The emperor was furious, and the Grand Princess was also afraid. Moreover, she had just said that she had no intention of protecting anyone, so she could only watch as Fu Jiang was dragged away for interrogation.
The chief eunuch Chen Banjun personally took action and showed no mercy.
Fu Jiang's leg injury had not yet healed, and the long journey back and forth had greatly depleted his energy. He was in excruciating pain after only a few moments.
He was initially furious and, in a moment of malice, decided to punish the Marquis of Zhongyong's mansion with smallpox, but he never expected that this would expose the smallpox outbreak in Qingzhou.
Fortunately, Xie Tingzhou had no evidence to prove that he ordered the massacre of the village.
He couldn't hold back any longer and thought he should give a half-truth and wait for the Grand Princess to find a way to save him.
Chen Banjun reported the interrogation results to the emperor: "Fu Jiang said he learned that there was smallpox in the village and he wanted to report it."
But most of the villagers were merchants, and perhaps they had flaunted their wealth, attracting the attention of bandits who then wiped out the village.
Seeing that everyone was dead, and fearing that smallpox would spread, he simply set the village on fire.
Fearing the court's wrath, they dared not let anyone report the matter to the authorities, so they killed several people who tried to report it and concealed the affair.
But he denied that he was responsible for the incident involving the handkerchief in the Marquis's residence.
Fu Jiang was surprised and angry that the old lady would identify him, but no one else knew about the handkerchief incident.
The old lady had no concrete evidence, while he could claim that she held a grudge against him and was therefore slandering him.
He told Chen Banjun the same thing, and Chen Banjun relayed it to the emperor in detail.
Nevertheless, even the things he confessed to were enough to enrage the emperor.
The emperor slammed his hand on the armrest of the dragon throne. "How dare you! A mere county magistrate dares to act so recklessly!"
"Guards, take him to the Martial Virtue Division prison. Once everything is investigated, he will be severely punished according to his crimes, without any leniency."
Although Fu Jiang did not admit it, the emperor knew in his heart that what the old lady of the Marquis's mansion said was probably true.
If Ye Zhen hadn't had a solution, the smallpox in the Marquis's mansion might have spread to the capital, and it might even have reached the palace by now.
Fu Jiang's lawless behavior in his quest for revenge against the Marquis of Zhongyong has already drawn the emperor's attention to kill him.
He looked at the Grand Princess and said, “Grand Princess, a prince is subject to the same laws as a commoner. Even if he is the Grand Princess’s grandson, he cannot be protected this time.”
Given this person's temperament, if he were to have the support of the Grand Princess's household in the future, he would only become more arrogant.
However, a pretext was needed to kill him, so the emperor sent Lei Ce to Qingzhou immediately to investigate Fu Jiang's crimes.
The Grand Princess realized that the Emperor had murderous intent, but before she could speak, he silenced her. With the Fang family present, she couldn't rely on her seniority again, so she could only close her eyes and think of a way to save the person.
After Fu Jiang finished speaking, the emperor looked at Ye Wantang and said, "Feng Xing, wake him up."
Feng Xing, being a physician, immediately saw through her feigned fainting. He deliberately took out a large silver needle and said to Ye Zhen, "I need to needle her philtrum, but this needle is quite large. I'm worried that if Miss Ye wakes up in pain, she might struggle and injure her face. Please help me hold her down, young mistress."
Upon hearing this, Ye Wantang worried that Ye Zhen might take the opportunity to retaliate. She blinked her eyelashes and slowly woke up.
She quickly knelt down, "Your Majesty, I have been impolite..."
The emperor had already made up his mind and raised his hand to interrupt her, "Previously, I was very lenient with you because of your mother's merits."
But your recent actions have truly disappointed me, and you are no longer worthy to be a royal consort. Today, I hereby annul your engagement to the Crown Prince and confine you to your residence for one year. Leave."
This is already a lenient treatment.
Ye Wantang made a mistake first, so even if the whole world knew about it, they would no longer blame the emperor.
"Your Majesty is wise."
Xie Tingzhou spoke up.
