Princess Anping finally came to her senses. Looking at the emperor high above her, she kowtowed deeply and said, "This old woman accuses the Lu family of disrespecting imperial authority and ignoring the Princess's Mansion! Your Majesty, the Princess's Mansion may have declined, but it is not up to a family of peasant origin to discriminate against us like this. I was personally appointed a Princess by the late Emperor!"
She suppressed her dissatisfaction with the emperor. From the moment her grandson was beaten, she knew that the emperor's heart had long since turned away from her. She couldn't use her own affairs to criticize the Lu family, so she could only use the imperial family's prestige to force the emperor to take action against the Lu family.
The emperor already knew about this, but still took the opportunity to ask, "Oh? What exactly did the Lu family do to make you so angry, Aunt?"
Hearing the emperor call her "cousin aunt," Princess Anping felt a moment of pride, but she didn't show it. She continued to recount with great sorrow how her grandson had been driven away by Lu Baichuan when he came to visit, and how she herself had been driven to the point of fainting from anger when she went to visit him in person.
Basically, it talks about how the Lu family bullied her, but it doesn't mention why she went to the Lu family or what she did there.
Seeing that she refused to speak, the emperor did not ask any questions, nor did he mention how to resolve the matter. He simply said, "Aunt, rest assured, I will give you an explanation for this matter. Since it is a petition to the emperor, all civil and military officials must be present to witness it. You will stay in the palace today, and tomorrow morning you will come with me to the court to identify the Lu family's actions. As long as the facts are true, I will naturally not show favoritism."
This means they're preparing to gather evidence, and Princess Anping felt a sudden pang of panic.
She deliberately chose this opportunity to file a complaint with the emperor, hoping to speak to him privately and ask him to consider her feelings and make a decision for her. However, she did not expect that the emperor would bring the matter to the court, and that his words were so unassailable that she could not refute them.
She knew perfectly well what her purpose was in going to the Lu family. If she were to reveal her purpose to the civil and military officials, she would really lose face. After all, which princess was as down on her luck as her and had to seek cooperation with a peasant?
I offered myself up to someone, but they refused.
This was an indelible humiliation for her.
"Your Majesty, I can wait until tomorrow, but I'm afraid my grandson..."
Before she could finish speaking, she started wiping away tears, using Yuhe's situation as a pretext for her suffering.
"Don't worry, Aunt. My nephew will be fine. I will arrange for someone to treat him. Filing a complaint against the Emperor is no small matter. I cannot bend the law for personal gain, otherwise I will not be able to convince the public. So I can only let my nephew suffer some physical pain."
The emperor also put on a helpless expression and shifted the blame onto Princess Anping. If she hadn't filed a lawsuit against him, her grandson wouldn't have suffered.
Princess Anping had nothing to say. She wiped away her tears and was helped away by the palace servants.
The next morning, Princess Anping was brought to the court, and Lu Baichuan, who hadn't attended court for more than half a year, also came. As the defendant, he had to make an appearance.
There were many new faces in the court, recently promoted by the emperor. They were very respectful to Lu Baichuan. Other officials also did a good job of putting on a show, greeting each other respectfully when they met. However, their smiles did not reach their eyes. When the court session started and the matter of Princess Anping filing a complaint against the emperor yesterday was mentioned, no one spared him any criticism.
These people already resented the Lu family's favor, and with Princess Anping paving the way, these court officials were even more eager to take advantage of the situation and bring the Lu family down.
Anyway, Kang Tiezui is not in the court now, and no one is speaking up for Lu Baichuan. With so many of them, are they afraid of not being able to defeat Lu Baichuan?
The ministers exchanged glances and a knowing smile appeared on their lips.
Someone stepped forward, took the imperial tablet in his hand, and knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty, Princess Anping is a member of the royal family. How can she be insulted like this? This is a provocation against the dignity of the royal family and a great disrespect to Your Majesty!"
Another person stepped forward: "This is a grave disrespect to the Emperor! We beg Your Majesty to investigate!"
Princess Anping originally thought that coming to the court would not do her any good, but she did not expect so many people to speak up for her. It seems that her status as a princess is still very useful. However, she has faded from everyone's sight in recent years, and many people do not recognize her, which is why her family's life has become increasingly difficult.
Does that mean if I attend more banquets and such in the future, more people will remember me, and my life will become better?
In that case, the beating the grandson received wasn't entirely unfair.
Just as she was feeling smug, Lu Baichuan stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, I have something to say."
The emperor had been waiting for him to step forward and defend himself, and upon seeing this, he immediately said, "Minister Lu, please speak."
Lu Baichuan glanced indifferently at Princess Anping, then at the court officials, and said in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft: “You all only know that my Lu family drove Princess Anping and her grandson out of the house, but do you know that my Lu family has never had any dealings with them? Why did they come to our door? And why did we tear off the mask and drive them out?”
"During the past six months of travel, I have acquired some property in Qianzhou City. The grandson of Princess Anping came to my door with the intention of cooperating with me. He asked for 80% of my profits. When I asked what the benefits of the cooperation would be, he said that I could use Princess Anping's name when I went out, and then no one in the city would dare to mess with my Lu family."
"They constantly mock my Lu family for being from humble beginnings, saying that having any dealings with them is a great favor. They want to take advantage of my Lu family's wealth while constantly bullying my family. I disagreed and had Young Master Yu removed. In the afternoon, Princess Anping personally came to my mother's house and pointed her finger at her nose, humiliating her again. No matter how humble my mother's background may be, she is still a first-rank noblewoman personally bestowed by the Emperor Emeritus. Why must Princess Anping be so aggressive?"
"My Lu family refused Princess Anping's bandit-like demands, so she came to the emperor to file a complaint, abusing her power to bully others. This has truly broadened my horizons."
At this point, Lu Baichuan sneered, showing no pity for the white-haired Princess Anping beside him. In fact, he found her repulsive and disgusting to look at.
After Lu Baichuan finished speaking, there was no sound of rebuttal in the court for a moment. The main reason was that no one expected that Princess Anping would have such an absurd reason for filing a lawsuit against the emperor. Just because others did not allow her family to take advantage of others, she took advantage of her status as a princess to file a lawsuit against the emperor and make the emperor help her to be a robber. How dare she!
"No, he's spouting nonsense! I only asked He'er to pay a visit, but they kicked her out!"
Princess Anping knew that she would not reveal her true purpose at this time, and that she would not gain any benefits from the Lu family in the future after making such a fuss. Therefore, her main goal now was to crush the Lu family.
With the Lu family's downfall, she helped many people resolve their worries. Those people would help her family to some extent, although not as much as directly taking over the Lu family's assets, but it was better than nothing.
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