RPAGF Chapter 126 Judgment
Chapter 126 Judgment
Upon hearing this, Lin Shu felt a sharp pain in her heart and said in a low voice, "Yes, at least it used to be."
Regardless of Li Yun'er's current situation, the friendship between the two in the past is undeniable. The words of the plump woman in red praising her beauty upon their first meeting still seem to echo in her ears…
After saying that, Lin Shu walked outside.
Upon hearing this, Li Yun'er paused, then smiled, moved over, placed her hand on the cell door, and said loudly:
"Take good care of my brother."
Lin Shu did not turn around, but Li Yun'er knew that she must have heard her.
……
Two days later, Li Yun'er's verdict was delivered. At the same time, after Lin Shu left, she also told everything she knew.
Feng Zhao presented the evidence in the Imperial Study and reported in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I have found out that both of these matters were orchestrated by my eldest sister. Li Yun'er was just a pawn!"
Furthermore, all the previously missing girls have been transported to Long County, to the Prince's residence..."
After reading it, Feng Han was furious. She slammed the testimony in her hand to the ground and said angrily:
"I never knew my eldest princess was so capable! And the fifth prince, after the death of the Prince of Longjun, he dared to plunder girls everywhere, causing my royal family to lose face."
Seeing Feng Han's face turn ashen with anger, Feng Zhao stepped forward with concern and said, "Mother, please calm down!"
The imperial aunt also hurriedly served tea.
After Feng Han had caught her breath, she spoke again to deliver the verdict:
"Although Li Yun'er was a pawn, she could not prove her innocence. She should be executed immediately, and all others who knew about her should be beheaded and their bodies displayed to the public."
Furthermore, I hereby issue the following decree:
The eldest princess is of bad character and is hereby confined to her quarters, forbidden from leaving without summons, and her property is confiscated and turned over to the national treasury; the pleasure boats on the Huai River are found to be filthy and are to be seized immediately.
The Empress Dowager's birthday is approaching, and she has ordered the Fifth Prince, Feng Xiang, to immediately travel to the capital to offer his congratulations..."
When the decree was issued, Feng Zhao knew that her mother had already shown mercy by not executing the entire Li family, and from this moment on, her mother was already on guard against her eldest sister.
……
Lin House.
Upon hearing the verdict from the Li family, Li Huanzhi immediately fainted and remained in a daze for several days.
When he regained consciousness, the Li family no longer existed, but he never asked Lin Shu for anything, though he had become extremely thin.
Lin Shu wanted to have a good talk with him, since the Li family's affairs were somewhat related to her, and she was afraid that Huanzhi would resent her. However, every time they met, he seemed to avoid her.
The Lin family members didn't know how to comfort him, and Lin Shu was worried that he would do something foolish, so she had her father and two husbands take turns accompanying him every day.
Finally, one day, Lin Shu returned home after her shift and learned that Li Huanzhi had left a letter before departing.
After reading the letter, she rushed to Huguo Nunnery that very night. By the time she arrived, Li Huanzhi had already entered the monastic order. For several days in a row, Lin Shu sought an audience outside the nunnery.
Finally, I received a letter: Entangled in worldly ties, I cannot extricate myself. All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows, dew, and lightning; thus should they be viewed.
Lin Shu understood Li Huanzhi's meaning: "Life is unpredictable. Since things have come to this, the relationship between the two of them cannot go back to the past. Staying will only increase the resentment in their hearts, and he does not want their feelings for each other to gradually fade away in the process of wear and tear."
It's better to let go of attachments and allow the mind to find peace, flowing naturally like water, unburdened by material things and unconstrained by mental turmoil.
From then on, Lin Shu never came again, but would occasionally ask Su Mu to arrange for donations of incense money, and to send some clothes and food.
……
The palace of the Grand Princess.
The eldest princess, Feng Xin, who was under house arrest, never expected that Li Yun'er would not be stupid even on her deathbed. The mask of a playboy that she had painstakingly cultivated for many years suddenly shattered. No wonder the Empress was angry!
"If I had known this would happen, I should have killed that good-for-nothing back then." Feng Xin's face was gloomy as she swept the tea set to the ground, making a clattering sound.
The room was completely silent. None of her advisors dared to utter a sound, fearing they would be the ones to speak out.
