My husband, who abandoned his father and kept his son, actually wants me to be his concubine.

Chapter 106 The Princess Pays for Murder

Lu Jinshi carried Rou'er into the house.

Lu Jinshi changed her clothes first, then wiped Xiao Rou'er's face. Seeing that Xiao Rou'er was quiet and reserved, she carried her to Yuan Fei.

"Uncle," Xiao Rou'er finally spoke to Yuan Fei.

Qi Li smiled and said, "So my little sister isn't a mute after all."

Yuan Fei took Rou'er from Lu Jinshi's hands and asked, "What's wrong with Rou'er? Why isn't she wearing shoes?"

Rong Yi looked at Yuan Fei and said, "Something terrible has happened to your Yuan family estate..."

Yuan Fei exclaimed in utter shock, "What?"

Lu Jinshi said, "All the servants in the manor are dead, and Wan Niang was also stabbed five times. Rong Yi and I suspect that it was your brother who did it."

Yuan Fei shook his head and said, "My brother? My brother wouldn't go so far as to kill Wan Niang... It certainly wasn't my brother who committed the crime. I'm not trying to exonerate my brother, but he's being held captive by my mother. My parents are afraid he'll cause trouble, so they've sent people to keep an eye on him. There's no way he could have sent someone to commit the crime."

Rong Yi said, "If it weren't your brother, who else would have such a deep hatred for Wan Niang?"

Yuan Fei looked down at Rou'er in his arms and said, "It's not my elder brother's, Rong-ge. I can guarantee it with my life. These past few days, my brother has been drinking all the time at home. He did want to kill Wan Niang before, but that was because Wan Niang provoked him first, and he was just angry. Even if he wanted to kill her, he wouldn't have killed the servants in the manor. He could have let the servants in the manor do the deed to Wan Niang. Those servants in the manor were originally servants of our Yuan family."

Rong Yi and Lu Jinshi exchanged a glance. "Yuan Fei is right. I misunderstood Yuan Jie."

Lu Jinshi asked, "Who else could Mother have offended that night?"

Rong Yi said, "Let the Ministry of Justice investigate."

Lu Jinshi nodded and looked at Yuan Fei, saying, "Rou'er will have to be taken care of by you."

Yuan Fei said, "Okay."

“I can take care of Rou’er,” Qi Li said, standing on tiptoe. “I want Rou’er to come back to the palace with me, and I will take care of her.”

Xiao Rou'er, who was in Yuan Fei's arms, struggled to get down and took Qi Li's hand.

Lu Jinshi looked at Qi Li with a headache and asked, "Can you take good care of the little sister?"

Qi Li said, "Yes."

Lu Jinshi: "The little girl is still wearing diapers, can you help her wash them...?"

Qi Li looked up and said, "I can't, but my wet nurse can help me take care of my little sister. I want my little sister, and she's willing to stay with me."

When Rou'er looked up at Lu Jin, her small hand was tightly holding Qi Li's hand.

Rong Yi smiled and said, "It's good to let Qi Li keep this little girl by his side; it will also protect her safety."

Lu Jinshi said, "Could it be that the Prince of Jin and his wife allowed their son to take a little sister home on his first day of school?"

Rong Yi said, "It's good that Prince Jin is under house arrest. It's good to give them more daughters to practice with. I'm sure Prince Jin has been longing for daughters for a long time."

Lu Jinshi said, "That's fine too."

On the carriage back to the Prince of Jin's residence, Xiao Qili continued to chatter, and Rou'er would occasionally reply to Xiao Qili, which only made Xiao Qili talk even more enthusiastically.

They arrived at the Prince of Jin's residence.

When the Prince of Jin and his wife saw their son return, leading a little girl by the hand, they couldn't help but frown.

The Prince of Jin looked at the little girl and felt a sense of familiarity. "Isn't this Yuan Jie's illegitimate daughter?"

"Father, she is my little sister, and I want to raise her."

The Prince of Jin said, "Her mother harmed your aunt, so you must not raise this little sister."

"But Auntie doesn't dislike this little sister..."

Prince Jin frowned and looked at Rong Yi, saying, "Seventh brother, what do you mean by this? Didn't you take Li'er to study? How come you let Li'er follow you to study, and instead she brought back a younger sister?"

