"Princess Consort You is still a bit too naive. As the eldest daughter of the Guo family, she has been pampered since childhood and has probably never suffered such a setback before. By the way, how many people know about this matter?"
"Only a few princes and the county princess know about it."
“The county princess has been wronged in this matter, and the Jiang family has also been wronged. Issue an imperial decree to bestow upon the county princess the title of Princess Jinzhu, grant her a royal seal, and grant her the same treatment as a princess born of royal blood. As for Princess You, give her thirty strokes of the cane.”
Eunuch Su hurriedly went to issue the decree, but returned halfway there.
"Your Majesty, Princess You has started bleeding immediately after being flogged. The imperial physician says she is pregnant."
"She's pregnant with my grandson; she can't be harmed."
"..."
When Eunuch Su came to the Marquis's residence to announce the imperial decree, Jiang Shuwan wanted to go to the palace, but Eunuch Su grabbed her arm.
“Princess, you mustn’t do that. His Majesty’s previous punishment of Princess You with a board shows that His Majesty has not given up on the First Prince. Your entry into the palace will only bring shame upon yourself.”
"..."
After calming down, Jiang Shuwan realized that this was indeed the case. Especially after a few days, when she saw Guo Yaqin swaggering around eating crabs on the street, she found it even more ridiculous.
Guo Yaqin was not pregnant at all; it was just a plan devised by the eldest prince because he hadn't given up on her.
After all, the eldest prince has already been demoted one rank of prince, and is now a seven-bead prince, just like the fifteen or sixteen-year-old sixth prince. If he no longer has the support of the Guo family, he really is no match for the crown prince.
The old emperor probably knew it too, but he was just pretending not to hear.
Since that's the case, it's better to let the Guo family fall completely. Then the Crown Prince will take care of the First Prince and the Guo family.
However, the Guo family is one of the eight great families. If she were just a mere princess who could earn a little money, she would not be able to shake the Guo family's power.
...
Only rights can stand against rights.
You need to stand higher.
Having made up her mind, Jiang Shuwan first went back to the Jiang family and immediately asked her father to resign and return to his hometown.
Mr. Jiang was naturally unwilling. After hearing Jiang Shuwan's entire plan, he fell silent. Madam Song was also present. After hearing Jiang Shuwan's words, she stood there dumbfounded for a while before turning her head to look in the other direction.
That's the mourning hall for Jiang Yao and her child.
The Jiang family and the Earl's family have completely severed ties. Although the Earl's wife and Pei Lingyu have recently expressed deep regret and wanted to come and pay their respects, Song sent people to drive them away.
White banners fluttered in the mourning hall, and the cold wind howled through the air, sounding like a mournful cry.
The air was filled with the smell of burning incense and paper money. Song's face was still wet with tears. She had almost gone blind from crying these days and looked like she had lost half her life. She had no interest in anything.
These days, Jiang's father hasn't even gone to court, for fear that she might do something rash.
Upon hearing Jiang Shuwan's words, Madam Song was taken aback at first, but the next second she walked to the mourning hall and instructed the steward.
"Carry the coffin and bury the second young lady and her granddaughter immediately."
"Madam, it's not even the seventh day after her death yet," the butler said in surprise.
"I said let's bury him, so let's bury him! Why all the nonsense!" Madam Song said decisively. Soon, under Madam Song's mobilization, the entire Jiang family was busy, with some burying the dead and others packing their belongings.
Jiang's father also quickly submitted his resignation. As Jiang Shuwan had expected, the old emperor only said a few words to persuade him to stay before letting him leave.
At the Ten Mile Pavilion outside the city, Jiang Shuwan watched the Jiang family's carriage leave. Li Chengyun stood behind her and comforted her, "Don't worry, my men will get them home safely."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Shuwan glanced at him, then mounted her horse and said, "Lend me a few imperial censors..."
Li Chengyun's eyes lit up. "I knew it, you'd be on my side sooner or later..."
The next day, an imperial censor accused Jiang Shuwan of sending silver to the old emperor.
The entire court erupted in uproar.
If the three princes' attack on the court officials is the most shameful scandal of the time, it is also the shameful thing that the royal family is trying its best to cover up.
So, the fact that the princess of the current dynasty bribed the emperor was undoubtedly a storm that shattered the dignity and prestige of the entire Li clan of the Great Jing Dynasty.
The entire court, with its hundreds of officials, was astonished.
Officials who were previously out of the loop and had no idea about the matter were completely stunned, staring blankly at the censor who had submitted the memorial.
"Really?"
"How could such a thing be..."
"This is absolutely ridiculous..."
These people all looked incredulous, but deep down they actually believed it to some extent.
Who told them to have the precedent of three princes besieging and killing Pei Yanzhi?
Looking at His Majesty's face, it was so angry that his face had turned as red as a pig's liver.
"Oh no, could it really be true?"
Everyone looked like the sky had fallen, and the expressions on the faces of the old emperor and the princes were particularly strange.
If this is true, their emperor will not only be infamous for eternity, but will also have to issue an edict of self-reproach...
Throughout history, no dynasty has had an emperor like this; perhaps they are the witnesses to a new history.
—Everyone was thinking this, but they couldn't quite describe how they felt.
As for the other officials, especially the Crown Prince's faction and the First Prince's faction, they had heard about this matter long ago, but they had been pretending not to know. They never expected that one day the censor would expose it to the court.
"That's so brave..."
"Don't even mention your life, you probably don't even want your own family anymore..."
The Crown Prince and the First Prince looked at the eloquent censors in shock, then exchanged a glance, thinking to themselves, "I never expected the Crown Prince/Elder Prince to have such idiots under his command, hahaha..."
The two rival princes were laughing inwardly when suddenly their sleeves were tugged by their subordinates.
"Your Highness, there are our people inside too..."
"..."
The eldest prince and the crown prince's expressions changed instantly. They stared intently at the censors, wishing they could kill them on the spot.
Some ministers, whose personalities were conservative and stubborn, had bloodshot eyes upon hearing this.
"You censors are insane! How could His Majesty do such a thing?"
Before the old emperor could even speak, these stubborn ministers launched into a tirade against the censor, much to the relief of the eldest prince and the crown prince.
The old emperor, in particular, thought to himself that he had long disliked these regents left to him by the late emperor, who were still holding their positions at such an advanced age and had not retired. He never expected that these people would save his life at such a critical moment.
The next second, these veteran officials knelt down with a "plop".
"Your Majesty's reputation cannot be trampled upon, and the laws of the court cannot be allowed to be violated. Your Majesty, please summon Princess Jinzhu to the palace immediately. If this matter is not thoroughly investigated, where is the dignity and honor of our Great Jing Dynasty?"
"Your Majesty, we will likely become a laughingstock of the world..."
The old minister wept uncontrollably, nearly fainting from crying, while several censors, fearless of death, declared they were not afraid to confront Jiang Shuwan in court.
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