The Eldest Daughter Reborn: She Provoked the Obsessive Crown Prince and Couldn't Escape

"Your subjects, Yuan and Liu Xi, pay their respects..." Before he could finish speaking, the Emperor rebuked him:

"'Your subject'? You are nothing but a commoner now! Whose son are you, whose subject are you?"

It is obvious that the Emperor's patience with his own son is less than one-tenth of that with Fu Luan!

Liu Xi remained in a state where he couldn't stand or kneel; if he were an ordinary citizen, the emperor might have exempted him from the formalities.

But the emperor became ruthless towards his own son!

Liu Xi had no choice but to prostrate himself on the bench, tears streaming down his face, and kowtow to his biological father, saying, "This humble subject, Liu Xi, pays his respects to Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor!"

The emperor snorted, which was his response.

Fu Luan asked, "Liu Xi, tell me! What exactly happened in the rape case involving the princess who was sent for a political marriage?"

"It was...it was not Xiao Jiu who raped the princess from Rouran who came for the marriage alliance, but Sixth Brother..." Liu Xi murmured.

"Hmph, what business is it of yours, you beast?" The Emperor's expression hardened for a moment, then returned to normal.

Liu Xi sighed, "I was just passing by outside and saw it, that's all..."

He looked up at Fu Luan and continued, "Sixth Brother often does this kind of thing, everyone knows that, and I'm used to it."

"Later, he used the Rouran people to coerce the princess, accusing Xiao Jiu of raping her, otherwise he would send troops to attack the Rouran..."

Everyone present sighed! The Rouran princess was only fifteen years old and knew nothing about politics. She was easily frightened by Yuan Lu!

At the time, Yuan Lu was merely a prince without even a title; how could he possibly decide on military matters? If she had been able to think things through, perhaps she wouldn't have died...

Princess Rouran, against her conscience, testified against Yuan Jiu and died by striking her head against a pillar in front of the emperor;

She used her own life to frame Yuan Jiu, and also cut off the possibility of Yuan Lu controlling her again and again!

If it were just a common rape case, it wouldn't have much impact on the princes, let alone the crown prince;

However, this matter involved a princess sent for a marriage alliance, and the ministers, at Yuan Lu's instigation, submitted memorials one after another, saying that Crown Prince Yuan Jiu had ruined the marriage alliance plan and was unworthy to be the heir apparent of the Great Wei.

With Fu Luan remaining a bystander, Yuan Jiu lost his position as crown prince, became a prisoner, and suffered endless humiliation!

The Emperor's expression was solemn. After a long silence, he asked, "Now that there is no way to verify the truth, we only have your side of the story. And this is the Marquis of Chang'an's residence."

"Everyone knows that A-Luan is in love with Xiao-Jiu. You said that it was the sixth prince who coerced the Rouran princess to frame Xiao-Jiu. How could I know that today A-Luan is coercing you to overturn the verdict for Xiao-Jiu?"

"Or perhaps you are currently in trouble and, in order to regain your royal status, you have conspired with the Prince of Yan's residence and the Marquis of Chang'an's residence to lure me here and put on this grand show?"

The emperor slammed his hand on the table, startling everyone present, who all knelt down.

The Emperor's words were about 30% correct.

When Liu Xi climbed up to the Marquis of Chang'an's residence to find Fu Luan, his real intention was to stand up for Xiao Jiu and clear his name, and then, once Xiao Jiu returned to the Eastern Palace, submit a memorial proposing that he be restored to his royal status...

Fu Luan smiled and said, "Your Majesty, how could my family and I have known that you would come today?"

"How could I know you would bring up the rape case again? How could I prepare people and arguments in advance to 'act' in front of you?"

The Emperor sneered, “I received an unsigned letter that mentions that Xiao Jiu came to the Marquis of Chang’an’s residence for a banquet today, and the wine he brought contained aphrodisiacs!”

"Someone has testified against my son; how can I not come?"

