Chapter 245: Well, This Is Getting Out of Hand

The whole affair was so outrageous that Xiao Yang glanced at Li Wei several times.

’That’s impossible, right?’

Li Wei stepped forward to stand beside Xiao Yang. "I did drink a few jars of wine the night before last, but with my tolerance, there’s no way that little amount could get me drunk."

He lowered his voice and awkwardly recounted the events of that night. "I was feeling restless, and then that woman emerged from the water. I was startled and glanced at her, but then I paid her no mind. She insisted on coming closer, and I suspected she had ulterior motives, so I had my men take her for questioning. Once they got the story straight, they warned her and let her go. I didn’t even give her a second glance. It’s absolutely impossible that I would behave indecently while drunk."

’He felt a pang of shame at this point. That such a trivial matter had been brought before Your Majesty was truly improper.’

But the most important thing was to make it clear: he had not acted indecently, nor had he seen anything he shouldn’t have.

Xiao Yang trusted Li Wei’s character. He’d had no women in his life for years and had never behaved indecently while drunk in all that time. It was highly unlikely he would suddenly do so now, just as he was finally earning her favor.

"Did you get the full story?"

Li Wei nodded. "Yes, she..."

Li Wei paused for a moment. "She saw Your Majesty and me by the stream that night and got improper ideas. That’s why she deliberately swam over. I am not skilled at handling these situations, but it wasn’t grounds to kill her. So, I had two matrons reprimand and warn her before sending her back."

Who knew that just after she was sent back, her father would show up.

This official was named Lu Pin. He was the steward of this Palace, holding a Secondary Fourth Rank.

Once Xiao Yang understood the situation, she ordered Lu Pin to be escorted away. She would have Li Wei and Xiao Lv deal with the matter later.

However, before he could be taken away, Prince Jing returned, followed by a tragically weeping mother and daughter.

Prince Jing shot Li Wei a disdainful glance and strode to Xiao Yang’s side. "Your Majesty, this young woman claims Li Wei assaulted her. She knelt before me in public, begging me to uphold justice for her. It caused such a scene that everyone saw it, so I had no choice but to bring the mother and daughter here."

Xiao Yang: "..."

’Great. This has blown up completely.’

"Bring them all in."

’She was curious to see who had the sheer audacity to frame Li Wei.’

Lu Pin, his wife Zhang Juan, and their daughter Lu Yao were brought in together.

Lu Pin saw his daughter’s haggard face. After kneeling, he cried out in grief and indignation, "Your Majesty, my rank may be humble, but I have served loyally for many years and have never wronged anyone. Lu Yao is my youngest daughter, whom I’ve always cherished dearly. I never sought great wealth or status for her, only a good marriage. I never imagined something like this would happen to her. I implore Your Majesty to deliver a just verdict and grant justice for my little girl."

If nothing else, his words alone showed that Lu Pin truly doted on his daughter.

Zhang Juan was a woman in her early forties. While not as polished as the noblewomen of the Capital, she was well-dressed and still possessed a graceful charm and elegant bearing.

Now she held her daughter, her eyes filled with pain and accusation. "Your Majesty, my little girl was held for a full day and night before she was returned. Who knows what kind of mistreatment she suffered!"

Lu Yao remained kneeling, saying nothing, simply weeping in Zhang Juan’s arms.

The family of three was putting on a performance. Xiao Yang didn’t speak, and no one else dared to interject at this moment.

Soon, several people entered one after another.

The group included the guards who had taken Lu Yao away, the official responsible for her interrogation, and the two matrons who had disciplined her.

The three groups bowed. Xiao Yang bade them rise. "Each of you, report everything you did concerning this young woman."

The two guards spoke first. "Your Majesty, we were patrolling by the West Mountain Little Green Pond the night before last when the Great General suddenly appeared. He ordered us to retrieve a woman from the creek’s edge, stating he suspected she was a spy. We escorted her to the Palace’s interrogation chamber and handed her over to Lord Yu. Today, we were ordered to retrieve her from Lord Yu and send her back."

The Lord Yu they mentioned, Yu Sui, stepped forward. "Your Majesty, I interrogated the young lady. She confessed everything. She is not a spy, but simply admires General Li. She saw the General sitting by the bank and wanted to engineer a ’chance’ encounter. General Li was drinking, and she thought he was drunk and tried to approach him."

Zhang Juan flared up. "Nonsense! My daughter would never do something like that! Are you one of Li Wei’s lackeys? How dare you cover for him like this!"

Yu Sui produced a prepared written confession. "This is Lu Yao’s testimony. She signed it and left her thumbprint. After I reported its contents to General Li, the General had two matrons brought in to reprimand her."

The two matrons bowed hastily. "Your Majesty, we were indeed ordered by General Li to discipline Miss Lu, to make her understand the gravity of the situation and that she must never pester the General again. We reprimanded her and warned her not to do anything so foolish again, otherwise, the next time would not be a mere warning."

"We used a disciplinary ruler. She feigned fainting, so we doused her with two basins of water. Once she admitted her fault, we had her sent back."

They were staff of the Palace and, ultimately, under Lu Pin’s supervision.

Li Wei was the National Guardian General and a Marquis, so his orders could not be ignored. However, they didn’t dare actually mistreat Lu Yao, especially with people watching. So they concluded with a token reprimand and even offered some earnest advice, which could be considered quite merciful.

Xiao Yang’s knuckles tapped on the armrest. She leaned lazily to one side, her gaze falling on Lu Yao. "Lu Yao... now it’s your turn to speak."

Lu Yao remained silent, merely crying and shaking her head.

Xiao Yang narrowed her eyes but said nothing. Rong Yin sharply rebuked, "Her Majesty asks you a question and you refuse to answer? That is contempt for the Emperor, an act of insubordination! Such a crime is punishable by death!"

The atmosphere in the great hall changed instantly.

Lu Pin quickly begged for forgiveness. "Your Majesty, please forgive her! My daughter would never dare to show such defiance."

No matter how protective the two were of their daughter, they were terrified at this moment.

Zhang Juan said hurriedly, "Yao’er, speak up, quick! Your Majesty will see that justice is done for you."

Only then did Lu Yao finally cry out, her voice full of grievance, "They forced me to confess to that! I didn’t try to seduce him! I couldn’t sleep the night before last, so I went for a walk. It was too dark to see the path, and I accidentally fell into the pond."

"I swam over, and when I climbed ashore, I ran into him... I was just greeting him, but he had drunk so much wine... He... he did something to me for no reason... *sob*..."

Her words were deliberately misleading.

Xiao Yang: "What did he do to you?"

Upon hearing the question, Lu Yao became incoherent with sobs. "*Sob*... He... he took advantage of me..."

Xiao Yang ignored Lu Yao, instead looking at Lu Pin. Her eyes lowered, carrying a heavy weight of authority. "It’s clear, Lord Lu, that you truly dote on this precious daughter of yours. So much so that you haven’t taught her a single rule of propriety."

Before Lu Yao could protest, she continued, "Since Lu Yao can’t seem to speak clearly, then Li Wei will."

"Where did you touch her?"

Li Wei replied, "I never touched her. I only said two things to her. The first was, ’You have defiled this place.’ The second was, ’I do not kill the innocent, and I hope you are.’ She was not a spy, so I kept my promise. She was only disciplined; her life was not threatened."

’Li Wei was beginning to regret it. If he had known it would come to this, he might as well have just killed her.’

’He had plenty of blood on his hands already. What was one more?’