AWB Chapter 655 Robbery
Chapter 655 Robbery
Shen Ruyi ignored the other party's actions and proceeded according to the original plan, letting it be a matter of who could outlast whom.
The other side only became anxious when they watched Shen Ruyi's people calmly and methodically start cooking.
Their master was still on his way to the post station; they had no interest in sleeping outdoors.
But the road ahead was completely blocked, and they couldn't move forward. They were unwilling to let them turn back on their own, so they could only wait it out.
Shen Ruyi's group had just finished eating when it got dark.
The people who were arranged earlier can start moving soon.
Princess Qinghui was so angry that she cursed loudly in the carriage, complaining that the pastries were too dry and not tasty, that the tea was too hot, and that the servants below were not attentive enough.
The veiled criticism went on for a very long time.
The servants and attendants were terrified, but at the same time, the food across the table made their stomachs rumble.
After finally making it past 11 p.m., the shadow guards were about to sneak over to check what was on the carriage opposite.
However, their own convoy ran into trouble, and someone shouted, "Robbers! Robbers! Help!"
Suddenly, a large group of people surrounded them from both sides of the road, each wielding a large knife. They started slashing wildly as soon as they came up, showing that they were prepared in advance.
Soon, a fierce battle broke out between them, with shouts of "fight!" and "kill!"
Shen Ruyi and Yi Renying had anticipated this move.
The moment the shouts rang out, he got out of the carriage, sword in hand, ready to fight.
As it turned out, those people were all after the silver in the carriage and had absolutely no interest in Shen Ruyi's side.
Upon hearing the shouts, the others rushed towards the scene of the incident, wielding swords and knives and engaging in a flurry of slashing and stabbing.
There were quite a few people, probably eighty or ninety.
People die for money, birds die for food; the allure of money is truly great, and some people are even willing to offer themselves up for death.
Shen Ruyi had nothing to say about this.
Before those people could even reach the vehicle and grab the piles of silver, the watermelon was swiftly chopped down by someone.
Shen Ruyi was quite happy to be free from this situation and said to Ying Wu, "Go, send someone to capture Prince Qinghui while the chaos is still going on."
How could the other party have just happened to appear there? Something seems off.
They even blocked the main road, regardless of whether the other party knew about it or not. Shen Ruyi said she was taking her anger out on the other party.
Being too stupid is a cardinal sin, after all.
"Okay, Master."
There were quite a few people, but they were killed even faster. In addition, Shen Ruyi was too lazy to interrogate them, so his men killed all the robbers without leaving a single one alive.
They quickly dragged Princess Qinghui over. "Shadow Five, interrogate this fool properly. Ask her how she chose this path, and while you're at it, find out who was involved in today's assassination attempt."
"Yes, master."
Shen Ruyi's group returned to silence once again after the bandits were killed.
Meanwhile, the opposing team suddenly became lively because their leader had suddenly disappeared.
They started searching for their master in a noisy and ostentatious manner.
The people on the other side wanted to ask if Shen Ruyi's people had ever seen their master.
But no one dared to step forward and ask, no matter how much they hesitated.
The reason was that they were too scared, because their earlier shouts about robbers were very loud in the quiet night, and almost everyone nearby could hear them.
They knew that the robbers who had suddenly appeared had all been killed, otherwise it wouldn't be so quiet.
Shen Ruyi got back into the carriage, poured herself a cup of tea, and drank it.
The interrogation results came out quickly; this pampered girl, raised in seclusion and only concerned with the tiny plot of land in her backyard.
At first, he was extremely arrogant, acting as if he feared nothing, but when they were about to torture him, he immediately confessed.
She walked this way at this time because her cousin and several of her cousin's close friends brought her here.
They said this was the safest route, and the scenery was the most beautiful.
Her aunt was the wife of the prefect of Jiakang City. She stayed here for several days on her way back to her maternal grandmother's house.
Her cousin was naturally the daughter of the prefect.
There's no hope of getting any more information.
This guy does nothing but eat, drink, have fun, and manage the women in the backyard of the Prince's mansion; he knows nothing and knows nothing else.
Because she was the only legitimate daughter of the Chu Prince's Mansion, she was exceptionally favored, which led to her developing a spoiled and arrogant personality that she was now, fearless of everything.
Then Shadow Five interrogated her personal maid and other maids.
I know that Princess Qinghui is indeed innocent in today's incident and has no connection with those robbers.
She's just spoiled and doesn't treat people like human beings.
