If Princess Rui'an has all the evidence and wants to eliminate them all, she can go directly to the capital's magistrate's office! She can then present the evidence, and the prefect will directly adjudicate and sentence them!
The princess's residence cannot be used for private punishment, especially since it involves two marquisates and a high-ranking official. Even if Princess Ruian has made things clear today, she still has to go to the capital's government office to have it discussed again.
So, will Princess Ryan make this public?
If you want to kill these people, why go through all this trouble twice? Just bring everyone to the princess's residence first.
No, the princess doesn't want to make a big deal out of it!
Putting yourself in her shoes, if she were a princess, she wouldn't make a big deal out of it either, because making a big deal out of it would inevitably damage the reputation of the three court officials.
The emperor is ordering his officials around, and they are doing their jobs well. But the princess is getting on the officials' nerves because of some petty squabbles in the inner quarters.
The emperor used to turn a blind eye to the infighting among the concubines in the harem. Now, would he "distinguish right from wrong" because of some petty domestic squabbles among the common people?
Wake up! Only children care about right and wrong; adults only weigh gains and losses!
If the Emperor knew that Princess Ruian had caused three high-ranking officials and three families to lose face and become the laughing stock of the capital because of a cousin and a concubine, he would certainly not let Princess Ruian off the hook.
Not to mention the dark feudal autocracy, even in modern society, there are many confusing situations resulting from choices.
In ancient times, those who could not tolerate injustice and immediately rose up in rebellion, even at the cost of their lives, mostly became cannon fodder, except for a small number of lucky ones.
Speaking of cannon fodder, we have to mention her "golden finger": she knows the plot and the character settings, and can predict the direction of their thoughts through the character's positioning.
Ordinary cannon fodder are simple-minded, say whatever comes to mind, only care about momentary pleasure, and don't consider the consequences at all.
The representative figures are the Lady and Bai Fengchu.
However, the novel never portrays Princess Rui'an as cannon fodder, so the princess appears arrogant and domineering on the surface, but is actually quite shrewd and meticulous.
How could someone with such a deep mind go to such extremes?
How could they possibly fall out with the Marquis of Xuanping's mansion and the scholarly Jiang family just because of a mere concubine like her? All because of some so-called friendship, affection, or sense of justice?
In summary, she believed that the princess did not want to make a big fuss, but only wanted to punish the sinners within a certain scope.
The right thing to do was to say what the princess wanted to hear, and not to be willful.
Besides, she didn't want to act recklessly. If Jiang Yinjin was punished and deviated from the main plot, not only would she fail to achieve her goal, but she would also implicate Hanrong.
After all, Hanrong was with her at the time.
Shen Mianmian carefully observed the princess's expression. "Your Highness, I did not meet with Lord Huo alone. As for the rumors about the Marquis's residence, I have heard them. Furthermore, I believe that the young mistress is not involved in this matter, and... I am even willing to vouch for the young mistress!"
The crowd erupted in uproar.
Jiang Yinjin stared in surprise at the woman kneeling beside her, as if seeing her for the first time.
This feeling terrified her, as if she were taking a walk on a path every day, thinking she was safe, when suddenly a stone lion by the roadside yawned, and she realized that it was not a stone lion at all, but a real, living lion that could eat people!
Every time her plans fell through before, she thought it was just a coincidence. Could it be... that she was thinking of Chen Mianmian all along?!
Chen Mianmian thought to herself, "Don't look at me. I'm not repaying evil with kindness, nor am I a saint. It's just that without your love line, I can't go home and have to protect you."
She's gambling!
Princess Gamble was merely giving the Jiang family a warning; she didn't actually want to break ties with them.
Princess Ryan looked at Chen Mianmian with amusement, when suddenly Ding stood up, "Your Highness..."
Princess Ryan's lips twitched. "Sit down. I have my own arrangements."
"..."
Ding stood bewildered in front of the chair, not understanding how the princess seemed to know what she was going to say before she even spoke.
Marquis Anning gave Ding a wink, and Ding obediently sat back down.
Princess Ruian glared at Ding Shi with exasperation—how could her mind be so simple? Look at your two cunning daughters-in-law; if you had half their intelligence, you'd be more than capable.
Then, he coldly said to the two kneeling men, "Both of you, sit back down. I don't need you to teach me how to do things."
"Yes, Your Majesty/This humble woman knows her mistake." The two women stood up and sat back down in their chairs.
The focus of everyone's attention returned to Zheng Ruier.
However, Jiang Yinjin's focus was on the woman beside her.
Princess Ryan, "Go on."
Zheng Ruier gritted her teeth, "This humble woman...this humble woman...this humble woman has a favor to ask of the young mistress. It is...it is...I beg the young mistress to give me one of Aunt Shen's personal belongings..."
In an instant, everyone understood.
The handkerchief that Huo Rang obtained did indeed belong to Consort Shen. It was stolen by Jiang Yinjin and given to Zheng Ruier. Zheng Ruier then found a way to send it to the Xuanping Marquis's residence, fabricating a story that Huo Rang and Consort Shen had an affair, thus ruining Consort Shen's reputation.
Princess Ryan's gaze turned icy. "Jiang, what do you have to say?"
Jiang Yinjin pursed her lips and spoke out her prepared speech word by word, “Your Highness, I was wrong. When I saw that Miss was suffering a great blow and resenting Shen, I was afraid that Miss would get sick from anger, so I agreed to give Miss a handkerchief from Shen.”
But the woman hadn't expected that her cousin would frame the Shen family for their reputation, assuming that a sorceress would perform a curse. The woman had heard of such methods before, but they required the hair or nails of the person being cursed, or at the very least, clothing worn close to the body. Since a handkerchief wasn't clothing worn close to the body, the woman believed that a handkerchief couldn't be used for a curse.
Since Miss Shen wants to vent her anger, and a handkerchief cannot curse or commit evil, I thought it best to make a handkerchief for her to use. This wouldn't cause any loss to Madam Shen, and it would be a win-win situation. Even so… I am still at fault, and I beg the Princess to punish me.”
Shen Mianmian raised an eyebrow—it has to be the female lead; even with evidence practically slapped in her face, she can still manage to cover it up!
She wanted to praise the female lead, to show her resilience, and not to be like her previous life where she would sulk and die on a whim. The female lead's survival was what made her useful!
As expected, Princess Rui'an did not pursue Jiang Yinjin's excuse, but only sneered, "Zheng Rui'er, you framed Shen Mianmian with a handkerchief, do you know your crime?"
“This humble woman…this humble woman…” Zheng Ruier was completely disoriented.
Princess Ryan took out a piece of paper, read a few names on it, and Zheng Ruier finally accepted it.
Because the name the princess read was the name of the person who handled this matter.
The matter of the handkerchief was thus concluded.
Zheng Ruier was dragged away by the maid, and another maid brought in a basin of water and used a rag to wipe up the urine on the floor.
Meanwhile, maids used a pole to open the skylights at the top of the doors and windows, letting in fresh air to dispel the smell of urine.
Incense was burned by the door to completely mask the smell.
The maids were well-trained and worked in an orderly manner, finishing everything in the blink of an eye before retreating and closing the door.
The room fell silent again.
Lady Ding and her husband were ashen-faced, heads bowed, their eyes filled with despair—they had completely offended Marquis Anning, and could no longer rely on their sister's help.
Ding was equally ashamed; she was also distracted and kept blaming herself.
Princess Ruian picked up the new tea brought by her maid, drank it for a while, and then said lazily, "Next case, Zhou Shi, come out."
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