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

Chapter 63 Sixty strokes of the cane
Yuan Jie looked up at Princess Yongjia in disbelief.

Princess Yongjia said, “That day, my mother advised me to give you another chance. You knelt all night. I thought that if I had to be separated from you, I would not want to. Since I am unable to have children in this life, it would be alright to treat your child as my child. Although it would be painful, you and I would not have to worry about having children in the future, and we could live a better life.”

Princess Yongjia smiled bitterly, "But who knew that when I was willing to compromise for you, you would misunderstand me like this! You only believe what my stepmother said. You know I have never liked punishing maids. You said you could let the mother go and keep the child. Why would I want to harm my future child?"

Yuan Jie stood there, stunned.

Lady Yuan, the Duchess of Yuan, glared at Yuan Jie with exasperation and said, "Yuan Jie, you fool! You don't cherish the princess, but believe the slanderous words of that mistress. What can I say about you?"

Yuan Jie looked at Princess Yongjia and said, "Your Highness, Wan Niang did not mean to slander you. She is a commoner. If you do not allow her to get up, how can Wan Niang dare to get up?"

You really don't want to hurt Wan Niang, but Wan Niang isn't slandering you either. After all, Wan Niang really doesn't dare to get up.

"I didn't kill Bo Ren, yet Bo Ren died because of me. You don't want to harm Wan Niang, but Wan Niang truly lost her child because of you and only wants to die. I can only give her a proper status so that Your Highness can have one less life on your hands."

Lu Jinshi was furious at Yuan Jie's foolish idea: "If Wan Niang doesn't dare to get up, that's Wan Niang's own fault. What does it have to do with Her Highness the Princess not letting her get up?"

Yuan Jie said, "Wan Niang lost her child because the princess went to look for her."

Seeing that Yuan Jie was still convinced that the princess had harmed Wan Niang, Lu Jinshi frowned and said to Princess Yongjia, "Sister, since Yuan Jie is so stubborn and insists that you are guilty and is slandering you like this, then why don't you go to the Dali Temple and let them properly determine the crime?"

Princess Yongjia nodded to Lu Jinshi, "Alright, let's go to the Dali Temple..."

Madam Yuan repeatedly stepped in front of Princess Yongjia, saying, "Your Highness, if you are angry, you may beat, scold, or punish Yuan Jie as you please, but please do not go to the Dali Temple. If this family scandal gets out, it will be a loss of face for you..."

Lu Jinshi scoffed and said, "This matter must go through the government. Otherwise, who knows how your Yuan State Duke's Mansion will slander Her Highness in the future? Her Highness cannot bear the crime of harming the unborn child for nothing."

Madam Yuan tried to stop her again, but was held back by two maids beside Princess Yongjia.

Yuan Jie frowned and looked at Lu Jinshi, then said to Princess Yongjia, "Your Highness, Lu Jinshi has no good intentions towards you! This matter has caused a great uproar in the Dali Temple, which is also a disgrace to you."

Princess Yongjia glanced at Lu Jinshi and said coldly to Yuan Jie, "Unlike you, I can't tell right from wrong."

Yuan Jie frowned slightly.

After Lu Jinshi helped Princess Yongjia out of the gate of the Duke of Yuan's mansion, he took her to the Dali Temple.

In the carriage, Princess Yongjia gently wiped away her tears of grievance with a handkerchief. "If I had divorced Yuan Jie simply because I couldn't have children, we could have parted amicably after these two years of marriage... I probably wouldn't regret it so much."

"But I never expected that my marriage would end like this. The boy who once vowed to protect me for the rest of my life and make me happy for the rest of my life has now made me shed countless tears."

Lu Jinshi said slowly, "Sister, Yuan Jie has been accusing you of harming Wan Niang's child. Isn't that just him trying to cover up his own mistakes? He is the one who betrayed you and your husband. The fault lies entirely with him, but now that he has found fault with you, he has an excuse..."

Yuan Jie kept saying that he was forced to take Wan Niang as a concubine because he didn't want you to bear the burden of two lives, and therefore he truly believed that he still loved you deeply, so he was willing to take a mistress as a concubine for your sake.

Princess Yongjia looked at Lu Jinshi and said, "I didn't expect that you, who are a few years younger than me, would see things so much more clearly than I do." Lu Jinshi smiled faintly and said, "Perhaps this is a case of the onlooker seeing more of the game than the player. A woman's infatuation is something that cannot be spoken of. Sister, you should get out of this situation as soon as possible and not be fooled by Yuan Jie's sweet words anymore."

Princess Yongjia said, "Yes, I will not be fooled by his sweet words, and we can never go back to the way things were."

The stepmother was one cause, and Lu Xiao was another...

We arrived at the Dali Temple.

Upon learning of Princess Yongjia's arrival, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review rushed to the entrance of the court to greet her, saying, "Your subject pays respects to Your Highness."

Princess Yongjia said, "Lord Liu, there's no need for such formalities. Please rise!"

Liu Siqing slowly rose and said, "I didn't know that Your Highness had graced us with your presence. What brings you here?"

Princess Yongjia said, "I have come to the Dali Temple today because of Yuan Jie, the eldest son of the Yuan family of the Duke of Zhenguo. He has repeatedly slandered the princess, saying that I killed the child in the womb of his mistress and that I have a blood on my hands. I have come to ask Minister Liu to give me justice and to properly punish Yuan Jie."

Upon hearing this, Minister Liu felt a headache coming on. The princess had truly presented him with a major problem. "Your Highness, this..."

Princess Yongjia said, "I hope Minister Liu will interrogate Yuan Jie thoroughly and give me justice."

Liu Siqing said in a low voice, "Your Highness, shouldn't you be going to the Ministry of Justice? Our Dali Temple doesn't handle this..."

Before Liu Siqing could finish speaking, Lu Jinshi walked up to him and said, "The Dali Temple is responsible for handling cases involving officials of the court. Yuan Jie is the son of the Duke of Zhenguo. His case of slandering the princess is perfectly suited to be handled by your Dali Temple."

Liu Siqing was very curious about Lu Jinshi's identity, "You are..."

Lu Jinshi said in a low voice, "I am Lu Jinshi, the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Yongjia's family."

When Liu Siqing thought about the recent uproar in the court, it was about the Seventh Prince Rong Yi proposing to the eldest daughter of the Yongjia Marquis's family. But shouldn't the Yongjia Marquis's family be surnamed He? Could it be that she is the daughter of the famous Princess Mingzhu, who was known throughout Chang'an for her shocking story of abandoning her father and keeping her son?
Liu Siqing thought to himself, "Isn't Princess Mingzhu surnamed Lu?" He said with difficulty, "Your Highness, Miss Lu, this humble subject really doesn't know how to handle this case."

Lu Jinshi smiled faintly and said, "This case is quite simple. Yuan Jie's mistress bowed to the princess, but the princess did not ask her to get up. After the princess left, the mistress knelt for three hours, causing her six-month pregnancy to end in stillbirth. Is this the princess's fault?"

“Of course not,” said Liu Siqing.

Lu Jinshi said, "If not, then Yuan Jie is guilty of slandering the princess. According to the laws of Dasheng, anyone who falsely accuses another shall be punished with twenty strokes of the cane. Since the one who was falsely accused is Her Highness the Princess, a member of the royal family, twenty strokes of the cane would be far from enough. At least three times that amount would be necessary..."

Liu Siqing glanced at Princess Yongjia and said, "This..."

Princess Yongjia said, "Why not?"

"Your Highness, if these sixty strokes of the rod are delivered, the victim will likely either die or be crippled."

(End of this chapter)