The rural doctor bought a husband who was very treacherous

Chapter 246: The Bustle of the 2nd Mansion

"These are arrow marks." Qi Lingheng could tell the difference on the broken jade pendant at a glance.

"This jade pendant is stained with blood."

Su Tang lowered her head and looked in the direction Qi Lingheng pointed, and sure enough, she saw a hint of yellowish-brown color, which was the mark left by blood that had seeped in for too long.

Who left this blood?

But it should undoubtedly be the owner of this jade pendant, who was wearing it and was shot in the chest. The arrow brushed the edge of the jade pendant and fell into the wearer's chest, leaving behind the arrow.

Qi Lingheng returned the jade pendant to Su Tang and said, "This jade pendant should be a pair of ancient jades, but I have never seen anyone in Beijing wearing it."

"If you have seen it, it would be weird." Su Tang glanced at Qi Lingheng and told him the origin of the two pieces of jade.

"How about showing it to grandma someday?" Qi Lingheng said.

"Yeah, why didn't I think of it."

Old Madam Qi had lived through three dynasties and met countless nobles in the capital. Since this jade pendant was so important, perhaps it had really been shown to the public before.

"Then I will go see grandma tomorrow." Su Tang hadn't seen Old Madam Qi for some time.

"Well, when I came back today, I heard Qi Yan talking about the excitement in the capital. Prince Li actually went to Jingzhao Prefecture in person today and paid 100,000 taels of silver to redeem Princess Mingyue."

"Oh? What about Liu Wanning?"

Su Tang has been in a daze since she came back today. She didn't even ask about the follow-up of today's events. Chunmei and the others saw Su Tang in a daze and didn't say anything to disturb her.

Su Tang missed today's good show.

After hearing what Qi Lingheng said, I became interested.

She put the jade pendant back into the space again, walked down from the couch, stood up and sat down at the table.

Qi Lingheng touched the teapot and found that the temperature was just right, then he poured a cup of tea for Su Tang.

He picked up the teacup and took a sip. He didn't speak for half a day, and the dryness in his throat finally eased.

She raised her eyes to look at Qi Lingheng, waiting for him to continue explaining the gossip to her.

"It's really because Linglong Pavilion suffered too much loss, and the Liu family couldn't come up with so much money at once, so they said they wanted to take Liu's daughter back first, and then return it to Linglong Pavilion after collecting enough money in a few days.

But the shopkeeper of Linglong Pavilion refused on the grounds that the store did not have enough working capital to delay the request for such a long time.

The Liu family had no choice but to keep the person in the Jingzhao Prefecture's prison, and wait until they had enough money to return it to Linglong Pavilion before taking the person away."

"They will pay half?" Su Tang asked, putting down the teacup.

"Yes. In order not to offend anyone, the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture ordered each person to pay half the compensation."

"We're going to give Manager Zhao a raise this month." Su Tang nodded.

Qi Lingheng couldn't help but chuckle when he saw Su Tang's little expression.

Shopkeeper Zhao is indeed a shrewd man and is loyal. Ever since he followed Su Tang, he has never had any dealings with the Second Prince's people.

Moreover, today's incident was obviously not instigated by Su Tang. Shopkeeper Zhao was able to understand Su Tang's thoughts and cheated the two families according to Su Tang's wishes.

Another place in Beijing.

In the residence of the Minister of Revenue.

The wife of the Minister of Revenue sat in the room and cried to Minister Liu, "Why did you leave Wan Ning in the prison of Jingzhao Prefecture? Our Wan Ning has never suffered such a punishment. I have never let her suffer since she was a child. Besides, it's not that our family can't come up with 100,000 taels. Why don't you take the silver and give it to the shopkeeper of Linglong Pavilion..."

"From a woman's perspective, I am the Minister of Revenue, not the God of Wealth. My monthly salary is limited. One hundred thousand taels of silver, let alone how long it would take me to save that much money even if I didn't eat or drink.

If I take out one hundred thousand taels of silver today, there will be a memorial to the emperor tomorrow to accuse me. Do you want our whole family to be buried with that rebellious girl?

It's because you have spoiled her and made her lose her sense of propriety. If you don't let her suffer a little today, who knows what she will do tomorrow.

Prince Li just returned to the capital, and he also gave her one hundred thousand taels of silver. You didn’t see the way Prince Li looked at me today. It was the look of a dead person.

You are still here without realizing it, disaster is about to happen, do you know that!!!"

"Is this so serious?" Mrs. Liu, who had been crying just now, suddenly looked up at the Minister of Revenue.

