Tianliangyuan

Chapter 31 The truth?

Jiang Yanping clearly didn't believe it: "Do you really have an affair with that Young Master Fu?"

"No! I wouldn't dare! I was taught by my mother from a young age to be dignified and virtuous, and I would never dare to overstep my bounds."

"Then why did you meet with him in private?"

“Father, there are coincidences and misunderstandings involved. Moreover, Princess Leyang is arrogant and has ridiculed me more than once. She has even openly despised my aunt, the Imperial Concubine. Father, I just wanted to stand up for my aunt.”

As for meeting with that young master Fu, firstly, he wanted to learn about the princess's preferences through me, and secondly, my daughter did indeed harbor thoughts of revenge against Princess Leyang, wanting to hurt her. She just never imagined that this matter would be brought up and publicized so widely.

"Father, even when I met with that young master Fu, we never crossed the line in the slightest. There were always maids attending to us. My relationship with young master Fu is completely innocent. Please, Father, understand!"

Jiang Ning knew that she couldn't involve the Marquis of Anxin's mansion anymore, because it would only make things more complicated. It would be better to openly admit that she wanted to harm the princess, so that she could extricate herself from the situation.

After all, Princess Leyang had disregarded the Imperial Concubine's words more than once, and each time there were witnesses to prove it.

In this way, Jiang Ning could not only escape severe punishment, but also gain favor with the Imperial Concubine, since she had resorted to this tactic specifically to vent the Imperial Concubine's anger.

Jiang Ning firmly believed that she would not be severely punished, because she remembered clearly that the Emperor's favor towards the Consort was genuine.

She believed that the Imperial Concubine would speak up for her.

On the other side, Xu Lin wanted to quickly find the purse and the small cloth bag containing the dirty thing, but suddenly realized that she couldn't find them!

My entire purse is gone!

Xu Lin was shocked and wished she could turn the entire Sun residence upside down to search for him.

But no matter how hard they searched, they still found nothing.

Meanwhile, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review sent people to Qi's residence to investigate.

It was no secret that Miss Qi was so frightened that she even attempted suicide. The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review found a dog hair that she had almost overlooked in Miss Qi's purse, which could explain why Miss Qi was attacked by that vicious dog.

However, Miss Qi was only frightened; it was Sun Qian who was truly injured.

However, Sun Qian found nothing.

Not only that, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review also led a group to visit many households, including the residence of Marquis Anxin.

Xu Zhaozhao's clothes and purse were all there, but nothing strange was found. Eight young ladies' families felt that this incident was unlucky, so they burned all the clothes that the girl was wearing at the time, hoping that their children would not suffer such bad luck in the future.

This makes verification even more difficult.

However, they did indeed find a dog hair in Miss Qi's purse, and because of this, the Qi family could no longer be on good terms with the Jiang family.

As for Princess Leyang, after checking everything, they found that a purse was missing.

Princess Leyang would have forgotten about it if her personal maid hadn't mentioned it.

“Reporting to you, my lord, I remember clearly that when the princess went out that day, she did wear a purse and a sachet. However, when she returned, she only had the sachet on her, and the purse was gone. At the time, I thought that she had dropped it at the Jiang family’s house because of the chaos.”

Young women should not be careless about such matters.

So the Prince Qi's mansion sent people to the Jiang family that day to look for it, but they couldn't find it after searching around. But at least they made a big fuss about it so that everyone would know that Princess Leyang had lost a purse, so that no one would use it to cause trouble in the future.

But no one expected that the purse was in Xu Zhaozhao's hands at that moment.

When Xu Zhaozhao heard the dog barking that day, she had already guessed Jiang Ning's scheme. After noticing the discord between Princess Leyang and Jiang Ning, she naturally thought of using someone else to do her dirty work.

So, taking advantage of the moment she pulled Princess Leyang and Xie Yun apart, she stole the purse from the princess.

And now, the small cloth bag containing the puppy's baby hair that Xu Lin had been searching for was also in Princess Leyang's purse.

When the Minister of Justice investigated, he found that many people had lost their belongings. Given the chaotic scene at the time, it was normal for things to be lost.

Therefore, he proposed to search the Jiang family again, this time not only the place where the banquet was held, but also to expand the search area.

To everyone's surprise, a purse and two obviously torn handkerchiefs were found in the Jiang family's garden.

The people at the Dali Temple were very meticulous, and they immediately found a doctor to identify the culprit.

"There should be something inside this small cloth bag. It feels like hair when you pinch it, but we can only confirm that by opening it."

The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review nodded, but didn't rush to open it. He then took the purse to the people of the Prince Qi's residence to confirm that it was indeed the purse that Princess Leyang had taken out that day.

Later, the people from the Dali Temple opened the small cloth bag and found a tuft of hair inside.

They compared this small clump of hair with a single hair they had previously found in Miss Qi's purse, and concluded that they both belonged to the same puppy.

Now, the truth is basically out.

Princess Leyang wasn't stupid. When asked when she lost the purse, she simply said she didn't remember.

Xu Zhaozhao cooperated readily: "Your Excellency, I pulled the princess and Miss Xie back together. In the heat of the moment, I even stepped on the hem of the princess's skirt, but I am certain that I did not see any purse on the princess."

With Xu Zhaozhao's testimony, Princess Leyang's purse must have been lost before the vicious dog broke into the banquet.

In other words, Jiang Ning wanted to murder Princess Leyang, but because Princess Leyang accidentally dropped her purse, the plot failed.

Isn't this luck a bit too good?

What puzzled the Minister of Justice even more was that there was evidence that the vicious dog attacked Miss Qi, since she did indeed have the smell of puppies on her, but what about Sun Qian?

They didn't find anything with Sun Qian, and it's said that she also lost her purse. Could there be something dirty in that purse too?

However, now, too many things have been lost, and some families have simply burned their belongings, so it's impossible to find all the evidence.

However, it is sufficient to confirm that the Jiang family is indeed suspected of plotting against Princess Leyang.

Before the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review could report to his superiors, Jiang Yanping brought Jiang Ning to the palace to apologize.

Jiang Yanping and Jiang Ning knelt on the ground, their faces full of self-reproach: "It is all because of our poor upbringing, Your Majesty. Please punish us! But please have mercy on our daughter. She only resorted to this desperate measure to protect the dignity of the Consort. If Your Majesty can spare her life, we are willing to take the blame in her place!"