Princess, she is the one who facilitated the extradition.

Mao Dan, hiding in the tree, grumbled in dissatisfaction, "Isn't it inappropriate for them to be kissing like this?"

The man wielding a sword, speaking in a shrill voice amidst the crowd, said, "His Highness the Crown Prince sent General Zhang here to help the aggrieved party seek justice."

General Zhang seems more concerned about his wife and daughters. Does that mean we common folk don't deserve the attention of officials?

"That's not it. His Highness the Crown Prince cares deeply about the people."

Mao Dan echoed him, "It depends on the individual. The Minister of Justice didn't cause so much trouble."

With these two voices leading the way, many people expressed their dissatisfaction.

"That's right. The mother and child were in such a terrible state, but General Zhang didn't seem to care at all. This is how government officials treat us common people with such indifference."

"This is practically a court case, and the general's wife and young lady have also joined in the fun, not only dragging their feet and wasting time, but also causing a lot of trouble."

"Yes, if couples want to be loving, they should go home and be loving. What kind of behavior is this, behaving like this in someone else's time of suffering?"

……

The voices of discontent grew louder and louder, reaching the ears of Master Zhang. He frowned, about to say something, when Bai grabbed his arm.

Bai Shi, frail and weak, looked at Gui Yao and said, "I'm sorry, I only came here to do my part, but my health is failing me and I've affected you, Miss."

I apologize to the young lady and ask that she not take her anger out on my husband. He is not good with words, but he is extremely kind-hearted. Please don't misunderstand him.

Such witty and sarcastic remarks are utterly disgusting.

She smiled faintly. "Does Madam have any grievances against His Majesty?"

"What?"

Bai was slightly taken aback.

Normally, shouldn't Gui Yao have gone along with her and proven herself?

Why bring up His Majesty all of a sudden?

Gui Yao bowed towards the direction of the palace and said, "This humble girl is unworthy, but has been bestowed the title of Princess Xuanji by His Majesty."

The lady first disregarded my status, and then slandered me for being dissatisfied with General Zhang.

"But this is my first meeting with you, Madam, and we have no prior grudges. Your behavior suggests you harbor resentment towards His Majesty."

"I don't."

Bai paused for a moment, then forced a smile, "I didn't know the princess's identity because I used to live outside the city with the general, and only recently returned..."

"Have you heard me utter a single word that criticizes General Zhang?"

Gui Yao interrupted Bai Shi.

She was bestowed the title of princess for saving the people, and the whole city knew about it.

The fact that Bai was able to come to the theater and send someone to assassinate Aye shows that although she didn't live in the city, she was well-informed and could easily have known her identity.

Yes.

Gui Yao knew who Bai was the moment she saw her.

She looked at Madam Bai with a half-smile, "This princess did praise the two of you for your good relationship. Perhaps, Madam, you think I misspoke?"

Bai was speechless.

Gui Yao didn't say anything bad about them, but Bai's original intention was to point the finger at Gui Yao, but Gui Yao didn't follow the expected path at all.

With tears welling in her almond-shaped eyes, she looked at Master Zhang with a mixture of grievance and resentment. "Master, I..."

Master Zhang was heartbroken and didn't think there was anything wrong with his wife. Instead, he felt that Gui Yao was targeting her.

But he had heard all the people's comments, and now that his wife and Gui Yao were no longer there to argue with them, it would only make the people more dissatisfied with them.

He held his wife's hand and said, "Don't be afraid, I'm here."

He'll have plenty of opportunities to deal with a girl with no background who got the title of princess through trickery and deception.

Just then, Ah Ye followed the lantern as they came out of the back door of the restaurant.

Although he was dressed in new clothes, his skin was dark, his face was thin, and his exposed hands had large knuckles, which showed that he had been working hard for many years.

He was already lame, and due to his serious injury, he walked very slowly, so the lantern was held to help him.

The spirit felt sorry for him and wanted to help him up, but then remembered that getting too close to him was bad for his health, so it could only look at its son with longing, "Ono".

Ah Ye can't see or hear, but he knows his mother is under Gui Yao's umbrella, which gives him a lot of courage.

He walked up to the crown prince and knelt down with neither arrogance nor servility.

"This humble subject, A-Ye, pays his respects to Your Highness the Crown Prince, begging Your Highness to find my biological father."

His injuries hadn't fully healed, and he knelt with some difficulty. He said, "I want to ask him, if you are so fond of other women, why did you marry my mother and ruin her life?"

Why would you name your own flesh and blood "bastard"? Why...?

He paused, took a deep breath, and kowtowed to the Crown Prince. "Your Highness, please forgive my rudeness."

The Crown Prince nodded slightly.

With the Crown Prince's permission, A-Ye loosened his shirt, revealing his entire upper body, and said in a choked voice, "This humble subject would like to ask what heinous crime I have committed that would make him so cruel to his own son."

Gasps and exclamations rose from the crowd.

On the thin, bony body, there wasn't a single patch of good flesh; some even had holes gouged out—wounds caused by removing maggots and rotting flesh.

Before A-Ye arrived, he tore off all the wounds from the wrappings. As long as he could get justice for his mother, he didn't mind showing his wretched state to gain sympathy.

The effect was excellent, and the onlookers were furious.