Although the Fang family felt the punishment was too lenient, the emperor had already made his decision, so they could only echo and praise the emperor's wisdom to prevent any further complications.
Knowing the Fang family's concerns, the emperor sent an imperial physician to treat Fang Yantong in order to appease them.
Ye Wantang was unwilling to accept this and pleaded tearfully, "Your Majesty, please spare me for my mother's sake."
"Your Majesty, I know I was wrong. I am already twenty years old, and I have waited for the Crown Prince for so many years."
She actually blamed the royal family for delaying her.
The Emperor's face darkened. "The Crown Prince's whereabouts are unknown. The Empress, unwilling to waste your youth, has offered to find you a new husband several times, but you refused. Now you have made a grave mistake. Ye Wantang, I have been merciful enough to you."
Seeing his expression, Chen Banjun quickly signaled two eunuchs to carry the man out.
With Crown Prince Zhu Yu ahead of her, who else could Ye Wantang possibly fancy? She felt that the royal family had wronged her, and resentment welled up in her heart. She cried miserably all the way.
The Grand Princess hated that she was being blackmailed, but she also couldn't stand seeing Ye Zhen and the others get what they wanted.
The thought of Fu Jiang being imprisoned in the Martial Virtue Division fueled a burning rage within him.
"I heard that Madam Xie was jealous of her parents' favoritism towards her cousin, and that she severed ties with her parents and was irreconcilable with her cousin. Now that I know there is a problem with her porridge distribution, I suppose Madam Xie has been paying close attention to her."
So this time, did Madam Xie not discover beforehand that Miss Ye was using beggars for experiments?
Or perhaps, Miss Ye only discovered it after she had already harmed someone?
This means that Ye Zhen deliberately allowed Ye Wantang to harm others in order to find something wrong with her.
Their intentions are despicable!
Xie Tingzhou's eyes were like sharpened swords. "Even the Grand Princess, with her extraordinary connections, didn't notice. How could she have known that her younger siblings were trapped in the mansion during the epidemic?"
The fact that Ye Wantang killed the beggar was discovered by me, the young master, after noticing something unusual about Imperial Physician Li.
The Grand Princess has bad teeth; don't think that just because Father conceded last time, you can bite her at will.
The old princess sensed something, her gaze sweeping over the two of them, and she smiled, "Brother-in-law is so protective of his sister-in-law, the Marquis of Zhongyong's mansion is certainly united."
Seeing that she was about to ruin Ye Zhen's reputation again, Yin Jiuniang's eyes turned cold, but the corners of her lips curled up and she smiled, "If we are family, we will all suffer. Of course, we must protect our family."
"But Grand Princess, since you have so much free time today, don't you need to go back and clean Han Changgeng's remains?"
Han Changgeng was the one who was engaged to the Grand Princess back then. After the two broke off the engagement, he married a woman surnamed Cai and had children.
The couple died one after the other in their forties. Yin Jiu Niang's words made the Grand Princess's expression suddenly change.
Everyone else, including the emperor, had a gossipy glint in their eyes.
What did Yin Jiu Niang mean by those words?
Han Changgeng has been dead for nearly forty years, and his remains are buried in the Han family ancestral graveyard, where they are probably already rotten.
What does "the Grand Princess cleansing" mean?
The Imperial Censor Wang was extremely gossipy; his eyes widened like copper bells, eager to drag Yin Jiu Niang to get the scoop so he could go home and tell his wife.
As expected, Yin Jiuniang slowly said, "Han Changgeng and Madam Han hit it off immediately, but unfortunately they are bound by a royal marriage contract."
The Grand Princess noticed that Han Changgeng had developed ulterior motives and took the initiative to annul the engagement. However, for some reason, His Highness changed his mind after returning to his country and began to hate the two of them.
After their deaths, their remains were secretly dug up. One was thrown into the southernmost sea, and the other was hidden in the princess's residence, where it stayed with the Grand Princess every day.
It's truly pitiful that they, husband and wife, are going in completely opposite directions and will never see each other again.
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