"Your Majesty, please check and you will know." Shi's daughter raised her voice:
"I have seen Miss Xue's jade cong before. It looks exactly like this jade cong. I have absolutely not made a mistake."
There is no jade cong in the Nanyang Marquis’ Mansion.
But several of the Xue family's young ladies and sons do.
When they were young, Empress Dowager Xue sent people to reward them.
The Shi family is a marquisate under the Xue family.
Miss Shi used to play with Miss Xue.
She dared to ask His Majesty to check in public, so she couldn't possibly admit her mistake, right?
However, Ning Heng actually stole the blessing jade cong, which is even more bizarre. Ordinary people wear jade cong to pray for blessings from the gods. You stole a jade cong that had someone else's name engraved on it...
This won't protect you. Why did you steal this?
Everyone's eyes fell on Ning Heng.
Ning Wanyin looked at Helian Qi, "To prove my brother's innocence, please check it, Your Majesty."
Helian Qi said in a deep voice, "Wang Degui, check!"
Wang Degui took the order and stepped forward quickly, and Ning Heng took the initiative to cooperate and presented the fan.
Wang Degui took the fan pendant and examined it in public.
Fu Jiaoyi, who was sitting next to him, suddenly changed her expression. She recognized at a glance that the fan pendant looked exactly like her own.
This green Ruyi knot, this tassel, this jade cong...
When the emperor ascended the throne that year, he posthumously conferred the title of Empress Dowager Zhaoci on his biological mother and rewarded her family.
Fu Jiaoyi's father was granted the title of Marquis Ansi, her mother was granted the title of Marquis's Lady, and both the brother and sister received gold, silver, jewelry, and some imperial gifts, among which was a jade cong for praying for blessings.
At that time, she was still in the boudoir, and she only knew that this thing could only be seen in the imperial palace. Outside the palace, only the Xue and Cen families had this honor, and the whole family felt honored.
She specially made a fan pendant with the jade Cong and liked it very much.
Later, when she entered the palace, she left the fan pendant and many other old items at home and did not take them with her.
How did it appear here? How did it appear in Ning Heng's hands?
It’s impossible for the imperial concubine’s brother to steal things from her own home, right?
Could it be that...
Fu Jiaoyi had a guess in her mind, but she didn't dare to accept it.
Her parents should be very clear about what will happen to them if their private belongings are leaked out.
An Sihou and his wife did not accompany her to the Mountain Resort this year. Even though she had thousands of questions in her mind, she could only suppress them, staring at the jade pendant in Wang Degui's hand, with fine and dense cold sweat on her forehead.
Ms. Shi glanced at Fu Jiaoyi inconspicuously, and seeing that she looked pale, she felt even more proud.
Did you recognize it?
This is your jade cong.
Ning Wanyin caused her to lose the election, so she will kill Ning Heng today and make Ning Wanyin regret it forever!
"Your Majesty, I have examined it carefully. This is just an ordinary jade cong. There is no text engraved on the inner wall." Wang Degui reported.
Only a skilled craftsman who is proficient in micro-carving can carve words on the inner wall of a thumb-sized jade cong.
Ordinary jade congs among the people do not have any inscriptions.
Moreover, the materials of this jade Cong look the same from a distance, but if you look closely, you will find that they are different.
The smile on Shi's daughter's face froze. "How is it possible? I saw it with my own eyes. This is a blessing jade cong!"
She had seen it.
The inner wall of the jade cong was engraved with Fu Jiaoyi's name!
"Ms. Shi, this jade cong is indeed an ordinary item." Wang Degui placed the jade cong in front of her so that she could see it clearly.
She said this as if she was covering up for someone.
He would never dare to do that.
An ordinary jade cong was placed in front of Ms. Shi.
Daughter Shi picked up the jade cong and carefully examined the inner wall, but surprisingly... there was no writing at all.
This was not the jade cong she saw last time.
