Feng Jingye grew impatient as well. He turned to Chen Jianzhi and said, "Jianzhi, even if you don't think about others, you should at least think about your sister. She's just pregnant, and the fetus is unstable. She can't bear any stimulation! If something happens to the Duke of Chen's Mansion, how can she go on living?"
Feng Jingye's and Cuizhu's words finally moved Chen Jianzhi. He opened his mouth and slowly said, "The second young lady went to the outskirts of the city at that time... to meet someone."
"Who?" Bai Zheng asked.
Chen Jianzhi looked up, his eyes full of complexity as he stared at Bai Zheng. "Does the third young lady still remember that two months ago, you took the second young lady's carriage and went out of the city together for a banquet? But at the banquet, the second young lady and Young Master Chu ridiculed you. Unable to bear the humiliation, you left the banquet alone and returned to the city..."
Bai Zheng nodded faintly. "I remember."
Feng Linyuan tightened his grip on Bai Zheng's hand. Looking at Bai Zheng, who seemed so calm, as if she were listening to someone else's story, a deep sense of pity welled up in his heart.
Chen Jianzhi heaved a deep sigh. "That day, when the third young lady was on her way back, did anything unexpected happen when she passed by Bandit Mountain?"
Bai Zheng half - lowered her eyes. "I was unlucky. I met a few bandits."
"What bandits! Didn't you say that you went to your grandmother's house to deliver medicine those days?" Bai Sheng snapped.
At that time, Bai Di and Chu Feng were singing a duet at the gate of the Bai Mansion, almost ruining Bai Zheng's reputation completely. Fortunately, Bai Zheng came prepared. She asked someone under Feng Linyuan to buy crystal osmanthus cakes in Ning City, which proved her innocence.
There was a touch of sadness on Bai Zheng's face. She said faintly, "Father and Mother have worried so much about me, especially Mother, who has always been timid. If she knew that I met bandits, she would be extremely worried. That's why I didn't say anything. Besides, although I was unlucky enough to meet bandits, I wasn't really hurt..."
Chen Jianzhi shook his head. "This wasn't just bad luck for the third young lady."
Feng Jingyi seemed to sense something amiss and asked, "What do you mean?"
Chen Jianzhi lowered his head, not daring to look at anyone. He said, "The third young lady didn't need to pass by Bandit Mountain on her way back to the city, but someone deliberately led her there. And those bandits didn't appear by chance. They were waiting there on purpose for the third young lady."
Finally, as everyone expected, a crack appeared on Bai Zheng's calm face. She stared at him with her watery eyes, unable to believe what she heard. "You mean, the reason I got into trouble that day was because someone framed me?"
Chen Jianzhi tightened his lips and frowned deeply, showing his inner struggle perfectly. Finally, he took a deep breath and said, "The second young lady went to the outskirts of the city that day to meet the leader of the bandits on Bandit Mountain. She just wanted them to wait on the mountain road back to the city on the appointed day and attack you, the third young lady."
"You're talking nonsense!" Bai Sheng shouted. "Di'er and Zheng'er are cousins. Why would she deliberately find someone to kill Zheng'er for no reason?"
Although she said so, Bai Sheng was extremely flustered inside.
She knew almost everything about what Bai Di had done.
What Chen Jianzhi said was very likely to be the truth.
Her eyebrows furrowed deeper and deeper, and her heart was pounding.
On the other side, Bai Zheng's face was pale, but she still forced herself to be calm and said, "Eldest sister is right. Second sister and I are sisters. Why would she harm me? Does Young Master Chen have any evidence?"
Chen Jianzhi pondered for a while and then said, "Third young lady, I heard that some time ago, a girl from the Willow Lane caused a great disturbance at the gate of your Bai Mansion, saying that you had detained her elder brother for no reason?"
After Lianyi made a scene that day, the news that the Bai Mansion had helped the Prefectural Magistrate's Office to raid Bandit Mountain had spread throughout Yongding.
Of course, in fact, it was the Marquis of Dingyuan's Mansion that had quelled the bandits. But no one knew how Feng Linyuan had manipulated things behind the scenes to change the rumor, and the Prefectural Magistrate was naturally happy to take this great credit that fell from the sky.
Bai Zheng nodded. As if she had thought of something, she immediately asked, "You mean... those bandits?"
"Since the Bai Mansion helped the Prefectural Magistrate's Office to raid the bandit nest, it should be very easy to get in touch with those bandits. Just interrogate them, and you'll know if there was any deal between the second young lady and their big and second bosses." Chen Jianzhi replied.
Let the Bai Mansion interrogate the bandits?
Hearing this, Bai Zheng didn't know whether to refuse or agree. She could only timidly look up at Feng Linche above.
This was a dirty matter between sisters. Almost every family in Yongding had such problems. If it were in normal times, Feng Linche wouldn't even bother to care.
But this time, the people and things involved were too complicated. It was no longer just a fight between sisters. Therefore, even if Feng Linche didn't want to care, he had to. Even if he didn't want to investigate, he had to find out the truth.
He said in a deep voice, "Summon the Prefectural Magistrate."
Since this matter was related to Bai Zheng, of course, the Bai Mansion couldn't be involved in the interrogation anymore to avoid partiality.
It would be better to let the Prefectural Magistrate come with the investigation results directly.
Bai Sheng knew that this matter had completely gotten out of hand, and she couldn't handle it by herself.
As soon as Feng Linche finished speaking, a young eunuch standing behind him stepped forward in response and respectfully backed away.
Just as the young eunuch reached the palace door and was about to turn around, his gaze seemed to casually sweep across everyone in the palace.
Bai Sheng slowly raised her hand and brushed the hair beside her ear. Her eyes were full of meaning.
The young eunuch nodded slightly, turned around, stepped out of the palace door, and ran away.
On the other side, Feng Linyuan was still asking, "You said that someone deliberately led Zheng'er to Bandit Mountain that day. Who was that person?"
Chen Jianzhi looked like he was willing to tell everything. He replied, "The second young lady deliberately went to pick up the third young lady that day and let the third young lady take the General's Mansion's carriage to the banquet together, so the Bai Mansion's carriage didn't follow. When returning to the city, the third young lady left alone first. Without a carriage, she had to stop a random carriage on the road."
Bai Zheng nodded.
"The coachman was arranged by the second young lady."
"Do you know who that coachman is?" Feng Linyuan's expression became serious.
When Bai Zheng was in trouble that day, it was a cold winter, and he was at his weakest. He only roughly investigated and learned that the person behind it was Bai Di. Before he had time to investigate thoroughly, all his attention was taken away by the loss of 200,000 taels of disaster relief silver.
After that, he was poisoned and had no time to care about this matter anymore. So even until now, he still didn't know exactly how Bai Di had done it and which people she had bribed in the process.
Now, hearing Chen Jianzhi mention this matter, he felt a sharp pain in the softest part of his heart.
This should have been his job. His own woman should have been protected by him.
But now, it was Bai Zheng who had stepped forward and made a deal with Princess Yunxi, contributing both effort and resources to avenge herself.
This was his dereliction of duty!