Volume One, Chapter 16: Identifying the Culprit
“This…” Cui Huaiyuan found himself in a dilemma. He did not wish to meddle in the internal affairs of the Marquis of Anle’s household, especially matters dating back sixteen years…
Cui Huaiyuan glanced at the fiercely watchful Princess Qingcheng, then at Jiang Rui, who was wiping away tears with her head bowed. He thought the princess’s age was wasted, completely led by Jiang Rui’s hand.
“To catch a thief, one must have evidence. Without witnesses or proof, how can I order an arrest?” Cui Huaiyuan warned Jiang Rui with a sharp look.
“Miss Jiang, you have no proof and would do better to return home early to handle your family matters.”
Jiang Rui, clever as she was, immediately understood Cui Huaiyuan’s meaning: he wanted her to accept the situation and not dig too deep.
But having drawn the bow, there was no turning back. She could never give up halfway.
“Lord Cui, I have a witness.”
Jiang Rui lifted her head slightly, ignoring Cui Huaiyuan’s piercing gaze, and insisted, “The witness, Nurse Liu, is waiting outside the courtroom and can be summoned at any time.”
Cui Huaiyuan looked toward the crowd gathered outside the courtroom; the expression on his face darkened considerably.
“Since there is a witness, bring her in quickly!” Li Qingxue urged.
Li Qingxue cared not about who was injured but about the sudden appearance of the true daughter of the Marquis’s household. Whoever she was, as long as she was branded with a bad name and dragged in by the Jingshao Prefecture’s officers, her reputation would be ruined.
Confidently curling her lips, Li Qingxue thought that by then, Qi Xuan would have no choice but to obediently break off his engagement and marry her.
“Old servant is here!”
A path was cleared as Cui Liu, supporting Nurse Liu, entered the courtroom.
“Old servant pays respects to Lord Cui and Princess Qingcheng.”
After kneeling and bowing, Nurse Liu recounted in detail how she was abducted from the rear courtyard of the Marquis’s residence by Jiang Yao, how she was tied up and tortured.
The more Cui Huaiyuan listened, the more troubled he grew. How was it possible that the true daughter of the Marquis’s household, Jiang Yao, behaved like a common bandit?
Li Qingxue, however, listened with great interest, occasionally asking questions.
“Hey, Nurse Liu, sixteen years ago your mistress and another woman gave birth to girls simultaneously in a dilapidated temple. Did the two children get switched at all?”
Nurse Liu shook her head, wiping tears as she sobbed, “Old servant cannot be certain. But the Marquis and his wife, upon seeing the girl who came to claim kinship and noticing her resemblance to the lady, believed her words and forced old servant to admit that the young lady raised for sixteen years was actually my niece, intending to demote her to a servant. How could old servant, with a conscience, commit such a wicked act?”
Li Qingxue’s curiosity deepened. “Why would they do this?”
“Because that Miss Jiang Yao who came to claim kinship was the one who abducted and tortured me. She slapped me, poked me with a needle as long as a finger, forcing me to say those things to deceive the Marquis and his wife. Old servant would rather die than submit…” Nurse Liu’s face twisted in pain as she pointed to her reddened face still swollen from ointment and rolled up her sleeve to reveal needle marks on her arm.
“Princess, Lord, look at these wounds. She beat me badly—it was agonizing, almost killing me! That Jiang Yao is terrifying, like a bandit. How could she be a lady of our Marquis’s household?”
The onlookers gasped at Nurse Liu’s pitiful condition.
Li Qingxue leaned forward and frowned as she examined the dense needle marks. “This is brutal!”
As a princess, the worst punishment she would inflict was a few lashes with a whip on those who annoyed her. But Jiang Yao had clearly inflicted much worse; she was a formidable foe.
From a distance, Cui Huaiyuan could tell Nurse Liu’s wounds were caused by needle torture—a punishment once common in the palace and among noble families. It was excruciatingly painful but left few marks afterward. The clear wounds on Nurse Liu suggested the torturer was inexperienced yet strong.
