"You can't even tell the date clearly, yet you dare to slander my county princess? Lord Chen, I think your official career is over. You've actually allowed such a scoundrel to defame the imperial family?"

Jiang Yuanling stepped in, wearing a purple python robe, and everyone bowed their heads.

Su Wanting walked out from behind him and quickly went to Xu Nian's side. "Get up quickly. I'm so sorry to have made you suffer. There's no evidence at all, and you still have to make this trip in this snowy weather."

She got up and went to find the Crown Prince as soon as she received Xu Nian's message. The two of them rushed to the Prefect of Jingzhou.

Even if Chen Weisheng relied on Jiang Yuanlang's power, he wouldn't dare to utter a single word of dissent now that Jiang Yuanling was present. According to the laws of the Xuan Dynasty, the Crown Prince's position was equivalent to that of the Vice Emperor.

Normally, as long as the decision doesn't involve political turmoil.

He could handle the matter first and then report to the emperor. As a fourth-rank official, he wouldn't necessarily be dismissed, but punishing someone for serious disrespect would be enough to make him suffer.

Xu Nian, helped up by Su Wanting, nodded to the Crown Prince, "I'm fine. It's just ridiculous that this person insists I killed Wang Jinmei and Zhao Yingying."

When Jiang Yuanling arrived, she naturally took the first seat on the right. Xu Nian and Su Wanting took a step forward to let her sit down.

He sighed helplessly.

These days she's been so busy, she hasn't had a moment to rest. Let alone see Wang Jinmei, she only has time to see the villagers once a year.

But those two died under mysterious circumstances, and the Third Prince is trying to pin the blame on her for no reason. It's utterly despicable!

"Who do we have here? It's the two of them." Of all the villagers Xu Nian brought, Wang Jinmei and Zhao Yingying were the most memorable.

There's no other reason than that my friend has just arrived in the capital.

Nine out of ten times, conflicts with the villagers were instigated by these two, and they almost killed Xu Nian and a group of villagers!

In her opinion, this kind of person deserved to die!

The Crown Prince raised an eyebrow. He had grown up with Su Wanting since childhood and had never seen her so indignant. He asked curiously, "You know these two people too?"

Miss Su was pulled to sit down by Xu Nian, her expression cold and indifferent. "I know them. These two are villagers that Nian Nian brought. They are ungrateful bastards, two ungrateful wretches! Nian Nian treated them so well, yet they still colluded with outsiders to try to kill Nian Nian and the villagers! If it weren't for Nian Nian's great abilities, they would probably already be..."

She recalled those days when she went to Xu Nian's courtyard and saw him lying on the bed, pale-faced and lifeless.

It felt as if a gust of wind could blow me away from this world at any moment, and my heart ached in waves.

Jiang Yuanling couldn't bear to see her beloved in such a state, so she quickly handed her a handkerchief and glanced at Cuiqing with a cool look. "In that case, these two should have nothing to do with the Princess of Fu'an County. Why don't we send someone from the Fu'an Prefecture to ask if these two have come to the Princess to beg for her forgiveness?"

"Your Highness, this is probably not appropriate."

Chen Weisheng finally found an opportunity to interject, bowing respectfully as he said, "The servants of Fu'an Prefecture are naturally on the side of the county princess, so I'm afraid we won't get anything out of them."

"So, according to Lord Chen, this woman's words are credible?" Xu Nian glanced at Cui Qing. "Lord Chen probably doesn't know, but I have a long-standing grudge against this woman. When we were fleeing, she falsely accused me of murder for money. I saw through her lies, and she gave me a lot of grain in return. Now she's using the same trick again. How can you expect me to believe her?"

Jiang Yuanling feigned surprise, "Such a thing actually happened? Lord Chen, you invited the county princess here without even asking about the reasons. You knowingly broke the law. What is your punishment?"

It's clear that we won't get any information out of today's matter.

Chen Weisheng knelt on the ground, his forehead covered in sweat, his body trembling like a leaf. "Your subject knows his crime. His Highness the Crown Prince is right. It was my negligence that caused you trouble, Princess. Please forgive me."

Xu Nian could see the resentment in his eyes, but unfortunately, he had followed the wrong master!

"Inviting you here with such fanfare without any evidence, without reporting to His Majesty or informing Brother Ling, is tantamount to slapping the royal family in the face. Removing his official hat would be acceptable, so why are you two letting him off so easily?"

On the way back, Su Wanting's face turned bright red, and her almond-shaped eyes were wide open, filled with anger.

Xu Nian and the Crown Prince exchanged a glance and shook their heads helplessly. Jiang Yuanling held his future wife's hand and said, "To catch the thief, you must first catch the king. Even if you gave Chen Weisheng ten times the courage, he wouldn't dare to arrest Xu Nian on his own."

He patiently explained, his eyes filled with affection as he looked at Su Wanting. The person who had been unwittingly subjected to this display of affection not only didn't look away, but also nodded in satisfaction.

Jiang Yuanling's destiny dictates that he will have only one wife in his lifetime. The two grew old together, sharing the same clothes in life and the same grave in death, a truly beautiful story.

Even if this person loses his position as crown prince and fails to become emperor, he will likely not let Su Wanting down.

After his explanation, Su Wanting's mouth dropped open in surprise. "You guys are planning to play the long game? They'll definitely do more to find evidence. The more they do, the more mistakes they'll make, and eventually the mastermind will be exposed."

Back at the General's Mansion, Gu Zhan smiled slightly upon hearing their idea. "The person behind him must be desperate, otherwise they wouldn't have come up with such a trick. It's full of flaws, waiting for us to exploit them."

Isn't that getting anxious?

Jiang Yuanlang's influence in the court has now been reduced to a small portion; most of his followers have either been expelled from the capital or demoted to minor positions.

Many even switched allegiance to the Crown Prince, and Consort Shu was imprisoned in Fanghua Palace.

It is said that the emperor did not visit her for many days, so she must have had a hard time. In addition, the empress had always been dissatisfied with her.

People in the palace are very good at judging people by their appearance. Jiang Yuanlang visits his mother in the palace once a month, which shows that he must feel sorry for her.

Among this group, Gu Zhan has military merits and enjoys popular support, making him difficult to target. The Prime Minister's residence is now aligned with the Crown Prince; to attack the Su family now would be suicidal!

Only Xu Nian is a county princess in name only.

She still occupies the position of Gu Zhan's wife, which is almost the weakest point in this chain.

She has too many people around her—villagers, her brother. Any one of them could be the subject of a major investigation. If this could be used as a breakthrough to dismantle the Crown Prince's faction...

That would be best, of course. Even if it's not possible, it would still make him happy for a long time if Xu Nian were to be ruined and die without a burial place!

Therefore, upon seeing Chen Weisheng return looking disheveled and scolded by the Crown Prince, Jiang Yuanlang angrily smashed a vase over his head!