"Jiang Shuwan, you are just a county princess. Don't think that I wouldn't dare to lay a hand on you!"
"Is that so? I'm taking her away today. You can try if you don't believe me."
As Jiang Shuwan was speaking, she grabbed Guo Yaqin and tried to leave, but Li Chengyou's eyes turned cold, and he raised his hand to strike. A flash of cold light blocked his blade; it was General Fei Hong.
"Feihong, how dare you! Not only did you besiege the Prince's mansion, but you also dared to block my sword? Are you trying to rebel?"
"Your Highness, the Crown Prince has returned."
"..."
When General Fei Hong said this, everyone in the room was stunned.
Jiang Shuwan was also stunned. The sound of horses' hooves approached from afar, like a blow to the heart. Apart from Jiang Shuwan, everyone present looked in the direction of the city gate with a chill running down their spines.
Suddenly a gust of wind and snow blew in, and the sky, which had been gloomy for several days, finally began to snow.
At first, the snowflakes were only the size of snow grains, but eventually they became as big as goose feathers.
The whole world is in a state of confusion.
In the wind and snow, a strong white horse dragged a bloodied figure closer.
Jiang Shuwan's pupils contracted. She didn't recognize Pei Yanzhi. She only saw a blood-covered figure on the horse. Only when she got closer did she realize that the blood-covered person was Pei Yanzhi.
The man, who had originally been dressed in pristine white robes, was now soaked in blood and covered in knife wounds. He fell off his horse almost the instant it dragged him in.
...
************
That winter, on the day the first snow fell, a shocking event occurred throughout the Great Jing Dynasty, which spread like wildfire.
"Have you heard? Prince Pei is back."
"The Crown Prince, as an imperial envoy, was ordered by the emperor to repair the river. He had just returned and had not even entered the city when he was surrounded and attacked by three parties, facing a perilous situation."
"I heard that in addition to the eldest prince and the crown prince, the fourth prince was also among those who made the move."
"How could that be? The Crown Prince is dedicated to the country and its people. Why would the First Prince and the Crown Prince try to kill him? Especially the Fourth Prince, who has no grudge against the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince has always been close to him."
"Closeness? You're just pretending. Everyone knows that with the commercial tax and the land reform, the young master has offended both the eldest prince and the crown prince."
"If the Crown Prince dies, the land reform will come to nothing, and only ordinary people like us will suffer. The royal family and aristocratic families will be very happy. Don't you think about it? The Guo family, the eldest prince's wife, is an aristocratic family, as is the Ye family, the crown princess. They will be very happy if the Crown Prince dies."
"Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that the heir apparent and the county princess were assassinated on the same day? Especially the county princess's younger sister, the youngest wife of the Earl's family, was killed directly, along with her poor newborn child."
"But there's no evidence!"
"What evidence do you need? How many people in this world dare to fight against both the Crown Prince and the County Magistrate at the same time?"
The Imperial Palace.
The old emperor listened with a sullen face to Eunuch Su's report on public opinion outside, and the more he listened, the uglier his face became.
"Who leaked it?"
"Your Majesty, I do not know."
"How dare you!"
"Your Majesty, please forgive us. The Crown Prince returned covered in blood, and some people even witnessed him being surrounded and killed in the suburbs. They also captured the Crown Princess's half-brother, Ye Jingyu. It's no wonder the people are speculating..."
"The Crown Princess's half-brother, Ye Jingyu, has been captured alive by the Heir Apparent?" The old emperor nearly fainted.
"Yes, as soon as he entered the city, he was hit by a lot of stones thrown by the common people. This man was also tough. He said that he was dissatisfied with being born out of wedlock and not being able to inherit the property of the Pingxi General's Mansion, so he deliberately assassinated the heir and framed the Crown Princess and the Crown Prince."
"What's with the tough talk? That's just how it is. How could the dignified Li imperial family possibly assassinate a minister?" the old emperor said solemnly.
Eunuch Su quickly changed his tune, "Your Majesty is right, so this servant has already ordered people to stop the rumors."
"What about the eldest brother? Was he involved in the assassination? And the fourth brother, why is he meddling in all this?"
"I don't know if the First Prince was involved, but I heard from the Heir Apparent's guards that members of the Guo family were among those who came to assassinate him. As for the Fourth Prince, he's close to the Crown Prince, so he might be helping the Crown Prince..."
"Alright, alright!"
The old emperor angrily shouted for him to shut up, rubbing his forehead as his head ached.
Pei Yanzhi was originally a talent that he was cultivating for the future crown prince, but unexpectedly, the eldest son and the crown prince both sent people to assassinate him, and they failed.
"waste!"
The old emperor angrily swept aside the memorials on the table. After thinking for a long time, he still felt that the royal family's reputation should be taken into account. "No matter what, we must suppress the rumors and absolutely cannot pin this on the royal family."
"Rest assured, Your Majesty, what do those commoners know? They'll just pass the word around. We'll just say that Ye Jingyu deliberately framed the Crown Princess. As for the Guo family, since Lord Yun returned to his hometown, Minister Guo has become the de facto head of all officials, with many retainers under his command. What happens to the Guo family is entirely up to Your Majesty. As for the Fourth Prince..."
"Fourth Prince, ignore him. He didn't get any concrete evidence from Pei Yanzhi, so just punish him with half a year's salary. Warn the Crown Prince not to get too close to him. He can have honors, but don't give him anything else."
The old emperor tapped the table lightly and said, "The Crown Princess and the Crown Prince have failed to manage their own family members properly, so they are confined for a month. The eldest son had been requesting permission to take charge of land reform, but tell him to give up and go back to where he was. Also, demote him by one rank as a prince."
At this point, the old emperor gritted his teeth.
Pei Yanzhi was his trusted advisor, and he was naturally relieved that he was still alive.
But whenever she thinks about how her three sons failed to kill her when they joined forces, she feels like she gave birth to a bunch of useless people.
Especially the eldest brother, he used to think quite highly of him, otherwise he wouldn't have given Guo Yaqin to him.
The crown prince is also the legitimate son; if he proves successful, there's no need to cause trouble...
Now it seems...
We need to think about this more.
"What is the sixth prince doing?" the old emperor suddenly asked.
"His Highness the Sixth Prince has been following up on the follow-up matters regarding the commercial tax," said Eunuch Su without looking up.
"Sixth Prince has been working hard lately. He is hereby granted the title of Prince of the Seven Beads, and Consort Li is hereby promoted to Imperial Concubine Li."
"Yes." Eunuch Su frowned, suppressing his pounding heart. "Your Majesty, what about the County Princess? She accused the Princess Consort of assassinating her sister..."
The old emperor's headache worsened.
Yes, he almost forgot that Jiang Shuwan was also nearly killed.
His three sons had a brilliant plan: kill Pei Yanzhi first, then kill Jiang Shuwan, and then the imperial court would be theirs, as would Jiang Shuwan's assets.
"Does the county magistrate have any evidence?"
Hearing his question, Eunuch Su gave a wry smile. "Originally, there wasn't one, but the county princess suddenly threw out a jade pendant, saying she found it at the scene of the crime. Princess You, in her haste, said she wasn't there and couldn't possibly have left the pendant behind."
The old emperor: "..."
The old emperor rubbed his forehead. "So the county princess led people to besiege the prince's mansion not to take Princess You with her, but to take the jade pendant she was wearing."
"Yes, Princess You is not fooled and has confessed without being asked."
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