The inn plan came from one of Prince Rui's advisors. Jiang Xiaohe initially disapproved of the idea, but he kept it to himself. Prince Yong had repeatedly warned him in a secret letter not to underestimate Princess An Ning, saying she had some peculiarities and that he must be wary of her.
He was worried that King Rui would refuse to cooperate if he learned of the situation, so he downplayed the situation and made the plan simple and crude. After learning that Ding Youtian and his family had chosen to stay at the inn instead of the post house, their first step was to sneak into the inn in the middle of the night and eliminate Jian Ning and Ding Youtian without anyone noticing.
Because of Ding Zhu, their first plan failed.
However, they had already made a second step plan, which was to break into the inn and kill the two of them. However, they did not expect Jian Ning to be so difficult to deal with. In addition to having two helpers, Tong Bajin and Erlangzi, she also had the help of two spirit pets. Not only did they fail to kill her, but she also killed several people in return.
Last night, Jiang Xiaohe was secretly proud of himself because he had made a third plan besides theirs. That was to break into the inn after their second plan failed. If there were any casualties, he would directly capture Jian Ning and Ding Youtian and behead them for murder. In this way, he could complete the task assigned by King Yong and stay out of it.
Killing someone means paying with one's life, which is only natural, and no one can blame him for his fault.
Later, things turned out just as he had imagined. After taking Jian Ning away, he immediately sent someone to inform Prince Rui that night, ordering him to send the imperial guards to the yamen early in the morning to beat drums and demand severe punishment for the murderer. He had already planted a witness at the inn, so he wasn't afraid of Jian Ning denying her guilt. He planned to first eliminate her for murder and then take Ding Youtian's land. He figured that as a mere scholar, he would be much easier to deal with than Jian Ning. Furthermore, Prince Yong's letter only emphasized the need to eliminate Princess An Ning.
It now seemed that both he and Prince Yong had underestimated Ding Youtian. He had been careless. He should have anticipated that the newly crowned number one scholar would be such a fool. Although scholars were powerless, they had always been the most adept at demagoguery. He suspected that these people who were clamoring and stirring up trouble had been instigated by Ding Youtian.
At this moment, he was secretly cursing King Rui for raising a bunch of useless advisers, while at the same time hoping that he could jump out and reverse the current situation.
After all, he is a prince. No matter how brave General Geng is, can he chop a prince down with his palm?
But Prince Rui didn't think so. He had a plan to kill two birds with one stone. Jiang Xiaohe had kept it a secret, but hadn't he also kept it a secret from Jiang Xiaohe? Did he really think the counselors he kept in his palace were just idle? His real plan was to blame Prince Yong for the deaths of Princess An Ning and the newly crowned top scholar.
As long as they die, the prince will lose the support of Prince Pingnan. He will reveal their true identities at the first opportunity and send people to the capital at night to inform Prince Pingnan. With Prince Pingnan's temperament, how can he tolerate Prince Yong for killing his daughter and son-in-law?
Now that something unexpected has happened, he has quickly thought of a countermeasure. Not only does he not intend to get involved in this mess again, he also decides to do General Geng a favor, which is equivalent to doing a favor for King Pingnan.
He stood up, pretending to be furious, and kicked the leader of the palace guards. He then shouted angrily, "Tell me the truth, what happened last night? If you dare to lie to me again, you'll be killed!"
The incident happened suddenly, and before the onlookers could figure out what was going on, the leader of the palace guards reacted instantly. He kowtowed several times to Prince Rui and said, "I deserve to die. I ran into this young lady on the street during the day, and because I coveted her beauty, I had improper thoughts. That's why I led my men to follow her and stay at the inn. I beg Your Highness to have mercy and spare my life!"
He wailed loudly and kowtowed several times.
"Asshole!" King Rui raised his foot again and slammed it hard on his shoulder. He knocked him to the ground and stepped on him with one foot, saying viciously, "I was almost deceived by you. Damn it! Who was responsible for their deaths? Was it you, a bastard, who made random accusations and oppressed the innocent? You'd better tell the truth and stop telling lies!"
"Your Highness, please spare my life! It was because they disobeyed my orders that I killed them by mistake in a fit of rage. Please have mercy on me, Your Highness!" He broke free from Prince Rui and knelt before Jian Ning, kowtowed like crazy, and cried bitterly, "My dear lady, I'm sorry. I deserve to die. I shouldn't have falsely accused you of killing them. I'm not a human being, I'm worse than an animal!"
The people were in an uproar.
Jian Ning glanced at him with disgust, "Whether you live or die is none of my business, so stop talking nonsense!"
Since this person had taken all the responsibility, Jian Ning was too lazy to pay attention to him anymore. She turned to look at Ding Youtian and saw that the corners of his lips were slightly raised, as if he was not surprised by this sudden change.
Ding Youtian wasn't surprised. Blind Liu had spent nearly a decade writing a tome on political intrigue, thoroughly expounding on human nature and meticulously analyzing the various strategies for balancing power. He had thoroughly digested the book, and had anticipated General Geng's actions based on Prince Rui's reaction upon seeing him appear. How could he be surprised?
Prince Rui clasped his fists and bowed to the onlookers in front of the hall. He then turned to the gloomy Jiang Xiaohe and said, "I have not been strict in my rule, so these villains dared to do evil things outside my back, disturbing the government and the people. I also bear unshirkable responsibility. Your Excellency, please do whatever you want me to do. I will leave it to you to decide. Give the people justice!"
At this point, what else could Jiang Xiaohe do? He had no choice but to play along with him and finish the show. He first ordered his men to beat the leader of the palace soldiers with dozens of boards and then drag him to the prison. Jian Ning and Erlangzi were then acquitted.
Ding Youtian let go of Erniu and Sanniu's hands, and the two of them ran towards Jian Ning cheering. At this time, there was another commotion outside the yamen. It was the governor who heard the news and brought people over.
During the Great Yan Dynasty, each prefecture and county had an Inspector. The Inspector and the Prefectural Governor served as the highest administrative officials within the prefecture, sharing responsibility for its affairs. However, the Inspector focused on military affairs and lacked the power to mobilize troops on a large scale, requiring coordinated orders from the Prefectural Governor. This was a revision of the previous dynasty's system after the Yongping Emperor unified the country. The goal was to ensure that the highest administrative officials within a prefecture would check and balance each other, thus maintaining a balance.
The arrival of the governor naturally alarmed the prefect, Lord Yang. Ding Zhu could no longer contain her curiosity as the movement in the front yard had long aroused her. After Lord Yang rushed to the front yard, she quietly followed him. As she peeped in furtively, she was accidentally seen by the sharp-eyed Sanniu, who frightened her so much that she quickly retracted her head and turned around to hide in the backyard.
"Mom." After coming out of the government office, Sanniu tugged at Jian Ning's sleeve, "I think I saw Sister Ding Zhu."
"Ding Zhu?" Jian Ning's mind flashed back to the gorgeous dress from yesterday. She leaned over and asked Sanniu, "Tell me, where did you see it?"
"She was hiding behind a pillar, and when she saw I saw her she went inside."
"Is it inside the government office?" Ding Youtian asked.
"Yeah." Sanniu nodded. "She's wearing such beautiful clothes. I wasn't mistaken. It's Sister Ding Zhu."
Jian Ning and Ding Youtian looked at each other. If she went into the yamen, it meant she would live in the backyard of the yamen. It was just unknown whether she was a maid or a concubine, nor whether she had participated in yesterday's incident and done anything bad.
"If it's really her, she'd better behave herself and not provoke us, otherwise..." Jane Ning snorted, "I won't let her go!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
