Upon hearing Emperor Beichen's words, a cryptic glint flashed in Nangong Yuan's eyes. After a moment of contemplation, he finally spoke.
"It was Old Madam Yun from the Yun family who did it..."
"No matter which family's matriarch dares to beat the princess, she will be punished by me directly..."
Before Emperor Beichen could utter the word "death," he suddenly remembered something and hurriedly asked another question.
"Which old lady are you talking about...?"
"The Yun family is the same family that was just granted the title of Imperial Merchant by Your Majesty because of the largest amount of charitable donations..."
Upon hearing that it was indeed the Yun family, Emperor Beichen's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked.
"Why did that old woman hit Changning...?"
Seeing the sudden brightening of Emperor Beichen's eyes, Nangong Yuan knew that the person in front of him must have designs on the Yun family. His eyes flickered, and he spoke up.
"It was the old lady's carriage that was traveling too fast on the street and almost hit the princess's two children. After the coachman stopped the carriage, the servants of the Yun family felt that Princess Changning was blocking their way, so they got off the carriage and beat the people..."
"When did Changning have a son and a daughter? I've never seen them before..."
Hearing that Emperor Beichen's attention had shifted to Han Yiyi's two children, Nangong Yuan's expression became somewhat unnatural. He coughed lightly before replying.
"The ones Your Majesty has met are my sons, Zicheng and Zihui."
"Aren't Zicheng and Zihui your children? How did they become Changning's children? Quick, quick, quick, tell me what's going on..."
Seeing the Northern Emperor's eager expression, Nangong Yuan's lips twitched involuntarily.
"Your Majesty, now is not the time to discuss this. Why don't you first consider how to deal with the old lady of the Yun family?"
"Hey! There's no rush. Didn't you already send her to the Jingzhao Prefecture? Let her stay there for a while. Tell me quickly, how did Zicheng and Zihui become Changning's child again? If so, you two would have already... you know... But wait! Didn't you say Changning was married before? Could it be that you stole someone else's wife...?"
Seeing that Emperor Beichen was going off-topic, Nangong Yuan quickly spoke up.
"Your Majesty, it's a long story, and it can't be explained in just a few words. Perhaps..."
"It's alright, I have time now. If it can't be explained in a sentence or two, then you can say three sentences."
Nangong Yuan: ...
Emperor Beichen rarely gets to hear gossip about this matter from Nangong Yuan, so he's not about to let him off the hook.
However, things really were as Emperor Beichen said. It was indeed Nangong Yuan who stole someone else's wife back then. But it wasn't him who stole her. No, it shouldn't be considered stealing. Strictly speaking, it should be considered theft, but it wasn't him who stole her. Ye Yi helped him steal her.
Seeing that Emperor Beichen was determined to get to the bottom of things and wouldn't give up until he got to the bottom of it, Nangong Yuan had no choice but to open up and recount how Ye Yi had stolen the antidote from Han Yiyi, who was newly married on the day of their wedding, after he had been drugged.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Beichen was so shocked that his mouth could fit an egg, and then he exclaimed in amazement.
"Truly worthy of being Emperor Beichen's general, achieving two goals in one fell swoop..."
Nangong Yuan: ...
"What does the Emperor intend to do with the old lady of the Yun family...?"
After gossiping about Nangong Yuan, Emperor Beichen composed himself. When he heard Nangong Yuan ask about Old Madam Yun again, a cold glint flashed in his eyes as he spoke.
"What a Yun family! Not only did they profit from the national crisis, but they also used the ill-gotten gains they amassed to obtain the title of Imperial Merchant from me. Now, they've gone so far as to publicly beat the princess. They really have a death wish."
"Guards! By my decree, the Yun family dared to beat up my Princess Beichen in the street, which shows they have no respect for the Beichen royal family. Now, confiscate the Yun family's property and put it all into the national treasury. As for all the members of the Yun family, imprison them in the Jingzhao Prefecture prison to await their fate..."
In fact, after seeing the report sent by the spy, Emperor Beichen had the idea of ​​confiscating the Yun family's property. However, he was worried that some people would say that he was an emperor who was ungrateful, since the Yun family had just donated a large amount of silver.
Now that Old Madam Yun has slapped Han Yiyi in the street, she has given Emperor Beichen a handle to use against him. Thinking of this, Emperor Beichen couldn't help but smirk, secretly delighted.
When Nangong Yuan heard the decree from Emperor Beichen, he thought of that gentle and refined man, and his eyes showed some complicated emotions.
In fact, Nangong Yuan knew that Ye Yi must have deliberately not made a move, which gave Old Madam Yun the opportunity to hit Han Yiyi. Nangong Yuan naturally knew Ye Yi's intentions as well, but he did not speak again at this time. Instead, he turned around and left the Imperial Study.
Inside the Yun residence, Yun Yong was still listening to the steward talk about how, since his family became imperial merchants, the gifts that small merchants had been sending him recently had suddenly been reported by a servant in a panic.
Hearing that a large number of soldiers had arrived at the gate of the mansion, claiming to be there by imperial decree to raid the Yun family, he was so frightened that he fell off his chair. Fortunately, his steward caught him in time, otherwise he would have definitely slipped off the chair.
Hearing the servant's words, Yun Huaiyuan turned pale with fright and rushed forward, grabbing Yun Yong's sleeve and crying out.
"Father, Father, what's going on! Why is the Emperor confiscating our property?"
Yun Yong was already in a bad mood, and Yun Huaiyuan's irrelevant remarks only made him more impatient, so he shouted angrily.
"You ask me? Who am I supposed to ask...?"
"It must be our eldest brother, it must be our eldest brother. He told the Emperor about our instigation of everyone to raise grain prices. That's why the Emperor is angry and came to confiscate our property..."
The reason Yun Huaiyuan said this was because after Yun Xiao learned about the grain price issue, he had a big argument with Yun Yong. He said that if Yun Yong did not return the money he had earned by raising grain prices to the people, he would report to the court that the Yun family was maliciously raising grain prices, making dirty money, and profiting from the national crisis.
When Yun Xiao first saw the grain prices in Ping'an Town, he thought it was the government extorting money from the people, but he never expected it was his Yun family.
Because Yun Huaiyuan was outside the study when the two were arguing, he heard everything clearly, which is why he said those words now.
Upon hearing Yun Huaiyuan's words, Yun Yong also recalled what happened that day. Just then, Yun Xiao also received the news and thought of coming over to ask what was going on. However, as soon as he entered the study, he was slapped hard by Yun Yong.
"You unfilial son, do you want to kill everyone in my Yun family? Didn't I promise you that I would donate all that money? Why are you still doing this? What good will it do you if the Yun family falls...?"
"Yes, brother, why did you do this? Father and grandmother value you so much, why did you still harm the Yun family like this?"
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