Marrying a concubine and swallowing her dowry? The mistress turns around and marries a high-ranking

Chapter 340

Ordinary people would be filled with fear and trepidation upon seeing the emperor's face. But at this moment, intense anger and hatred, along with the collective power, made everyone forget their fear.

The accusations from everyone came rushing out all at once, one after another referring to "Princess Pingkang," making the emperor's head buzz.

The Vice Minister of Justice said with a sorrowful voice, "Your Majesty, my eldest daughter died unexpectedly three years ago, but when I investigated again, I found clues pointing to the Grand Princess Pingkang."

He presented a thick stack of files.

"These are the details of eighteen cases compiled by your humble servant, including witness testimonies, all of which are related to Princess Pingkang. Although no case currently provides a complete chain of evidence, Princess Pingkang is a prime suspect. Your humble servant dares not presume to continue the investigation, so I have come to report to Your Majesty first."

The Vice Minister of Justice kowtowed deeply: "Your Majesty, I know that the Grand Princess Pingkang is no ordinary person, but the law of the land cannot be violated. Moreover, the number of these cases is so large and their nature so heinous that we cannot turn a blind eye. I beg Your Majesty to allow a thorough investigation into the case of the Grand Princess Pingkang!"

Princess Pingkang was the emperor's aunt and an elder in the royal family. This was related to the reputation of the royal family. Only with the emperor's approval could the Ministry of Justice dare to take a more serious approach to the investigation, such as interrogating Princess Pingkang and searching her residence.

Everyone else also kowtowed in unison, their voices echoing throughout the Hall of Diligent Governance.

"Your Majesty, please grant permission to thoroughly investigate the case of Princess Pingkang!"

emperor:"......"

He felt a sudden darkness before his eyes.

Eighteen cases!

If it were just one or two cases pointing to Princess Pingkang, it wouldn't be very convincing, but there are eighteen cases!

Even without complete evidence, it's enough to illustrate the point! Princess Pingkang couldn't possibly have been innocently implicated in eighteen cases at the same time!

The emperor, feeling dizzy and lightheaded, clutched his forehead: "You...you may all leave...I need to review the case files first..."

After sending everyone away, the emperor immediately ordered someone to summon Princess Pingkang.

Princess Pingkang was still resentful and unwilling because of what happened last time.

She sent two generous gifts to the Yongning Marquis's residence. Since she had just been warned by the emperor, she naturally dared not tamper with the gifts at this time; they were indeed two very generous gifts.

The Yongning Marquis's residence accepted the money generously, and even held themselves in a very high position, which infuriated the Grand Princess Pingkang.

At this critical juncture, she could not afford to do anything to Shen Lingjun, so she could only swallow her anger.

Therefore, she was somewhat impatient when the emperor summoned her.

"Your Majesty, I have already apologized to the Marquis of Yongning's residence. Are they still so relentless?..."

Before he could finish speaking, the emperor raised his hand and slammed the pile of documents down in front of Princess Pingkang.

"Look for yourself!" the emperor roared in fury. "What have you done?! Eighteen cases point to you as the prime suspect! Several common women have even accused you of disfiguring their faces and nearly killing them!"

Princess Pingkang was so shocked that she felt as if she had been struck by lightning, and her soul almost flew away in an instant.

Eighteen cases were exposed at the same time?

How could this be?

Princess Pingkang's heart pounded wildly. She hurriedly picked up the dossier from the ground and frantically flipped through a few pages.

It was discovered that none of the cases provided complete evidence; she was merely a suspect. The accusations made by those ordinary women were only their own side of the story, and they couldn't produce any physical evidence.

Princess Pingkang was finally somewhat relieved.

She knew it; how could all her past actions, which she had been so careful about, possibly be exposed?

She put on a look of utter injustice and exclaimed excitedly, "Your Majesty, I'm innocent! These are all frame-ups! Look at all these cases, not a single one has presented complete evidence! And those common women's accounts are all one-sided! Someone must be deliberately trying to frame me!"

The emperor stared at her coldly: "So, does my aunt mean that you deny all these cases and that you did nothing?"

Princess Pingkang had no choice but to bite the bullet and stubbornly deny it: "I really didn't do it!"

The Emperor sneered, "Very well, since you're so confident, I'll allow the Ministry of Justice to thoroughly investigate these cases, search the Grand Princess's residence, and take away all the subordinates the late Emperor left you. We'll interrogate them one by one, clear your name, and give the public an explanation. What do you say?"

Princess Pingkang turned deathly pale.

How could she possibly agree to that?

The Grand Princess's residence isn't the main problem; it's her trusted and skilled subordinates who have done too many murders and disfigurements for her. Even if we can guarantee their loyalty, if we hand them over to the Ministry of Justice for separate interrogations, problems will definitely be uncovered!

Seeing that she was covered in cold sweat and dared not utter a sound, the emperor already knew what was going on.

His anger grew even stronger, and he once again slammed the teacup on the table onto the ground in front of Princess Pingkang, scattering tea and broken porcelain shards all over the floor.

"I have truly underestimated my Imperial Aunt! Eighteen cases—this is probably just the tip of the iceberg. There are many more that haven't been uncovered yet!"

The emperor rarely flew into such a rage, mainly because the actions of the Grand Princess Pingkang had completely overturned his understanding of the world!

"Your Majesty, how audacious and arrogant you are! I never knew that under the Emperor's nose, there would be a member of the Imperial Family who dared to be so lawless! Do you think the entire capital is your Grand Princess's backyard, and everyone is your sworn slave, whom you can kill at will? You treat the common people like ants, and you even kill the female relatives of officials without hesitation! What do you consider the laws of Bei Yi Kingdom to be? What do you consider my people to be!"

Princess Pingkang knew she could no longer get away with it. She was covered in cold sweat and her heart was pounding. She could only kneel on the ground with her head down, obediently enduring the emperor's angry scolding, and dared not utter a single word in her defense.

The emperor cursed for a long time before his anger subsided somewhat.

No matter how much we scold her now, it won't do any good. The problem is, how should we deal with Princess Pingkang?