The cruel little princess

At this moment, the yamen runners who went out to investigate came back, carrying a corpse.

"Report to the Lord, we found a hidden corpse in the woodshed of the Ma Mansion! In addition, after interrogation, we learned that this corpse is the real Boss Ma! This morning, Madam Ma discovered that a servant had an affair with Boss Ma's concubine, so she ordered the two to be poisoned to death! One of the servants was the one who helped Boss Ma get medicinal food every day!" After the yamen runners found out everything they needed to know, they came back to report to Lord Wu.

With every word the yamen runners said, Mrs. Ma's body trembled more and more violently!

"How dare you! How dare you frame Princess Rui'an! This is obviously not your husband, yet you insist that he died from eating medicinal food! In my opinion, a woman like you who confuses right and wrong should be dragged away and beaten to death immediately!" Without waiting for Lord Wu to speak, His Royal Highness Prince Rui, who was sitting nearby, shouted loudly, and prepared to let the secret guards behind him drag her away to carry out the punishment.

After saying this, His Royal Highness Prince Rui did not forget to make his presence felt in front of Shen Youyou. He said with a righteous look on his face: "Don't be afraid, Princess Rui'an! With me here, I will not allow anyone to falsely accuse you!" After saying this, he unconsciously shook the long hair left in front of him in a cool way, thinking that he looked very handsome.

However, he didn't realize that in Shen Youyou's eyes, his demeanor looked just like a coquettish effeminate man. Shen Youyou couldn't help but mutter inwardly, "Oh my! My eyes are truly stained! No, I need to clean them!" She quickly averted her gaze, no longer looking at him, but instead focusing on His Royal Highness Prince Jin. His Royal Highness Prince Jin was handsome, elegant, and possessed a distinguished demeanor, a far more pleasing sight to her.

At this moment, when Madam Ma heard that His Royal Highness Prince Rui was actually going to order her to be dragged away and beaten to death, she was so frightened that her face turned pale as paper, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted!

Lord Wu was secretly delighted when he saw this, knowing that his plan was halfway successful. He secretly glanced at His Royal Highness Prince Jin, who had no expression on his face, but his eyes revealed a hint of majesty and determination.

Although His Royal Highness the Prince of Rui had inadvertently helped him intimidate the Ma family below, he did not need His Royal Highness the Prince of Rui to try the case! If His Royal Highness the Prince of Rui dragged the man down and beat him to death, although it would restore the innocence of the Rui'an County Lady, the case would not be able to continue. After all, this involved four lives!

Lord Wu used his eyes to signal His Royal Highness Prince Jin to come out and stop them. So, he nodded slightly and cast a look at His Royal Highness Prince Rui, who understood instantly.

"Fifth brother, why are you in such a hurry? The trial is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice. You and I can just watch from here. Don't disturb Lord Wu from handling the case!" His Royal Highness Prince Jin spoke, and the secret guard behind His Royal Highness Prince Rui stopped his actions and waited for his master to speak.

"Hmph! This prince has seen that the case is now clear, and wants to quickly redress the injustice of Princess Rui'an! Then please, Lord Wu, proceed with the trial swiftly!" His Royal Highness Prince Rui retorted, implying that Lord Wu was moving too slowly.

"Someone!" Lord Wu frowned when he saw Madam Ma faint. This case was becoming increasingly complicated. But he was an experienced official after all, and he made a quick decision. He shouted, "Drag Madam Ma away and give her twenty lashes!"

Two strong yamen runners responded and quickly dragged the unconscious Madam Ma away. A clear puddle of water remained beneath her, emitting a pungent odor of urine. Clearly, she had lost control of her bladder due to her fear. Everyone present couldn't help but look in disgust, covering their mouths and noses.

Then, Lord Wu pointed a sharp gaze at a young man, about fifteen or sixteen, and said sternly, "Bring that man out for an interview." The bailiffs immediately sprang into action, bringing the young man to the center of the hall. The young man's face was pale, his eyes filled with fear and confusion, clearly utterly shocked and horrified by what had unfolded.

Another yamen runner came over and gently lifted the boy's arm, carrying him out like a chicken. The boy was limp all over, shaking like a sieve, obviously frightened out of his wits.

"Do you know who is the poisoned person?" Lord Wu asked sternly, his voice revealing majesty and anger.

"Reply... reply... sir, I... I don't know!" The young man answered stutteringly. While answering, he secretly glanced at his brothers and sisters behind him on the left with the corner of his eye, as if asking them for help.