Though Nurse Liu’s injuries were evident, she was a household slave born into the Marquis’s residence, and any mistreatment or death was the Marquis’s internal matter, beyond the jurisdiction of the prefecture’s officials.
More than Nurse Liu’s injuries, Cui Huaiyuan was intrigued by Jiang Rui’s identity.
“Nurse Liu, you said you were injured because Jiang Yao forced you to lie about Jiang Rui’s status, trying to make her a family-born servant. Why would she do that?”
“She never said. Old servant doesn’t know,” Nurse Liu replied, “But I think she might be impersonating the Marquis’s daughter. She must see my young mistress as an obstacle and deliberately framed her…”
“Silence!”
A stern voice came from outside the door.
The Marquis of Anle entered the courtroom with Lady Shen and Jiang Yao, the household guards clearing the way.
The Marquis saluted Lord Cui and pointed at Nurse Liu.
“Lord Cui, this is a troublesome slave in my household. She has been traitorous and slandered her mistress. You must pardon the embarrassment. I will have her taken back for strict discipline.”
At his command, several household guards moved to seize Nurse Liu.
Jiang Rui gave Nurse Liu a glance, and she quickly scrambled toward Princess Qingcheng on all fours.
“Princess, save me! Everything I said is true. The true daughter of the Marquis’s household is morally corrupt and abuses her slaves. The wounds on me are proof. They want to kill me to silence me!”
“Outrageous!” The guards by Princess Qingcheng immediately blocked Nurse Liu and the Marquis’s guards.
The princess’s guards were all men from the northern region, tall and muscular.
Before them, the Marquis’s guards looked like weak monkeys, not daring to move.
“You’re quite clever,” Li Qingxue said with a mischievous smile, ordering the guards to bring Nurse Liu close.
“Tell me, Princess, who abducted and tortured you? Is she here in the court? If you tell the truth, I promise to spare your life.”
“Thank you, Princess. The culprit is right here.”
Nurse Liu knelt at Princess Qingcheng’s feet, turned to look behind the Marquis, and pointed with her bandaged finger at Jiang Yao.
“It’s her!”
Nurse Liu said with hatred, “She calls herself Jiang Yao, the woman who came to claim kinship today and who abducted and tortured me yesterday!”
Following Nurse Liu’s finger, Li Qingxue looked at Jiang Yao, who stood next to Lady Shen.
Jiang Yao was indeed beautiful and well-dressed, wearing a cloud-patterned brocade gown of water-blue, with the fashionable Ling Snake hairdo of the capital, adorned simply with a white jade hairpin, exuding a refined and fresh charm.
She bore a striking resemblance to Lady Shen; standing together, no one would doubt their mother-daughter relationship.
However, Princess Qingcheng disliked Jiang Yao’s eyes—bright, sharp, and tinged with disdain.
This wild girl suddenly appearing dared to look down on her?
“Lord Cui, did you hear? The witness has accused someone. You may arrest her now.”
Princess Qingcheng spoke coldly, her tone leaving no room for refusal.
Cui Huaiyuan frowned displeased.
His scrutinizing gaze shifted repeatedly among Jiang Rui, Jiang Yao, and the Marquis’s party, hesitating to give an order.
Sensing the danger, Lady Shen shielded Jiang Yao behind her.
“What are you doing? My daughter was only just found after much hardship. You will not bully her!”
Jiang Yao remained calm, tugged on the Marquis’s sleeve, whispered a few words, then nodded firmly.
“Father, trust me. The Marquis’s household will be restored in no time.”
The Marquis of Anle looked at her deeply, then turned with a resolute gaze fixed on Jiang Rui.
“Jiang Rui, you were born a family slave of my Marquis’s household. You were raised as a young lady for a few years and have become arrogant and presumptuous. What nonsense are you causing at the Jingshao Prefecture? Come back with me at once and stop disgracing yourself!”