“You don’t realize how serious it is!!

Do you know who was arguing with Wan Ning today?

That is Prince Li’s only daughter, Princess Mingyue.

Wan Ning is just the daughter of a minister, yet she dares to argue with the princess!

This is because you didn’t teach your daughter well!

If I don't bring her back today, I will also be apologizing to King Li and trying to appease him.

I have had all the maids who followed Wan Ning around beheaded today.

You should pick some honest and non-troubled maids for her later. If it happens again, you won’t be the mistress anymore! ! ” The Minister of Revenue looked at Madam Liu, swung his sleeves and was about to leave.

"Where are you going, my Lord?" Madam Liu stopped crying. "Otherwise, I will go to the palace tomorrow and hand over a sign to look for the Empress Dowager..."

"Don't go. Do you want to make this embarrassing thing known to everyone?" This time, the Minister of Revenue waved his hand, turned around and left Madam Liu's yard.

"Madam, the master has gone to the third concubine's place." Soon a servant came to report, and Madam Liu almost tore the handkerchief in her hand.

No matter what, she would go to Jingzhao Prefecture tomorrow to redeem Wan Ning.

As for Prince Li’s Palace.

At this time, Princess Mingyue, who had been brought back by Prince Li himself, was lying in the arms of Princess Li. Princess Li patted her back and comforted her, "Today, our Mingyue was wronged. That so-called Shangshu's daughter is really lawless. Mingyue has clearly told them her identity, but they still questioned our Mingyue. This shows that they don't take Prince Li's Mansion seriously."

"It seems that I have been away from Kyoto for too long, causing some people to forget about my existence in Dayong." Prince Li turned the ring on his hand and looked out the window with squinted eyes.

Many huge lanterns were lit in the courtyard of Prince Li's Mansion, illuminating the entire courtyard as bright as day.

Although it was night, there were still maids walking around busy in the courtyard.

"Yes, Your Highness, didn't you see that when we came here, Emperor Jing only brought a virtuous concubine to see us, saying that the Queen was seriously ill. I have inquired about it, and the Queen just caught a cold, but Emperor Jing locked her up in Fengyi Palace for a long time. What a cold person."

"Well, Mingyue was frightened today, so she should go back and rest soon. In a few days, the king will ask the minister's daughter to come and apologize to Mingyue in person."

“Then Mingyue will go back first.” Princess Mingyue stood up, bowed to Prince Li and Princess Li, and then walked out.

After watching Princess Mingyue leave the courtyard, Prince Li looked at Princess Li and said, "You should go to the palace more often to see the Queen Mother in the next few days."

"Yes." Princess Li naturally knew Prince Li's intention and nodded in agreement.

Early the next morning.

A carriage came out from the residence of Prince Li and the residence of the Minister of Revenue.

However, the carriage from Prince Li's mansion went to the imperial palace, while the carriage from the Minister of Revenue's mansion went to Jingzhao Prefecture.

In the prison cell of Jingzhao Prefecture, although the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture had changed Liu Wanning to a clean cell, there were no other prisoners around.

It was considered the best cell in the Jingzhao prison, but for a noble lady who had been raised with great pampering, it was a hellish place.

There was only a simple bed made of wooden boards in the cell, which creaked when you sat on it.

There were only two very thin blankets on the wooden board, which could not keep out the cold air in the cell even in summer.

Also, the bed and bedding had a peculiar smell, probably because they hadn’t been washed and dried for a long time, and I don’t know how many people had used them.

When Liu Wanning was taken into the cell, the wounds on her face were not treated. In the end, half of her face was so swollen that she could not speak.

Whenever she made any expression on her face, the skin on her face would stretch and she would want to scream.

But screaming was of no use. Without treatment, the swelling on her face would not go away.

Liu Wanning finally leaned on the simple bed, huddled in the corner, and finally succumbed to sleepiness and passed out.

When Mrs. Liu arrived the next day, Liu Wanning had already developed a high fever. She was humming in a daze and seemed to be mumbling something.

But her face was so swollen that I couldn't hear what she said unless I got closer.

The moment Mrs. Liu saw Liu Wanning, she let out a howling scream, immediately pushed away the bailiff who was opening the cell, and ran towards the person huddled in the corner, crying.

"My daughter!!!"

The heart-wrenching sound echoed in the cell, and it actually made the originally noisy cell quiet for a moment.

But after that silence, angry voices of men were heard from deep inside the cell. "What the hell, crying and shouting, if you don't know, you would think your parents are dead."

"Oh, maybe my parents died..."

