Chapter 179 Abandoning the Car
The case of Xue Fangfei and Xue Zhao happened many years later and was a huge one. However, the result of the joint trial by the three courts was much smoother than expected.

It was because the evidence Xue Huaiyuan could produce was so abundant. The Dali Temple officials were all surprised that Xue Huaiyuan had only been awake for a month, but he could find so many useful clues. It was as if someone had already started investigating the case of Xue Fangfei and her brother long before this.

The appearance of Jiang Yuanbo made the case go more smoothly. It was an indisputable fact that the daughter of the Prime Minister was found in Princess Yongning's private prison. Princess Yongning could still make a few excuses about Xue Fangfei, but she could not find an excuse about Jiang Youyao.

Setting up a private prison in the mansion, murdering officials' families, colluding with officials of the time to murder civilians, manipulating the officialdom... After counting all the charges, Princess Yongning and Shen Yurong were irrefutably guilty and should be sentenced to death. They will be beheaded in three days.

When they heard the result, everyone who knew about it felt very happy.

As one of the people who helped the tyrant and killed Xue Zhao, Jingzhao Yin was naturally punished, stripped of his official position, and exiled for life. Xiao Deyin was even worse. Although she did not directly kill Xue Fangfei, she handed over the cup of drugged wine when Xue Fangfei was framed, and was ordered to be beaten with 50 sticks. As a woman, I don't know if she will still be alive after 50 sticks. I think even if she is alive, she will be dying and will not live for many years.

Of course, for Xiao Deyin, the number of beatings and the number of years she lived were not the most important. What tortured her the most was probably that after the story about her and Xue Fangfei got out, how many people in the world would scold her for being vicious and pretentious behind her back. Xiao Deyin was burdened by her reputation, and she had been pretending all her life. In the end, her reputation was ruined. For her, there was no meaning in living.

After the three judges' joint trial was over, the soldiers took Princess Yongning and Shen Yurong to the prison. Xue Huaiyuan sat quietly, as if all his strength had been drained away in an instant, and he didn't move at all.

Jiang Yuanbai stood up and couldn't help but look at Xue Huaiyuan more. His biological daughter Jiang Li took good care of Xue Huaiyuan, even more than she did to herself as a father. Jiang Yuanbai was very unhappy at first, but after seeing Xue Huaiyuan, he felt that Xue Huaiyuan was calmer and more capable than he had imagined.

He walked out first without saying hello to Xue Huaiyuan. Princess Yongning had such a fate, and Jiang Yuanbai should have helped Jiang Youyao to get revenge. But Jiang Yuanbai was not happy about it at all. Jiang Youyao's life had been ruined, and it would never be possible to go back to the way it was before. The past was the past.

Haitang came over to help Xue Huaiyuan up and walked outside. As soon as they reached the gate outside the Ministry of Justice, they were stunned by the scene outside. The people of Yanjing City blocked the gate outside, and when they saw them coming out, they shouted "Xue County Magistrate".

In a short time, the story of the courtroom spread. People naturally knew how Princess Yongning and Shen Yurong framed Xue Fangfei for having an affair, causing her to have a miscarriage, and then used drugs and even strangled the poor woman to death. Not only that, they also killed Xue Fangfei's legitimate son, a boy as warm as the sun, and attempted to kill Xue Huaiyuan. If it weren't for some strange mistake, the second Miss Jiang went to Tongxiang, and the Xue family disappeared from this world, and no one would know about the injustice they suffered.

The common people are empathetic. They may not be very smart and can be easily fooled, but there are many kind people. The innate kindness in their bones makes them accustomed to hating evil and sympathizing with the weak. The Xue family immediately became the object of sympathy, and there were insults against Princess Yongning and Shen Yurong everywhere.

Ye Shijie and Ye Mingyu were outside to meet Xue Huaiyuan. Xue Huaiyuan got on the carriage and found Jiang Li was there. He was stunned for a moment and said, "Miss Jiang."

"Mr. Xue." Jiang Li smiled slightly.

Jiang Li went to the Ye family early in the morning, and drove to the entrance of the criminal department with Ye Shijie. They couldn't get in, so they just waited for the final result like the people outside. Until the moment before hearing the result, Jiang Li's heart was clenched tightly, not as calm as she looked on the surface.

She had waited for this day for too long.

Xue Huaiyuan found that Jiang Li's eyes seemed to be a little glittering, as if she had cried. But Xue Huaiyuan still didn't understand. Jiang Li could almost be said to be a benefactor to the Xue family. But many strangers saw others struggling in the water and fire and reached out a hand to rescue them. Maybe it was because of kindness, or maybe it was because of other reasons, but Jiang Li's sister acted naturally as if it was her responsibility.

Why? She was the second daughter of the Jiang family and had no connection with the Xue family.

Xue Huaiyuan said: "Miss Jiang said before that one day she would tell me why she helped the Xue family. Now, the evildoers have been punished. Is that time now?"

His tone was very gentle, as if he was asking seriously. Jiang Li paused, and suddenly a feeling of sadness arose in her heart. Princess Yongning and Shen Yurong did not upgrade this time. The real culprit of the death of Xue Fangfei and Xue Zhao was finally revealed to the world. The justice that had been sought for so long finally did not disappear, but this justice might have to be repaid with life, which was not easy.

She couldn't tell her father the truth yet because her future was uncertain.

"It's not the right time yet." Jiang Li swallowed the sadness in her stomach and said, "But there is one thing that County Magistrate Xue may want to know."

