Lu Baichuan looked at her with a mocking look in his eyes and asked, "Then please tell me, we have no dealings with each other, so why did you come to visit? Besides, even a rough man like me knows that one should bring a small gift when visiting someone's home, but your son came empty-handed."
"Furthermore, when Princess Anping personally came to visit, she didn't bring a visiting card. She barged straight into my Lu family and sent someone to call my mother, who was out drinking tea, back. She then proceeded to humiliate her. Why was that?"
"My Lu family doesn't care about so-called greeting gifts, nor do we care about formalities or visiting cards. It's just that I, Lu, don't want to be bitten by an impolite person. They've done all sorts of impolite and stupid things, yet they openly say that my Lu family is made of peasants and doesn't know manners. As a member of the royal family, has Princess Anping ever contributed to the face of the royal family? Or has she been disgracing the royal family all along?"
Lu Baichuan remained calm, but his words were sharp, leaving all the officials speechless. Princess Anping's actions had too many flaws, and they didn't know how to begin if they wanted to say something in her defense.
Seeing that no one was speaking up for her, Princess Anping burst into tears in the main hall: "Your Majesty, he has slandered me! He has slandered me!"
"Ha, I thought that if the princess dared to file a complaint with the emperor, she must know that there is no room for falsehood in the court. But now you deny everything I say and keep spouting lies. What's the point of filing a complaint with the emperor then?"
Lu Baichuan looked at her with a mocking expression. Princess Anping was forced into a corner. She hadn't expected Lu Baichuan to be so eloquent, leaving her speechless.
She could only cry in order to gain the sympathy of the court officials for an old woman in her seventies or eighties.
Several people stood up for her, mostly saying that Lu Baichuan couldn't produce any evidence and could just spout nonsense. After all, Princess Anping, as a member of the royal family, had no need to curry favor with the Lu family.
Others chimed in, but the more they said, the more outrageous it became. Eventually, even they realized they had gone too far with their fabrications, and they quickly shut up.
Lu Baichuan remained silent throughout, waiting for them to finish speaking. The emperor was worried for him, seeing his expression. Although what he said made sense, it was useless without evidence.
"What does Minister Lu think?"
Lu Baichuan then stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I originally thought it best to be lenient, as I have been away from the court for a long time and will soon be heading back to Changzhou. I did not want to make things too ugly, but I did not expect that you gentlemen would be so persistent. So I can only list out the evidence I have found one by one."
As he spoke, he pulled a small notebook from his sleeve, opened it, and read aloud: "On a certain day of a certain year, Princess Anning humiliated an old peasant woman in the street, claiming that the woman's passing by had offended her eyes; on a certain day of a certain year, Princess Anping arbitrarily executed a maid and threw her body onto the street in front of her door..."
First, they talked about the evil deeds that Princess Anping had been doing since she was young, and then it was Yuhe's turn.
"On a certain day of a certain year, Young Master Yu went out drinking and owed money, refusing to pay it back. He even had the waiter who came to collect the debt beaten up. On another day of a certain year, Young Master Yu lent money at exorbitant interest rates, causing many families to be ruined and destroyed... And in the third month of the year, Young Master Yu forcibly abducted a woman on the street, then drove her to her death. The princess's grandson died suddenly, and he threatened the woman's family, driving them out of the capital..."
"Enough! Shut up, shut up! It's all fake, all fake! You're talking nonsense!"
Princess Anping grew increasingly anxious as she listened. It was one thing that the previous stories were all about her own past, but now they involved her precious grandson, and she had no choice but to stop it.
She stood up and tried to snatch the notebook from Lu Baichuan's hand, but Lu Baichuan quickly handed it to the eunuch beside the emperor and gave it to the emperor.
Lu Baichuan continued, "Your Majesty, I have found the family that was murdered. They are waiting outside the palace gates. If necessary, they can come to the palace to confront us at any time."
Everyone was really surprised that Lu Baichuan was so well prepared. More importantly, it had been less than three days since the incident, and it was unbelievable that he could find so much information in such a short time.
But Lu Baichuan did just that, leaving them all speechless.
The things Princess Anping and her grandson did were utterly disregard for human life, bullied others by abusing their power, and even lent money at exorbitant interest rates—each and every one of them was a major offense.
The emperor immediately sent people to verify the matter. Suddenly, no one spoke in the court. Those who had just spoken up for Princess Anping fell silent, and even secretly regretted their words.
Princess Anping wanted to say something, but seeing the emperor's stern face, she immediately dared not say anything. Her body trembled uncontrollably, and she began to regret her act of filing a complaint with the emperor.
She was really worried about her grandson who was beaten yesterday, and she didn't know how he was doing. She also didn't know what the emperor would do next.
She thought that the emperor would consider the late emperor's reputation and wouldn't hold it against her. After all, those things happened a long time ago, and they were just lowly people. Their deaths were no big deal, and the emperor certainly wouldn't say anything.
Before long, the person who had been sent out to verify returned and reported, "General Lu's words are all true."
The emperor was immediately enraged, slamming his hand on the table and glaring at Princess Anping: "What else do you have to say! You're really something, coming to me like a thief crying 'stop thief!' You've completely disgraced the royal family!"
"Your Majesty, it wasn't me, he framed me!"
Princess Anping knelt on the ground, shaking her head repeatedly, refusing to admit it.
Enraged, the emperor slammed the little notebook down in front of her, saying speechlessly, "The evidence is irrefutable, and you still want to deny it! Very well!"
"Princess Anping is abusing her power and is unworthy of her position. Effective immediately, she is stripped of her title and all privileges. Yuhe is guilty of murder for money; he is to be flogged fifty times and exiled three thousand li away. He is not to return to the capital without my permission!"
It is said that to strike a snake, strike its vital spot. The emperor knew what Princess Anping feared most, so he decided to make her lose everything.
Upon hearing this, Princess Anping couldn't catch her breath and fainted on the spot.
Even so, it couldn't change the fact that her title was revoked and her grandson was exiled.
The emperor sent men to drag Princess Anping away, gave Lu Baichuan some rewards as an apology to Princess Anping, and then continued to discuss other matters in the court.
Lu Baichuan had been absent from court for more than half a year. He only came to court today because of Princess Anping. Now that Princess Anping's matter had been resolved, Lu Baichuan should have left.
But Lu Baichuan not only didn't leave, he also took the initiative to speak up: "Your Majesty, I have something to say."
The emperor thought he was going to talk about the situation outside, and said, "Please speak, my dear minister."
Lu Baichuan pointed to several ministers standing in the crowd and said, "Your Majesty, I wish to impeach five officials: Zhao, Lin, Hou, Zhang, and Li!"
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