Lu Jinshi asked doubtfully, "Brother, did the Seventh Prince bring home a younger sister when he was studying?" Prince Jin replied, "Wasn't that younger sister you?"

Lu Jinshi said, "I'm not his sister; I'm two years older than him. Eldest brother, sister-in-law, Rou'er's mother has had an accident. Rou'er probably witnessed the bloodshed firsthand, and she's in a daze. She trusts Qi Li the most now, so the Seventh Prince and I thought it would be better to have Qi Li take care of Rou'er..."

Princess Jin frowned, wary of Lu Jinshi, and said, "We don't want this child. You can take her away. She's not without family..."

Qi Li said, "Father, Mother, if you drive my sister away, I will go with her!"

Princess Jin took a deep breath. "How could I have given birth to such a good-for-nothing who only knows about pastries?"

Qi Li held Xiao Rou'er's hand tightly and said, "Don't be afraid. Brother will protect you."

Princess Jin was so angry that her face turned black upon seeing this.

Rong Yi said, "If my brother and sister-in-law cannot tolerate Rou'er, then send someone to send her to the Yuan family. We will take our leave now."

As Princess Jin watched Rong Yi and Lu Jinshi leave, she looked at Prince Jin and said, "What mischief are those two plotting? Do they want this young girl to use her beauty to undermine our Li'er's spirit?"

Prince Jin laughed and said, "How old is Li'er? How could a beauty trap work?"

Princess Jin said, "Those two are up to no good."

After returning to the palace, Rong Yi went to the Zichen Palace to report the murder case at the estate to Emperor Huiyuan.

Emperor Huiyuan frowned and said, "If it wasn't a robbery of silver and jewelry, nor was it Yuan Jie hiring someone to kill, then who else would act so ruthlessly?"

Rong Yi said slowly, "I was thinking about it on the way here. Perhaps she's heading towards my elder sister... Let's just wait and see."

Emperor Huiyuan raised his eyes and said, "Miaomiao is truly kind-hearted; she even saved Wanniang."

Rong Yi said, "Jin Shi also felt that Wan Niang's crime did not warrant death; after all, she was not a vicious criminal."

After nightfall, Lu Jinshi tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

Having finally fallen asleep, Lu Jinshi felt as if he were surrounded by corpses, and was then jolted awake.

Rong Yi pulled Lu Jinshi into his arms and asked, "What's wrong?"

Lu Jinshi said, "I had a nightmare about corpses."

Rong Yi hugged Lu Jinshi tightly and said, "I'll have a palace maid brew a calming soup and light some calming incense."

Lu Jinshi nodded. She waited for more than half an hour, and after taking the calming soup, she was still feeling drowsy and unable to fall asleep.

Rong Yi said to Lu Jinshi, "Let me talk to you. You don't need to go to the academy tomorrow."

Lu Jinshi looked at Rong Yi and said, "This is the first time I've ever seen so many corpses... Every time I close my eyes, all I see is the scene in the manor just now. I wonder if it's because they had nowhere to seek justice, so they came to me in my dreams..."

Rong Yi gently patted Lu Jinshi's back and said, "The Ministry of Justice will definitely investigate this matter."

Lu Jinshi didn't fall asleep until midnight, and she got up again at dawn.

Feeling drowsy, Lu Jinshi didn't want to go to the academy and instead stayed in the hall to play with Zhang'er.

Caiyun rushed over to report: "Miss, I received a message from Shuangxi that Wanniang's family is causing trouble at the Princess's residence, demanding that Her Highness pay for the murder with her life!"

"The stepmother's family..."

Lu Jinshi said, "Let's go take a look."

Just as Lu Jinshi arrived at the entrance of the Jade Glazed Palace, Rong Yi came over and said, "The murderer who killed Wan Niang really is targeting my elder sister. Right now, they're making a scene at the Princess's residence, demanding that my elder sister pay for the murder with her life!"

Lu Jinshi asked, "Has Wan Niang woken up in the military camp?"

Rong Yi said, "The news came this morning that his life has been saved, but he has been running a high fever and has not yet woken up."

Lu Jinshi said, "Let's go see my elder sister first. The murderer is probably not only after my elder sister, but also after the marriage alliance between my elder sister and the Prince An's mansion."

After all, Princess Yongjia had always been kind to others and had never offended anyone. The person who would use such a powerful method of killing could not simply be trying to frame the princess.