Chapter 493 Rescue and Encounter

Chapter 493: Rescue and Reunion

Magistrate Zhong's face turned pale as he knelt on the ground, pleading for mercy repeatedly.

"Your Highness, Princess Ye, please spare my life! It's not what you think, I swear!"

Ji Yuntang raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Then what is it?"

"So someone forced you to marry off your daughter?"

Magistrate Zhong instinctively wanted to say he had no choice, but when the words were on the tip of his tongue, he quickly shut his mouth.

This was all the Crown Prince's doing. If he exposed the Crown Prince, he was a dead man too!

Not only that, the entire Zhong household would likely be implicated.

With this thought, a lightbulb went off in his head, and he threw all the blame on Xu.

"No one forced me, Your Highness. This was all my wife's idea. She saw that Yu'er was too sick to even get out of bed, and knowing Princess Ye's medical skills were top-notch, she thought of asking the Princess to treat Yu'er."

"But considering that Yu'er was Prince Ye's former princess, and worried Princess Ye might hold a grudge, my wife discussed with me whether we could marry Yu'er into Prince Ye's household. That way, Princess Ye could treat her illness, and she'd also have a secure future."

"I thought it was a good idea and agreed, but unexpectedly Yu'er's illness was too severe. She was fine the day before, but suddenly passed away yesterday. Yet the wedding date the Princess had set was right around the corner, and I had no choice but to have Yu'er's maid Ming Xia wear a human-skin mask and take her place as the bride."

"I did this because I was desperate to save my daughter. I beg Prince Ye and Princess Ye to forgive us just this once. My wife and I will never dare to do such a thing again!"

Upon hearing this, Xu quickly chimed in, "Yes, Princess Ye, I was just trying to save Xin Yu too. I never meant to deceive you. Please, Princess, forgive us this once!"

Ji Yuntang let out a cold laugh. "If I'm not mistaken, a moment ago Lady Xu said that Miss Zhong's maid was jealous of her and so impersonated her to take the marriage."

"But now Magistrate Zhong is saying that Miss Zhong was too ill, suddenly passed away, and that's why the maid was sent to substitute?"

"So which of you is telling the truth, and which is lying?"

Magistrate Zhong was instantly speechless.

He shot Xu a fierce glare, cursing that brainless woman for saying Ming Xia was jealous of Zhong Xinyu. With such a close bond between mistress and maid, what could she possibly be jealous of?

Now he couldn't even patch up his lie.

Under Ji Yuntang's knowing, half-smiling gaze, Magistrate Zhong dared not remain silent. He could only step forward and force himself to say:

"To answer Princess Ye, what my wife and I said is the truth. She was just too scared of making you angry, so she slipped up because she panicked."

"Is that so?" A mocking smile curled at the corner of her lips. "Whether you did this out of love for your daughter or greed for the betrothal gifts, what you did today has deceived both the Prince and myself, making Prince Ye's household the laughingstock of the entire capital."

"I'm not letting this go so easily. Magistrate Zhong, go home and think long and hard about how you'll explain this to the Emperor!"

Ji Yuntang knew Magistrate Zhong and Xu would never dare to publicly expose Luo Jingshen!

There was no point in her wasting more time with them here. After all, with things having escalated to this point, someone else must be even more panicked than she was.

She just wondered how Luo Jingshen would deal with this.

Ji Yuntang flicked her sleeves and turned to head back into the Prince Ye's residence, her steps firm, without a hint of hesitation.

The vermilion-red gate slammed shut, and she could still faintly hear Magistrate Zhong begging outside.

At that very moment, Luo Jingshen, sitting in the restaurant, suddenly jumped to his feet, his eyes locked onto Magistrate Zhong in front of the Prince Ye's residence.

"This Zhong Zhi'an has some nerve, daring to send a maid to impersonate his daughter and substitute the marriage at Prince Ye's residence. Does he still have any regard for me?"

Luo Jingshen had thought everything was under his control, but he never expected things to go awry at the Zhong household.

Zhong Xinyu was fake!

What he wanted was for the former Princess Ye to enter the household and clash with the current Princess Ye.

What use was sending a fake in?

The real one might at least be able to contend with Ji Yuntang, but a fake stood no chance whatsoever.

What was even more infuriating was that even he had been deceived by Magistrate Zhong, which infuriated Luo Jingshen to no end.

Linchuan quickly said, "Crown Prince, please calm your anger. In my humble opinion, Magistrate Zhong was blinded by greed, thinking that as long as he sent Miss Zhong into Prince Ye's household, he could curry favor with the Crown Prince. That's why he took such a risky move."

"Now it seems that Miss Zhong is truly dead, otherwise the Zhong household wouldn't have sent a fake."

Luo Jingshen clenched his fists, slamming one onto the table in fury.

"If he wants to die, he shouldn't drag me down with him. If Ji Yuntang really finds out that I was behind this, she will surely fight me to the death!"

With this thought, Luo Jingshen narrowed his dark eyes, a murderous glint flashing within them.

He coldly ordered, "Linchuan, tonight, take men to the Zhong household... leave no one alive."

As he spoke, he made a throat-slitting gesture.

Linchuan immediately understood—the Crown Prince was afraid Magistrate Zhong and Xu would expose him, so he wanted to silence them!

He clasped his fists in acknowledgment. "Understood, I will carry out your orders."

Meanwhile, an ordinary all-black carriage was traveling along the official road, heading out of the city.

The woman inside slowly opened her eyes. She first touched her face, then instinctively looked down at her chest.

"Wasn't I killed by Princess Ye? Did I not die?"

A man's voice came from outside the carriage—it was Chen Hu.

"Of course you didn't die. Our Princess didn't strike your vital points; she only made you temporarily unconscious."

Ji Yuntang had stabbed Ming Xia in public precisely to make everyone believe she was dead, then helped her fake her death and escape the capital.

Seeing that she remained silent, Chen Hu continued, "Since you're awake, rest in the carriage for a while. Our Princess ordered me to escort you out of the city to reunite with your young lady and her husband. I'll call you when we arrive."

Ming Xia felt an overwhelming sense of relief at having survived, and a warmth spread through her heart. "Thank you, sir."

Chen Hu felt a bit embarrassed at this. "I'm no sir, just a rough man. If you want to thank someone, thank our Princess—she's the one who saved your life."

"But today, our Princess didn't come out, so I'm afraid you won't be able to thank her!"

Ming Xia smiled. "Princess Ye is truly a kind person. I will remember her life-saving grace for the rest of my life and never forget it."

When the carriage arrived at Shili Pavilion, Pei Zhiyi, Zhong Xinyu, and He Wei were already waiting there.

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