She felt that everyone else was her servant, who should make way for her, a member of the imperial family, and serve her, even if it meant dying.
These maids and personal maids did reveal many other things that Princess Qinghui had done.
Whether you confess or not, you're going to die sooner or later. Confessing sooner will save you some suffering.
These people had only one request: to be given a quick death, since they had been assigned to Princess Qinghui's side.
They were already prepared to die; it wouldn't really matter if it was today or tomorrow.
Following a princess who is capricious, exceptionally cruel, and doesn't value human life, living is not necessarily better or luckier than dying.
They were prepared for this and accepted it.
Since they were able to expose some of the shameful things Princess Qinghui had done before they died, they felt quite relieved.
After all, servants are human beings too, and they have feelings; they are also extremely unwilling to accept this.
Today, they finally encountered a group of ruthless people who were not afraid of the King of Chu's power and did not give face to the princess, so they naturally spoke up without reservation.
So he gave a very fluent account, revealing everything they knew and all the rumors they had heard.
Just a little more.
Princess Qinghui would beat and kill a maid every few days, and the maid was beaten and killed simply because she was accidentally hurt while combing her hair.
I reckon the charge of hurting her might not even be true.
She had more than twenty maids around her, just to comb her hair.
She replaces anyone who dies, so she's never worried about running out of people to use.
With the help of the princess and prince behind her, the deaths of a few people wouldn't affect her normal life.
There must have been several hundred people serving her, just because she was the most favored legitimate daughter of the royal family.
As for the maids who were beaten to death for complaining that the tea was too hot or too cold, there were even more of them.
Another tactic was to slash the faces of her maids when she was unhappy; these were all part of Princess Qinghui's daily routine.
As for causing the concubines and beauties in the Prince's mansion to miscarry, that was commonplace for them.
Anyway, if something goes wrong, just send a maid out and beat her to death, and that's it. After all, she represents the face of the Prince's Mansion.
This matter wouldn't spread outside, which is why Princess Qinghui remained exceptionally arrogant.
She developed a penchant for torturing and killing others after she killed several cats with her own hands when she was just over six years old.
Moreover, the condition worsens with age.
Moreover, they showed no remorse or fear, becoming increasingly addicted to killing.
The reason he was leaving the palace to visit his maternal grandfather was actually because he had caused quite a bit of trouble and was sent away by the princess to seek refuge.
Because a few days ago, she not only killed one of the King of Chu's babies, but also accidentally killed his concubine—the King of Chu's favorite beauty, Consort Li.
This beauty, Li, was brought back by the King of Chu himself when he went to visit the common people, and she is still very much in love with him.
When the accident happened, Lady Li was already six months pregnant, almost seven months along.
The imperial physician examined her and said that the baby in Consort Li's belly must be a prince.
This is the child that the prince has high hopes for.
Princess Qinghui released the cat, which not only bumped into the pregnant Consort Li, but also scratched her face and chest.
The cat's paws were also covered in medicine that promotes blood circulation and removes blood stasis, and not long after, Li Meiren suffered a difficult labor due to premature birth.
After a great deal of effort, they finally managed to give birth to the child, but unfortunately, the baby was stillborn.
That wasn't the end of it. Because Li Meiren had a lot of blood-activating and stasis-removing medicine on her body, she suffered a postpartum hemorrhage right after giving birth.
She died on the spot, and the King of Chu was furious, wanting to take his anger out on this wretched girl.
As a result, when the princess saw that the situation was not good, she immediately sent her daughter out of the palace to visit relatives.
Of course, there were other concubines and concubines involved, and everyone was helping to clean up the mess.
After all, such a useful and innocent knife is hard to find, so they are willing to pamper this princess.
Moreover, Princess Qinghui's current situation is the result of everyone's excessive praise.
Even the heir apparent and other sons of the manor had to give way to her.
Their actions are considered jealousy, a capital offense. With Qinghui around, they can not only reap the benefits of others' misfortunes but also remain completely untainted.
Most importantly, Princess Qinghui was the daughter who bore the heart of the King of Chu.
Of course, this was a forbidden rumor within the Prince's residence, saying that Princess Qinghui was not the Princess's biological daughter.
The princess's pregnancy was a ruse to deceive outsiders; it was a cover-up for the prince.
Some say that Princess Qinghui was born to a woman who had been separated from the prince.
It's unclear whether it's true or not, but the princess doted on Princess Qinghui, granting her every request.
