As Liang was talking, she suddenly seemed to remember something and asked Ximen Xiaoyue, "By the way, I said before that I would take back part of the dowry I sent over. Have you brought that part back?"
Ximen Xiaoyue hesitated for a moment when she suddenly brought this up, "Aren't they all in the side room? They were burned by fire."
Before implementing the fire plan, she had ordered all the valuable dowry to be moved away.
Liang stared at the hairpin on her head and said, "This hairpin is your dowry. I put it in the jewelry box with my own hands. How can you take it out and wear it after it was burned?"
Ximen Xiaoyue subconsciously reached out and touched the hairpin, her face a little stiff, "This... is it? Is this it?"
"That's right. I personally arranged your dowry. The headgear you are wearing today was all made by craftsmen working overnight." Liang stared at her and said.
Ximen Xiaoyue was at a loss for words. She had just said that she had burned it, so it would be hard to say that she had misremembered it and didn't burn it, right? If she admitted that she hadn't burned it, wouldn't that mean she had the intention to embezzle it
Besides, returning the dowry was a shameful thing in itself. It was really embarrassing for her to bring it up at this moment. All the elders present looked at each other.
"The dowry was originally placed in the side room. When the eldest lady and I went in to return the gifts, the dowry should have been placed in there. After I took out a part of it, you could put the rest back into the warehouse, right? But when the fire broke out, the eldest lady and I did not leave until the fire was out and the entire side room was destroyed. How did these jewelry escape?" Liang's voice suddenly became sharp.
Ximen Xiaoyue panicked, her tongue tied, and after hesitating for a while, she could only stammer and admit, "I gave a part of the dowry myself, Second Aunt doesn't know about it."
"When did you take out a part of it? How come I didn't know? I wasn't by your side except for the ceremony after you got married, but I have been with you ever since." Liang pressed.
"This, this..." Ximen Xiaoyue racked her brains, thinking about the moments when Liang was not with her.
"Master Taibao!" Liang said sternly, "There is something strange about this matter. Please make sure to check it out. I am sure that all the dowry is in the side room after it is delivered. The jewelry box has a key, and I am the only one with the key. Of course, the lock can be pried open, but isn't it strange to pry open the lock and take away some jewelry on the wedding day? If not a part of it, then the entire jewelry box must be taken away. Why move the jewelry box? There is no one guarding it in the side room because she knows there will be a fire. Once it burns over, it will destroy the jewelry."
"Second Aunt, I really didn't mean to set fire to harm you. Don't think too much. If you don't want to give me these jewelry, I will give them back." Ximen Xiaoyue said pitifully.
The guardian said to Liang with a slight displeasure: "Well, you are always stubborn. It seems that you will not give up unless you get the truth today."
After saying that, he looked at Ximen Xiaoyue and said, "Tell me again what happened that day, and I will administer justice."
Ximen Xiaoyue was panicked and confused by Liang, and now seeing that the guardian asked her to talk about what happened that day again, she had to try hard to concentrate her thoughts and tell it all from the beginning: "... I didn't remember the unpleasant incident of the tea ceremony. After returning to the bridal chamber, my second aunt saw that I was unhappy and asked me what happened. I..." When she said this, she suddenly felt confused and forgot what she had said before.
After hesitating for a moment, the guardian reminded: "You said you complained to the second lady."
Ximen Xiaoyue nodded, "Yes, after I complained to Second Aunt, she wanted to teach Zi'an a lesson. I tried to dissuade her, but it was ineffective after several attempts."
Taibao interrupted again, "Well, later the Prime Minister came over and you told him about it. He didn't take it seriously and thought that the Second Madam would not do anything."
Ximen Xiaoyue nodded repeatedly, remembering what she had said, "Yes, the Prime Minister said that today is a big day, and Second Aunt is a sensible person and would not act recklessly, so she made a big mistake."
"Well, yes, the confession matches. Later, the second lady asked the second lady of the prime minister's mansion for help in dealing with the eldest lady of the Xia family, Xia Zian. You were against it, right?" the guard asked again.
Ximen Xiaoyue nodded subconsciously, "Yes, I am against it."
But after saying this, she was stunned again. Did she say these things before
She looked at Prime Minister Xia for help. Prime Minister Xia's face looked very ugly. As smart as he was, he already knew that the guard was trying to trick her into talking step by step.
If she makes a mistake in one sentence, many mistakes will be exposed. Once there are too many mistakes, what she says will not be credible.
Moreover, he believed that Taibao was definitely not being questioned passively today. Taibao used to be the Minister of the Chancellery, and the current Minister of Justice used to be his subordinate. The Ministry of Justice is now investigating the case of the Prime Minister's Mansion together with the Jingzhao Yin Yamen. Will this Minister of Justice ask Taibao for help
As expected, Taibao's expression suddenly changed, and he looked at Ximen Xiaoyue with a cold look, "You said it twice, and there are six doubtful points. Do you want me to count them one by one for you?"
Ximen Xiaoyue didn't expect the guard to suddenly change his expression, and she panicked, "What questions? No, I'm telling the truth, maybe I forgot some details."
"First, you said that you were not dissatisfied with Xia Zian's slight to you, but later you said that you were a little unhappy. This is just a case of you saying one thing and thinking another, and I won't pursue it."
"Second, you first said you went back to complain to the Second Madam, but then you said that the Second Madam somehow knew that Xia Zian was disrespectful to you. Then, you said that you went back to complain. Your words don't make sense. You don't even know what you made up, right?"
"Third, you said that during the main banquet, you knew how the dishes were placed, how the guests sat down, and even that the Second Madam sat in the upper left corner. You saw everything with your own eyes. However, you were not there that night. You were in the bridal chamber, and you were injured in a fire. Xia Quan, who arranged all this, was burned to death in the side room. The only thing that can be made clear is that you had people keeping a close eye on the people at this table."
Ximen Xiaoyue quickly defended herself, "Yes, I asked someone to keep an eye on it, but isn't that normal? After all, Concubine Cui and the old lady are sitting over there, and I always have to make sure the guests enjoy their meals."
"Well, then you admit that you have ordered people outside to keep a close eye on him, right?" A cold light flashed in the Taibao's eyes.
"Yes... yes." Ximen Xiaoyue had no choice but to admit it.
The guard said coldly, "Since you ordered someone to watch this table, you must have noticed that when your second aunt and eldest daughter Xia Zian left, someone immediately took away their cups."
Ximen Xiaoyue was confused. Who knows this
"Well, it's normal to take away the cups after people leave the table." Ximen Xiaoyue defended herself, beads of sweat already appearing on her forehead.
She quickly looked at the old lady, who had a sullen look on her face and a dead gray look in her eyes.
These two questions were clearly traps, but the hateful thing was that Ximen Xiaoyue didn't know this and foolishly continued to answer them.
The guard continued to ask, "Well, it's normal to take the cup away, but your people also saw that when your second aunt left, she already needed someone to support her, which means that she had begun to faint, right?"
Ximen Xiaoyue shook her head and wiped the sweat from her forehead, "I don't know about that."
(End of this chapter)