"Aunt, why don't you talk about my cousin? If he continues like this, I'm afraid he'll lose the support of the ministers of the Northern Lu Kingdom. Today, for that woman, he actually ordered someone to sew up the mouth of Madam Jiang Yuan of the Protectorate Marquis's Mansion, and he also had many people arrested and thrown into the Ministry of Justice's prison?"
After west Yan finished speaking, the Empress Dowager at the head of the table narrowed her eyes, her gaze filled with an indescribable light, and slowly sighed.
This son is really troublesome; his personality is cold and gloomy, and she can't talk to him about it.
What he did today was indeed excessive.
As long as the person behind this is found and severely punished, there's no need to have someone sew the mouth of the Marquis of Protectorate sewn shut.
This has offended the people of the Marquis of Huguo's mansion.
The Empress Dowager remained silent, but west Yan continued, "Do you know what happened? That woman went too far. She even crippled Prince Jing of Nanling. Do you think our Beilu Kingdom can maintain peace with Nanling Kingdom in the future?"
west Yan grew angrier and angrier as she spoke. In truth, what she hated most was what that woman had said in Guangyang Palace: if she wanted to marry her, she could only marry her as a wife. She also wanted to marry her cousin, enter the harem, and live a life of wealth and honor. Moreover, how could the Xi family have no one in the palace? If her aunt were gone, who would support the west family? Therefore, she was determined to enter the palace.
Although she couldn't become empress, being a concubine could still bring glory to her family for life. However, she never expected that Ji Hailing would say in the palace that if he wanted to marry her, he could only marry one wife. Most importantly, the emperor actually agreed. If she really married into the palace, wouldn't that mean the emperor would never marry anyone else? How could this not make people hate her?
"That was a mistake made by Prince Jing of Nanling Kingdom. What kind of prince would sneak into a woman's boudoir at night? Just for that, the Emperor of Nanling Kingdom has nothing to say."
The Empress Dowager wasn't stupid; she could tell right from wrong, so she didn't follow west Yan's lead.
west Yan couldn't help but get annoyed, stomping her feet and acting coquettishly.
"Aunt, why are you speaking up for that woman? Do you really want the Emperor to marry only that woman? What will happen to our west family then?"
west Yan's words made the Empress Dowager fall into deep thought. Yes, the people from the west family should enter the palace, but Feng'er is not someone who compromises easily.
From what he had done recently, she knew that he was very fond of Ji Hailing. If she spoke up to prevent Ji Hailing from entering the palace, he might even abandon the throne in a fit of anger. The reason he sat in this high position was because he was concerned about her wishes.
"Why are you in such a hurry? Let's take this time to discuss it. If she really enters the palace, I will talk to her properly. After all, the royal family is not like other families. The emperor's consent is one thing, but if she agrees to it, that's another matter."
"Is that possible? That woman is a ruthless character. Do you think she would agree to the emperor marrying another woman after she said she only allowed him to marry her?"
west Yan clearly didn't believe such a thing. Although she disliked Ji Hailing, she looked at that person and saw that she was the kind of person who would never compromise on her words. So, it was all just her aunt's wishful thinking.
"Alright, your noise is making my head spin. Let's go back and I'll rest for a while."
"aunt."
west Yan wanted to speak, but the Empress Dowager had already stood up. The nanny on the side reached out and helped the Empress Dowager up and into the palace to rest, completely ignoring west Yan's angry expression.
Seeing that no one paid any attention to her, west Yan could only stomp her feet and then leave the palace.
The Emperor ordered Ji Shaocheng, together with officials from the Ministry of Justice, to investigate those who were spreading rumors and causing trouble. They eventually discovered that there were two people hiding among the common people who gave many people five taels of silver each and told them to cause trouble in front of Ji's residence. Some people, however, were unaware of the situation and blindly followed along with the others, shouting nonsense.
Once the cause was identified, the confused people were immediately released. As for those who had taken the money and caused trouble in front of the Ji residence, damaging the Ji family's reputation for greed, this was a serious matter. However, because too many people were involved, Ji Shaocheng did not want to escalate the situation because of Ling'er. In the end, he had the Minister of Justice give each of them twenty strokes of the cane and release them.
In the end, only two troublemakers remained. These two people were likely acting on someone's orders to do this, so they absolutely could not be let go.
However, when Ji Shaocheng and the Minister of Justice finished dealing with the common people and were about to interrogate the two men, they discovered that the two men had committed suicide by poisoning themselves. They had poison hidden under their teeth, so they died as soon as they bit into them.
The matter was dropped, and the Minister of Justice went to the palace to report to the Emperor.
Ji Shaocheng returned to his residence, entered Xiangwu Courtyard, and explained the situation to Hailing.
Hai Ling raised an eyebrow. Things had come to this point, and there was no way to verify anything now, so there was no need to investigate further.
Based on the two men in black who died in prison, she could roughly determine who was behind this.
Without a doubt, it must be Princess Jingyue of Nanling Kingdom. Including when Prince Jing, Ruan Xihao, came to the Ji residence, it was probably this woman's idea. The two men in black in this incident actually hid poison fangs in their teeth. These are highly trained people. Where in ordinary families can such capable people be trained? Therefore, it is most likely that Ruan Jingyue did it.
This woman always wanted to marry Ye Lingfeng, but Ye Lingfeng wanted to marry her, so she tried to ruin her. She initially only wanted her to marry Ruan Xihao, but because Ruan Xihao was crippled by her, Ruan Jingyue now wants to get rid of her.
Hai Ling sneered, knowing that Ruan Jingyue would probably make another move.
She should just wait and see. As a princess of Nanling Kingdom, Ruan Jingyue couldn't keep pressing the issue without evidence, as it concerned the good relations between Nanling Kingdom and Beilu Kingdom.
"Brother, since that's the case, don't worry, nothing will happen."
"Okay, you should get some rest too."
Ji Shaocheng gave Hailing some instructions, then led the people out to Xiangwu Courtyard, where Hailing washed up and rested.
The post station, where Princess Jingyue of the Southern Ling Kingdom resides, is now lit up.
A man sat in the living room with a dark expression, remaining silent for a long time.
The alluring and beautiful woman at the head of the table slowly smiled and asked softly, "What's wrong, Your Majesty?"
"Did you fabricate the story about the vixen who brought ruin to the country?"
Shen Ruoxuan roared angrily. He had been setting up a bamboo hut at the mortuary in the suburbs today and only learned about what had happened outside the Ji residence when he returned to the city in the evening. He instinctively concluded that the person behind this was Jingyue.
So the post station official came directly.
Ruan Jingyue smiled gracefully, her voice clear and beautiful, and slowly said, "Brother, what are you saying? What do you mean by a vixen who brings ruin to a country?"
"Jingyue."
Shen Ruoxuan didn't expect Jingyue to deny it. Anyway, the people who deserved to die were all dead, so there was nothing he could do if she didn't admit it. However, he couldn't let her stay in Beilu Kingdom any longer. If she stayed, she would probably become even more outrageous, and she would be the one to suffer.
"Jingyue, you should go back to Nanling."
"I won't go back. My father and mother have high hopes for me. My father even promised me a large dowry if I marry into Beilu and the two countries form an alliance."
Ruan Jingyue was carefully nurtured by the Empress of Nanling Kingdom from childhood. She was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. Not only that, she also learned martial arts. Moreover, she was quite intelligent and could be considered a woman of both talent and beauty. As she came from the royal family of Nanling Kingdom, she was always proud and arrogant.
But she never expected that her trip to Beilu, which she thought would lead to a happy and bright future, would turn into a calamity in her life.