Dugu Jingyao is reborn as Li Chu's beloved

Chapter 554: Concubine Lan Shu pleads for her brother and sister-in-law

The Prince of Chu's mansion was peaceful and tranquil. Dugu Jingyao would often visit Li Chu at the Chenxiang Pavilion with Shi Jian, Li Shi, and Li Ying. Li Ruo would even visit the Chenxiang Pavilion daily, spending some time with Li Chu. Even Li Shen would occasionally rush from the palace to the Prince of Chu's mansion to see Li Chu.

The other people in the mansion also seemed unusually quiet. Cui Caiping would occasionally be assigned to look after Li Chu, or take Li Yun to play with Li Shi and Li Ying.

However, Li Wanqing wasn't like that. While seemingly resting and taking care of her pregnancy, she'd harbored suspicions ever since Dugu Jingyao asked her to investigate Madam Du's identity. While she didn't express them outwardly, she secretly instructed Mingyue Bookstore to investigate further.

In contrast, Zheng Wan was the quietest one. She was completely focused on taking care of her baby, knowing that Dugu Jingyao was already very busy and not wanting to cause her any more trouble.

In this way, nearly half a month passed in peace in the Prince of Chu's Mansion. There were not too many ups and downs, but it was full of warmth and harmony.

However, things were not so peaceful in the palace. After all, Magistrate Du and Madam Du were arrested, and Concubine Lan Shu, as their relative, could not sit still.

First, she pleaded for Magistrate Du and Madam Du while having dinner with the emperor. The emperor scolded her for not interfering in government affairs in the harem, and then she left her Zi Lan Palace in anger.

Many people were jealous of her, as despite her humble origins, she was able to win the emperor's favor, give birth to a prince, and instantly become one of the Four Concubines. Now, even a single dinner could drive the emperor away. The next morning, when she went to pay her respects to the empress, Concubine Lan Shu was afraid her affairs would become gossip among the other concubines, so she specifically excused herself from going, citing illness as an excuse.

The queen also understood her situation, so she didn't say anything, and even scolded the other concubines who spoke out: "You are concubines in the harem, not women in the market. Don't talk about this matter casually. If the emperor finds out, he will definitely punish you severely, and I won't be able to protect you then." Hearing this, the other concubines shut up in disappointment.

Later, Concubine Lan still refused to give up. She went to bring soup and snacks to Emperor Suzong. However, Emperor Suzong was not stupid. He knew that Concubine Lan did this to plead for Prefect Du and his wife. Suzong did not see Concubine Lan the first two times, but seeing that she still insisted, he let her in.

However, Suzong wanted to make things clear with Concubine Lan Shu, so he said seriously, "Ruolan, you can continue to send these things to me, but you don't have to plead for your brother and his friends anymore. Although your brother pays a lot of taxes every year and also contributes another sum to the national treasury, the King of Chu, Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi, and a group of Dugu's soldiers have all seen that your brother and his friends have secretly hidden a lot of gold and silver treasures. Most importantly, they didn't use that money to help the people affected by the disaster, causing them to be displaced and hungry. I only imprisoned them and did not punish them. This is because of his past efforts and your face. Otherwise, I actually gave the King of Chu a token. Seeing the token is like seeing me. He can interrogate them directly. Given their crimes, he can kill them on the spot. You won't even have a chance to plead for mercy."

Hearing this, Concubine Lan Shu was a little depressed, but she seemed to remember something and said, "But Your Majesty, these gold, silver and treasures were all saved by my brother, and he was also responsible for the disaster relief. Letting my brother continue to serve his sentence to atone for his sins is the punishment he deserves. I can not mention him and plead for mercy. But my sister-in-law is a weak woman who only takes care of the household accounts. Please, Your Majesty, show mercy and let her go." After saying this, she kowtowed.

However, Suzong was unmoved, because he was not a fool. Although he did not show to the outside world that he had done anything to Magistrate Du and his wife, since Li Chu had captured them, it must be because they had really committed a crime.

He personally listened to the interrogation of Magistrate Du, Mrs. Du, and the witnesses by the Grand Court Minister in private.

Although they were detained separately when they arrived in Chang'an, Mrs. Du had already told Prefect Du what to say on the way. Prefect Du responded calmly, saying that he did not use all the money for disaster relief because of greed at the moment. However, he had already realized his mistake and was willing to confiscate all the money.

Madam Du's behavior was completely different from her time in Nanjing. The interrogation even frightened her to the point of fainting, though she was faking it. The Supreme Court Judge, Lord Gu, was also a man of integrity, so he had someone bring a basin of water to wake her up and continued questioning her. However, after a long while, she kept saying, "Your Excellency, I really don't know. I'm just managing the household accounts. Whether Master uses the money for disaster relief is beyond my control!"

Later, the witnesses were interrogated. They found that the Chamber of Commerce president and the courtesan had been frightened in Jinling, and they both believed that at least they hadn't done anything wrong, so if they confessed, they should be given a lighter sentence. So they said the same thing as they did in Jinling.

The president of the Chamber of Commerce said, "Governor Du has gained a lot of benefits by relying on his position as the president of the Chamber of Commerce. I also bought a small official position from Governor Du."

The courtesan said, "Sir, Madam Du is familiar to me. Because Zuixianju is a brothel, no one would normally think of going there to investigate anything. So she gave me a notebook. However, I have never opened it to read the contents. Madam Du also threatened me that if I lost it, she would not let me go, or even my family. So I was forced to do this. Please understand, sir."

The garrison commander said, "Although he knew Magistrate Du, he was more familiar with Madam Du. She often handled matters for Magistrate Du. She even got me drunk behind Magistrate Du's back and had an affair with me. To avoid falling out with Magistrate Du, I let Madam Du control me. This time, when he led his troops to support Magistrate Du's residence, it was Madam Du who sent a message. But she didn't say who I was supposed to lead the troops to suppress. I thought they were just bandits or robbers, so I only brought a small number of soldiers to rescue Magistrate Du."

They all stopped and took out the confessions. They realized that what these witnesses said was not completely consistent with what Magistrate Du and Mrs. Du said, which meant that someone was lying.

But when they brought the person back, Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi handed over the account book and the account books of their mansion to Suzong. Suzong compared them and found that the account book he got from the courtesan contained much more gold, silver and treasures than the account book of the Du Mansion.

Combined with the confession, it is obvious that Magistrate Du and Mrs. Du lied, especially Mrs. Du, who never told the truth.

Emperor Suzong then said to Concubine Lan Shu, "If your brother deserves to go to jail, then your sister-in-law is no better. She falsified the accounts for your brother, and you don't need to defend yourself. This was discovered when the Prince of Chu and his men went to provide disaster relief. Therefore, your sister-in-law couldn't have been unaware of your brother's wealth. Moreover, your sister-in-law was present when the Prince of Chu and his men discovered your brother and his men transferring property, which further proves that she knew everything. Furthermore, your sister-in-law tried to escape and poisoned the Prince of Chu. Therefore, she deserves death even more than your brother."

After a pause, Emperor Suzong continued, "So the fact that they are only imprisoned now is already a sign of my mercy towards them. Otherwise, they should have been executed!"

Upon hearing this, Concubine Lan Shu collapsed on the ground. She thought to herself: I didn't expect that Emperor Suzong already knew about this. She knew that it was hopeless to start with Emperor Suzong. If she wanted to rescue the two of them, she could only think of other ways. Otherwise, when Li Chu woke up, he would probably beg Emperor Suzong to kill them.

While thinking about this, Concubine Lan Shu slowly stood up after thanking him and slowly left the Shangshufang.