Marrying the Crown Prince

"Ouch, help me—"

The Prefect of Jingzhao, who had rushed to the gate of the yamen as fast as he could, was startled when he heard this voice; his liver and gallbladder trembled violently.

"Stop! Stop!" The old man, who was over fifty years old, moved with surprising speed and rushed to the courtroom.

Ok?

Why is the person being tortured while lying on this chair a pig's head?

Your Royal Highness?

Oh, His Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness the Crown Princess are sitting up there.

The Prefect of Jingzhao finally breathed a sigh of relief. No, who said that His Highness the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess had been imprisoned by the county magistrate and were to be executed in the autumn?

Does this person look like someone about to be executed?

He glared fiercely at Ye Zejin.

Ye Zejin remained calm and composed. Upon noticing the Prefect's gaze, she smiled warmly at him and asked, "Sir, what are your orders?"

"My lord?" Upon hearing this address, the county magistrate, who was slumped in his chair, dazedly raised his head with difficulty, and then burst into a heart-wrenching wail, "My lord, my lord—!"

The poor Prefect of the Capital was standing right next to him, his ears ringing from the shock. "Shut up!"

They're calling out like they've seen their dead mother, but I'm not your mother.

"Lord Cheng," Li Ziyan said, looking at the Prefect of Jingzhao with a half-smile.

The Prefect of Jingzhao bowed hastily, "Your Majesty..."

He met Li Ziyan's icy gaze and silently swallowed back the words "Your Highness the Crown Prince".

"That was terrifying! Absolutely terrifying!" The Prefect of the Capital was filled with righteous indignation, with a sense of selfless dedication, "I am late in arriving. I wonder if the young master and his wife were frightened?"

Upon hearing his words, a smile appeared at the corner of Zhou Zhou's eyes. "Thank you for your concern, sir. Both the young master and I are fine."

"That's good. In that case, I can rest assured." The Prefect of Jingzhao breathed a sigh of relief, turned to look at the magistrate whose mouth had been gagged, then looked at Li Ziyan, and hesitated before speaking, "Young Master, this..."

Li Ziyan raised his chin, and the head guard stepped forward, bowing respectfully, "Lord Cheng."

"No, no," the Prefect of the Capital Prefecture hurriedly extended his hands, and the two men helped him up. "Does Your Excellency have any instructions?"

"I wouldn't dare give orders, I just wanted to tell you, sir, what wrong this dog has done."

"Yes, yes, I am all ears."

Seeing that the matter was resolved, Li Ziyan was unwilling to stay any longer and left with Zhou Zhou and Ye Zejin.

As for Su and Wanying, they parted ways with the two of them at the entrance of the yamen.

"Sister Zhou, I'll come visit you again when I go to Kyoto." She mounted her horse, her bright and charming face radiating a dazzling light, a confidence that was truly captivating.

“Okay.” Zhou Zhou nodded and watched Su He and Wan Ying leave.

As the figures dispersed, Li Ziyan's gaze shifted from the distance back to Zhou Zhou.

His gaze was like the spring sunshine, warm and gentle.

"Let's go," Li Ziyan said.

"it is good."

They mounted their horses and galloped out of the city.

Finally, before sunset, they arrived at a village in another small town.

This estate did not belong to Li Ziyan, but to Zhou Zhou. So when the gate opened and the estate manager saw Zhou Zhou, he was both surprised and delighted. "Miss, why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"It doesn't matter. The house is already there. What difference does it make whether we talk about it or not?" Zhou Zhou said with a light laugh, leading his people inside.

"Uncle Chang, don't rush. Go boil some water; we need to make tea."

"Alright, would you like some tea, miss?"

"No need, I have tea here."

There was no way around it; Li Ziyan was a picky eater, so when Zhou Zhou was packing his luggage, he slipped a packet of tea inside.

The three sat around a table. Li Ziyan brewed some tea and gestured to Ye Zejin, "Tell me, what did you find out?"

Ye Zejin hesitated for a few seconds before speaking, "We have investigated all the fertile land in the surrounding area. It is not just registered under one person's name. Many officials in the capital are involved."

"If a thorough investigation is to be conducted, I'm afraid..."

I'm afraid few officials in Kyoto will escape.

This was expected. Li Ziyan's expression didn't change much; he simply asked, "Do you have a list?"

"Time was too short, so we only did a rough sorting out. We haven't found many key pieces of evidence yet," Ye Zejin said, taking a folded piece of Xuan paper from his pocket and handing it to Li Ziyan.

Li Ziyan looked through it and then showed it to Zhou Zhou.

Zhou Zhou glanced at the list and immediately saw the name of the Yongjing Marquis's Mansion. After a moment of silence, he said, "It's really foolish."

For powerful families like the Duke of Dingguo's Mansion and the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion, getting involved in such trivial cases and making minor mistakes was a way to deliberately hand over leverage to the emperor.

The emperor would feel more at ease using someone with such a blemish on their record.

As for the people in the Yongjing Marquis's mansion, few of them are truly capable. How much silver can they earn in a year by exploiting such loopholes?

Zhou Zhou was filled with hostility, and Li Ziyan looked over calmly, feeling a pang of heartache, but not knowing how to comfort him.

If someone works hard and fights on the front lines to secure a future for their family, but then their family members cause trouble and hold them back, who wouldn't feel resentful?

"Your Highness, I have something I'd like to discuss with you." Zhou Zhou quickly made his decision.

"Tell me about it," Li Ziyan said calmly, but a hint of curiosity couldn't help but rise in his heart.

Ye Zejin looked over in surprise as well. At first, it was already a dream come true that His Highness the Crown Prince was willing to let the Crown Princess listen in here; but the result was that the Crown Princess was actually able to discuss politics with His Highness.

I'm afraid if I told you, not many people would believe me.

It's simply unbelievable.

"I urge Your Highness to take action against the Yongjing Marquis's mansion and punish them severely." Zhou Zhou raised his eyes slightly, his phoenix eyes flickered, his expression was complicated, but he still spoke, "They are not very capable, but they have a lot of crooked ways. Fortunately, they are timid and have not caused any major mistakes."

"So Your Highness, please punish them severely this time."

Find someone to give them a good beating so they won't cause trouble in the future.

Li Ziyan understood Zhou Zhou's implied meaning and readily agreed, "Okay, don't worry."

His gentle eyes shone with a soft light, like a tranquil, pure lake.

His gentleness, like a gentle rain, subtly enveloped Zhou Zhou, making her unable to resist and leaving her no choice but to succumb.

However, it remains to be seen who has succumbed to this emotional entanglement.

Zhou Zhou picked up the tea lid with his fingers and gently skimmed away the foam. "In that case, thank you very much, Your Highness."

Now that things are settled, the rest is much easier.

The three of them started discussing the matter, since there were simply too many officials involved.

Therefore, using harsh measures could very likely lead to chaos in the court, turning this beneficial thing for the country and its people into factional strife.

Therefore, to resolve this issue, we need to consider a conciliatory approach, taking it step by step and slowly.

The three talked for a long time, and things gradually started to make some progress. Then the Prefect of the Capital Prefecture arrived.