Returning to the county magistrate's mansion from the south of the city, one could see from afar that the officials had surrounded the entire residence.
Xu Nian had anticipated this situation, so she had Liu Yun take the child to Gu Zhan's place and slipped a letter into her hand before she left.
After instructing him to personally hand it over to Gu Zhan, he strode towards the gate of the county princess's mansion.
This time, Chen Weisheng learned his lesson. He heard that Xu Nian wasn't there, so he obediently waited at the gate, ready to leave at the appointed time to tell Xu Nian about her refusal to cooperate.
Then a constable who had come before suddenly exclaimed, "Isn't that the Lady of Fu'an County?"
Everyone looked in the direction the finger was pointing and saw that the person standing in front of the hitching post, looking over with his arms crossed, was none other than Xu Nian.
They quickly surrounded them. Chen Weisheng thought to himself that he should have left earlier. Then he walked up to Xu Nian and said, "Princess, this way please."
I must say, the carriage that the Prefect of Jingzhou used to summon imperial relatives for questioning was quite comfortable.
Having experienced the awkwardness of first-timers, Xu Nian, propping her head up, drifted off to sleep, following the rhythm of the carriage's swaying. But when they arrived at the government office, she opened her eyes and found them perfectly clear.
"Greetings, Your Highness the Second Prince." Upon entering, he first bowed to Jiang Yuanqing and, following Jiang Yuanqing's gestures, sat down in the seat on the right.
When the Second Prince saw her arrive, his previously listless expression brightened slightly. "These two accuse you of being ungrateful, disregarding your relatives, and even disregarding human life. Xu Nian, what do you have to say for yourself?"
What kind of questioning is this?
Chen Weisheng stared in disbelief, looking at Jiang Yuanqing as if he were chatting casually with Xu Nian, joking around like close friends.
But there was no affection in his eyes. Thinking of the power behind Xu Nian, a knowing glint flashed in his eyes, and then he turned his head away disdainfully.
Looking aloof and noble, one might think she truly lives a life untouched by the world.
Isn't it all for their own future wealth and glory? They're fawning over one side and currying favor with the other.
Xu Nian didn't look like him. She hadn't expected that Jiang Yuanqing, who looked so elegant and dignified, could act so realistically.
The emotion in his eyes was perfectly conveyed, and his expression was flawlessly controlled! His skill was such that he could easily be considered an award-winning actor even today.
“Your Highness is being very casual.” Xu Nian remained as nonchalant as ever. “They accused me, and I will definitely say the opposite. I will not admit to the charge of murder. It was snowing heavily in the capital when Wang Jinmei’s body was discovered. I am always afraid of the cold, and I stayed in the Otherworld Palace for several days before going out. The servants in the palace, Wan Ting, and even His Highness the Crown Prince can all testify to this.”
Presenting the timeline and her alibi, Xu Nian added, "I don't know who killed Wang Jinmei, but according to Cuiqing, the black burn marks on her body were definitely not caused by my magic."
"You say it's not, so it's not?!" Seeing her chatting and laughing with Jiang Yuanqing, Cuiqing's eyes lit up with envy. "In the whole capital, besides your sorcery, who else has the ability to cause such damage?"
Xu Nian didn't even bother to look at her, her face still turned towards Jiang Yuanqing. "Your Highness may not know, but although my magic can injure people, it won't leave large wounds on the surface. If you don't believe me, find a death row inmate or a pig to test it on. This magic is only for self-defense; it can cause pain, but it can't even kill a pig."
She spoke with absolute certainty, and Chen Weisheng was afraid that Jiang Yuanqing would actually believe her and experiment on people.
Their disguises were about to be exposed. He stepped forward to speak, but the Second Prince was faster, looking quite interested. "I've always heard that you have profound Taoist magic and can summon thunder and fire. I've never seen it before. Perfect, you can show me today. Someone, bring that boar from the backyard."
Naturally, experiments cannot be conducted on living people, nor on death row inmates.
It just so happens that the yamen runners of the Prefect of Jingzhou had been raising a pig in the kitchen in the backyard for a New Year's feast, but they hadn't had time to slaughter it yet.
At Jiang Yuanqing's command, they were carried over. If they could be electrocuted, it would save a step in the process and they could be eaten. If they couldn't be electrocuted, they would be carried back and raised for a while, and then killed and eaten after the Lantern Festival.
Xu Nian rolled her eyes speechlessly at the obvious amusement in the Second Prince's eyes.
Seeing Chen Weisheng's outwardly calm but inwardly rubbing his hands together, he snorted coldly and unleashed a torrent of talismanic power with a wave of his hand. "Three Pure Ones, Yin and Yang in balance, thunder and fire in myriad forms!"
In broad daylight, within the tightly covered house, clusters of flames and golden lightning appeared out of thin air around the pig that was bound hand and foot.
Fiery red, blue—Xu Nian demonstrated every lightning technique and talisman he could use.
This healthy pig, which Jiang Yuanqing personally ordered to be brought here, was crying out in an increasingly pitiful way. Amidst the firelight, its body was covered with small, rice-grain-sized black spots.
There were no large areas of burn-like wounds, and not even the aroma of roasted meat could be smelled out!
The last bolt of lightning struck, and the pig, unable to withstand the shock, tilted its head and fainted completely. Chen Weisheng pointed and was about to retaliate, "Princess of Fu'an County, didn't you say it wouldn't be fatal? What's going on?!"
"What's the panic? It's just passed out." Xu Nian snapped his fingers, and a basin of cold water appeared out of thin air and was poured over the pig's head. In full view of everyone, the pig's trotters twitched twice.
The pig opened its eyes, saw Xu Nian's face so close to its own, and opened its mouth to squeal again.
A silencing spell sealed his mouth, but his terrified eyes remained fixed on Xu Nian. Even as he was being taken away, he still looked like he had lost his soul.
[Pig: I didn't offend any of you.]
[Pig: I may not be human, but you guys are definitely dogs.]
Once the entire hall was cleaned up and everyone returned to their seats, Xu Nian fiddled with her hair ornament a couple of times. "So, is His Highness believable now?"
Taoist magic has always been used to deal with evil spirits, vengeful ghosts, and malevolent spirits.
It can cause pain to a person, but it cannot kill them. It can feel like lightning or fire, but it won't actually burn them to a crisp or anything like that.
Everyone has seen Wang Jinmei's body; it has large areas of burns on its body. These are completely different from the wounds caused by Xu Nian's martial arts technique.
Zhao Yingying's burns were smaller, but they still didn't match Xu Nian's technique.
How could a spell that couldn't even kill a pig kill two people? Cuiqing's face turned deathly pale when she saw this; she hadn't expected it to be like this.
She had never seen Xu Nian use magic; someone else had taught her everything!
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