Chapter 10 The crime of a petty person deceiving the emperor is unforgivable.
"You don't even know what mistake you made?" Yuan Hao narrowed his eyes when he saw how calm she was.
When Lu Yingkan saw that Yuan Yan dared to lie through his teeth in front of His Majesty, his face twisted for a moment.
“Minister Lu, tell me, what exactly did this boy do?”
“Your humble servant dares not blame the Prince of Yue.” Lu Yingkan stepped forward, his worried expression barely concealing his anger. “But I would like to ask the Prince of Yue a question: Today should have been Yue’er’s wedding day, but instead such a calamity has befallen us. Just thinking about it breaks my heart.”
"Where has Your Highness taken my poor child? Is he alright now...? Please tell me as soon as possible and return Yue'er to me!"
All the maternal love Lu Yingkan had accumulated over the past decade for Lu Lingyue seemed to flow out in that instant. In front of His Majesty, she perfectly portrayed a mother who worried about her son.
"Yes, my dear sister, I know you've long harbored resentment because I married Lady Lu, and you've been trying to sabotage things. But you must consider Lord Lu's love for her son..."
Seeing that Lu Yingkan was taking the lead, Yuan Jing began to play the good guy, saying, "Royal sister, if you have any grievances, come at me. Don't hurt Young Master Lu. He is just a weak man and can't withstand your torment."
As Yuan Jing spoke, he felt a pang of regret.
It's a pity for Lu Lingyue. Such a talented and handsome young man from a noble family, he lost his reputation after this incident and could never marry into the royal family again.
However, if sacrificing Lu Lingyue could eliminate Yuan Yan as an opponent, it would be an incredible stroke of luck for her, and Yuan Jing would be extremely happy to do so.
Right now, she was just waiting to see His Majesty severely punish Yuan Yan, and she couldn't care less about anything else.
This theatrics made the ministers nearby sigh inwardly.
What a kind and benevolent prince! How did he end up with a sister like Yuan Yan, who has no respect for her elder sister?
Lu Yingkan and the Prince of Qi fanned the flames, making Yuan Hao's expression towards Yuan Yan even more furious.
"fool!"
“You did such a thing in public, and countless people saw it. You can’t deny it. What else can you say now?” Yuan Hao scolded her with disappointment.
While she was intentionally suppressing Yuan Yan, she only wanted to maintain a proper balance among the increasingly powerful princesses. She had never thought of actually stripping Yuan Yan of his title.
She never expected that Yuan Yan would be so foolish as to commit such a serious mistake in public, forcing Yuan Hao to punish her severely.
“Things have come to this,” Yuan Hao said heavily. “Yuan Yan, do you plead guilty?”
“This is indeed true, Your Majesty, please calm your anger,” Yuan Yan said. “But before I confess my guilt, I must first file a complaint against someone.”
"This person is the culprit behind this!"
Everyone present didn't believe it, thinking it was just an excuse for Yuan Yan to exonerate herself. After all, Yuan Yan herself had committed the act of kidnapping the bride, and as a princess, if she didn't want to, who could force her?
However, the next moment Yuan Yan's words were like a thunderbolt thrown from a clear sky, shocking everyone present.
"What? How is this possible..."
The ministers present, unaware of the situation, were stunned and all looked at Lu Yingkan.
Lu Yingkan and Yuan Jing both felt a sudden jolt in their hearts.
Fortunately, Lu Yingkan had been on guard beforehand, and upon hearing this, he quickly adjusted his expression.
"Your Highness, you cannot slander me with mere words. This marriage was personally requested by His Highness Prince Qi to be approved by His Majesty. I have only ever been betrothed to one person. How can there be any talk of me marrying two men? Your Highness, please do not cause any more trouble." Lu Yingkan refused to admit his mistake and instead made a counter-accusation.
“Exactly,” a minister chimed in. “Your Highness, you said that the Lu family married one son to two wives. Could it be that the Lu family also married their son to Your Highness? However, no one here has heard of this. Does Your Highness have any proof?”
They thought Yuan Yan would be speechless at this point, but to their surprise, under their relentless pressure, Yuan Yan calmly chuckled.
"My lords, please do not be impatient. Since I have said it, it must be true. There is no need to doubt it. I will show it to you now."
As he spoke, Yuan Yan took something out of his bosom. “This marriage was arranged for me by my father when he was still alive. At that time, because I was still young, my father only exchanged tokens with the Lu family to show that he was interested. Who knew that after my father passed away, the Lu family regretted their decision and remarried their son to someone else… Not many people know about this, but it’s not that no one knows. This is the proof.”
What she was holding was actually a jade box.
The palace attendant stepped forward to take the jade box and presented it to the emperor.
When Yuan Hao opened it, he found a jade pendant inside with the four characters "宜尔女嗣" (meaning "May you have a female heir") written on it, and eight characters on a red paper underneath.
After reading it, Yuan Hao had already made up his mind.
However, she did not immediately issue a ruling, but instead had a palace servant show it to Lu Yingkan himself.
The moment Lu Yingkan saw the jade box, a bad premonition arose in her heart. After seeing the jade pendant and the eight characters inside, she involuntarily took two steps back, instinctively uttering, "Impossible!"
Ling Yue clearly got that engagement jade box back long ago, so where did Yuan Yan get this one from?
Could it be that Lingyue didn't do as she was told back then...? Lu Yingkan became more and more suspicious, and even began to doubt Lu Lingyue.
"Host, when did you bring the jade box back? How come I didn't know?" the system asked in surprise.
"When you said I did nothing." Yuan Yan chuckled to himself.
In those few days, Yuan Yan first found out the situation of the Lu family and then discovered the location of the jade box. He then ordered his men to sneak into the Lu family at night and steal the jade box back.
The system apologized sheepishly: "Hehehe, I didn't know, it was my fault. Host, you're so magnanimous, please don't hold it against a system like me..."
【But your trick is pretty underhanded. They tricked you out of your jade box, and you just stole it back. Both sides are involved in deception and theft; neither is acting honestly.】
"You have to use shameless methods to deal with petty people, now you know." Yuan Yan was completely relaxed at this moment, and even had the leisure to chat with the system in his mind.
"Minister Lu, is this item genuine?" Yuan Hao asked her.
With the jade pendant as physical evidence and the eight characters clearly written on it, there's no way to deny it.
Lu Yingkan opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.
Upon seeing this, everyone had their own answer.
"They really were engaged..."
"No matter how bad Her Highness Prince Yue is, she is still a princess, and the dignity of the royal family cannot be trampled on. How can Lord Lu go back on his word after the marriage has been arranged? I never saw before that Lord Lu was such a treacherous and opportunistic person."
At this moment, the situation has completely reversed.
Seeing that she had deflected the blame with just a few words, Yuan Jing was unwilling and gave a wink to the ministers on his side.
A minister jumped out, "Your Highness, even if Lord Lu really broke off the engagement, you can't just snatch the bride in the street!"
"Your Highness could have simply reported this to His Majesty and let him decide. What you've done now—where is the dignity of the Prince of Qi and the prestige of the royal family?"
A note from the author:
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