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

Upon hearing this, Aunt Yan was so frightened that cold sweat poured down her head and back.

Before long, her clothes were soaked through.

"Huh? No, no... I was just upset with Zhengzheng and said it casually."

"Just saying it offhand..." Madam Yan hurriedly wiped the cold sweat from her forehead with her sleeve, but new sweat kept flowing out.

Seeing her like this, Fu Luan understood about 70-80% of what was going on.

She seized the opportunity and said, "Not talking means you're admitting it? Hua Luo, go report this to the authorities."

"Let's say that this Yan family is spreading rumors and slandering the reputation of my Chang'an Marquis's Mansion. Let the Ministry of Justice come and find out what really happened!"

Madam Yan hurriedly knelt down and said, "I don't want to see the officials! I don't want to see the officials! I..."

Fu Luan sneered, "Don't want to see the officials? That's fine... Hua Luo, among our housekeepers, who is the best at 'interrogation'?"

Hua Luo replied, "It must be Madam Ding. Her ancestors were in charge of criminal justice, but they committed a crime and were sold into slavery."

“In our family, anyone who gets into trouble for gossip or petty theft is handed over to Madam Ding for questioning. There’s nothing she can’t get out of them! It’s just that…”

Fu Luan chuckled and added, "However, few of those who came out had their hands and feet intact!"

Upon hearing this, Madam Yan was startled again and immediately kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "Your Highness, I really just spoke offhand!"

"I'm illiterate, and when I swear, I just repeat the same few phrases over and over; I really don't mean anything else! I beg Your Highness to see the truth!"

"As long as the princess doesn't use torture, I... I'll do anything... I'll never dare to oppose the princess again!"

"From now on, you will be my own niece, and I will treat you even better than Zhengzheng..."

"Pah! I asked you to say something serious, but you won't. Who told you to come here and try to take advantage of others?"

"If you want to be our great-aunt's relative, why don't you take a good look at yourself in the mirror and see if you're even worthy!" Hua Luo spat out.

Fu Luan, however, immediately beamed with joy. "Zhengzheng's aunt, you said it yourself! What if you didn't listen to me?"

Seeing a glimmer of hope, Aunt Yan grasped at a straw, "Then...then..."

"Curse me to a terrible death! Or let the princess do as she pleases! I will never..."

"Alright, this is what you said!" Fu Luan had Hua Luo help Yan Shi up, found a secluded pavilion, and gave her several more instructions.

"Did you understand? If there's anything you don't understand, say it as soon as possible, don't pretend you understand."

"If you ruin my plans, I won't let you off the hook!" Fu Luan told her his plan, took a sip of tea, and asked slowly.

Aunt Yan stammered, "I understand... but this is a big deal. I want to go home and discuss it with my brother and sister-in-law..."

Fu Luan coughed with a smile, and Hua Luo responded by taking out a silver ingot.

Yan's eyes immediately lit up, as if she wanted to swallow the silver ingot, and her hand trembled as she reached out.

Just as her fingers were about to touch the silver ingot, Hua Luo immediately withdrew it.

Fu Luan smiled and said, “This is fifty taels. If you agree to this matter readily, this is all yours.”

“If you don’t agree, or if you want to ‘go home and discuss it,’ then this fifty taels of silver will be a bargain for your brother and sister-in-law!”

"I only consulted you because I see you're a smart person, more capable than your brother and sister-in-law!"

Fifty taels! Enough for her whole family to live on for two or three years! Isn't that better than looking for work everywhere and not knowing where their next meal is coming from?

No, no, no, all fifty taels must be hers! Why should she share them with others? Her brother and sister-in-law treat her so poorly;

She also embezzled a considerable amount of the money that her younger sister—Zhengzheng's biological mother, Aunt Yan—had secretly transferred to the Yan family before her death.

Now that the princess is giving her money, why should she be thinking about them?

Seeing that she didn't speak, Fu Luan continued to persuade her: "The house you and your siblings have lived in all these years was bought with the money that Aunt Yan gave you, wasn't it?"

"The money that Aunt Yan gave you... came from my Chang'an Marquis's mansion, didn't it?"

"Ah?" Madam Yan was startled, spilling the tea in her hand. "My sister, she..."

Hua Luo silently wiped the tea, and Fu Luan personally poured her another cup.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to collect a debt! But..."

“If you don’t agree to this, what if I see my father one day and say something inappropriate…” Fu Luan stared at her and said calmly.

“Those were all brought back by my sister herself before she died. We didn’t even know they were from the Marquis’s mansion!” Madam Yan replied softly.

Fu Luan laughed again: "Didn't I say? I don't care about this! What I meant was..."

“Aunt Yan gave each of you siblings a large sum of money back then, and you two also bought houses.”

"Your brother has been indulging in drinking, gambling, and whoring over the years, ruining his own house. Now he's living in your house."

“Zhengzheng’s aunt, think about it carefully. When he still had the house, did he ever think about you?”

Mrs. Yan shook her head. "No! He rented out his house and is waiting to collect rent every month."

"He and my sister-in-law had a really good time during that period!"

Fu Luan quickly said, "Isn't that right? We're all women, and I feel indignant on your behalf!"

"He didn't think of you when he had money; later, when he lost money, he took over your house."

"Excuse me for asking one more question: Who usually does the laundry, cooking, and cleaning at home? It's not all by you, is it?"

Yan nodded, looking slightly embarrassed, as if her fig leaf had been torn away piece by piece...

“I did all of this! My sister-in-law said that this is my house, and they don’t dare to clean it carelessly for fear of damaging things or ruining the feng shui…”

"Wait a minute, how does the Lady know so much about my family affairs?"

Fu Luan covered her face with her fan and said with a light smile, "Well... naturally someone told me this in private."

"As for who gossiped about it... I promised them I wouldn't tell, so naturally I can't betray them!"

"Hmph, alright! No wonder she suddenly dared to be so tough in front of me today;"

"So she'd always looked down on me, her aunt, and was spreading my story around as a joke! Since that's the case..."

"Don't worry, my lady, I'll take your orders; whatever you say, I'll do!" Although Fu Luan didn't say it explicitly, Madam Yan immediately felt that Zheng Zheng was behind it all.

Coupled with the fact that she had been treated like a donkey by her brother and sister-in-law for the past few years, how could she not be furious?

Yan drank the tea in her cup in one gulp and readily agreed to Fu Luan's instructions. Naturally, she also received the fifty taels of silver!

Not only that, Fu Luan also used the carriage of the Marquis of Chang'an's mansion to swagger Yan Shi home;

The servants in the manor were all amazed when they saw it.

"My aunt and the Yan family have always been at odds, why has she suddenly changed her mind today?"

Fu Luan gently waved her silk fan, smiling without saying a word. This was the impression she wanted to give everyone!

"Hmph, not showing off your fourth-rank county princess's court robes today?" Fu Luan had just seen Yan Shi off when she was mocked by her own father.

This time, it seems Xiao Jiu won't be able to save her in time...