Chapter 495 Self-inflicted Misery

Chapter 495: You Reap What You Sow

The moment she entered the residence, Xu ordered the servants to close the main gate quickly and not open it no matter who knocked.

She had thought her plan was foolproof, but now that trouble had arisen, she began to feel uneasy.

"My lord, what should we do now? Princess Ye won't really go before the Emperor to report us, will she?"

"She has the Empress and Duke Rong's residence backing her, while we have neither power nor influence. How can we possibly contend with Princess Ye?"

At this thought, Xu had a sudden inspiration and said, "My lord, this matter arose because of the Crown Prince. Could you go and plead with the Crown Prince to help us?"

Magistrate Zhong snorted coldly, "Foolish! The Crown Prince and Prince Ye are brothers. If Prince Ye and Princess Ye were to find out that he was the one stirring up trouble to destroy their marital relationship, do you think Princess Ye would let it go?"

"We cannot afford to offend Princess Ye, but if the Crown Prince gets into trouble, our Zhong residence won't fare well either."

Upon hearing this, Xu became anxious and said, "Then what do you suggest we do? Xin Yu is dead. Within a day, the news that the Zhong residence had a maidservant replace the young lady in marriage will likely spread far and wide."

"If the Emperor holds us accountable, what are we to do?"

Just as the two were at their wit's end, a servant came running in panic, "Master, Madam, something terrible has happened!"

Magistrate Zhong quickly asked, "What's wrong?"

"Master, I was just inventorying the betrothal gifts from Prince Ye's residence, preparing to store them away, when I opened the chests and discovered that all the jewelry and treasures inside had turned into stones!"

Magistrate Zhong's pupils shrank, and he grabbed the servant by the collar, asking incredulously, "What did you say!? All eighteen chests of betrothal gifts have turned into stones?"

The servant trembled but mustered the courage to say, "It's absolutely true, Master. I wouldn't dare lie. Many servants have seen it!"

Magistrate Zhong released his grip numbly, stumbling backward.

"How could this be? How could this be?"

Just yesterday when the people from Prince Ye's residence delivered the gifts, everything had been fine. How could they have suddenly all turned into stones?

Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he turned to Xu with a piercing gaze.

"Hurry, go inside and check—are the hundred thousand taels of silver notes that Princess Ye sent still there?"

Hearing this, Xu quickly ran into the room and retrieved a red sandalwood chest from the wardrobe.

She eagerly opened the chest and took out a stack of silver notes, examining them one by one.

When she saw clearly what was inside, her hands trembled, and she collapsed to the ground in shock.

Except for the top and bottom notes, which were silver notes, everything in between was plain paper.

And the top and bottom notes were drawn by hand—all fake.

"No, this can't be..."

"Why is this happening?" Xu clutched the plain paper and screamed in utter collapse.

Her cries brought Magistrate Zhong over. Upon seeing him, Xu immediately wept, "My lord, my lord... the silver notes are all fake. That scheming Princess Ye has tricked us!"

"The dowry—I need to go demand the return of Zhong Xinyu's dowry..."

She stood up and rushed toward the door, but Magistrate Zhong grabbed her and threw her to the ground.

"Enough! When the people from Prince Ye's residence delivered the betrothal gifts yesterday, didn't I tell you to inspect them carefully? How did you check them?"

Xu fell to the ground, not even bothering to cry out in pain, and could only sob, "My lord, this humble wife did inspect them. Yesterday those betrothal gifts and silver notes were all genuine."

"Just this morning when sending Ming Xia off in marriage, I took out the silver notes from the chest and checked them again—they were all real. Who would have thought they would suddenly all turn into plain paper!"

At this point, Magistrate Zhong suddenly recalled something.

Yesterday, the people from Prince Ye's residence had delivered the betrothal gifts to the Zhong residence's gate but had not come inside.

Not only that, but they had opened all eighteen chests in front of the passersby on the street and personally handed the hundred thousand taels of silver notes to Xu.

In doing so, they had shown everyone that the betrothal gifts and silver notes from Prince Ye's residence were genuine—it was the Zhong family themselves who had negligently lost them!

The matter of substituting a maidservant for the bride was already indefensible on the Zhong residence's part. Even if they went to kick up a fuss and demand Zhong Xinyu's dowry back, it would be impossible!

Unless they could bring Zhong Xinyu back to life and return all of Prince Ye's betrothal gifts in full.

Magistrate Zhong realized too late that he had been used by the Crown Prince, and Princess Ye had flipped the script on them, outsmarting them again.

Zhong Xinyu's sudden death, Ming Xia's unexpected betrayal, and all the betrothal gifts turning into stones and plain paper...

All of this was probably tied to Ji Yuntang.

It was precisely because she had seen through their plot that things kept going awry.

The irony was that they had thought their plan was flawless and perfect.

Realizing all this, Magistrate Zhong slumped to the ground in despair. "It's over, everything is over now!"

The tug-of-war between Prince Ye's residence and the Crown Prince was never something he should have interfered with.

But driven by greed, he had butted in, helping the Crown Prince plot against Princess Ye—only to be outsmarted in return.

Now all the silver the residence had accumulated had gone up in smoke, and whether he could even keep his post was uncertain.

What Magistrate Zhong didn't know was that a bigger danger was looming.

That very night, a group of assassins in black broke into the Zhong residence, slaughtering everyone in sight.

Screams echoed through the courtyard, and blood pooled on the ground.

All one hundred and four members of the Zhong household perished—not one was spared.

The massacre of the Zhong residence became the gossip among the capital's commoners the next day.

Those who mentioned it all shook their heads in regret, saying it was "you reap what you sow."

Some said it was Princess Ye's revenge, but Prince Chen personally led troops to guard Prince Ye's residence, and Ji Yuntang had a solid alibi.

She was angry, to be sure, but not so crazed as to kill even a five-year-old child.

Emperor Jingyang was furious and ordered a citywide manhunt for the true culprit, determined to find the group.

The news of the Zhong residence massacre was eventually told to Consort Li by Jian Lan, and her face changed slightly upon hearing it.

"What did you say? All one hundred and four members of the Zhong family have been killed?"

Jian Lan nodded. "Yes, Consort Li. The Emperor has now sent the Court of Judicial Review to investigate!"

Consort Li was shocked for just a moment before composing herself. She picked up her teacup and took a sip.

"They're dead, so what? They were mere ants in the capital—not worth mourning."

Jian Lan lowered her voice and whispered in her ear, "But, Consort Li, this maid has learned that the Crown Prince has been often visiting Prince Nanxiao at the inn at night lately. The Zhong family massacre is likely connected to both of them."

Upon hearing this, Consort Li not only failed to grow angry but instead curled her lips in a smile.

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