Chapter 32 The Eldest Princess is Demoted
Yu Nian glanced at the eunuch who came in to serve tea, her eyes darted around, and she lowered her head and followed him. She was a little eunuch brought in by Chunyu Han, and no one made things difficult for her.
Upon entering the Imperial Study, Yu Nian carried the tea to Chunyu Han's side.
"Your Majesty, Yu Nian is definitely involved in this matter. I heard that she went out of the city with Imperial Physician Yu to relax. It's hard to say whether she fled out of fear of punishment."
The princess spoke with a hint of smugness, saying that the gold was the best proof, and that Li Mingjin also disliked Yu Nian and would go along with her.
The matter involved the Prime Minister, and was of great importance. As was his habit, the Emperor cast an inquiring glance at Chunyu Han.
"What does the Regent think?"
Taking advantage of the moment when Yu Nian bent down to serve tea, she whispered something in Chunyu Han's ear.
Making her take the blame won't be that easy.
Chunyu Han's eyes flickered. He knew Yu Nian was a daring and unruly person, daring to sneak into the Imperial Study so brazenly.
Even if Yu Nian didn't say anything, Chunyu Han wouldn't let her be wronged, considering that she had taken that knife for him.
But when she said that, things seemed to get interesting.
"Please have the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review examine the evidence."
Chunyu Han spoke in a loud voice, and the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review rose upon hearing this and went to fetch the gold ingot.
Most of the people looked at Chunyu Han with puzzlement. It was just a gold ingot, what was there to check?
The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review examined the gold ingot carefully, turning it over and over. He was shocked by what he saw.
This gold ingot actually has the golden seal of the Eastern Palace printed on it!
In other words, this gold ingot came from the Crown Prince!
"absurd!"
Upon seeing this result, Li Mingjin's face instantly darkened.
"Would I really harm myself?"
Yu Nian chuckled to herself behind Chunyu Han, her head bowed. She had a backup plan; how could she be completely unprepared for a dangerous place like the Princess's residence? This gold ingot was taken from Li Mingjin's betrothal gifts.
"this"
The eldest princess was also stunned. She had planned so meticulously, but she never expected that there would be a mistake with the gold ingot.
"Everything I have said is true, Your Majesty, please investigate!"
Du Juan quickly said, "The crime of deceiving the emperor is punishable by death."
“Your Majesty, gold ingots are too readily available and are not suitable as physical evidence. However, I do have a piece of evidence that should be more convincing than the Princess’s.”
Chunyu Han spoke calmly, giving Canghai a look.
"Bring the prisoner Ma Si'er here."
Chunyu Han's cold voice rang out in the imperial study.
The eldest princess, standing to the side, visibly panicked. Had she heard correctly? Wasn't Ma Si'er already dead at the Eastern Depot?
Canghai moved quickly, followed by two guards, and brought a pockmarked man with a prison uniform covered in blood. The Crown Prince recognized him at a glance; this man was Ma Si'er from that day.
The princess clutched her handkerchief tightly. Ma Si'er was really still alive. Had that good-for-nothing consort given her false information?
"Your Highness should be familiar with this person. I believe he is more convincing than Jin Yuanbao."
Chunyu Han handed Ma Si'er's confession to the Emperor for review, and casually remarked something to Ma Si'er.
“Speak up. If even one word doesn’t match your statement, you know the consequences.”
Yu Nian shuddered as she listened; Chunyu Han's warning sounded like a blatant threat.
"Your Majesty, I have received a bribe from the Princess, who told me to do something improper to the noble lady in the side room. She promised to reward me with a thousand taels of silver if I succeeded."
Ma Si'er's words were like a heavy punch to the princess's chest. Seeing that the situation was not good, the princess immediately knelt down.
“Father, you are wise. Although I am arrogant, I would never do such a thing as killing my own brother. I don’t even know this person. He is just making baseless accusations.”
“It was her! It was Dujuan who gave me the deposit, pointed me in the right direction, and personally handed me the acacia incense, telling me to light it in my room.”
Having been tortured by Chunyu Han, Ma Si'er quickly said that he never wanted to go back to the Eastern Depot to suffer as a living dead again.
"You don't recognize him, but he does recognize your maid!"
The emperor glanced at the confession and was furious.
"Father, no, it is..."
Princess Chang opened her mouth, but didn't continue. If she continued, it would implicate her mother, and then no one would be able to save her.
"It doesn't matter if the Princess doesn't acknowledge it, someone else will. The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review should have brought the person here by now."
Chunyu Han's moves were increasingly ruthless, and when the prince consort appeared in the imperial study, the princess was completely dumbfounded.
"Your Majesty, spare my life! All of this was ordered to be done by the Eldest Princess. Sending people to assassinate the Regent's Mansion and harming people in the Eastern Depot were all just following orders!"
The prince consort was incredibly cowardly; he confessed everything right away. From the moment the assassin revealed his identity, the prince consort was summoned to the Dali Temple. Just seeing the torture instruments there terrified him, and he confessed everything.
The eldest princess was so angry that her finger trembled as she pointed at the good-for-nothing.
"Didn't you tell me everything was going smoothly? You useless piece of trash!"
The assassination attempt at the Regent's Mansion failed, and the Eastern Depot was also prepared. The person the Imperial Son-in-Law sent to kill was not Ma Si'er at all.
These were all messages that the prince consort had prepared to deliver to the princess, but Chunyu Han had simply replaced them.
"Minghan! What else do you have to say?!"
The Emperor was furious and smashed the teacup. He hated nothing more than fratricide. The Princess was lying right under his nose and didn't take him seriously at all.
"Your Majesty, I am innocent! Everything I did was for Your Highness the Crown Prince!"
Things had already progressed to this point, and the eldest princess had not yet received help from the empress. She could only place her last hope on the crown prince.
"Elder sister, be careful what you say. You should save this despicable method for yourself."
In her previous life, Li Mingjin didn't have much interaction with the eldest princess. Since she had schemed against him, she had to be prepared to bear the consequences.
"Princess, you have disregarded the law, harmed your own siblings, and plotted against court officials. Effective immediately, you are stripped of your title and demoted to commoner status. Your husband, who was an accomplice, is exiled to the northern desert and will not be allowed to return to the capital until death."
Recently, the Empress's maternal clan has been making trouble. The Emperor is using this opportunity to target the Eldest Princess and establish his authority.
"Father!"
The eldest princess thought that at most she would be punished by having her salary reduced or being confined for a few months, but she never expected her father to treat her like this.
The Emperor stood up, turned around, and didn't even glance at the Princess.
"Take her away! I have no daughter like you!"
Yu Nian watched as the princess was dragged away, wailing all the way. Although it was said that one should not live after doing evil, the relationship between the royal father and daughter was indeed thinner than paper.
Yu Nian wasn't sympathizing with the Eldest Princess; she wasn't as saintly as the female lead. If she let the Eldest Princess do evil this time, Yu Nian would be the one to suffer.
As Yu Nian was pondering, she suddenly felt a murderous gaze fall upon her.
She glanced over with her head down, and when she confirmed the source of the gaze, her heart skipped a beat!
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