As soon as these words came out, everyone in the hall sucked in a breath of cold air.
"What do you mean?" Imperial Censor Wang asked.
Lian Qiao then recounted how Jiang Ruan had been verbally harassed by Chen Zhao and how she had been forced to fall into the pond. When she talked about how Jiang Ruan was bedridden but could not even bear to buy medicine and firewood, Lian Qiao's voice was already choking, "Everyone, please be a judge. Even if it's an ordinary family's daughter, I'm afraid that only a minority would suffer this kind of pain. For a servant to have the guts to take someone's life, it's really too savage! "
What she said was true. Harming others was common, but it was the first time that a servant had abused her master to such an extent. Zhang Lan had already fainted in the crowd. Many people had started to spit on her. The few maidservants beside Zhang Lan did not dare to help, afraid that they would incur the wrath of the crowd.
Qian Wanli no longer made a sound. The matter was getting more and more serious, and the water involved was not something he could wade in. Thus, he left the matter to Imperial Censor Wang to handle. He only needed to stand at the side and watch the show.
Imperial Censor Wang asked, "Jiang Ruan, is what your maidservant said true?"
"Not a single word off." Jiang Ruan said indifferently, "It's just that my thoughts are somewhat different from Lian Qiao's."
"What is it?" Imperial Censor Wang looked up at her.
"No matter what, Lan momo is only a steward of the village. Who gave her the power to mistreat me? Even if she mistreated me, there are hundreds of people in the village. Why is it that when my life is difficult, no one came to help me? It's as if they all agreed that they did not treat me as their master. I think that Lan momo is the daughter of a commoner. Her whole family works in the village. She would not have the guts to mistreat me. Unless there's someone else behind the scenes. "
Imperial Censor Wang's eyes flashed, "Who?"
Jiang Ruan shook her head, "This is the yamen's responsibility. I don't know either."
The crowd at the door discussed again. They also felt that Jiang Ruan's words were very reasonable. However, who could harden their heart to mistreat such an educated and reasonable young lady?
Imperial Censor Wang nodded, "I will investigate the facts that you have said. However, there is one thing that I do not understand. You are the young mistress of the manor. How could you be bullied by the servants of the manor? Why did your family not care? If there are any other hidden reasons or grievances, this official will also seek justice for you. "
This meant that he was going to stand up for Jiang Ruan to the end. One after another, the crowd began to guess the identity of this shabbily dressed daren. It must be known that for him to have such a big tone to stand up for someone, his ability must not be low.
However, Jiang Ruan lightly shook her head, "It's just that the evil servant is bullying his master. My family … just doesn't know about it."
"Do you take me for a fool?" Censor Wang suddenly raised his voice and said, "Since this manor belongs to your residence, it should not be far from your residence. How can you not get any news from such a short distance? Are you going to say that all the servants in this manor have the intention to betray their master? Then this official must investigate even more carefully! "
"Daren," Jiang Ruan raised her voice, indignation faintly visible between her brows, "Please do not make presumptuous conjectures. I am the eldest di daughter of the Minister of Military Affairs, Duke Jiang. My father is impartial and considerate to me. It's just that he has been deceived too deeply!"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present was shocked!
The crowd burst into an uproar and the sound of discussion immediately filled the entire hall. They did not expect that this young mistress, who was in dire straits and could not even be compared to a commoner, was actually the di daughter of the Minister of Military Affairs. Jiang Ruan's official career was at its peak. She looked like a fair and impartial person. Who would have thought that her own daughter would be bullied and humiliated in the manor? Everyone looked at Jiang Ruan with eyes full of sympathy and pity. At this moment, no one believed Jiang Ruan's words. Everyone would only think that this pitiful noble young mistress was trying to protect her father's reputation. She had swallowed her grievances and covered up for her father.
As a result, many people began to praise Jiang Ruan's actions. Her actions were filial and virtuous. Her biological father had treated her coldly, yet she did not care. Instead, she had rushed to protect her family's reputation. It was not easy for an adult to do such a thing, let alone a little girl of just over ten years of age. What kind of noble righteousness was this?
In contrast to Jiang Ruan's noble righteousness, however, was Jiang Quan's reputation. The Minister of Military Affairs had an extremely good reputation. From the imperial court to the common people, there was no one who did not say that he was fair, honest, and just. But now, it seemed that he had treated his eldest di daughter so coldly, allowed his servants to bully his master to such an extent, and caused his inner court to be in such a mess. Presumably, he was not that clean in the officialdom.
However, Jiang Ruan seemed to find it difficult to bear the sympathetic gazes of the people around her. She slightly lowered her head, revealing the back of her spotlessly white neck. She was like a swan whose wings had been broken. Her posture was weak, yet she was desperately trying to protect her pride. Her jet-black hair covered one side of her face, revealing only the delicate corner of her chin. Her pale lips, which were tightly clenched, revealed a bit of blood, which added a kind of coldness and beauty.
No one could see the trace of ridicule in her eyes, which were concealed by her long eyelashes.
One should not wash one's dirty linen in public. Naturally, she would not take the initiative to do so. However, there were many ways to make a matter known, and people's conjectures were one of them. Jiang Quan should have long ago torn away his reputation as a hypocrite. In her previous life, he had sent her to prison and gained a good reputation for punishing his own family in the name of righteousness. In this life, she would let him see what kind of ending he would receive after killing his own family! How could there be such a cheap thing in this world? After committing such a cruel and unscrupulous act, one's reputation could still be immortalized for generations to come. Today, she would take advantage of the public's mouths to expose the Jiang family's filth and ugliness in front of everyone!
The sound of the quarrel was too loud. Imperial Censor Wang slammed the gavel, "Silence!" After it had quietened down, he looked at Jiang Ruan and asked, "In the few years that you have been in the rural residence, has Minister Jiang never come to fetch you?"
"Father is busy with official business," Jiang Ruan raised her head, then quickly turned it away, "As a child, I should share my parents' burdens. I am not willing to give him any trouble."
As soon as these words were spoken, the surrounding people began to discuss again. The more tolerant Jiang Ruan appeared to be towards Jiang Quan, the more people loathed Jiang Quan. What trouble was there for his biological daughter to live in the fu?
Imperial Censor Wang frowned, "I heard that you stayed in the rural residence for five years. This official wants to ask you, five years ago, why did you come to the rural residence?"
"Her biological mother passed away from illness, so Jiang Ruan wanted to observe mourning for her." Her voice was pleasant to listen to, causing the surrounding people to sigh. It was no wonder that this little girl was placed in the rural residence. Since her biological mother was not around, her stepmother must have been a vicious one to torture her in such a manner. That Minister Jiang was really a man with a human's face but a beast's heart, to actually favor his concubine to the detriment of his wife.
Minister Jiang slammed the gavel, "According to the laws of the Jin dynasty, observing mourning for three years is up. Now that you have long passed the mourning period, there is no need for you to stay. This official will make the decision for you, immediately return to the fu!"
Jiang Ruan was stunned and asked somewhat cautiously, "Really?"
Her upturned eyes were brimming with joy. For a moment, she was like a butterfly fluttering its wings, so beautiful that people could not take their eyes off her.
She was truly happy, because after taking such a big detour, she had finally achieved her ultimate goal — — return to the fu!
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
