Chapter 676 Something's Wrong
Madam Bai cried out, "Your Majesty, please do justice for my daughter! My Yuhan would never stoop to marrying a married man. Although my Bai family has been in business for generations, we are a prominent family. How could we allow our daughter to become someone's concubine, let alone a shameless mistress? This young mistress Li has been insulting Yuhan. I beg Your Majesty to restore my daughter's innocence."
Madam Bai then pulled Madam Bai's second wife aside and said, "Second Aunt, I sent Yuhan to Shengjing to discuss business. How could you go and ruin Han'er's reputation with them!"
Madam Bai usually associated with Shu Xue and others because they often patronized the Bai family's rouge shop. She didn't dare offend these wealthy people in Shengjing City. Besides, it was only after news came from Jiangzhou that Yu Han had entered the palace as a concubine that she assumed the Bai family had climbed up to the imperial family. That's why she chatted with the noblewomen of Shengjing City for a few minutes and mentioned that the Bai family also had a daughter who was a concubine in the palace. How could they blame her?
But just now, no one recognized that Yu Han had ever been a concubine in the palace.
The second wife quickly said, "Sister-in-law, please let me explain. That day, the Zhang family held a birthday banquet, and the Bai family's shop also received an invitation. The second master and I went there. The young mistress of the Li family told me that Yuhan was with Lord Jiang. They also said that Yuhan had gone to become Lord Jiang's mistress, and that the young mistress of the Jiang family already knew about Yuhan's relationship with Lord Jiang and wanted to deal with my Yuhan. In my panic, I came up with the idea of banging the drum to save Yuhan. I was afraid that they would make Han'er disappear inexplicably, so I resorted to this desperate measure to force them to hand her over!"
“Han’er is young, and I was afraid she would be deceived. I was also frightened,” Madam Bai said again.
Master Bai nodded in agreement, "Our Bai family is just a small merchant family, running a few small rouge shops. If we don't use this method, we're afraid they won't hand over the person!"
"Who are you going to? I'm standing right here. Second Uncle, Second Aunt, you're being too ridiculous." Bai Yuhan suddenly knelt down in front of Jiang Fenghua. "I beg Your Majesty to have mercy. Please forgive them, considering that they were anxious to find me and that's why they beat the petition drum. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have gone to find Madam Jiang, which caused such a big misunderstanding. I went to say goodbye to my godmother that day."
Jiang Fenghua said in a deep voice, "They dared to beat the drum to appeal, so it seems they are prepared to die. If I don't grant their request, it will be difficult to convince the public."
Master Bai and his wife were so frightened that they immediately kowtowed. Master Bai said, "Your Majesty, please spare our lives. We know we were wrong. We were confused. We listened to other people's advice. We didn't know that filing a complaint with the Emperor would be a crime! We also didn't know that this drum cannot be beaten casually."
"Who gave you this idea?" Jiang Fenghua said coldly.
Second Master Bai looked at Second Madam Bai, "Who said that? You tell me!"
Madam Bai looked around and then turned her gaze to Shu Xue. Shu Xue rolled her eyes and denied it, saying, "I didn't instigate you to beat the Dengwen Drum. Beating the Dengwen Drum at will is a capital offense. I wouldn't dare."
"I don't remember either."
Bai Yuhan knew they were lying. Perhaps her second uncle and aunt had gotten some benefit from it and deliberately framed Jiang Jinyan. They only thought about what benefits she could bring to the family by becoming the emperor's concubine. Since she didn't become a concubine, they blamed her for not seizing the opportunity.
At this time, Bai Yuhan did not dare to quarrel with them. She had already gotten rid of the identity of Consort Han, and her parents would not force her to become an imperial concubine. Jiang Jinyan sent someone to Jiangzhou to persuade her parents, and even asked the prefect to intervene and make the Bai family demolish the temple. The Bai family's daughter never entered the palace to become a concubine. The Bai family had just had a pipe dream.
Bai Yuhan never expected that after being missing for more than a year, her family would not be worried about her safety, but would only care about whether she had climbed into the royal family and become the emperor's concubine. She was filled with disappointment.
She thought the Bai family was rich and that as their daughter, she could marry whomever she wanted. But she was wrong; her marriage was tied to the Bai family's interests.