Lord Wu noticed their little tricks and immediately understood what was going on. He sneered and said, "Great! You're refusing to cooperate with my trial! Come, drag those guys away and give them twenty lashes!"

A group of yamen runners, upon hearing the noise, quickly rushed forward and dragged the three men away for execution. As the boards fell, screams echoed in the ears of everyone. The remaining young man became even more frightened, his face as pale as a sheet, his legs weak and he could barely stand.

"I'll ask you again, do you recognize the victim who was poisoned? If you tell the truth, and the facts of the case have nothing to do with you, I can show you some leniency for your honesty!" Lord Wu added, "If you refuse to confess, I will execute you directly and then try your brothers and sisters. If they confess, your crime will be even more severe!"

The young man listened to the wailing of his mother and brother. He thought that if he didn't tell the truth, he would also end up like this. Being beaten with a stick would be the least of his worries. If he was arrested again, what would he have to do with the family property?! Besides, this matter didn't affect him much, so it didn't matter if he told the truth!

Choose the lesser of two evils! The young man suddenly made up his mind and shouted, "Sir! I confess! I confess!"

With the young man's confession, the onlookers were also surprised! The man who was poisoned to death was the housekeeper of the Ma Mansion, and the one carried by the yamen runners was the real Boss Ma! But Boss Ma was not the brothers' biological father, their biological father was the poisoned housekeeper!

The story goes like this: Yesterday, Boss Ma was originally staying in his concubine's room. But in the middle of the night, he suddenly felt palpitations and remembered that the quick-acting heart pills he bought at the herbal medicine shop were still in the main room. He reluctantly returned to Madam Ma to get the medicine.

It turned out that Madam Ma was having an affair with the housekeeper! Boss Ma, despite his illness, immediately ordered his men to arrest the housekeeper and beat him to death! He even threatened to divorce Madam Ma, this unfaithful woman!

Seeing that the matter was exposed, Mrs. Ma deliberately provoked Boss Ma and told him frankly that except for their eldest daughter who married far away and was Boss Ma's child, the rest of the children were all born to her and the housekeeper!

When these children arrived, they just heard their mother say that their father was not their biological father, but the housekeeper's child!

Boss Ma was so angry that he lay on the ground, gasping for breath! He begged his children to get him some quick-acting heart pills to save him. His youngest son wanted to go get him some medicine, but his siblings stopped him, telling him to hold back and wait and see what happened.

Madam Ma emphasized her tone and said directly that the reason why Boss Ma and his other concubines couldn't have children was because she had given him sterilization medicine! Apart from his eldest daughter, he would never have any more children in his life!

After hearing this, Boss Ma was so shocked that he died in the northwest!

The children didn't want to make a big deal out of it. If others knew their biological father wasn't Boss Ma but the mansion's steward, what would they say? And how would they inherit the vast family fortune? Such a scandal must not be made public!

Just then, a man in black came to the house and paid a large sum of money to let them pretend to be poisoned by eating medicinal food and cause trouble in the medicine shop.

The children decided that since Boss Ma was dead, there was no way they could poison him. And since there was a housekeeper who had been beaten to death, they were afraid that someone would recognize him as Boss Ma. So they went all out and stuffed him full of poison and aconite, causing his body to swell up so much that his original appearance was unrecognizable!

Early in the morning, the servant brought the medicinal food back to the master and sent it to the concubine's courtyard, but was told that the master had gone to the main courtyard. The concubine also wanted to show her concern for the master, so she followed the servant to the main courtyard to pay her respects to the lady.

Unexpectedly, they discovered that the master was already dead, and the housekeeper had also been poisoned! Afraid that the truth would be exposed, the few people directly arrested the servant and the concubine, accusing them of adultery, and poisoned them as well!

The incident happened suddenly, so they could only hide Boss Ma's body in the woodshed first. Then they hurriedly poured a few mouthfuls of medicinal food into the housekeeper's mouth, making it look like he was poisoned by drinking the medicinal food, and then they quickly carried the body to the shop to cause trouble!

Because there was no detailed and thorough plan at all. They were just a few people who were pushed by the development of the situation. They didn't do any follow-up work and just came here in a big way.

However, these children had no feelings of admiration for the housekeeper. Instead, they felt that this identity was a shame for them. Now that there was no evidence, and Boss Ma was also dead, no one could know the secret. Therefore, they did not feel any grief, but only felt relieved from the inside out. Therefore, they could not cry, and could only kneel behind and let Mrs. Ma perform.

Mrs. Ma, who had fallen in love with the housekeeper after being together for many years, cried bitterly, but she could not escape the eyes of Shen Youyou and Lord Wu!