Shi's daughter's face turned pale instantly, and she looked at this scene in disbelief: "How could this happen? It was changed, it was you who changed the jade cong!"
The Shi girl first looked at Ning Heng, then turned to Ning Wanyin.
Ning Wanyin's eyes were cold, "You took one look at my brother's fan pendant from a distance and arbitrarily concluded that this very common jade cong was a blessing jade cong bestowed by the emperor."
Ning Wanyin bowed to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, the daughter of the Shi family has falsely accused my brother. I hope Your Majesty will investigate and make a decision for me and my brother."
Helian Qi's eyes fell on the woman from the Shi family, and he roughly understood what was going on.
Shi's daughter was so arbitrary, she must have some evidence. But Ning Heng had no need to steal the imperial gift, so this time, if nothing unexpected happened, she was the one who framed him.
She might be holding a grudge against Ning Wanyin.
The Shi family is a marquisate under the Xue family. Is this the Shi daughter's own idea, or is there the Queen Mother behind it?
Helian Qi hesitated for a moment and said, "The daughter of the Shi family falsely accused the court officials and was charged with counter-revolution. She was sent to the Ministry of Justice for a thorough investigation. The case is being presided over by Song Chengyi, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice."
Shi's daughter's face turned pale instantly, and she knelt down hurriedly to plead guilty, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I just saw it wrongly. I didn't mean to make a false accusation..."
The emperor looked indifferent and unmoved.
Song Chengyi stepped forward and saluted, "I accept your order."
Some officials in the court would give the Xue family some face and make some concessions, but the Song family father and son were the first to follow the emperor. No matter what your family background is, if the emperor says he wants to investigate, then he will investigate it thoroughly.
The case was handed over to Song Chengyi instead of to any other official from the Ministry of Justice.
Some smart people understood that the emperor wanted to investigate thoroughly and find out the result. The Shi girl must be dead. Otherwise, it means that the emperor picked it up high and put it down lightly.
When Nanyang Hou saw this, he wanted to help plead for mercy, but after looking at the emperor with a gloomy face and his daughter who was already worthless, he finally stood up and apologized:
"I have failed to teach my daughter well, please punish me, Your Majesty."
Failing the selection was common, but the emperor still sent people to reprimand her for not educating her daughter well. Shi's daughter's reputation plummeted and she has not been married until now.
During this trip to the Summer Resort, he had originally thought of marrying a young talent from a low-class family. But he didn't expect this to happen...
Why would he protect this daughter? He doesn't need a daughter.
The emperor did not make a fuss with the Marquis of Nanyang. He thought that losing one daughter of the Shi family was enough, so he stopped there.
At this time, Fu Jiaoyi finally breathed a sigh of relief.
When she came to her senses, her palms were covered in sweat.
…
The Ministry of Justice tried the case overnight and announced the result the next morning.
"Your Majesty, Shi said that a man in a cloak came to her a few days ago and showed her a jade fan pendant. She saw with her own eyes that the name of Fu Zhaoyi was written inside. The cloaked man told her that this fan pendant would appear in Ning Heng's hands."
"After she came to the Mountain Resort, she saw the pendant on Ning Heng's folding fan, which was exactly the same as what she saw that day, so she immediately reported him for stealing the imperial gift..." Song Chengyi reported.
Helian Qi's eyes were gloomy. Someone was trying to spread rumors that the imperial concubine had an affair with Ning Heng.
"Erase the testimony involving Concubine Fu, close the case as Shi's daughter falsely accusing her of theft, and sentence her to death immediately." Helian Qi said coldly.
Song Chengyi accepted the order: "Yes."
He thought that according to the testimony of Ms. Shi, Cong of Concubine Fu had indeed fallen into the hands of outsiders.
Fortunately, the villain did not succeed. It was a close call.
After Song Chengyi left, Helian Qi fell into deep thought.
The cloaked man might have been sent by the Xue family. He was masked to prevent the matter from being exposed.
Or maybe someone else...
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