She once surpassed the two legitimate sons. Whenever Princess Qinghui had a falling out with the other children in the Prince's Mansion, the Princess Consort would always stand on Princess Qinghui's side.
Of course, Princess Qinghui also loved her mother very much, and their relationship could be described as one of deep mother-daughter affection.
Despite Princess Qinghui's unruly behavior, she is still very filial to the Princess Consort.
Sometimes, even when she was in a hurry, she would talk back to the prince, but she couldn't bear to see the princess shed tears.
Just like when she took action against the other women in the inner quarters, it was mostly to vent her anger for her mother.
The situation was similar on the King of Chu's side. Whenever something happened to Princess Qinghui, as long as she cried and made a fuss, and then said some sweet words and acted coquettishly, even the biggest problems would seem insignificant.
The matter was thus taken lightly and passed by in a muddled manner.
The King of Chu would only be angry with Princess Qinghui, but he wouldn't do anything to his daughter, because he couldn't bear to part with her.
It is said that this was the child he secretly had with the woman he loved most.
That's how men are; they only love the children born to the woman they love.
If you don't love a woman, you won't even care much about the children she gives birth to.
When Shen Ruyi received the evidence, she was indeed shocked by the extravagant lifestyles of these princes.
A princess in a royal palace needs hundreds of servants, and these hundreds of servants are actually considered consumables.
It is constantly being consumed and replenished, in an endless cycle.
This extravagance and expense are probably beyond the reach of even officials living in the palace.
Damn it, these vassal kings are being treated too well; they deserve to be killed.
Only by eliminating these vassal kings and clans can more land be freed up, allowing ordinary people to cultivate their land.
Otherwise, no matter how wealthy and prosperous Jiangnan is, it will be irrelevant to ordinary people.
This place is a land of plenty, but along her journey, she didn't see any of these people escaping poverty.
When asked, the answer was that all the land was in the hands of powerful families, and 70% of the common people did not own their own land and relied on renting other people's land to make a living.
And the rent is so high that there is almost no possibility of turning one's life around or getting rich by changing one's circumstances.
In other words, these feudal lords and clans stole the livelihoods of ordinary people; they were the real parasites here.
After reading about the internal affairs of the Prince's Mansion, Shen Ruyi felt that the rumor was probably true.
Even if a mother favors her son and doesn't value her daughter, few would actually use their own daughter as a weapon.
This is a different concept from favoring sons over daughters.
It's hard for a biological child to do something so immoral and outrageous; only someone who isn't a biological child could explain it.
Shen Ruyi toyed with the teacup in her hand and said, "Let's detain them first and treat them as accomplices in the assassination attempt on me."
It was just that Princess Qinghui was unlucky enough to run into this.
Besides, this thing already has hundreds of lives on its hands; if we don't kill her, who will we kill?
"Yes, Master. And what about the things in their car?"
"Pay it over, sell what you can, and turn it into silver."
"Also, send someone to keep an eye on Princess Qinghui, in case anyone tries to rescue her, as she is an important prisoner of ours."
She wanted to use Princess Qinghui to lure out the big fish, the King of Chu, and see what new moves and reactions he would make.
As long as the other party is willing to make a move, there will be a constant stream of flaws that will be revealed, and that is Shen Ruyi's opportunity.
She also wanted to see just how much the King of Chu doted on this princess, and how far he would go for his beloved daughter.
We can also see why the prefect's daughter and her close friends did this, and what their original intention was.
Who is the source of this problem?
Everything happens for a reason.
This reason is the breakthrough that Shen Ruyi is looking for.
"Yes, master."
"Okay, go ahead," Shen Ruyi said as she lay down again, finding life increasingly interesting.
Shen Ruyi slept soundly through the night, and when she woke up, the road ahead had already been cleared.
After a simple breakfast, they set off. It would take them another half a day to reach the prefectural city.
Yingwu reports that all the items and supplies on Princess Qinghui's carriage have been inventoried.
There were twenty carts filled with clothing and jewelry, and ten carts filled with grain and food.
The remaining carriages were filled with Princess Qinghui's daily necessities and belongings.
"There's one more thing, Master: the hidden compartments under all the carriages are actually filled with smuggled salt."
“Smuggled salt? Even if they wanted to transport smuggled salt, they wouldn’t need a princess to do it, would they? It’s not like they have no one else to transport it,” Shen Ruyi never expected.
This matter has become increasingly complicated and confusing.
"Shall I re-interrogate the group in charge of the carriages and horses?"