Chapter 284 The Death of the Prince of Nanyang

Chapter 284 The Death of the Prince of Nanyang

The reason why the Tong family was able to be blocked at the gate by the Tong family so conveniently was because one of the Prince of Nanyang's subordinates sent someone to deliver a message to that family.

The messenger didn't even need to go out of their way to find them; they only needed to casually say a few words in places where that family frequented, and that family would naturally rush to surround the Tong family.

As long as they argue with the Tong family over the distribution of profits and keep the Tong family from leaving, the Tong family will naturally start preparing lunch when it's almost time.

Therefore, it would be very easy to silence all those in the know in one fell swoop.

As for the Prince of Nanyang, he was indeed poisoned because of his mother, Lady Tong, who had lost everything, and he wanted to take revenge on the culprit who killed all her family members. However, the Princess of Nanyang was by no means innocent either.

Without the secret help of the Princess of Nanyang, Tong's mother would never have been able to so accurately grasp the Prince of Nanyang's whereabouts. Naturally, she also wouldn't have had the ability to sneak into the restaurant on her own and then accurately poison the Prince of Nanyang.

The Princess of Nanyang, who thought all her actions were carried out in secret and that her cover-up was flawless, couldn't understand how she had been exposed through meticulous investigation.

She was unwilling to accept her fate, but the local officials would not kindly answer her questions for a princess who was already destined to die.

They organized the case files and then sent all the involved persons, except for the Prince of Nanyang and the old Princess Consort, along with the case files to the Ministry of Justice in the capital.

This operation was contrary to the established procedures, but due to the heinous nature of the serial murders and the special identities of the people involved, the imperial court ultimately decided to handle the case as a special case and close it as soon as possible.

Instead of reporting through multiple levels, the relevant evidence and involved personnel are directly transferred to the three judicial departments for detailed review and careful verification.

With things having developed to this point, the title of Prince of Nanyang is bound to be lost, and the Princess Consort of Nanyang, the mastermind behind the plot to harm the Prince of Nanyang and the old Princess Consort, will certainly not have a good end.

As for the concubines, maids, and servants of the Prince of Nanyang, as well as the guards and servants in his residence, they were ordered to keep their gates closed and await the court's judgment until the matter was completely settled.

Of course, since they did not directly or indirectly participate in the killing, the imperial court will not punish them. However, they will inevitably be unable to stay in the Nanyang Prince's Mansion any longer.

Under pressure from the emperor, the crown prince, court officials, and informed citizens, the three judicial departments quickly concluded the case.

This time, they not only worked with unprecedented efficiency, but also produced an unprecedentedly good case file. All the evidence was clear and detailed, all the clues were well-organized, and all the testimonies of the people involved were consistent with each other. There were no doubts, omissions, or contradictions.

It's no exaggeration to say that the way they handled this case could be used as a model case to encourage other officials.

Because the case had already attracted great attention both inside and outside the court, this time the emperor did not keep the news to a small circle just because the case involved members of the royal family. Instead, he first conducted the trial openly and then openly disclosed the details of the case to the public.

Xie Wanniang, who had been following this matter closely, received the news from Jiang Yuan as soon as possible.

He told Xie Wanniang, "The Prince of Nanyang passed away about a month ago. Although the old Princess Consort of Nanyang is still barely clinging to life, she doesn't look like she'll last much longer."

Of course, this was mainly because the people in the Nanyang Prince's Mansion were already demoralized. The three main masters of the mansion were all dead, and the others would soon be implicated because of their madness. Everyone was too busy resenting the Nanyang Prince and the old princess to take care of them as carefully as before.

As for the Princess Consort of Nanyang, as the mastermind behind the poisoning of the Prince of Nanyang and his former wife, her death is also imminent.

On the contrary, the concubines and wives of the Prince of Nanyang, since they had not committed any crimes and were not considered "private property" of the Prince of Nanyang's mansion like servants and guards, were dealt with by the court by being allowed to return to their respective homes with their dowries.

As for the concubines and maids of low social status, they were in a much worse situation. According to the current social rules, they, along with all the servants of the Nanyang Prince's Mansion and some guards of low social status, were considered part of the Nanyang Prince's Mansion's "property".

Let alone leaving with their private property and regaining their freedom, they are not even qualified to mention the words "private property".

Before the guillotine of fate fell, all they could do was follow the example of the other servants in the mansion and hide some gold and silver valuables on themselves.

Those items that were recorded in the books were bound to be confiscated, and they dared not touch them in order to avoid making their situation worse. However, they could still secretly hide some of the small, easy-to-hide gold, silver, pearls, and small-denomination banknotes that were not on the books, just in case.

As for those guards of the Nanyang Prince's Mansion who were not of low social status but were uniformly assigned by the imperial court, they were allowed to take their private property with them, and would then go to other places to continue serving according to the next arrangements of the imperial court.

Compared to those servants and guards of lowly birth who were destined to be sold off, their situation was already extremely good.

Even so, they would never have any goodwill towards the Prince of Nanyang's family.

Even if they could be transferred by the court to other places to serve, the stains on their reputation could never be washed away.

If they go to their new master's house, they will most likely be marginalized by the new master's house.

Not to mention that moving their families to other places to start over would require a lot of money, which would also be a major headache for them.

Jiang Yuan told Xie Wanniang that because people's hearts were scattered, no one had taken charge of burying the body of the Prince of Nanyang after his death.

His two concubines said they dared not make decisions on their own and insisted that the local government submit a memorial to His Majesty for instructions. Although the local government thought this was outrageous, they also did not want to take responsibility, so they actually sent a memorial to the emperor for instructions.

The emperor was once again rendered speechless by the absurd actions of his subordinates, but he still picked up his vermilion brush and wrote a reply to their outrageous memorial while cursing.

Upon receiving the Emperor's reply from the capital, the local government immediately dispatched a yamen runner to deliver a message to the two concubines of the Prince of Nanyang: "His Majesty has ordered that the two concubines assist in handling all matters within the household."

Since it was mentioned as "matters within the household," it must also include handling the funeral arrangements for the Prince of Nanyang, and even for the late Princess Consort who was on her last breath.