But some people were not afraid of death. It was none other than Bai Yu, who had just had a miscarriage. The pleasure boat was sealed off, and these 'things' were naturally taken into the eldest princess's mansion and became her servants.
Bai Yu, relying on his previous pregnancy with the eldest princess's child, became unrestrained after only a few days in the manor, completely losing the gentleness and tenderness he showed on the pleasure boat.
At this moment, they failed to notice that the eldest princess was furious and looking for someone to vent her anger on. Instead, she pressed herself against him in front of everyone, rubbing against him while saying, "Your Highness, please don't be angry, this servant... oh, it hurts..."
Before he could finish speaking, the eldest princess kicked him to the ground: "You wretch, who do you think you are, daring to teach me how to do things?"
"I...I dare not!" Bai Yu's face was pale; after all, she had just miscarried and lay on the ground for a long time, unable to get up.
"Don't dare? I think you're quite bold. Are you getting anxious because I mentioned your old flame?" The eldest princess bent down, grabbed Bai Yu by the collar, pulled him up, and slapped him a few more times.
After she finished breathing, Bai Yu had already lost consciousness, his chest rising and falling slightly. The eldest princess let out a long sigh and said to the door:
"Drag him out and take good care of him. If anything happens to him, we'll pay with our lives!"
The eldest princess said this not because she liked Bai Yu that much, but mainly because she was already twenty-five years old, and the husband and servants in the mansion were at least fifteen, if not twenty, but none of them were pregnant except for Bai Yu, so Bai Yu naturally could not die.
Bai Yu abandoned Li Yun'er in pursuit of power, unaware that his nightmare had only just begun upon entering the First Princess's residence...
The eldest princess looked at the person being dragged out, then looked away, flicked the strands of hair that had fallen in front of her back, and asked with a calm expression, "How is Lin Dafeng doing?"
"Reporting to Master, we've almost lost, and we've already made contact with that person..."
……
Lin Dafeng, whom they were talking about, was currently being held in an inconspicuous gambling den in the capital. She had only discovered this gambling den a few days ago. The stakes were not high, but it was very lucky for her; she won almost every time she gambled.
So she started coming over every day to play a few rounds of games. After a few days, she became much wealthier, but this also fueled her growing ambition.
Sure enough, starting yesterday, Lin Dafeng started winning very little, and then she kept losing. Not to mention the wins she had before, she almost lost all her clothes.
Whether she was blinded by greed or something else, she actually borrowed money from the gambling den at exorbitant interest rates to gamble, then lost again, borrowed more, and lost again...
This cycle continued, and she herself had no idea how much money she owed the gambling den. Just moments before, while she was still reveling in gambling, the gambling den owner came to her with an IOU and asked her to pay back the money first.
"It's just a little money. Do you know who I am? Do you think I'd be short of your money?" Lin Dafeng said with some displeasure, not even glancing at the gambling den owner who was urging her to pay back the money.
Then, he slapped the last silver note in his hand onto the 'small' bet. When he saw that it was 'big' again, he was indignant and wanted to place another bet. But after fumbling around for a while, he realized that he had no money left.
So he had no choice but to turn to the gambling den owner and ask, "How much?"
The casino owner raised five fingers.
Lin Dafeng said disdainfully, "Is five hundred taels worth you chasing after me like that?"
The gambling den owner gave a forced smile: "Madam, you're joking. It's five hundred thousand taels."
"What? Five hundred thousand? Is this robbery?" Lin Dafeng exclaimed in disbelief, "Do you know who I am?"
Upon seeing this, the gambling den owner's expression changed slightly, and he said sternly, "Does my wife not want to admit it? I don't care who you are! This is your own seal on it, even if we take it to the authorities, I'll be in the right!"
Lin Dafeng was frightened when she heard about the government, but what she feared most was that Ling Huanan would find out. She could be scared to death by Ling Huanan's eyes alone, and she didn't want to think about it if Ling Huanan found out about this matter!
So she rolled her eyes a few times and tried to run away again, just like last time, but this time she wasn't so lucky.
"Trying to run? Beat them up!" At the gambling den owner's command, the thugs raised their clubs, ready to strike.
Just as Lin Dafeng was in despair, a woman dressed as a maid, her face veiled in plain gauze, spoke up to rescue her:
"Wait a minute!"
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