Wei Shaoqing frowned deeply.
"The year the princess was conferred the title, His Majesty showed great love for our Highness and issued a decree that all the purple heartwood produced in the fiefdom would be used exclusively by Your Highness. Therefore, the tribute from the fiefdom every year was packed in boxes specially made of purple heartwood," Gan Tang added.
Zhao Ping nodded repeatedly, trying to prove that he hadn't arrested the wrong person. "That's right, this purple heartwood is something that can only be used by Her Royal Highness. These purple heartwood boxes were all found in Madam Bai's home. Everyone can bear witness to this, there's absolutely no mistake!"
At the same time, he also looked puzzled: "Prince Consort... Oh no, Master Wei, don't you know about this purple heartwood?"
Isn’t it said that Lord Wei and Her Royal Highness the Princess have a deep love for each other and that Lord Wei loves Her Royal Highness the most? Why does he seem to know nothing?
Besides, this purple heart wood looks precious and not everyone can afford it!
How could Lord Wei say that the Bai family could afford it?
Looking at the strange looks from his colleagues, Wei Shaoqing felt a surge of anger in his chest.
He just saw that his house was full of these wooden boxes and thought they were worthless, so he asked someone to carry them over.
Who would have thought...
Yuan Zhao's lips curled up slightly in a smile.
Wei Shaoqing really didn't recognize this purple heartwood.
In fact, he couldn't tell the difference between most precious woods.
If we had not been exposed to these things since childhood, how could we distinguish them clearly?
Wei Shaoqing was born in a humble family and was obsessed with imperial examinations, so he knew very little about these things. When he first entered the palace, he often made a fool of himself and was ridiculed for being ignorant.
After she married him, she took care of his self-esteem, so he naturally thought that he could have whatever he wanted in the house.
Gan Tang laughed, "Master Zhao, you don't know. When our prince was conferred the title, the prince consort hadn't even passed the imperial examination yet, so naturally he didn't know..."
Zhao Ping said "Oh~" to indicate that he understood, and looked at several other colleagues.
It seems there is something fishy going on here!
Gan Tang pointed at the box again and said, "The things that belonged to His Highness were found in that thief's house. If they weren't stolen, could they have been a reward from the princess?"
Yuan Zhao chuckled softly and said calmly, "I've never rewarded anyone with these things!"
Even though Yuan Zhao denied it, the word "reward" still hurt Wei Shaoqing's self-esteem.
When he married Yuan Zhao, what he hated most was the difference in their status!
Yuan Zhao married me, and she gave me something and called it a "reward"!
Why should he be the husband and she be the wife? It should be the husband who is the head of the wife, but when it comes to them, he should be treated as inferior!
After more than ten years of marriage, he thought he had completely tamed Yuan Zhao.
This high and mighty princess, who was willing to bear children for him in the backyard, became an unwanted hag.
Especially after coming to Yangzhou, she, who was once full of pride, can only rely on him to survive!
But recently, for some reason, it seems that something is gradually beyond my control.
Gan Tang then stood up, and he and Biyun stood behind Yuan Zhao, one on each side.
"It wasn't a gift from the princess. Their family is just commoners. I heard that Madam Bai is even from the countryside. How could she possibly be so unethical as to use something that was reserved for His Highness? This is either stealing or reselling it!"
A commoner, born in the countryside, etiquette, special use... these were originally very commonly used words in the palace.
When it comes to respecting hierarchy and etiquette, no place in the world can compare to the imperial palace where Yuan Zhao grew up.
But since arriving in Yangzhou, she has repeatedly warned Gan Tang and the others not to differentiate between princesses, their husbands, and the emperor and his subjects.
But today Gan Tang no longer cared about these things. Every word she said was heart-wrenching, and every sentence accurately hit the pain point in Wei Shaoqing's heart.
Wei Shaoqing clenched his hands tightly in his sleeves. He took a deep breath and glared at Gan Tang fiercely.
A maid dares to speak to him like that!
Gan Tang seemed to have completely ignored his gaze and just stood behind Yuan Zhao to protect her.
Zhao Ping, who was standing by, frowned slightly when he heard this and said:
"Stealing is fine, but reselling the royal property is a capital offense!"
Yuan Zhao then slowly spoke, "Master Zhao, last night I gave you a list of all the items missing from the mansion. I think there are still a lot of things missing!"
Zhao Ping hesitated and said, "Your Highness, we have only found this much stolen goods in the thief's house. We are still tracking down the rest."
He paused. "But I heard that Mrs. Bai's husband is away doing business all year round. I wonder if he got the news last night and secretly transported the stolen goods away..."
Another official from the government office also said, "I've checked, and Madam Bai doesn't own any business, yet she spends lavishly on a daily basis. Could it be that her husband is pawning stolen goods to make money?"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the room except Wei Shaoqing nodded in agreement.
Wei Shaoqing's face flushed red, but he couldn't show any abnormality.
To call him a pawnbroker! What a shame!
Seeing Wei Shaoqing's frustrated expression, Yuan Zhao's depressed mood that had been pent up for several days finally eased a little today.
Now that the evidence is conclusive, it is impossible for Wei Shaoqing to admit that he was the one who sent these things to Xingyu Lane.
Either it was stolen or it was resold, you can only choose one of the two.
Wei Shaoqing had been thinking about it for several rounds, but he couldn't think of any perfect plan.
The most important thing now is to rescue Yue Niang from the government office first!
He took a deep breath and whispered, "This Madam Bai, her eldest son won two prizes in a row. He is a young genius that we rarely see in Yangzhou in decades."
"He is currently preparing for the exam in Beijing. He is the hope of the entire Yangzhou City. If he can pass the top three exams, it will bring great honor to our Yangzhou."
"If something happens at home right now, it will affect his exams, and if it gets out, it will damage the reputation of our Yangzhou."
Yuan Zhao felt a chill in her heart. Her husband was now praising his illegitimate son in front of her!
When Wei Shaoqing said this, he bluntly stated that this incident involved the reputation of the entire Yangzhou City. The other adults looked at each other and felt that there was some truth in his words.
Only Zhao Ping, observing the expressions of the two people at the top, felt that something was wrong.
Why did Lord Wei act from beginning to end as if the thing that was robbed was not his own house?
Instead, he always spoke for the Bai family, as if that family was his own family.
"I think this matter should be handled in a low-key manner." Wei Shaoqing wanted to make the final decision.
"My husband, what do you want to do with it? These dozen or so boxes of things are less than one-fifth of our warehouse. What should we do with the rest?" Yuan Zhao frowned slightly, as if he was really thinking about the family.
She changed the subject again: "By the way, many of the things in the warehouse were gifts from my father and my brother. If these were sold, how would I explain it to my father and my brother if they found out one day..."
Wei Shaoqing's brows twitched violently.
He almost forgot about this. Yuan Zhao was stupid enough to get away with it.
But if the capital is alerted, and those two investigate and find out that it's Yue Niang...
That would be big trouble!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