"Master Zhang invited Second Master Bai and Second Madam Bai to his birthday celebration. It seems the Bai and Zhang families are quite close!" Jiang Fenghua asked suspiciously. "The Zhang family suspects that Miss Bai has an affair with Jiang Jinyan. Why would they invite her uncle and aunt to the birthday banquet? The Fourth Princess Consort just said that she wanted to seek justice for Zhang Yumo. Is she just waiting to find fault with Jiang Jinyan to punish him so that she can demand an explanation from the Jiang family for Zhang Yumo?"
Jiang Fenghua was indeed somewhat angry with Zhang Yumo. She must have met Madam Bai at the Zhang residence! What good would it do for her husband if the Bai family made a scene? She wanted to leave the Jiang family and separate from Jiang Jinyan, so she never thought that the person who would end up harming Jiang Jinyan would be the one to suffer.
Zhang Yumo was also stunned. Her cousin kept comforting her, but she wasn't actually that upset. She had never thought of harming Jiang Jinyan. She also didn't know that Bai Yuhan's uncle and aunt had gone to the Zhang residence, and that they would even come to the city gates today to beat drums and accuse Jiang Jinyan.
Did my cousin instruct them to do all of this?
The Fourth Princess clenched her fingers in her sleeve. "The Bai family runs a rouge business in Shengjing City and has dealings with many aristocratic families in the city. I have also bought rouge and face powder from the Bai family's shop. My parents didn't know that the Bai family's daughter was Madam Jiang's goddaughter. It was just a coincidence that the Bai family was invited to the Zhang family's birthday banquet."
It was indeed wrong of Mrs. Li and the others to spread rumors without asking questions first.
"I, the Princess, believe that Lord Jiang would never do anything to betray Mo'er. There must have been a misunderstanding, and now that it's been cleared up, that's wonderful."
The Fourth Princess Consort's wishful thinking backfired. Originally, she could have used her status as Zhang Yumo's cousin to stand up for her, make a big fuss about the matter, and then reveal Hanfei's identity. However, Jiang Fenghua cut off Hanfei's identity as Bai Yuhan in the first step.
Jiang Fenghua's cold question drew everyone's attention to the Fourth Princess Consort, who herself looked somewhat embarrassed.
At this moment, the emperor sent someone to deliver an imperial edict, and everyone knelt down to receive it.
"Master Bai and Madam Bai, having no grievances, appealed for justice without authorization and disturbed the people's peace by striking the Dengwen Drum. Their crimes are unforgivable. However, considering that they are first-time offenders and ignorant of the law, they are spared the death penalty, but they will not be spared any punishment. Master Bai and Madam Bai will each be given fifty strokes of the cane as a warning to others."
Such punishment is far too lenient, and it is also what Xie Shang owes Bai Yuhan. As long as it is proven that she is not the Hanfei in the palace, and the Bai family stops forcing her to enter the palace as a concubine, she can return to the Bai family and resume her peaceful life.
Xiao Yu, Zhang Anyu, and the others dispersed the crowd, waiting for Master Bai and Madam Bai to receive the court flogging before Bai Yuhan brought them back to the Bai family.
Today is the Lantern Festival. After watching the play, everyone returned to the palace to continue the banquet.
Zhang Yurou didn't try to pull Zhang Yumo away; she left alone.
Jiang Fenghua glanced at Jiang Jinyan and Zhang Yumo, and saw that Zhang Yumo's face was full of embarrassment and she couldn't say a word.
Feng Jingyuan was also somewhat disappointed in Zhang Yumo; she wondered why he couldn't say things at home.
Jiang Fenghua walked to Feng Jinghuan's side and said, "Mother, let's go into the palace first and let my elder brother and sister-in-law talk alone."
Feng Jingyuan said, "Let's go!" She didn't go into the palace with Zhang Yumo because she wanted to bring Bai Yuhan out to clarify things in person.
Seeing her sigh, Jiang Fenghua said, "Mother, don't worry about them. Eldest brother will handle it."
Feng Jingyuan said, "I'm not worried about Jin Yan handling things badly, I'm worried about Yu Mo. She's very burdened with worries. She wasn't like this before. Ever since she woke up, she's become reluctant to be close to people and always prefers to be alone in her room. After her grandparents passed away, she was sad for a while, but at that time, her relationship with Jin Yan was very good, and they were inseparable. But now..."
Jiang Fenghua said, "I'll talk to her."
“She used to be close to your second sister and would talk to her about anything. But now she doesn’t even want to talk to your second sister anymore. I don’t know what happened.” Feng Jingyuan also noticed something was wrong. She just didn’t know why this was happening. Something must have gone wrong.
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