The cruel little princess

As night fell, the entire Prince Jin's mansion was illuminated by candlelight, as bright as day. The man in the main seat stood tall and handsome, dressed in splendid attire. His face was as gentle as jade, but his cold eyes betrayed his inner anger and hatred. He lowered his head slightly, gazing at the trembling man kneeling in the hall, as if examining a dying man.

"Speak! Tell me everything you know!" An Yi kicked him hard, causing him to fall to the ground. However, he quickly got up, his head lowered even lower, his forehead covered with sweat and fear. "Master! I really don't know the Ruian County Lady! I don't know what kind of entanglement there is between my sister Xianglan and the Ruian County Lady! My sister has always been honest and dutiful. If Xianglan has done anything to offend you, or angered the Ruian County Lady, you can deal with her as you please, and I will never complain!" He kowtowed and begged for mercy, his forehead was broken, and the ground was stained with blood. "As for the Ruian County Lady you mentioned, I have never met her, let alone made enemies with her! Please spare my life, sir! Please spare my life, sir!"

"I heard that you went to see your sister some time ago?" An Yi stepped on the hand of the kneeling person and crushed it hard.

"Ah!..." The man cried out in pain, but did not dare to move at all.

"Sir! Sir! I did go to find Xianglan, but it was because my mother was seriously ill. I went to find my sister and asked her to collect money for my mother's medical treatment! I didn't say anything else! I am wronged!" He cried and begged for mercy.

"Didn't you really say anything else? Is that really the case?" An Yi gradually increased his strength.

"Ahhh... Master, please spare me! Master, please spare me! I am just telling you the truth!" The man could not bear the pain that connected his fingers to his heart. The piercing pain seemed to crush his fingers directly, making him scream in pain.

"I actually lost money at the gambling house, so I went to ask my sister for money. I was afraid she wouldn't give me the money, so I pretended to say my mother was seriously ill and needed money for medical treatment!" The man knew that if he didn't tell the truth, his fingers might be crushed, so he quickly confessed everything. "I told her that if she couldn't raise the 30 taels within three days, my mother would die!" He kowtowed repeatedly, looking extremely humble.

"What happened next?" An Yi asked immediately.

"Later, my sister gave me a banknote, but before I could take it to the gambling house to pay it back, I was..." At this point, his voice became softer and his head lowered even lower, "I was... brought... here! Master, this is all I know. If I'm wrong, I will be struck by lightning! I will not die a hapless death! I really didn't instigate my sister to kill anyone!"

Hearing his words, An Yi narrowed his eyes slightly and stared at him closely, as if trying to discern some clue from him. After a while, An Yi finally spoke, "How much monthly salary does your sister usually earn?"

The man huddled up in a ball, trembling as he replied, "Sir! I should get three taels and five cents of silver every month!"

An Yi frowned and asked, "Are you sure?"

Upon hearing this, the man immediately looked up and explained eagerly, "Master! Every time she gives out money, she saves it for me to collect! I'm sure of it!" As if afraid that An Yi wouldn't believe him, he continued, "It's like this every month. Because Xianglan is a maid sweeping the floor in the imperial garden, she wouldn't be favored by the nobles and wouldn't be able to ask for any rewards, so the monthly allowance is a fixed amount!"

After a moment of silence, An Yi asked again, "When was the last time you asked her for money?"

"Last time...last time was the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month! The day after she paid out her monthly salary!" The man counted on his fingers and finally gave An Yi a definite date.

"Does she give you the monthly silver every time? Doesn't she keep any for herself?" An Yi was a little confused.

"No! I won't leave her anything! A little girl, eating and drinking in the palace, what else does she need money for?" the man whispered. "Doesn't my mother need to be taken care of at home? It's only natural that she pays the money and I contribute the labor!"

"That is to say, she has already given you her monthly allowance. Then where did she get the banknotes to give you? When did she give you the banknotes?" An Yi keenly realized that this was a breakthrough.

"Sir! I really don't know! Maybe she borrowed it from someone?" He knocked his head against the ground, banging it.

"Sir! Just treat me like a fart! I really don't know anything!"

"Where are the banknotes? Hand them over!" An Yi said coldly.

The man's hands trembled as he slowly pulled a worn purse from his inner garments. He carefully opened it, revealing a small piece of oil-paper wrapped around it. He slowly unwrapped the paper layer by layer, finally, reluctantly, pulling out the one hundred tael silver note.

"Hurry up! Your sister caused Miss Xu and Princess Ruian to fall into the water at the palace banquet, and she herself can't escape death!" An Yi said in a stern tone, and signaled him to quickly take out the banknotes for inspection.

Upon hearing this, the man's face instantly turned pale as paper, his legs weakening as he knelt. With trembling hands, he handed the banknote to An Yi, his voice tinged with tears, "Sir, this is it! I've never seen a banknote of such a large denomination, and I couldn't bear to exchange it at the bank. I've been keeping it with me these past few days and haven't shown it to anyone..."

At this moment, no matter how stupid and ignorant this man was, he finally understood that his sister had provoked a big shot who should not be provoked!

Although he still didn't know what the matter was, he had to quickly distance himself from it. So he kowtowed and begged for mercy, saying, "Master! My family is all outside the palace. We only come to Xianglan on the 15th of every month to collect money. We are completely unaware of what Xianglan has done! Please have mercy on me! If I have offended you, you can beat her or kill her! I will never cry out for justice! I only ask you not to implicate my family! I truly know nothing, Master!"

After saying this, he cursed fiercely: "It's all this bitch's fault! I was wondering why my eyelids have been twitching all day, and I felt something was wrong! It turns out that I was deceived by this bitch! Master, I didn't mean to offend you! Please forgive me! This is really none of my fault!"

An Yi took the banknote and respectfully presented it to His Royal Highness Prince Jin for review.

"Sitong Money House?" His Royal Highness Prince Jin looked at the silver note again and again. It was a very ordinary silver note. Basically, wealthy families deposited money in Sitong Money House, and then the shopkeeper would give them a silver note of the corresponding amount.

"Master, please spare my life! I have said everything I should and shouldn't have said! Please let me go! I have an eighty-year-old mother and a crying baby to feed. Please have mercy on me!" The man kept kowtowing and begging for mercy.

His Royal Highness Prince Jin was annoyed by his noise and waved his hand impatiently, asking An Yi to drag him away. Suddenly, the whole palace felt very quiet.

"An Er." His Royal Highness Prince Jin called out.