Harem Daily Life

Because they were royal relatives, He Linzhang still had to question the people from Prince Ding's Mansion before they were interrogated by the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple.

The man was taken to the imperial study and knelt directly in front of the emperor.

After Ningyuan Hou finished explaining several cases, Princess Ding and others had turned pale and were unable to utter a word.

"Princess Ding, do you have anything else to say?" He Linzhang originally thought that the evildoers in Ding's mansion were only Ding and his son, but he didn't expect that the women and children were no less evil and all of them had dirty hands.

"Marquis Ningyuan sent people to Qianzhou to investigate and collect evidence. Your Dingwang Mansion has been in the fiefdom for more than ten years and has committed countless crimes. You are an accomplice when Dingwang does evil. You did not advise your son when he did evil, but instead helped him finish the crime. You also gave advice to Dingwang's evil deeds. These are all ironclad evidence of your cruelty to the people. What else can you deny?" He Linzhang said coldly with anger.

Princess Ding was trembling all over. "Your Majesty, I'm just a woman and child. How could I possibly influence the prince? The prince has a very stubborn temper and refuses to listen to advice. I've tried to persuade him, to try to stop him, but it's no use. The prince should bear the consequences of his mistakes. I hope Your Majesty will forgive us since we weren't actually involved!"

Chen Yan had already woken up by now. After hearing her mother-in-law's words, she also pleaded, "Yes, Your Majesty, no one in the palace dares to disobey my father. He doesn't listen to my mother-in-law, and he doesn't listen to us either. Take the fact that He Li was forced by him, for example. We were completely unaware of it before. Your Majesty, we are all wronged!"

He Linzhang sneered, "Unjust? What about that maidservant named Zhou who you beat to death? You are completely innocent. You have a life on your hands, yet you dare to cry out for justice in front of me?"

Chen Yan glanced at the trembling He Mingli and explained, "Your Majesty, that maid seduced the prince, and I was so angry that I ordered her to be beaten with a stick. I never thought she would be beaten to death like this. Besides, her indenture is in my hands. Killing a maid shouldn't cost me my life, right?"

Chen Yan was still arguing, but He Linzhang was too lazy to pay attention to her.

"Except for He Feng, all of you have lost lives. According to the laws of the Great Zhou, all of you should be executed."

As soon as He Linzhang finished speaking, He Li burst into tears, "I didn't kill anyone. I didn't. I was just forced to give them the Wu Si Water."

He Linzhang sneered: "Then do you know what the current situation of those nineteen girls is like?"

He Li was stunned and shook her head. Anyway, she believed that those people were not dead and there was no loss of life on her hands.

He Linzhang glanced at the Ningyuan Marquis, who then pulled out a stack of files and read: "Qian's daughter, fifteen years old, was divorced by her husband's family after marriage on the grounds of impurity. To prove her innocence, she drowned herself in a river; Zhao's daughter, sixteen years old, was divorced by her husband's family after marriage on the grounds of impurity. She became insane from then on; Wang's daughter, fourteen years old, hanged herself; Li's daughter, seventeen years old, unable to endure the insults, drowned herself in a well..."

"Nineteen young women, all close friends of yours before marriage, He Li. All were found to be impure after marriage and were divorced or annulled by their husbands' families. None of them knew why their innocence was ruined, and they could only die to prove their guilt. Eighteen died, and one went insane."

With each name that Ning Yuanhou read out, He Li's face turned paler. Those familiar figures appeared in front of her one by one, each of them looking at her with a smile, sharing interesting things in life with her, and being completely defenseless towards her.

She saw them pick up the tea she poured, drink it without any suspicion, and then fall asleep in front of her. She was carried into the room by Nanny Li, where her grandfather was already waiting there.

After finishing, my grandfather left with a satisfied look on his face, his face flushed.

But her close friends were like rags, silent and motionless.

Nanny Li put their clothes back on, pretending that nothing had happened, and fed them the antidote. When they woke up, they remembered nothing, and their memories of that period were completely erased.

They were going to discuss marriage and invited her to their wedding - a lively wedding.

She didn't dare to go there every time because she felt too timid and didn't dare to appear in broad daylight.

She missed their wedding on the grounds that she was ill.

After that, we lost contact with them. Unexpectedly, when we heard from them again, eighteen of them were dead and one was crazy.

He Li's legs went weak and he fell to the ground.

"I... I didn't expect them to die. I... I didn't dare disobey my grandfather... I'm the one who should die, it's me!"

He Li was trembling all over, and fell to the ground, muttering nonsense.

"You truly deserve to die." He Linzhang looked at He Li lying on the ground. "He Xuan came to your Dingwang Mansion with good intentions to keep you company. She's your cousin, and yet you murdered her twice! He Xuan, whose mother died young, was already pitiful. Over the years, under Empress Tao's meticulous care, she was able to grow up healthily into the cheerful and optimistic person she is today. And yet, you, the grandparents, almost ruined her!"

Princess Ding looked up at He Linzhang and said, "But the eldest princess was saved in the end...wasn't she? Your Majesty, for the sake of the eldest princess being safe and sound, please spare He Li. If you want to blame someone, blame the prince. This is all his fault!"

Seeing Princess Ding trying to shift all the blame onto the unconscious Prince Ding, He Linzhang sneered, "Prince Ding deserves death, but you won't be able to escape either. Come, pass on my decree. I order the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court, in conjunction with the Imperial Clan Court, to investigate all the crimes of Prince Ding's mansion. We must investigate thoroughly and show no mercy!"

No matter how much Princess Ding begged for mercy, she could not change the current situation. In the end, she had no choice but to beg His Majesty to spare He Feng.

"He Feng is indeed innocent at the moment, and I can give him a chance. However, Prince Ding's Mansion will be sealed off. He Feng, remove your royal status and go on your own."

He Feng managed to save his life, and he immediately kowtowed to express his gratitude.

After everyone from Prince Ding's mansion was taken away, He Linzhang rubbed his brows and said, "I never thought these royal relatives would cause such trouble in the fiefdom. It seems that it's time to clean up the mess."

Ningyuan Hou said, "Your Majesty is wise. This time, I, under the orders of the Empress, secretly went to Qianzhou to investigate. Only then did I discover evidence of Prince Ding's mansion's crimes. If I hadn't investigated, they would have continued to keep us in the dark, and I don't know when we would have been vindicated."

Ningyuan Hou glanced at the emperor's expression and said, "Your Majesty, please send someone to investigate the fiefs of the various princes. The oldest of these fiefs has been held for over thirty years, and the latest for ten. The late emperor granted several fiefs to princes, but during the civil unrest, several were wiped out. If the Ding Palace is investigated, then the only fief of the late emperor's brothers left is the Changping Palace. The Changping princes have lived in the capital year-round, and their fiefs are all under the management of local officials. I don't think there should be so many dirty things going on there. The remaining ones are all your majesty's brothers, so it will be easier to investigate."

He Linzhang nodded. "You are absolutely right. Giving them fiefdoms is an honor, but we can't just leave them alone. So, I'll leave this matter to you. Please work hard and send people to check everything."

Ning Yuanhou choked. He suggested to investigate, but he himself didn't want to investigate. His grandchildren at home were all fun to play with. Recently, Princess Xinlan gave birth to a little granddaughter, who was so adorable.

"Your Majesty, I am old and I am afraid I am unable to do this. It would be better to hand this task over to a younger person. I think General Qi is the most suitable person. He loves to travel around."

Qi Yizheng, who was lying at home, sneezed several times and couldn't help but tighten his clothes: "It's autumn now, and the weather is getting colder."