"Hey, prison boss, why are there still women here? I've lived here for so long and this is the first time I've heard of one. But hey, this woman is pretty strong and has a loud voice.

Since they are all locked up here, why not bring them here and let us have some fun..." A man with a face covered in dirt and whose features could not be seen at all dragged himself to the side of the cell and slapped the solid wooden stakes of the cell and said.

"Get out of here and be quiet!" The bailiffs outside the cell hit the wooden stakes with the sticks in their hands, and from time to time the sticks would hit the hands that were stretched out.

"Hey, we are old acquaintances. There are women in this prison, you can't keep them to yourself. You have to get them to relieve your sexual desires..."

"Go, that's not a prisoner, shut up!" The prison boss continued to hit the wooden stakes in the cell.

"..."

the other side.

Mrs. Liu hugged Liu Wanning and cried for a long time, only then she realized that Liu Wanning in her arms had not woken up.

She pushed the person in her arms away, and when she took a closer look, she was so frightened that a layer of cold sweat broke out on Mrs. Liu's back.

Liu Wanning was seen with her head lowered, her hair in a messy state, and the accessories on her head hanging loosely, shaking with her weak body.

Mrs. Liu freed one hand and carefully placed it under Liu Wanning's nose. Fortunately, the hot air sprayed on her fingertips.

Madam Liu turned her head and looked at the maid who was following behind her, "Why don't you come in quickly and help the young lady."

"Yes." The two maids responded immediately and entered the cell.

"Hey, Madam Liu, what are you doing? They can't enter this cell."

The reason why he opened the cell door for Madam Liu was because Madam Liu gave him a large sum of money.

But that was just to let Mrs. Liu come in and see her daughter.

"My daughter is so sick, why don't you find a doctor for her?"

"I will take her to get treatment. If anything happens to my daughter, I will not let you go." Madam Liu looked at the bailiff behind her viciously.

"Oh, what are you talking about? We didn't touch this person after she came in. You can see that this cell is the best cell in Jingzhao Prefecture.

Besides, your daughter was like this when she came in. If anything happens to her, it has nothing to do with us." The yamen runner was not afraid of Madam Liu's threats.

In this cell, they saw many dignitaries and nobles.

Most of those who could be sent to the Jingzhao Prefecture prison were nobles who had committed crimes.

When those people came, they all handed over money to them obediently. It was rare to see someone like Mrs. Liu.

But they had seen this before. Those people just said a few harsh words, and no one could do anything to the jailers in the cells.

"Madam Liu, now that everyone has been checked, it's time for you to leave." The bailiff knocked on the cell door with his scabbard, causing the chain on the cell door to clang.

"Take the young lady with us and leave." Mrs. Liu stood up and said to the two maids who were supporting Liu Wanning.

"Is this possible? Please go away, but you can't take this person away." The bailiff swung the big knife in his hand forward, blocking Mrs. Liu's way.

"You are so brave!"

"Why don't you go and talk to the prefect first? This prison is not your backyard. Even if the Minister of Finance comes in person, this person cannot be taken away from the prison without the prefect's approval." The bailiff showed no intention of giving in.

He knew that the woman imprisoned there owed someone 100,000 taels of silver. If he let her go, the higher-ups would probably ask him to pay the 100,000 taels.

"You!" Seeing the yamen runner blocking with his sword, he looked as if he would draw his sword if he forced his way in.

Mrs. Liu finally gritted her teeth and said, "You wait."

Madam Liu left two maids to take care of Liu Wanning, and then she walked out of the cell, lifting her skirt.

Liu Wanning had a fever, so she had to pay the 100,000 taels quickly and take her daughter back for treatment.

Half an hour later.

Madam Liu came to the cell with a bailiff.

The person who came was Zhang Sanfeng, who brought Liu Wanning and others back to Jingzhao Prefecture that day.

"Brother Feng." The jailer looked at Zhang Sanfeng and bowed respectfully to greet him.

"Well, my Lord asked us to release him."

"Okay." The jailer responded and opened the door again.

Madam Liu raised her hand and signaled two maids to carry Liu Wanning out.

Finally, she glared at the yamen runner who had just blocked her way, memorized the man's appearance, and left with him.

"Tsk, you're still looking at me, aren't you going to remember what I look like and come back to take revenge on me?"

"Okay, let's clean up this place." Zhang Sanfeng waved his hand, turned and left the cell.

Inside the palace.

Princess Li handed in a sign and entered the palace. She didn't have to wait long as a eunuch came out to greet her.

"The Queen Mother asked Princess Li to enter the palace." The young eunuch said respectfully.