Liu Xi replied, "Your Majesty, this humble subject knows nothing of 'Xin' or 'Hehuan San', but everything I have said is true. No one instructed me, and there was no conspiracy between us!"

Yu Weiyan and Fu Ze nodded in agreement.

The Emperor said coldly, "Even if what you say is true, we only have Liu Xi's words and no physical evidence. How can we overturn the case?"

Fu Luan said coldly, "Back then, convicting Xiao Jiu only required the princess's family's words; why is it that now, to overturn Xiao Jiu's case, we need 'physical evidence'?"

“Rape cases are not ordinary cases; how can physical evidence be left behind? Besides…”

Fu Luan paused for a moment, then continued, "Liu Xi also said that the Marquis of Changyi often does this kind of thing, so naturally he is very cautious. How could he possibly give someone a handle to use against him?"

The Emperor sighed, “Even if I trust you, how can the people and the court officials be truly convinced? They will only say that ‘the prince is not subject to the same laws as the common people’ and that ‘the court is biased’!”

Liu Xi said angrily, "Is it only Sixth Brother who is the Emperor's son, and neither am I or Xiao Jiu?"

"The case from that day is too complicated to overturn since there are no witnesses. But what about the fact that Sixth Brother hired someone to kill me and cripple me? Doesn't the Emperor care?"

This is precisely why Fu Luan is so desperately searching for Liu Xi!

She remembered who this "refugee" was that day, and boldly guessed from the burns on the back of his hand that were identical to those on Ah Song's hand that he was present when Ah Song was burned while distributing porridge!

Therefore, Fu Luan treated Asong with special favor and even asked him if any of the refugees who had burned him that day were disabled, especially those who could only crawl and could not stand up. Asong denied it.

This shows that Liu Xi was still healthy at least during the few days when the banquet was held at the Marquis of Chang'an's residence; how could he have been reduced to crawling in just a few days?

It was either an accident, like being hit by a carriage; or it could only have been done intentionally!

When the Emperor saw Liu Xi, a hint of pity appeared in his eyes.

That day, he removed Liu Xi from the imperial genealogy, stripped him of everything as a prince, and forced him to leave the family penniless; he could even change his surname to "Liu," following his mother's surname...

He was indeed furious, but he never intended for him to die! How much time had passed? The Liu Xi before him was neither human nor ghost, unable to even stand up!

"Summon Yuanlu back to Chang'an! I want to interrogate him personally! As for the Xue family..." The Emperor narrowed his long, narrow phoenix eyes, paused, and continued, "Xue Lin, are you truly determined to seek justice for your daughter?"

Xue Lin hurriedly said, "Of course it's true! Your Majesty, my poor Ah Chen!"

"Her face has been ruined by Fu and Yu Zhengzheng, so much so that she can hardly even leave the house, let alone get married! If Marquis of Chang'an does not give me an explanation today, my love for my daughter will be..."

The Emperor waved his hand impatiently, "Alright! If I were willing to take Xue Chen as my concubine and have the best imperial physician treat her, wouldn't that barely fulfill your beloved daughter's wish?"

Xue Lin was taken aback at first, but after realizing what was happening, he thanked Xue Chen profusely and even pulled Xue Chen down to kneel with him.

Xue Chen raised his eyes but ultimately said nothing; Yu Zhengzheng, on the other hand, gritted her teeth, clearly indignant, but she had no right to speak here.

Even though everyone had doubts and wondered why the emperor would take a woman with a disfigured face as a concubine, no one was willing to ask.

"Yang Jin, you return to the palace immediately to deliver the imperial decree: Xue Chen is hereby granted the rank of Fifth Grade Zhaohua and to reside with... Qingluan in 'Jade Snow and Rainbow Robes'. Furthermore..."

The Emperor glanced at Liu Xi and sighed, "For now, restore Liu Xi's status as a prince, lift the seal on his residence, and send imperial physicians to treat him daily until Yuan Lu arrives in Chang'an for questioning."

"If you utter a single lie today, I will ensure you are never allowed to rise again! As for A-Luan, you..."