jingyu. Even the prefect was so frightened that his hands were shaking. He repeatedly ordered the bailiffs to bring water to wake Li up.
Li woke up with a start, and without Zhao Jingyu asking any more questions, she screamed in a shrill voice: "I confess, I confess, I confess everything, I only ask the noble to show mercy and let my people go!"
"Speak!" Zhao Jingyu said coldly.
Li said with a pale face: "Yes, Madam Qin asked me to do this..."
Madam Qin? Which Madam Qin? Everyone in the audience was surprised and asked in their hearts.
Zhao Jingyu also asked: "Which Madam Qin is it? Please tell me clearly!"
Li said, "She is a distant relative of my husband's family, the wife of Mr. Qin, a scholar from the Hanlin Academy."
As soon as these words were spoken, the whole room was in an uproar.
Xie Nanjia's heart skipped a beat and she almost couldn't help but stand up.
There is only one scholar in the Hanlin Academy with the surname Qin, and that is Qin Chuan, the son of the late Prime Minister Qin, who is also Qin Wanru's father. His wife is naturally Qin Wanru's mother.
It seems that this lady relied on the imperial decree in her family to avenge her daughter just when she was about to get married.
She really knows how to pick the right time!
Zhao Jingyu had obviously thought of this as well. He exchanged glances with Xie Nanjia and shouted, "Someone, go and ask Madam Qin to come to the government office for questioning!"
"Yes, sir!" Several ferocious yamen runners responded and left.
The people watching outside the door hurriedly made way for her, thinking that their trip was worthwhile. If it was really Madam Qin who instigated this matter, they didn't know whether the golden medal of immunity from death could save her.
(End of this chapter)