Caiyu's dirty yet extremely beautiful face came into his sight.
Caiyu struggled, but finally, because she was trapped on the torture rack, bloody fingerprints were left on the confession paper.
"Hahaha..."
Jiang Jinyue held the confession paper and looked at it for a while, then let out a long string of hearty laughs, looking up at the sky.
Those who had harmed her reputation, blocked her path, and that Princess Yao who had gone back on her words!
All of them should die!
"Miss Jiang, you're so abusing lynching and forging confessions. Do you really think the prince is so easy to deceive?" Caiyu managed to squeeze out the question through gritted teeth. "And the old princess, she's your aunt. How could you just watch her die? Aren't you afraid that the prince will skin you alive?"
Jiang Jinyue put away the confession paper, turned around, and a strange and crazy look appeared in her eyes.
"What forging confessions? What dying? You're now caught with solid evidence. It's clearly you who tried to harm my aunt! I don't want my aunt to die..."
Jiang Jinyue approached Caiyu sinisterly and smiled. "Or, tell me where the antidote is? I'll get it to save her."
Caiyu: ...
What a Jiang Jinyue!
She had never poisoned anyone. Where could she get an antidote?
Jiang Jinyue was clearly planning to pin the blame on her for framing Princess Yao and refusing to hand over the antidote!
Caiyu felt extremely frustrated. She showed an angry and helpless smile and uttered two words.
"... There isn't!"
Jiang Jinyue burst out laughing. Then she took a deep breath and said to the guards.
"The culprit has signed the confession. Take her out, show her to everyone in the mansion, and then beat her to death with sticks on the spot!"
The guards looked at each other. One of them hesitated and said, "Miss Jiang, the prince is about to return. Shouldn't we wait for the prince to come back and then..."
Although they weren't familiar with Caiyu, everyone in the mansion knew how much the prince doted on this maid.
They were afraid that if they executed Caiyu behind the prince's back, they would be punished by the prince in the end.
Jiang Jinyue sank her face and shouted angrily, "How dare you! The prince is not in the mansion, and the old princess is in a coma. Now in the entire Yan Prince's Mansion, I'm your only master! Don't I even have the power to execute a maid who tried to harm the old princess?"
"We dare not!"
"Go quickly!" Fearing that there would be more troubles if things were delayed, Jiang Jinyue urged the guards to untie Caiyu from the torture rack and drag her out of the dungeon.
Caiyu was untied and slid down limply from the torture rack. Two guards held her up from left and right and dragged her out.
By this time, the sun was already slanting to the west. The little remaining warmth of the day was gradually swallowed up by the cold.
The strong wind howled, blowing up Caiyu's torn clothes and messy hair. She was hanged under a magnolia tree in Zhaonanxuan and swayed in mid - air.
All the servants in the mansion were gathered here, listening to Jiang Jinyue denounce Caiyu's evil deeds.
Xiangye and other little maids in Lianyin Pavilion had red eyes as they watched Caiyu on the verge of death.
"This bitch Lan Caiyu has already confessed to the poisoning." Jiang Jinyue waved the confession paper in her hand. The bloodstains on the rice paper stung people's eyes. "The prince is not in the mansion, and such a big thing has happened to the old princess. Today, I'll make the decision to beat this crazy bitch to death with sticks in public as a warning to others!"
"Miss Jiang! How do you know that Sister Caiyu wasn't forced to confess?" Xiangye angrily questioned.
"How dare you! Who do you think you are? How dare you question your master's decision!" Bailu scolded Xiangye.
"Who does she think she is as a master!" Liu Huashan and other bodyguards were full of indignation. "She hasn't even married into the Yan Prince's Mansion, and there's no order from the prince. She's just a guest in our mansion. When did a guest have the right to act on behalf of the master and execute the people in our mansion at will?"
"Exactly! We'll wait for the prince to come back! We demand that the prince uphold justice!"
"Yes! Wait for the prince to come back!"
"Don't execute Caiyu!"
The bodyguards in Lianyin Pavilion had a good relationship with Caiyu on weekdays. Seeing Caiyu in such a miserable state, they were extremely angry. They didn't care about the hierarchy and wanted to rush forward to save Caiyu.
For a moment, the crowd was extremely excited. People rushed towards the tree where Caiyu was hanging. The guards couldn't stop them for a while.
