Chapter 244 Punishment and Sacrifice

Chapter 244 Punishment and Sacrifice

"Bring the man to the capital and have him secretly tried by the Court of Judicial Review." Without hesitation, the emperor immediately ordered a thorough investigation.

As an ambitious emperor, he would never allow anyone, including his own clansmen, to shake the solid foundation of the Great Wei dynasty.

The crown prince nodded and instructed his men to do so.

The Prince of Nanyang, who was spouting nonsense and making false accusations, never expected that not only would he fail to bring down Jiang Yuan, but his princess would also cause him a lot of trouble.

The Prince of Nanyang was completely bewildered when he was suddenly questioned by the imperial court.

Fortunately, neither the emperor nor the crown prince was good at riddles. The eunuch in charge of delivering the imperial edict quickly explained to him the two reasons why he was being questioned.

Upon hearing the eunuch say that Xie Daoheng had arranged Xie Wanniang's marriage to Jiang Yuan, the Prince of Nanyang was so angry that he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

He was furious, believing that Xie Daoheng was deliberately sabotaging Xie Wanniang's life while he was unaware that she was still alive, knowing that he, her biological father, had other plans for her.

However, he could not openly attack Xie Daoheng because of this, since although he was Xie Wanniang's biological father, he had never raised Xie Wanniang for even a single day.

Even if he makes a big fuss about this, the emperor will still believe that Xie Daoheng has more decision-making power than him in Xie Wanniang's affairs because Xie Daoheng raised Xie Wanniang first.

However, if we go back to the matter itself, the adoptive father arranged a marriage for his daughter and sent her off to get married according to the rules and procedures. No one can say that the adoptive father did anything wrong.

Having suffered such a huge loss in silence, the Prince of Nanyang was naturally very unwilling.

He originally thought that Xie Daoheng was also completely unaware that Xie Wanniang was still alive, so Xie Wanniang's marriage must have been arranged by her own initiative.

In this situation, if he submitted a memorial accusing Jiang Yuan of abducting his daughter, even if the emperor could not fully agree with it, he would not necessarily become dissatisfied with him because of it.

Unexpectedly, that bastard Xie Daoheng had already contacted Xie Wanniang, and even after making contact, he still let her roam around outside instead of bringing her directly back to the Xie family.

That would have been bad enough, but that scoundrel secretly married Xie Wanniang off without telling him.

Because of his involvement, the accusations made by the Prince of Nanyang against Jiang Yuan suddenly became baseless and fabricated, which made the Prince of Nanyang furious.

While cursing Xie Daoheng in his heart, he tried his best to maintain his original facial expression so as not to show a ferocious look in front of the eunuchs.

However, his stiff, fake smile couldn't be maintained when the eunuch mentioned the Princess of Nanyang.

The group of Nanyang Princess's subordinates who had been arrogant in the Yi County government office quickly realized the situation and became obedient after being transferred to the Dali Temple in the capital.

They not only revealed their identities and origins, but also the person behind the murders who ordered them to commit the killings—the younger sister of their master, the current Princess of Nanyang.

Because Xie Wanniang had been assassinated several years ago, the Dali Temple also inquired about that case.

Although they couldn't get any information from the twenty guards, the steward and servants of the Princess of Nanyang, who were responsible for posing as a caravan to cover for them, knew a little about the matter.

The steward knew more, while the servants knew less, but their words could indirectly verify whether the steward's words were true or false.

With the evidence irrefutable, the crimes of the Princess of Nanyang could not be covered up by her words. Therefore, the eunuch who came to deliver the imperial decree was not only responsible for conveying the decree and relaying the details of the case, but also for escorting the involved persons, including the Princess of Nanyang, to the capital for trial.

Princess Nanyang is a member of the royal family, so the Dali Temple wouldn't imprison her to await trial. However, there are people in the royal family specifically responsible for dealing with royal relatives like her who have committed serious offenses.

The old Princess Nanyang and the Princess Nanyang were relatives. In addition, the Princess Nanyang's family was still very powerful. The old Princess Nanyang had always been very indulgent towards her. When she heard the imperial eunuch say that the Princess Nanyang was to be escorted to the capital and handed over to the clan for punishment, the old Princess Nanyang was stunned.

Her actions were not entirely due to concern for the safety of the Princess of Nanyang; rather, they stemmed from her deep understanding that her family was likely to suffer a complete loss of face and reputation this time.

The plan to reunite Xie Wanniang and have her marry into their family according to their wishes is now very difficult to achieve. Meanwhile, the murderer they had previously pretended to be confused about and deliberately protected will now be punished by the clan according to the rules.

Once this matter becomes public, not only will the Princess of Nanyang, the mastermind behind it all, suffer a similar fate, as will she and her son, who initially chose to protect her.

The saying "trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice instead" clearly describes the three main masters of the Nanyang Prince's Mansion.

After the old lady fainted from the shock, she was quickly revived by the doctor at home, but her health was far from what it used to be.

She took medicine for almost a month, feeling unwell, but in the end, she only recovered from her physical discomfort. She never regained her inner spirit and energy.

As for her son, the Prince of Nanyang, after being reprimanded by the emperor, he wisely shrank back, pretending to stay obediently in the mansion, attending to his mother's illness while deeply reflecting on his behavior.

The problem is that the emperor only reprimanded him and did not issue an order for him to reflect on his actions behind closed doors. Moreover, his mother was surrounded by servants, so it was clear that he did not need to attend to her every day.

His obedience was clearly not for the purpose of pleasing the emperor or reassuring his mother.

Considering his princess who was "invited" to the capital, anyone with a modicum of common sense can easily figure out what he's trying to hide.

Clearly, the reason he was so obedient was not because he truly realized his behavior was inappropriate, but because he did not intend to risk offending the emperor by helping his princess to smooth things over.

His queen was lawless and killed people at will. Although she did not achieve her goal in the end, her actions really crossed the emperor's bottom line.

If he were to plead for his queen or pull strings, the emperor would surely take his anger out on him as well. But if he were to stand by and do nothing, as a husband, his actions would be undeniably cold-hearted.

Getting involved would result in financial loss, while remaining neutral would damage his reputation. The Prince of Nanyang was bound to suffer a loss no matter which he chose. But as the saying goes, "choose the lesser of two evils," he ultimately had to make a decision.

Fortunately, he has always been a profit-driven person, and whether he lives a comfortable life in the future will not depend on his reputation. Therefore, this dilemma is not particularly difficult for him.