"I don't own any land!"
Upon hearing Qingxing's voice, Jiang Shuwan didn't react immediately.
She didn't have any land. Land in the suburbs of Beijing is so expensive. The Jiang family didn't even have any land when they gave her as part of her dowry.
Later, when she had money, she earned it with one hand and spent it with the other, without buying any land.
"Miss, have you forgotten? His Majesty has bestowed upon you a hundred acres of fertile land."
"..."
Only after a moment's realization did Jiang Shuwan recall that such a thing had indeed happened.
When the old emperor conferred a title upon her, he did indeed give her a hundred acres of fertile land, but she didn't have time to manage it, so she rented it out to farmers near the outskirts of Beijing.
Which bastard dared to mess with her and seize her fertile land?
The case of land embezzlement has been transferred to the Ministry of Justice.
Jiang Shuwan rushed to the Ministry of Justice in a rage, only to discover that the bastard was a prince.
Besides her, many other victims came to the Ministry of Justice to file complaints. These victims were ordinary people living in poverty, some of whom didn't even have a decent pair of shoes. They knelt pitifully in the courtroom of the Ministry of Justice.
The person in the hall was Pei Yanzhi, the newly appointed Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice.
The defendant, a prince, has not appeared to this day, which shows his arrogance.
"..."
He paused for a moment, stunned.
Jiang Shuwan belatedly realized that this land encroachment case might be the same one that allowed Pei Yanzhi to establish his authority in the Ministry of Justice.
She was just an ordinary passerby who was accidentally dragged into this mess.
After staring at Pei Yanzhi in the hall for a while, the prince finally arrived late, summoned by the Ministry of Justice.
He didn't take Pei Yanzhi and the plaintiff in the hall seriously, not even bothering to give them a glance.
As soon as the Prince of Zhongyong entered, he walked up to Jiang Shuwan.
“Niece Jinzhu, look at us, we’ve really been turned away by a flood, we’re family but we don’t recognize each other…”
Jiang Shuwan: "..."
Jiang Shuwan stepped back and declined the prince's attempt to claim kinship.
Prince Zhongyong thought she wouldn't recognize him and reminded her, "You forgot? We met at the ceremony where we encouraged farming."
"Oh? It's you."
Jiang Shuwan chuckled awkwardly, feigning sudden realization.
In fact, she had recognized this Prince Zhongyong long ago. After all, he was the first prince in the Great Jing Dynasty to be brought down. She had taken a few glances at him during the agricultural promotion ceremony, but she never expected to meet him under these circumstances.
You're really unlucky; falling into Pei Yanzhi's hands means your life is over.
With a forced smile, Jiang Shuwan greeted the Prince of Zhongyong, then sat silently to the side, watching as the Prince of Zhongyong acted lawlessly and arrogantly in the courtroom.
"But is it really worth mentioning a few acres of land here..."
"So what if I, the Prince, forcibly seized your land? The entire Great Jing belongs to my Li imperial family! What does it matter if I seize your land? Even your lives are ours. I can decide whether you live or die!"
"Anyone who dares to disobey is defying the royal family!"
"You lowly commoners dare to sue this prince? I think you don't want to live!"
The Prince of Zhongyong, arrogant and haughty, cursed and punched the commoners who had filed the complaint against them.
"Miss, Prince Zhongyong is too arrogant!" Qingxing whispered to Jiang Shuwan.
In fact, this prince was even more arrogant in his previous life, since he didn't take any of Jiang Shuwan's land in that life.
The lowly are like grass, not worth caring about.
In this life, it was indeed the old emperor who allocated that piece of land in the suburbs of the capital to Jiang Shuwan, who then subleased it to farmers. When he occupied the land to raise horses, he didn't ask clearly and ended up taking over Jiang Shuwan's land.
But it's not a big problem; at worst, we can just compensate Jiang Shuwan.
As for the others, they've taken it.
Can we punish him?
From beginning to end, the Prince of Zhongyong did not care about the plaintiffs or Pei Yanzhi.
This world belongs to the Li family.
Apart from the Li family, everyone else was a servant.
It's just that Jiang Shuwan was lucky to be adopted by Consort Rong as her goddaughter; otherwise, she would have ended up like one of the servants in his household.
The land encroachment case involves members of the royal family, so it won't be resolved quickly. Except for the first day when Jiang Shuwan was present, she had her brother, Nai Ge, go in her place afterward, while she stayed at home waiting for news.
After waiting for almost half a month, the old emperor personally stripped the Prince of Zhongyong of his title and imprisoned him in the Ministry of Justice's jail.
The incident was like a boulder thrown into a lake, causing a huge uproar in the court and among the people, and shocking everyone.
In the imperial court, the ministers looked at each other, their astonishment evident.
Officials who had dealings with the prince in the past were even more anxious, secretly wondering if they would be implicated.
The once majestic prince has fallen to such a state, which is truly unexpected.
Inside the palace, the eunuchs and maids whispered amongst themselves, finding it hard to believe that the high and mighty prince would lose all his glory because of a mere case of encroaching on land.
"How could breaking the arms and legs of a few lowly people be so serious?"
"You should know that Prince Zhongyong is the son of the late emperor's younger brother. He made great contributions when the Great Jing Dynasty was founded. Prince Zhongyong originally wanted to return to his fiefdom, but the late emperor couldn't bear to part with him and kept him in the capital."
"Our Emperor has always been lenient with this prince, so why is he so angry this time?"
In the inner palace, Consort Gao and the Empress also felt uneasy. Consort Gao, in particular, had been at odds with the Crown Prince, who had previously sent men to assassinate Pei Yanzhi at the bridgehead, but failed.
Later, the Spring Examination Case was also their doing, but unexpectedly, Pei Yanzhi managed to escape it as well.
In Consort Gao's palace, the eldest prince paced back and forth anxiously.
"Pei Yanzhi must be targeting me on purpose!"
“The Prince of Zhongyong has always been close to me… No wonder he didn’t go to the Hanlin Academy but insisted on going to the Ministry of Justice; he was after me all along…”
Consort Gao gritted her teeth, her face contorted with rage, wishing she could tear Pei Yanzhi to pieces.
The atmosphere inside the Crown Prince's palace was much more relaxed, and they ordered drinks to celebrate.
Raising his wine cup, the Crown Prince clinked it against Li Chengyun's, and said with a broad smile,
“In the past, my elder brother was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue. From the Minister of Revenue down to most of the lower-ranking officials, he was his man. I couldn’t even get a foothold in the government. Now, Pei Yanzhi has cleaned up all of my elder brother’s people in the Ministry of Revenue.”
"The loyal and brave Prince who had always supported him was also stripped of his title and imprisoned. My elder brother's power in the court can be said to have been completely lost."
"Let's see how he competes with me now."
“Pei Yanzhi’s knife is indeed useful, even if it’s not in my hands.”
Li Chengyun: "..."
Li Chengyun smiled but remained silent. The Crown Prince knew his character and did not force him to agree with him. He simply raised his wine cup to toast him again.
"What are you standing there for, Fourth Brother? Drink up!"
"Thank you, Your Highness."
"Hey! We're brothers, just call me Second Brother."
"..."
Li Chengyun lowered his head and drank, concealing the disgust in his eyes.
***********
With the Prince of Zhongyong stripped of his title, the case of land encroachment was thus perfectly resolved.
But Jiang Shuwan discovered that the incident was far from over, and everything was quietly changing.
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