Wan Xueying never expected that just a few days after she had barely escaped the fate of being thrown into the Dali Temple prison, the Yulin Guards surrounded her current residence.
When she and the others gathered by the small lake in the courtyard, the leader took one look at her striking appearance and asked, "Madam Shen, right?" He then introduced himself, "My surname is Sun, and I am a general of the Yulin Guards, serving under Deputy Commander Pei."
Madam Shen Er Shao? Wan Xueying's lips twitched at this unfamiliar title. She wanted to deny it, but her and Shen Yu's divorce papers hadn't been officially filed yet, so she was indeed in this position. Furthermore, she had specifically mentioned being Pei Xuanqing's subordinate, so it was highly likely that she had received Pei Xuanqing's instructions before coming.
Haha, he almost shot her to death with an arrow. After the Bo Mansion raided her property a few days ago, and now he's taking care of her, is that compensation for her? Forget about that kind of compensation. If possible, she doesn't want to have to deal with the Yulin Guards.
At this moment, she cleared her throat and nodded "yes", then asked: "Master Sun, I wonder what crime I have committed that requires the intervention of the Yulin Guards?" Although she had guessed it from the title this person just used, she still asked.
General Sun replied politely, "The Third Prince has been apprehended for colluding with people from Lingnan Kingdom to assassinate the Crown Prince. Shen Yu, as one of the Third Prince's accomplices, has also been apprehended. As Shen Yu's wife, you are also on the arrest list."
The reason for publicly claiming that the assassination targeted the Crown Prince, not the Emperor, was, firstly, to reduce the punishment for the Third Prince; secondly, the Third Prince had confessed that his original target was the Crown Prince, with the intention of making the Third Prince the Crown Prince, not the Emperor. Furthermore, the correspondence between the Third Prince and the Third Prince, received from his study, also stated the same thing.
Wan Xueying nodded, "I see!" Although she had predicted that Shen Yu would be arrested, she never expected that it was also because of the Lingnan Kingdom spy incident, and she never thought that this incident would be caused by the third prince.
Since they have been arrested, it means there is sufficient evidence. Otherwise, a prince, especially a favored prince, would not be arrested so easily.
Speaking of the Third Prince, Ning Ze, his mother was born into a humble family and, in her early years, was merely the current emperor's personal maid. However, she was deeply loved by the current emperor. Not only did she become his first woman, but her status also rose after she gave birth to the Third Prince. Furthermore, after the emperor ascended the throne, she became one of the Four Consorts and was given the title of Virtuous Consort.
Ning Ze was also favored by the Emperor because of his resemblance to him. Even though he had no powerful family background, he was still the one most feared by the other princes. There were also rumors that Ning Ze would eventually replace the Crown Prince.
How could such a guy who had a certain chance of winning easily have nothing better to do than collude with people from Lingnan Kingdom to assassinate the prince?
Unless you are stupid.
Those rumors were like a death warrant; he'd been eliminated from the succession race before it even began. But from another perspective, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, his father was still on the throne, so he could still survive. The competition among the princes would only grow more intense and brutal as time went on. Besides him, several older princes were also contenders. The most indisputable fact was that the crown prince wasn't Empress Pei's son, which made the situation very uncertain.
Regardless of whether the Third Prince was really stupid or was framed by someone, it had little to do with Wan Xueying, but it was hard to forgive him for causing her to be imprisoned in the Dali Temple.
But how could she break this situation? She wondered if the divorce documents Shen Yu had written earlier would be effective.
It was probably useless. The last time she was able to get away with it, she used the excuse that she hadn't reported it to the Beijing government office. If she brought it up again now, it would most likely backfire.
Shen Yu, that fellow, insisted that for safety's sake, they should wait until the ruling came out before reporting. Couldn't they have taken the divorce documents to the government office and stored them there so they could take effect at any time?
There was no point in saying that. She had to protect Aunt Lian, Nanny Wu and the others so that she would have someone to take care of her and suffer less during her exile.
"Lord Sun, am I the only one implicated in Shen Yu's case?" she asked.
"That's right." Zongqi Sun nodded, "The Duke of Pingguo's Mansion has the Golden Book and Iron Scroll, and they won't be easily punished unless it's treason." He added, "What's more, this matter only involves Shen Yu, and has nothing to do with other people in the Duke of Pingguo's Mansion." What he meant was that Shen Yu was the only one in the Duke of Pingguo's Mansion who was considered the Third Prince's follower, and no one else was involved. This was also the cleverness of the Duke of Pingguo's Mansion.
"It has nothing to do with me!" Wan Xueying screamed frantically inwardly. But in this dynasty, the husband's honor is the wife's. If the husband commits a crime, the wife is also implicated. It's considered fair. Even if she files for a divorce now to protect herself, it's too late. This dynasty also has a rule: If the husband is convicted, the implicated wife can only file for a divorce after she has served her sentence.
It seemed like she couldn't escape, so she calmed herself down and asked, "Should we search the house?"
"The crimes of the Duke of Pingguo's mansion can be forgiven, so there is no need to confiscate their property."
Does that mean her dowry can be kept? Was her previous attempt to help Shen Yu keep more money in vain? It's still better to be from an established family! Unlike the Bo Mansion, any disturbance would be implicated.
"Where are Shen Yu's followers?"
"His followers are also servants of the Duke of Pingguo's Mansion and have not been implicated." After a pause, General Sun said with a hint of impatience, "Let me put it this way, only you and Shen Yu will be thrown into jail in the Duke of Pingguo's Mansion." He was really afraid that she would continue to dig deeper.
Uh... Does that mean she's quite lucky?
Then I thought: It doesn’t matter, as long as Aunt Lian and the others are not implicated.
"Master Sun, I'm fine now. But I beg you," she said, trying to secure a last resort, "to let me change my clothes before I leave with you all, and then explain the rest of the matter to Aunt Lian."
Thinking to himself, "Women are such a hassle," Sun Zongqi waved his hand and said, "Okay, okay, but hurry up."
"I will go and come back quickly." As she spoke, Wan Xueying took off her purse and handed it over, "This is some money for tea and drinks for you all." There were some small change and copper coins in it, and all together it was less than ten taels, which was painful.
Mr. Sun didn't hesitate. He took the purse, weighed it, and found it was not too little. Not only did his expression become cheerful, but he also kindly reminded him, "Don't take anything valuable with you. Uh... if you want to change, just get some worn-out coarse cloth."
Although she was wearing an old dress, it was made of silk, and as she was about to be imprisoned, she was definitely breaking the rules. Rather than waiting to be stripped of her clothes in the prison, it would be better to just wear a dress made of coarse cloth.
"Thank you, Master Sun, for the reminder!" She had also meant this. Time was running out, so after thanking her, Wan Xueying led Aunt Chen quickly towards the kitchen.
"Xueying, don't you want to change clothes?" Aunt Chen thought Wan Xueying had gone to the wrong place and grabbed her in time.
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