Refugee shelter.
People from near the capital all came to the refuge.
They had come to the refugee camp on the advice of the Shangshu Mansion's steward, who had heard that the Shangshu Mansion would give Princess Jiahui an explanation. They wanted to know what that explanation would be, whether it was the recent rumors that were spreading, and whether the Shangshu Mansion had really wronged the princess.
The Second Concubine and Ma Youdao were brought to the exile center by the guards, put on top, and knelt on the ground.
Minister Ma came directly to the shelter from the Dingbei Marquis Mansion, walked onto the stage, and came to the side of the Second Aunt and Ma Youdao.
"Master, are you here to save me and Dao'er?" The Second Aunt asked Guard Ma hopefully.
"You think too much. The Shangshu Mansion has been destroyed by you. Now I am no longer the Shangshu Mansion, but the Minister of Revenue." Minister Ma said viciously to the second concubine.
If he had known this earlier, he would have disobeyed his mother and not married this evil woman into his family. Because of her, all his efforts were at his own expense.
"What? The Shangshu was demoted?"
"Those rumors can't be false, right? Were they really done by someone from the Shangshu Mansion?"
"It's possible, otherwise why would the Second Aunt and the Second Young Master be here?"
"Oh my god! I misunderstood the princess. She was the one who invented the curved plow. How could such a selfless person do such a thing? I should have known it was a fake long ago."
"I also wronged the princess. I suddenly feel like I'm blind. Look at the second young master's appearance. How could the princess like him? The princess is not blind."
"Yes, the princess is beautiful, elegant, and intelligent. How could she possibly like an ugly man with a rat-like face and pointed chin?"
"You know what, the second young master is really ugly. Hahahaha"
“Hahahahahahahaha”
The people began to discuss the princess's affairs, but were suddenly diverted to talk about the appearance of the second son of the Shangshu Mansion, saying that he was really ugly. This resonated with the people and they burst into laughter.
Ma Youdao and his second aunt listened to the people talking about the princess, and at first they showed no emotion. But when they heard people saying that she was ugly and making fun of her, Ma Youdao was so angry that he wanted to beat them up.
Li Yun and his family followed the Dingbei Hou family to the refugee camp. He was delighted to hear the people mocking Ma Youdao for his ugliness. The people were very discerning. Ma Youdao was so ugly that the sight of him made people want to vomit their food.
"The princess is here!" One of the common people suddenly shouted.
"I, a commoner, greet the princess!" When the people saw Li Yun, they saluted him!
"Everyone, stand up!" Li Yun said to the people. She was not used to this kind of kneeling rule, her knees must be so painful!
"Thank you, Princess!" The people stood up.
"Your Excellency, the princess is here. Please tell me whatever you want to say." Li Yun walked onto the stage and came to the side of the Second Aunt and Ma Youdao and said.
"Princess, it was the second concubine in my mansion who spread the rumors. I have already brought her here, and today I will give you an explanation in front of the people. Zhang, why don't you tell the truth? How did you get people to spread rumors about you?" Minister Ma scolded the second concubine.
"Master, I am innocent. I did not let anyone spread rumors about the princess. Please help me get justice." The second concubine refused to admit it.
"You are still quibbling when death is imminent. It seems that you will not give up until you see the Yellow River and will not cry until you see the coffin. Come, bring the person here." Minister Ma really admired her courage. She dared not to admit it even at this time.
Soon, guards came over with three men. Judging from their clothes, they should be hooligans from the capital.
The guards forced them to kneel on the ground, waiting for the master's decision.
"Tell me, who instructed you to spread rumors?" Minister Ma shouted angrily at the three men on the ground.
"Sir, it was the second concubine of the Shangshu Mansion. The second concubine's personal maid Xiao Cui found us and gave us a bag of silver, twenty taels in total. She asked us to say that the princess seduced the second son of the Shangshu Mansion and was driven out of the Shangshu Mansion overnight by the Shangshu. She asked us to go everywhere to ruin the princess's reputation. At first we disagreed, but twenty taels was too tempting. We really couldn't resist the temptation, so we had to go and ruin the princess." said a ruffian.
"You're talking nonsense. I didn't ask you to spread rumors about the princess. Who on earth ordered you to frame me?" The Second Aunt immediately turned the tables. She couldn't let the master know that she did it, otherwise he wouldn't let her go. She couldn't let the people know that she had someone do it, otherwise no noble lady would want to play with her anymore.
"I'm not talking nonsense, we have evidence." The thug retorted.
"What evidence? Bring it out quickly." Minister Ma said to the ruffian.
"Unless you agree to let us go, I will give you the evidence." The thug bargained with Minister Ma.
"You are not qualified to bargain with me. If you don't produce evidence, I will sentence you as the mastermind, release the second concubine, and make sure you die without a complete corpse." Minister Ma said threateningly.
"Okay, I'll take it out." The gangster had no choice but to compromise.
The ruffian took out a purse from his pocket and handed it to Minister Ma.
"This purse was given to Xiao Cui when she came to see us. She forgot to take it back when she gave us the silver. The words 'Yun Niang' were embroidered on it." The gangster pointed at the words on the purse and said.
Minister Ma took the purse and really saw the word "Yun Niang". She angrily threw the purse to the second concubine.
"Look, what else can you argue about?" Minister Ma said angrily.
"Master, I was wrong. Please forgive me this time." When the second concubine saw the purse, she knew that she could not hide anything, so she admitted her mistake to Minister Ma, hoping that Minister Ma would forgive her.
"It's too late to admit it now. Tell me, why did you slander the princess? Why did you spread those rumors?" Minister Ma said angrily. It was because of this woman that he was demoted.
"Why? This is all because of the master. Why did you hurt Dao'er for a village woman? He is your own son. She was just lucky enough to be able to make a curved plow, so she was named a princess by the emperor. What's so great about that? The master actually wanted to take her back to live with him, and for her, he wanted to divorce me. I hate the master and the princess very much, so I spread rumors to slander her. I want the people to think that I am a fickle woman and let people despise her." Seeing that the master was unwilling to let her go, the second concubine knew that she was doomed today, so she threw in the towel. She confessed everything just to disgust Li Yun. If it weren't for that bitch, she wouldn't have ended up like this.
Li Yun found the second aunt's words ridiculous. Her son was teasing the princess, so why couldn't she resist? Was she going to let her son tease her?
"Zhang, you're still trying to make excuses. Don't you know why I'm beating you for a reason?" Minister Ma was truly enraged by the Second Concubine's shamelessness. How could she speak of shamelessness so confidently?
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