Compared to the covetous Prince Rong, Emperor Shunqing clearly trusted his own son more.
The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review naturally knew about the close relationship between the Crown Prince and the Yun family, and also knew that the Crown Prince had publicly proposed to the sixth daughter of the Yun family at a state banquet. Therefore, when he came to the case files of the Yun and Zhou families, his eyes widened and he immediately sent someone to make a copy and send it to the Crown Prince.
Wu Wang and the Princess's wedding is scheduled for September, and Wen Yuanbai has been extremely worried about Wu Wang's marriage these days.
Wu Wang was just a bald monk with no connections in the capital city.
However, since he entered the capital as the Imperial Preceptor and was going to marry the Eldest Princess, he would inevitably have to integrate into the powerful and influential circles of the capital in the future.
This was a fact understood not only by the emperor and Wen Yuanbai, but by all the powerful and influential figures in the capital.
So when the news of the bestowed marriage spread, the entire Imperial Preceptor's residence became lively.
Originally, the Imperial Preceptor's Mansion was closed to all visitors, but the seven Calabash Brothers set up a stall in front of the door.
Many people, having exhausted all other avenues of help, turned their attention to the seven gourd brothers.
At first, two of his fellow disciples accepted the generous gifts without thinking. Later, when Wu Wang found out, he gave them a stern lecture, and they finally learned their lesson.
Wu Wang was so troubled that he dumped the mess on his proper disciple, Wen Yuanbai.
So Wen Yuanbai was so busy with the complicated affairs of the Imperial Preceptor's Mansion and fulfilling his duties as the Crown Prince that he couldn't even think about his junior sister.
When the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review delivered the case files of Yun and Zhou prefectures to him, he felt that his quirky junior sister was definitely involved.
Especially when Lu Ning wrote in the dossier about the two secret letters he received and the missing maid Pei'er, he knew that his junior sister must have been involved.
So Wen Yuanbai invited his junior sister out for tea. After some subtle probing, he noticed that she was in a good mood and kept changing the subject, not wanting to mention the matter at all. He then realized that she probably didn't want him to know the truth behind it.
On a dark and windy night, he went to the Jingzhao Prefecture prison, accompanied by the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review and the Prefect of Jingzhao.
The person he was going to see was not Zhou Qingqian, but the beggar who had also been captured in the cellar of the Yun family manor.
He wanted to know what had happened in the cellar.
The beggar, who had lived a life of poverty and had no attachments, was already heartbroken. He was actually happy to be sentenced to ten years in prison, because he no longer had to worry about having nowhere to live and even got a government job.
Wen Yuanbai tossed him a silver ingot, saying, "Tell me everything you heard in the cellar again."
The beggar had already said this during the interrogation, so he was somewhat puzzled when this person threw him money again.
Lu Ning thought the prince felt he had been sentenced too leniently, so he quickly explained, "Your Highness, this man is also a victim. Although he committed a heinous crime, he does not deserve to die. Therefore, I sentenced him to ten years in prison."
Upon hearing this, the beggar was terrified and immediately kowtowed, saying, "Sir, I don't want the money, please don't let me go! I think ten years is too lenient, twenty years would be good too! Oh no, thirty years! Thirty years is fine too! As long as I'm not beheaded, I'll take any number of years!"
Wen Yuanbai:......
Lu Ning: ...
Minister of the Court of Judicial Review: ...
I've seen people beg for mercy, but I've never seen anyone beg for torture like this!
Wen Yuanbai frowned. "You just need to tell me about what happened those few days."
Seeing that the officials neither objected nor mentioned letting him go, the beggar quickly replied, "I had been sleeping in a dilapidated temple outside the capital, sometimes eating a meal and sometimes not. One day, I was knocked unconscious, and when I woke up, I was in a cellar. It was pitch black, and I couldn't see anything. Fortunately, someone would leave me two pieces of bread every half day, so I didn't starve to death. But there was a woman next to me who was always making a racket, which was incredibly annoying. I wanted to tell her to shut up, and in the struggle, I... I... had lustful thoughts and committed a terrible crime..."
Wen Yuanbai interrupted him, "What did that woman say?"
The beggar already knew that the mastermind was Zhou Qingqian, and naturally he also knew that the name Shi Wenxia was shouting was Zhou Qingqian. "She kept yelling, 'Zhou Qingqian, let me out!' Do you think that if you get rid of all the women around the prince, he will marry you? You're dreaming!"
"She always says... why did she become like this in this life..." He had answered these questions during the interrogation, so he repeated them without thinking.
What Wen Yuanbai found sensitive was the phrase "this life" in the dossier. Hearing the beggar mention it, he interrupted again and asked, "Tell me carefully, what does 'this life' mean?"
The beggar shook his head. "That woman does nothing but curse and cry all day long. I don't care to ask her anything."
"Did she mention her previous life?"
The beggar thought for a moment, then suddenly slapped his thigh. "Yes! Once, she was talking in her sleep, saying something like, 'In the last life, you clearly loved me so much, so why in this life would you rather favor that slut Wu Xinxin than come to save me? Is it because in this life my father inexplicably became a traitor?'"
Wen Yuanbai's expression hardened. Few people knew that Wu Xinxin was a slut, so why did Shi Wenxia know about it?
It was because Marquis Anning was close to the Third Prince that someone investigated his backyard and learned about the secret between Wu Xinxin and the guard.
However, the Marquis of Anning kept this matter a secret, and outsiders had no idea about it.
"Think again, what else did she say?"
The beggar tried hard to recall, "It seems that once he cursed someone, I think it was someone surnamed Jiang, saying something like, 'In the previous life, you were the legal wife but you couldn't beat me. In this life, I am his legal wife...' Sometimes he would also say things like, 'Wu Xinxin, I am clearly the legal wife, so why did you get the title of the Crown Prince's wife instead...' Anyway, it was all a mess and I couldn't understand it."
At this moment, Lu Ning reminded him, "Recount in detail what the maid Pei'er said to Shi Wenxia at the end."
The beggar then recounted the conversation between Pei'er and Shi Wenxia that day.
When Wen Yuanbai heard Shi Wenxia ask Pei'er who ordered her and Pei'er answered "Sixth Miss", Wen Yuanbai's calm and unwavering eyes swept towards Lu Ning.
Lu Ning simply bowed respectfully to him, shook his head slightly, and said nothing.
Others might not know who the surname Jiang was, but he and Wen Yuanbai both knew that Su Youran's original surname was Jiang.
This Jiang is actually that Jiang.
Lu Ning had a slight selfish motive in mind—to protect Su Youran—so he deliberately asked the registrar to write "Jiang" as "Jiang" and also made sure that the last part about what instructions he had given was not written in the dossier.
This is also the main reason why he accompanied Wen Yuanbai to listen to the confession again.
The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review was completely confused, but seeing Wen Yuanbai nod at Lu Ning with satisfaction, he naturally didn't dare to ask any more questions and just stood obediently to the side like a wooden statue.
...
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