Prince Li sent people to inspect the carriage and also sent people to the clinic to understand Yuan's injuries.
As for the interrogation in the mansion, he did not stop.
He began to formally replace Lord Liang and interrogate Madam Linglong. He first disrupted Madam Linglong's composure by talking about the distance the guards had caught up with her. He asked Murong Zhuangzhuang's guards to come out and explain the distance between the front and rear carriages and how long it took to catch up with Madam Linglong's carriage. Madam Linglong could not refute this point, so Prince Li then pressed for details.
"You said she insulted you. Tell me word for word how she insulted you?" asked Prince Li.
Madam Linglong was flustered, but she quickly regained her composure. "To answer your question, she first accused me of not educating my daughter well, saying that my daughter Wan'er pleaded for the prince in the palace and questioned the regent's decision, which brought shame to the prime minister's residence. Then she said that Wan'er seduced the prince and said that the prince was originally in love with Zi'an, but he was snatched away, causing Zi'an to have no chance of becoming the crown princess. I endured it at first, but later, she actually said that I was shameless and had an affair with someone. I couldn't tolerate such false accusations, so I contradicted her a few times..."
Prince Li interrupted her, "How did you contradict her? Tell me exactly what you said."
Madam Linglong bit her lip and said, "If you don't like me, just say it directly. Why do you have to pile up accusations like this? A woman's reputation is more important than anything else. If you frame me like this, aren't you trying to force me to death?"
"Well, what next?" Prince Li asked her to continue.
"Then the lady got very angry and rushed over to hit me, cursing as she hit me..."
"How did she curse? Tell me exactly what she said!" Prince Li asked again.
The old lady said, "Your Majesty, there is no need to narrate these dirty words. I'm afraid no one here wants to hear them."
Prince Li said unhappily, "Madam, this is not a question of whether you are willing to listen or not. Since the case has been reported to the government, it should be tried in the government. You are violating the rules by holding a court here, but forget it. After all, your aunt is here. However, you still have to follow the procedures of the government. You can't just say that the murder process was bloody and no one wants to hear it and then not force the prisoner to confess."
The old lady turned her face away with a grim expression, feeling very angry that Prince Li did not give her any face at all.
Zi'an had been standing beside Yuan, holding her hand, with his brows lowered, but he couldn't hide the coldness in his eyes.
Prince Li did better than she had imagined, and she finally understood why even an arrogant man like Xiao Tuo would admire Prince Li.
Madam Linglong could only answer: "My Lord, she was beating me while cursing, 'You vicious woman, you bitch, you have refused to leave me for the past ten years, how can you be so shameless? Go to hell...' That's about it."
"Don't probably, are you sure?" asked Prince Li.
"Yes, sure!" Mrs. Linglong was afraid that he would ask her to say it again, so she nodded and said yes.
Prince Li waved his hand and said, "Alright, you take a rest first. Please ask Xia Wan'er to come out. I have something to ask her."
Madam Linglong was startled. "My Lord, do you have anything else to ask? Why don't you ask me? I remember it clearly."
"It is your business to remember it clearly. Since she is in the carriage, I will have to ask her about this matter again."
Xia Wan'er was brought out. She couldn't hear anything in the inner hall, so naturally she didn't know what Madam Linglong had just said.
Prince Li asked her to repeat what Yuan had said to Madam Linglong and what Madam Linglong had said in her defense.
The mother and daughter only roughly matched their testimonies, but the fabricated swearing content did not match. Fortunately, although it was not quite consistent, generally speaking, it was nothing more than this.
After Xia Wan'er finished answering, she added, "I may have remembered some of it wrongly, because the situation was quite chaotic at the time, but it was roughly these."
Prince Li said, "I want to ask you, just now your mother said that Yuan Shi had asked you to give her five thousand taels of silver before she would give up. Tell me, did your mother agree to give you the five thousand taels of silver?"
Xia Wan'er looked at Madam Linglong. Madam Linglong couldn't say it clearly, so she could only make a gesture, gently waving it on the right, to indicate that they had not discussed this.
But Xia Wan'er misunderstood and immediately replied, "Although she proposed this, we didn't have that much money, so we didn't agree to her request. That's why she went crazy and beat up mother and me."
When Mrs. Linglong heard this answer, her face turned pale.
Murong Zhuangzhuang couldn't help laughing. This third brother has his own ways.
"Well," Prince Li nodded, "Then, your mother said that Yuan suggested that you should not marry the prince, and that Xia Zian should marry the prince instead of you. Do you agree with this? Just say it directly. Your mother has already answered. I just want to see if your confessions are consistent."
Xia Wan'er looked at Madam Linglong again, and Madam Linglong couldn't help but said, "Your Majesty, this is totally..."
"It's not your turn to speak yet. If it were in the hall, I would slap you in the face." Prince Li looked at her sternly, and Madam Linglong was so scared that she immediately fell silent.
Xia Wan'er was somewhat puzzled, but she was not sure what Prince Li wanted, nor did she know why her mother said that. After hesitating for a moment, she shook her head and said, "We don't agree."
"Well!" Prince Li looked at Lord Liang, "Do you have anything to say?"
Lord Liang's face turned pale, "Your Majesty, I was reckless, reckless."
He kept wiping the sweat off his face and looked a little weak. There was a problem with the confessions of both of them, so they could not be trusted. Since one of them was lying, the truth must be on Yuan's side.
The so-called insults and Yuan's jumping off the carriage to frame her for murdering her mistress are all false.
"Reckless?" Prince Li shouted angrily, "Are you being reckless? Who brought this case to the government office tonight? Order someone to go back and prepare the case file, along with the evidence that I ordered someone to inspect the carriage, and submit it to the Ministry of Justice, which will then submit it to Lord Cui."
Giving it to Lord Cui is equivalent to giving it to the Secretariat, which will be reported to the Regent.
Lord Liang felt that his career was over, and said weakly, "Yes, I know."
He looked at Master Liang as if asking for help, but Master Liang stood up expressionlessly and said, "I remember that I have something else to do. You can take your time to review this case."
Then he said to the prince, "Your Highness is injured, it's time for you to go back and rest."
The prince was eager to leave. From the moment Prince Li arrived, he didn't want to stay. He was not so naive as to fool Prince Li with what happened tonight.
Xia Wan'er was anxious, "Are you not going to try her anymore? She really hurt us. Since the matter has been taken over by the government, the government should punish her."
"Shut up!" Prime Minister Xia shouted angrily, how stupid! It has come to this, but he still can't see the reality clearly. How will he survive the struggle in the palace in the future
Xia Wan'er looked at her father in a daze, not knowing what went wrong.
"Why are you in such a hurry to leave?" Prince Li said, "Prince, please take a seat first. Grand Tutor, please take a seat as well. The case has not yet been concluded."
The Grand Tutor looked at Prince Li and said helplessly, "What else does your Highness want?"
Prince Li looked at Zi'an and said, "Take out the dagger you used to injure Chen and Xia Wan'er."
Zi'an didn't understand what was going on, so he took it out and handed it to Prince Li.
Prince Li casually threw the dagger to Taifu Liang and said, "Look carefully at the words on the handle of the dagger."
Taifu Liang took it but did not look at it. Instead, he handed it back to Prince Li and said, "I am not interested in weapons."
"Let's wait and see!" Prince Li said coldly.
Now, Master Liang just wanted to leave immediately, so he obeyed his words, looked down, and immediately turned pale with fright.
(End of this chapter)