"This father is worse than an animal. It's bad enough that he abandoned his wife and children, but why does he have to abuse his own children like this?"

"Killing someone is just a matter of a head falling to the ground, but these wounds all over the body are the result of years of hard work."

Someone chimed in, "I can't even imagine how much suffering this child has endured to get to where he is today."

"A father like that deserves to be struck by lightning and die a horrible death."

……

Amidst the jeers and curses of the crowd, some sighed, "But the dead remember nothing; it's going to be very difficult to find that heartless man."

Mao Dan, hidden in the tree, used his powers again, "Hey, that young master in the blue brocade robe looks a lot like this aggrieved person."

Having received his master's orders, and cooperating fully with Gui Yao and Mao Dan, he hurriedly asked, "Where is it? Could it be the child of A Ye's father and stepmother?"

Upon hearing this, the other people all looked for the person dressed in blue, and even the crown prince couldn't help but scan the entire scene.

The Minister of Justice had a keen eye and immediately spotted Tong Er, who was squeezing to the front to watch the commotion.

However, he recognized him and immediately went to the Crown Prince. "Your Highness, that man is the second young master of the Marquis of Cheng'an's mansion. This old minister thinks that his appearance does indeed resemble A'ye by about 50%.

"Cheng'an Marquis Mansion?"

The Crown Prince frowned slightly. "If I remember correctly, the Lady of Cheng'an Marquis married into the capital from another region?"

He had basic information about the major powerful figures in the capital, including the Eight Dukes and the Ten Marquises.

The Minister of Justice nodded. "Exactly."

"Bring it over."

As soon as the Crown Prince spoke, the Imperial Guards immediately stepped forward.

Tong Er dreamed of meeting the Crown Prince and currying favor with the Eastern Palace, but this was not the case.

"Your Highness, this is a coincidence."

After bowing, he hurriedly explained, "My father and mother were the first couple, and my father never abandoned his wife and children."

Among all these people, he was the only one who looked like Aye, and his mother was from out of town. What a coincidence!

The prince looked at him, then at Aye, and the more he looked, the more he resembled him.

"Guards, please summon Marquis Cheng'an."

Tong Er is a few years younger than A Ye, so he may not really know about his parents' affairs.

The Yilong Guard was mobilized once again.

A smile flashed in Gui Yao's eyes.

She made a pact with the spirits of the dead, and originally she was only to help them find people and not to do anything related to the Marquis of Cheng'an's mansion.

But there's not a single good person in the entire Cheng'an Marquis's household; such a family doesn't deserve to be the Marquis of Dasheng.

Then let's take care of it all at once.

My gaze swept over Bai Shi, who was holding her daughter's hand and writing something in her palm.

Gui Yao narrowed her eyes, turned her face away without making a sound, but kept an eye on the movements of the Zhang family of three.

After Bai finished writing, Miss Zhang withdrew from the crowd.

Gui Yao walked up to the Crown Prince, turned her back to the Bai couple, and asked in a low voice, "Your Highness, there may be unforeseen circumstances. Could you lend me two Imperial Guards to secretly keep an eye on the Cheng'an Marquis's residence?"

The crown prince couldn't understand what she meant by the change, but he did it all in order to find out the truth as soon as possible.

Although he was unhappy with Gui Yao's arrangements for his people, he eventually agreed.

The two Yilong Guards retreated silently.

Gui Yao thanked him, then moved her ankle slightly and used a bell to contact Mao Dan, instructing it to tell Xiao Huaijin to keep an eye on Miss Zhang Liu.

She didn't have that much faith in the Crown Prince.

Bai Shi, unaware of Gui Yao's arrangements, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Ah Ye really was that bastard, and he even looked somewhat similar to the Second Master.

Fortunately, the Second Master had liked to grow a beard since he was young, and in the past twenty years, his beard had grown so long that it covered half of his face, and even his own nephew, the Crown Prince, did not notice anything amiss.

Instead, they mistook him for Marquis Cheng'an.

That's fine too, as long as the daughter gets there first, kills the Marquis of Cheng'an and his wife with a dagger soaked in the corpse's aura, and then seals their seven orifices with the soil from their grave.

The Marquis of Cheng'an and his wife would be utterly devastated and unable to speak again, thus allowing the blame to be placed on them.

She and the master are safe now.

Thinking of this, she grasped Master Zhang's hand, her voice trembling, "Master, please believe me. I have never harmed anyone, and I don't know what happened."

She then knew that the master must have also noticed something amiss.

When Master Zhang saw A Ye's appearance, his mind went blank.

Based on what the ghost said, he realized that the mother and son were his wife and eldest son whom he had raised in the countryside.

Over the years, he has lived a harmonious life with his beloved, and they have a son and a daughter. He has long forgotten about the two women.

But I never intended to torment them; I don't know how they ended up like this.

Hearing Bai's words, he took her hand and said, "I know you have the kindest heart."

A slight smile played on her red lips beneath the handkerchief. Bai's voice was filled with helplessness and panic. "What should we do now? I don't mind dying, but I can't let anyone ruin Master's life."

The word "death" immediately brought Zhang Erye back to his senses. He glanced at Tong Er and said, "Don't worry."

He would never let anything happen to his beloved, so let the Tong family take responsibility.