"What's the matter?" Xue Huaiyuan asked. "About Xue Zhao's grave." Jiang Li said, "When Xue Zhao got into trouble, Haitang had already been expelled from the Shen family, so no one knew where Xue Zhao was buried. Also, because Xue Fangfei was being talked about at the time, Xue Zhao's funeral was kept very secret, and no one knew where he was buried. I have asked someone to find out the location." She looked at Xue Huaiyuan, "Since the real murderer has been exposed, County Magistrate Xue can tell Xue Zhao the good news. As for whether to let Xue Zhao return to his hometown, it all depends on County Magistrate Xue's own decision."

Jiang Li wanted Xue Zhao's soul to return to his hometown, not to stay in Yanjing City, a place no one knew about. Apart from herself, there was no one to worship and burn paper money, so cold and deserted. Her father had already known about Xue Zhao's death... and he should also gradually take care of Xue Zhao.

"Okay, thank you Miss Jiang for your concern." Xue Huaiyuan said, with a barely perceptible tremor in his voice, "A Zhao will be very happy when he knows about this. Very happy."

Jiang Li turned her head away.

Is she happy? She is only deeply sad and helpless.

……

The news about Princess Yongning and Shen Yurong's decision spread throughout the city of Yanjing.

The common people all applauded and cheered. If there was anyone who was angry and lost their temper, it was only Concubine Liu and King Cheng in the palace.

Concubine Liu's eyes had already turned red from crying. At her age, she always gave orders to others with arrogance. She had never been in such an embarrassing situation before. She pulled King Cheng's sleeve and said, "Ying'er, go help Yongning, save your sister. Your sister can't die like this!"

When Concubine Liu first learned that Xue Huaiyuan had sued Princess Yongning, she did not take the matter seriously. Even if Princess Yongning was demoted to a commoner, Xue Huaiyuan was nothing. It would be easier to crush Xue Huaiyuan than to crush an ant. Besides, who knows whether the evidence is true or false. The matter can be suppressed by just giving a few instructions to the officials. The only thing to consider is the rumors of the people, but there are solutions to those.

Who knew that Jiang Yuanbo would be involved? Princess Yongning had set up a private prison in the mansion, and neither King Cheng nor Concubine Liu knew about this. When they found out that Princess Yongning had imprisoned Jiang Yuanbo's daughter Jiang Youyao in her private prison, Concubine Liu almost fainted, and immediately knew that this was a bad thing.

As the case concerned the prime minister, it was impossible to suppress it. As expected, everything happened so quickly that it caught everyone by surprise. Princess Yongning and Shen Yurong were soon arrested. Emperor Hong Xiao personally ordered the three courts to hold a joint trial and thoroughly investigate the case.

Normally, since it did not affect the interests of Emperor Hong Xiao, this weak emperor would turn a blind eye to it, and everyone knew that the relationship between them had become increasingly tense over the years. Since this case was brought to Emperor Hong Xiao, he certainly would not mind being a wise ruler who "killed relatives for the sake of justice and was fair and just." And Jiang Yuanbai would certainly not spare any effort to help Princess Yongning so that she would never be able to turn over a new leaf.

Concubine Liu tried to ask the Queen Mother for help, but the Queen Mother just said "I can't help you" and sent her away. Even though Concubine Liu talked a lot, the Queen Mother still looked indifferent. Concubine Liu had to turn to Emperor Hong Xiao for help, but who knew that Emperor Hong Xiao was even more ruthless than the Queen Mother, and Concubine Liu could not see Emperor Hong Xiao at all.

Seeing Princess Yongning and Shen Yurong about to be executed, Concubine Liu finally realized that this time, no one could save her daughter. She could only cry to King Cheng.

"Don't cry, mother," Prince Cheng was upset by Concubine Liu's crying and said, "It's not that I don't want to save Yongning, but no one can save her now! Yongning is so bold that she even set up a private prison in the mansion and imprisoned Jiang Youyao. She offended Jiang Yuanbai, so Jiang Yuanbai would naturally not let her go. How could he let her go? If Yongning had been a little bit afraid at the beginning, it wouldn't have come to this point!"

Concubine Liu said angrily, "How can you say that about your sister?" Then she started crying again, "I've said it before, Shen Yurong is not a good match, not a good thing. Your sister was dragged down by that Shen Yurong! And you, you knew what kind of person Shen Yurong was, how could you not stop your sister from associating with that person! You are also responsible for your sister's current situation!"

"Enough!" King Cheng shouted. He was also upset. At the critical moment when the rebellion was about to begin, there was no room for any mistakes. But Yongning was holding him back. First, she broke with the Li family, causing Li Xian to resign and Li Zhongnan to become disloyal to him. Then her relationship with Shen Yurong was exposed to the world, and Shen Yurong also resigned, leaving him with one less helper. Now it was even worse. The Jiang family was eyeing him covetously, Yongning's reputation was ruined, and even he was implicated. King Cheng was really unlucky to have such a sister.

After being yelled at by King Cheng, Concubine Liu stopped crying all of a sudden. She seemed to have come to her senses. She looked at King Cheng and said in despair, "Ying'er, is there really no way to save Yongning?"

King Cheng looked at Concubine Liu with some reluctance, but finally said, "Mother, I can do nothing. However," he changed the subject, "The emperor was too ruthless in this matter. I think it is not a good idea to delay it any further. It is better to push the time forward. When I break into the palace and take a high position, I will definitely get back for Yongning for all the humiliations those people had done to him. Then... Yongning can rest in peace."

He said it with a sinister tone, his voice echoing in the empty chamber, eerie. Concubine Liu looked at him for a moment, as if she had finally accepted her fate and was reluctantly discarding a beloved item. She said, "Okay."

(End of this chapter)