Zi'an did not point out the loophole in her words, nor wait for her to finish, and continued to ask: "So, how long after my mother jumped off the carriage did the princess's guards catch up?"
"They caught up with us very quickly. I think they caught up with us when we walked more than ten feet away." Madam Linglong replied quickly.
Prime Minister Xia had been silent the whole time. Upon hearing this, he said sternly, "Don't let your thoughts get confused. Think clearly before answering. What you answer must be the whole truth. There can't be a single lie. Do you understand?"
Madam Linglong was sobered up by his shout and said quickly, "No, it's more than ten feet. I was a little dizzy at the time and Wan'er was taking care of me. It should be more than twenty feet or even more."
Zi'an glanced at Prime Minister Xia calmly, "Okay, more than 20 feet away, the guards caught up and asked the driver, who said he didn't know that my mother had fallen. But you just said that the driver should have known that my mother had fallen. How do you explain this, Madam?"
Madam Linglong looked a little flustered. "Well, I'm not him either. How do I know if he saw it or not?"
Zi'an curled his lips lightly, "Okay, just assume that he didn't see it, and he doesn't know what happened in the carriage, so his confession can be invalidated."
Madam Linglong felt something was wrong, but she still nodded and said, "Yes, his confession is not credible."
Zi'an's lips curled up a little more, "Okay, so that means that from the time my mother fell off the carriage to the time the princess intercepted you, the distance was more than twenty feet. More than twenty feet is the distance from here to the gate, right?"
Madam Linglong wanted to answer yes, but she knew in her heart that the distance was definitely more than just this. But if she answered no, it would prove that she really wanted to abandon Yuan.
She realized that she had been taken away by Zi'an and looked at Prime Minister Xia for help.
Prime Minister Xia coughed, and Lord Liang understood. He looked at Zi'an and asked, "Xia Zi'an, I am the official who is asking questions now, not you. Whether your mother jumped or fell is not the point, because after she got off the carriage, she was able to stand up, which proves that her injuries were not caused by falling from the carriage, and her blindness was not caused by that. Since it was not caused by that, you have no reason to beat your concubine mother and maliciously harm the future Crown Princess, and your crimes are extremely serious."
Murong Zhuangzhuang sneered when he heard this, "Oh, tonight is really interesting. When the lord interrogates, he still has to look at the prime minister's face. What is he asking? It's unnecessary. In my opinion, just drag Xia Zian out and chop him up, and it will save everyone's time. Master, don't you agree?"
When Taifu Liang was called by Murong Zhuangzhuang, he smiled slightly and said, "Princess, you are wrong. This kind of careless killing is always a very bad thing, especially when it happens in the Prime Minister's Mansion. It's fine if you and I don't know, but it involves the future Crown Princess, so I have to ask clearly."
Zhuangzhuang sneered, his voice was very sarcastic, "Ask for clarification, then ask, have you asked? You only asked Chen Linglong, who else did you ask? Did you ask the future Regent Princess? Did you ask the Prime Minister's wife? Did you ask me, the person involved? Lord Liang kept saying that she was extremely evil and mean, and he has already pointed out the crimes of the future Regent Princess. Do you need to ask more? He quickly ordered someone to reply to the Regent, saying that you guys are planning to chop off his future Princess, and told him to stop interfering."
The old lady said gloomily: "The princess keeps calling me the Regent Princess. Those who don't know will take it as the truth."
"Whether it's true or not, you just wait and see. In my opinion, the Regent Princess is a foregone conclusion, but the Crown Princess may not be the case. Madam, be careful or you may bet on the wrong horse." Zhuangzhuang said sarcastically.
When Xia Wan'er heard this, she hastily looked up at the prince. Seeing that the prince was looking at her with disgust, she subconsciously stroked her face and said weakly, "The Queen has already granted the marriage between me and the prince. Princess, please stop making trouble, okay?"
This statement would be appropriate for anyone present, except Xia Wan'er, who said it was the most inappropriate. Murong Zhuangzhuang laughed, "I'm so sorry, I said something wrong."
Xia Wan'er kept looking at the prince, waiting for his opinion. She hoped that the prince could say a word or two for her, or at least tell Murong Zhuangzhuang affirmatively that their marriage was settled.
But she was very disappointed because the prince didn't even look at her, let alone say a word for her.
Instead, Taifu Liang said calmly: "Princess, since the Queen has issued an order, it must be the fact. As for the Regent Princess, it has only been talk until now."
He was not distracted by Murong Zhuangzhuang and Zi'an because he saw that they seemed to be stalling for time, so he said to Lord Liang: "Sir, in your opinion, how should this case be judged?"
Lord Liang said, "In reply to the Master, based on the confessions of Madam Linglong and the Second Miss, combined with what the Eldest Miss and the Princess said, we can draw the basic facts. The Eldest Miss pointed out that Madam Linglong and the Second Miss pushed Madam off the carriage, but there is a lack of evidence and it is not accepted. The Eldest Miss injured Madam Linglong and the Second Miss, and there are witnesses from the Crown Prince and many guards, and the people in the clinic can also testify. I think this case is serious..."
Before he finished speaking, he heard the announcement from the concierge outside, "Prince Li has arrived."
Prince Li Murong Kai, the third son of the late emperor, was named Prince Li and now inherits the position of patriarch of the Murong family.
When everyone heard he was coming, their faces changed slightly. As everyone knew, this Prince Li lived up to his title at all. He insisted on observing propriety in everything, the propriety between the monarch and his subjects, the propriety between the old and the young, and the propriety between legitimate and illegitimate children. To use a phrase from modern medicine, he had severe obsessive-compulsive disorder and had to make right everything that was against propriety and law.
Many people in the court are afraid of him, but no one dares to offend him because he has the ability to drive you crazy.
Prime Minister Xia looked at Zi'an, feeling really angry. He thought that she just used Murong Zhuangzhuang as a backer. They thought that Murong Zhuangzhuang was not to be feared because Murong Zhuangzhuang never intervened in things and didn't know much about the laws of the Great Zhou. It was even more impossible for him to bend the law for Zi'an's sake.
Unexpectedly, she actually found Prince Li.
Prince Li came in with two attendants. When they reached the door, he told the attendants to stand outside the gate. He had already stepped in, but turned around and saw that the two attendants were standing on the left and right with some deviation in their positions. So he took a step back and moved the attendant on the left towards the door until the two of them seemed to be facing each other without any deviation, and then he went in.
When Prince Li entered, everyone had to stand up and greet him.
Prince Li didn't care, he walked straight to Murong Zhuangzhuang and bowed politely, "Nephew pays respect to little aunt."
Murong Zhuangzhuang looked at him with a smile, "Third brother, you're here!"
"My aunt has ordered me to come, so I dare not not come!" Prince Li replied respectfully.
(End of this chapter)