After hearing what the old lady said, Murong Jie sneered, "Oh, so the old lady is the one who understands?"
The old lady had already given up. She pretended not to hear Murong Jie's words. She stared at the servant Gui Yuan with wide eyes. The muscles on her face trembled, and she looked extremely ferocious. "Tell me, is this true?"
Guiyuan's lips were shaking with fear. Everyone was waiting for him to say this.
Whether he said yes or no, it still did not clear up the ambiguous relationship between Zi'an and Ximen Xiaoqing.
Guiyuan spoke under everyone's gaze, her voice changing due to fear, "Your Excellency, Madam, I didn't hear anything. I was originally a concierge. Today, there is a wedding banquet in the mansion, and the housekeeper transferred me to serve the guests. Later, Master Ximen came and asked me to go with him to the back garden to move some things. I saw that Master Ximen was a distinguished guest of the Prime Minister's Mansion, so I went with him. When we arrived at the back garden, Master Ximen did not go in, but walked around the lake to the rockery. When we reached the rockery, Master Ximen suddenly grabbed my neck..."
Guiyuan was unable to continue speaking, his voice was shaking violently. When he was on the rockery, he really thought he was dead.
He was weak and unable to resist. When his neck was strangled, he could only resist but could not break free.
However, he also knew that even if he could break free at that moment, he would still die. As a slave, his life was worthless.
His confession not only cleared Zi'an of suspicion, but also made no one doubt his so-called secret marriage with Ximen Xiaoqing.
"So, it was he who stabbed you with the hairpin?" asked the Minister of Justice.
"I don't know. I had fainted at that time." Guiyuan said.
The old lady's body kept shaking and her lips quivered, and her reaction looked similar to Guiyuan's.
Guiyuan was afraid, and she was afraid too, but she was more furious.
She was completely unaware of what happened today. If she knew the inside story, she would definitely stop it. What kind of plot was this? It was full of mistakes and omissions. They couldn't even kill a person, but they wanted to involve Xia Zian? This was simply ridiculous!
Xia Wan'er rushed out, pointed at Guiyuan and said angrily: "You are lying. This hairpin clearly belongs to Xia Zian, but you covered it up for her. Tell me, are you afraid that she will retaliate later? I promise you, as long as you tell the truth, I can keep you safe."
This is a double entendre, a warning to Guiyuan, if you testify against Xia Zian, you will be safe, otherwise...
However, after Guiyuan said those words, he calmed down.
I have experienced death once, so what else do I have to fear? This life was saved by the eldest lady, and at most I can give it to her again.
Zi'an looked at Xia Wan'er and said coldly, "The truth? What is the truth? Did I let Ximen Xiaoqing do it to him first, and then deliberately let him live, waiting for him to wake up and frame my lover, and then smoothly marry the prince to become my regent princess? If this is the so-called truth you want, just be happy, why bother a servant?"
Xia Wan'er was speechless, but then pointed at the hairpin and asked, "What's the matter with this hairpin? It is possible that Master Ximen strangled him by the neck first, and then you used the hairpin to hurt him when he fainted, thinking that you could kill him."
Zi'an sneered, "First of all, no one is here in Xiazhi Garden where I live today. It would be as easy as taking something from my house. Besides..."
She looked directly at Prince Li, "Your Majesty, you have been staring at my hairpin today. Excuse me, is it this one?"
Prince Li's handsome face twitched and he said, "No, it was a silver hairpin inlaid with some weird stuff. The inlaid stuff fell off and I felt very uncomfortable. Damn it, what was inlaid on your hairpin originally? I finally forgot it and now I remember it again. It's very distressing."
Zi'an said, "I don't know. The hairpin was already like this when the old lady gave it to me."
Prince Li frowned, looking extremely troubled and constipated.
He looked at the old lady and wanted to ask her something, but she turned her head away and didn't look at Prince Li. It was obvious that she didn't want to get entangled with a hairpin without any jewels.
Prince Li was very angry and snorted.
Everyone was looking at the old lady. When she rewarded her granddaughter with jewelry, she actually gave her a hairpin without the gem. It seemed that what outsiders said about the old lady being mean and ungrateful was not wrong at all.
The Minister of Justice listened to Prince Li's words, looked at Xia Wan'er, and roughly understood what was going on. However, today was the wedding day of the granddaughter of the Jin State, so it was not appropriate to pronounce a verdict here. He said, "The matter has basically been clarified. Today is the prime minister's wedding banquet, and we should not disturb everyone's elegance. The rest of the matter will be heard again at the government office. Come on, arrest Ximen Xiaoqing and temporarily detain him in the prison of the Ministry of Justice. I will hear the case again tomorrow."
Ximen Xiaoqing's face turned pale, his legs went limp, and he looked across the crowd at his parents, "Father, Mother, save me."
Liang was anxious and wanted to rush forward, but the Chen brothers approached together, so she had to take a step back and watched Ximen Xiaoqing being taken away.
The Minister of Justice walked up to Prince Li and Grand Tutor Liang and said, "Your Majesty, my Lord, we will have to trouble you two to come to the Ministry of Justice tomorrow and tell us what you saw so that we can verify it."
"Hmm!" Prince Li responded indifferently.
Master Liang waved his hands randomly, "Alright."
After the two agreed, the Minister of Justice walked up to the Crown Prince and said, "Your Highness has seen it at the scene. Please go to the Ministry of Justice tomorrow."
If he had asked the Crown Prince first, he would definitely not go. However, since the Minister of Justice had asked Prince Li and Grand Tutor Liang first, and they were both going, it would be difficult for him to say no. "I will go."
He glanced at Xia Wan'er and turned away with a cold face.
Xia Wan'er became anxious and chased after him.
Prime Minister Xia supported the old lady who was staggering. The old lady almost gritted her teeth and turned around with difficulty. She knew that today's matter would not change at the lobby of the Ministry of Justice tomorrow. The Minister of Justice was a ruthless and impartial man who would not be persuaded by any persuasion.
Even if the prince uses his status to suppress him, it will be useless.
Moreover, there is this Prince Li, he will not allow favoritism. Thinking of his strict approach, she felt angry. He was the one who got involved in these few times, seemingly unintentionally, but who knows who was instigating him behind the scenes
Seeing that Ximen Xiaoyue had just married and now had lost a cousin, would the Duke of Jin let it go
She could tell with her toes that the idea came from Xia Wan'er and Liang, but Liang would push the blame onto the Prime Minister's Mansion.
The crowd gradually dispersed. Since the dinner was the main event, no one left, but went out in groups of three or four to do their own things.
Murong Zhuangzhuang called out to Prince Li, "Third brother, wait a moment!"
Prince Li turned around and looked at Murong Zhuangzhuang, "Aunt, what do you want me to do?"
Murong Zhuangzhuang looked at him, "You actually want to side with Zi'an? Why do you do this?"
Zhuangzhuang was not asking for any blame, he was just very curious.
(End of this chapter)