Changsheng: Peak at the Beginning

Chapter 1798 Water Dragon's Chant 2

The news that Princess Langya had returned to the palace, been granted the title of Grand Princess, and that the Emperor had bestowed upon her a grand princess residence and granted her the freedom to marry as she pleased naturally caused a great uproar in the capital. Previously, the court officials had allowed Princess Jiang Xinxin to have the entire Langya Commandery as her fiefdom because it was highly likely that she would not be found again. Now that she had returned, the matter of the fiefdom needed to be reconsidered.

Jiang Xinxin also found the large fiefdom of Langya County sensitive and troublesome, so she immediately asked the emperor to reduce her fiefdom. "Father, you also know that the reason why you granted me a fiefdom was approved in the court was because most of the court officials felt that I had already met with misfortune. Even though Langya County is a real fiefdom, it is actually just a nominal one."

"Now that most of the court officials are against it, I cannot bear to see Father Emperor being criticized for these trivial matters and feel troubled. Why not change Langya County to a designated fief?"

The emperor was naturally very grateful for his daughter's thoughtfulness, but now he felt that the Langya Prefecture should be given to his eldest daughter.

First of all, Jiang Xinxin was the apple of the emperor's eye when he and Empress Tang were deeply in love during their early years. In fact, he risked his own title and safety to save her life back then, so the sunk cost was considerable. Therefore, even after many years apart, he still misses her and thinks about her.

Secondly, this precious daughter wouldn't have much impact on politics, so the emperor was happy to devote all his affections to her.

Moreover, in recent years, the court officials have increasingly put pressure on him as emperor, and he is unwilling to be mediocre, so he naturally wants to do something to centralize the power that should belong to the emperor.

The emperor firmly disagreed with Jiang Xinxin's resignation. Jiang Xinxin did not want to stay in the palace and become a target, pushed out by the emperor to play games with the court officials. So she simply left a letter after the palace banquet and went to wander the world.

After her initial disappointment, Empress Tang wholeheartedly agreed with her daughter's decision, though she couldn't help but join the emperor in criticizing and complaining. The emperor still harbored genuine affection for Jiang Xinxin, and besides, even though court affairs were closely related to her, her presence or absence made no difference.

At the palace banquet, Jiang Xinxin's manners and etiquette, even if learned only temporarily, far surpassed those of the princesses who had grown up in the palace. Moreover, her beauty was unparalleled, far surpassing that of the princes and princesses in the palace. After the emperor's criticism and complaints, he couldn't help but praise her.

Empress Tang naturally tried to deepen the relationship between her daughter and the emperor, hoping that she would receive more favor and protection. It is said that parents who love their children plan far ahead for them, and Empress Tang was such a far-sighted and intelligent mother.

Having left the palace, Jiang Xinxin naturally felt relieved and quickly picked up what she hadn't finished before, then took a boat straight down to Jiangnan.

However, halfway there, they encountered a massacre that wiped out an entire family. Rumors circulated that the entire Hao family had been killed by a black-clad man who carried a pipa and used sonic killing techniques. This black-clad pipa player could kill hundreds of people in an instant just by plucking the pipa; he was truly a formidable character.

Jiang Xinxin took out a silver coin and said to the waiter who came to refill her tea, "I am very interested in the case of the Hao family. Is it really true that there is not a single survivor in the Hao family?"

The waiter, unfazed, casually slipped the silver coin into his sleeve and quickly revealed what he knew: "Actually, there is still one survivor in the Hao family, the young mistress who just married into the family. However, as the only survivor, the yamen officials believe that she is involved in the matter, and she is probably being tortured in the yamen now."

Jiang Xinxin took out another silver coin and continued to ask, "Do you know who this only surviving young mistress is?"

The waiter was immediately at a loss, but precisely because of this, he felt that there was nothing wrong with the government taking the newly arrived bride away for questioning: "The problem is that this bride is of unknown origin! The Hao family is not some unknown family in our area. Logically speaking, even if they were to marry off the least favored son of the family, they should have chosen a daughter from a respectable family. How could they choose someone of unknown origin to be their young mistress?"

"Everyone in the city knows that this young mistress is an orphan girl brought back from outside by the eldest son of the Hao family. There are many rumors about her background. The most common rumor is that she is a courtesan from Jiangnan, while another says that she is the descendant of a disgraced official. In any case, she is not from a good family. It was only after the young master of the Hao family threatened his life that the master of the Hao family agreed to arrange the marriage."

Jiang Xinxin wasn't in a hurry to go to the government office to get the young mistress's confession. Instead, she went to the Hao residence to investigate. Unexpectedly, she encountered government officials confiscating the Hao family's property. Naturally, she immediately went down to stop them: "How dare you!"

"The murder case at the Hao family residence remains unsolved, yet you dare to openly rob the Hao family of their property. You should be punished as robbers!"

The group of constables naturally stopped what they were doing, but they didn't expect the newcomer to be just a young woman. She kept talking about the law, so the head constable, Yang Shangqing, didn't dare to underestimate her. He simply stepped forward and shouted, "When the government is handling a case, all bystanders, why aren't you leaving?!"

Jiang Xinxin had absolutely no tolerance for these idiots. She knocked them all to the ground with a single palm strike, then stepped on Yang Shangqing's chest to immobilize him before beginning her interrogation: "Tell me, what exactly did the sole survivor of the Hao family confess?"

Having witnessed Jiang Xinxin's martial arts skills, Yang Shangqing naturally valued his life and quickly confessed: "I personally killed everyone in the Hao family, but I was forced to do it. Someone coerced me into doing all this. That person insisted on framing a person named Tang Lizhi for the massacre!"

Just then, three people burst in. They happened to hear Yang Shangqing say that someone had committed the massacre of the Hao family in order to frame Tang Lizhi. The man and woman on the left and right sides all looked at the person in the middle. With just one glance, Jiang Xinxin knew that Tang Lizhi, the person who had been framed, was among the three people who had entered.

Jiang Xinxin withdrew her foot and released Yang Shangqing, then looked directly at Tang Lizhi, who possessed extraordinary luck, and asked, "Are you Tang Lizhi?"

"Then you must know exactly who committed this massacre?"

Tang Lizhi hadn't expected this girl to be so clever and perceptive, and that she might soon be able to find out about her senior brother Liu Yan. So she pretended to know nothing and replied, "I am Tang Lizhi, but I don't know who would choose to use the lives of these hundred or so people to frame me. I am also investigating this case."