Seeing Liu Huashan and others breaking through the barrier, Jiang Jinyue showed a panicked look on her face.
Suddenly, a cold and old voice came from behind the crowd. "Who dares to question Miss Jiang?"
The surging crowd suddenly stopped. They all turned around and saw Nanny Li walking over with a tense old face.
Jiang Jinyue was relieved as if she had been granted amnesty. She hurriedly shouted, "Nanny Li, save me!"
Nanny Li nodded at Jiang Jinyue. Then she looked up at Caiyu hanging under the tree. A look of hatred flashed in her old eyes. She said to the restless crowd,
"The old princess briefly woke up for a moment after the doctor made a mistake with the acupuncture. She told this old servant that since the prince is not in the mansion, all matters in the mansion should be temporarily handled by Miss Jiang, including arresting the culprit who tried to harm her!"
Nanny Li slowly looked around at the people in Lianyin Pavilion and the whole mansion, smiling sinisterly.
"You all have a lot of nerve... Miss Jiang is at least the niece of the old princess. Now that there's no leader in the mansion, do you want to ride on your master's head and act high - handedly?"
"You'd better think it over. It doesn't matter if you make trouble with your master. At most, you'll be sold to the slave market. But what about your families? Are you going to abandon them too?"
As soon as these words were said, the whole Zhaonanxuan fell into a dead silence.
A gust of wind suddenly blew up, making the tree branches creak. The sun was setting in the west. The world was yellowish. The setting sun on the horizon burned the distant clouds as red as blood.
Such a setting sun had never been seen in the winter in Yanjing City. The whole city was gathering to watch this strange celestial phenomenon.
Liu Huashan and others stared with wide eyes. The veins on their foreheads bulged. They let out an indignant growl, but due to Nanny Li's threat, they didn't dare to take another step forward.
A victorious smile appeared in Jiang Jinyue's eyes. She shouted, "Come on, execute the punishment!"
The guards looked at each other. Helplessly, they raised the iron - wooden mace as thick as two arms in their hands and lifted them high.
The maces were about to fall on Caiyu's abdomen and lower back. Suddenly -
A group of fierce soldiers in red and silver armor rushed out and surrounded everyone!
Everyone was greatly surprised. Seeing this group of soldiers in strange uniforms that they had never seen before suddenly appear in the Yan Prince's Mansion, they immediately stopped all their actions.
Jiang Jinyue saw that these soldiers were extremely tall and their facial features were different from the people in Yan area. She was so scared that she screamed, "Come on! Come on! Save me!"
Liu Huashan and other bodyguards and guards drew their sabers one after another and glared angrily at these strange - looking soldiers!
It was Nanny Li who was used to big scenes. She tried to calm herself down and scolded,
"How dare you! Who are you? How dare you break into the Yan Prince's Mansion without permission?"
These soldiers ignored Nanny Li's question. They just separated into two rows, and two figures appeared from the end of the army.
Caiyu gradually woke up in the chaos. Through her blood - blurred eyes, she vaguely saw a person walking in the distance.
The leading soldier looked like a person from Daye. He was handsome, but his appearance was a bit too delicate for a general.
He was dressed in the armor of a Hu cavalry. The willow - leaf armor glistened with golden light. His black hair was neatly tied on top of his head. He wore a red - tasseled helmet. His eyes were cold, and there was a faint smell of blood and killing on him.
Closely following half a step behind him was Guan Baishan, the prefect of Yanjing!
Guan Baishan was seen following submissively behind that person, nodding and bowing.
After that person stood still in front of everyone, Guan Baishan, at his nod, stammered and announced to everyone,
"The... The envoy from the capital is about to enter the city. General Sheng Jiangli, the commander of the Kaiping Hu cavalry, has been ordered by the prince to lead troops... Uh, lead troops..."
Sheng Jiangli let out a soft laugh and continued Guan Baishan's words in a deep voice,
"I'm sorry, everyone. Since we need to make arrangements in the mansion in advance, we've rashly led troops into the mansion first. The envoy from the capital has also obtained the prince's approval for this. You don't need to be alarmed. Just go about your normal business in the mansion..."
Another gust of wind blew. A branch of the magnolia tree opposite Sheng Jiangli was broken by the wind with a crisp sound.
Sheng Jiangli stopped speaking. He looked in the direction of the sound, and Caiyu's dirty yet extremely beautiful face hanging on the tree came into his sight...