Volume One, Chapter 18: A Web of Lies

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Cui Huaiyuan only wished to resolve the matter swiftly; it was reasonable for him to examine the travel permit.
“Miss Jiang, since you came to the capital from another place, you should have a travel permit. May I take a look?”
Jiang Yao’s expression darkened. “Sir, I’ve lost my travel permit.”
“Is that so? What a coincidence.” Cui Huaiyuan smiled faintly. “Then there’s no need to trouble yourself. Just tell me where your foster parents live.”
Jiang Yao pressed her lips tightly, lowering her head, unwilling to utter another word.
Cui Huaiyuan raised an eyebrow. What had at first seemed a trivial farce within the Anle Marquis’s estate, which he had intervened in out of respect for the Marquis and the Princess of Qingcheng, increasingly felt amiss the more he observed.
Jiang Yao, the true daughter recently returned to the Anle Marquis’s household, involved in abduction and private punishment, even attempting to falsely accuse Jiang Rui of being a family-born servant; now, under the pretext of losing her travel permit, she was interfering with Jiang Rui’s attempt to return home and acknowledge her identity.
With his years of experience in investigations, Cui Huaiyuan was one hundred percent certain there was something fishy here.
“Miss Jiang, unwilling to tell?”
Jiang Yao brushed aside the stray hair by her temple, feigning calmness.
“Sir Cui, it’s not that I refuse to speak, but my foster parents’ situation is very poor. They live in harsh conditions and barely have enough to eat. I was sold from one place to another as a child, and the foster parents I lived with later are not Sister Rui’s biological parents. So, I see no need to say more.”
Cui Huaiyuan neither agreed nor disagreed, remaining silent.
The Anle Marquis sighed deeply, essentially conceding the point.
Madam Shen embraced Jiang Rui tenderly, tears of pity flowing. “My child, you’ve suffered so much!”
Jiang Rui, however, wore a face of disbelief. When they were at the Marquis’s estate, Jiang Yao had never mentioned being sold around; chances were she was lying again.
Princess Li Qingxue of Qingcheng was impatient by nature, with little tolerance for dithering.
“Just an address, and you’ve been going in circles all this time, saying nothing useful.”
Her sharp gaze swept over Jiang Yao, and she sneered coldly.
“Hmph, in my view, you must be some disguised bandit from the underworld, afraid to reveal your true identity, hence refusing to disclose where your hideout is.”
At these words, the gathered crowd outside the courtroom began pointing fingers at Jiang Yao.
“Could it be? Such a beautiful woman, really a bandit?”
“Well, hard to say. Look at the wounds on Nurse Liu—they were all inflicted by her. She’s ruthless!”
“Oh my, a true daughter of the Anle Marquis’s estate turned bandit—storybooks wouldn’t dare write this.”
...
Jiang Yao glanced impatiently at the crowd outside the court and fixed her gaze directly on Li Qingxue.

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“Princess, be careful with your words. Could spreading baseless rumors also count as false accusation?”
“Whether it’s false accusation or not, that needs investigation.”
Li Qingxue clearly held no regard for the Anle Marquis’s household. She gestured toward the murmuring crowd.
“All of you here just heard about how you abducted Nurse Liu yesterday and tortured her. How do you explain that?”
“You claim I abducted and abused someone? Where’s your proof?”
In the courtroom, Jiang Yao brazenly denied the charge, and even slandered Nurse Liu, the victim.
“If I say Nurse Liu deliberately framed me, what do you have to say?”
“You!” Li Qingxue was momentarily speechless.
So far, only Nurse Liu served as a witness, and the Marquis’s household was surely siding with Jiang Yao.
“You are lying in public; this is contempt of court.”
Jiang Rui took up Li Qingxue’s words, standing to face Jiang Yao.
“Miss Jiang, I said while at the Marquis’s estate that I don’t want to fight over anything with you. I only ask you to tell me where my home is so that each of us can return to our proper places. Why do you keep obstructing me?”
“I’ve said it before, that’s not your home.” Jiang Yao stubbornly replied.
At that moment, Madam Shen stepped forward, adopting a kindly motherly demeanor as she earnestly pleaded.
“Rui’er, you were raised with gold and jade in the Marquis’s estate. If you stay there, your mother will find you a good husband and send you off in glory. Why insist on going back to that poor, rural place?”
Jiang Rui didn’t even glance at Madam Shen and replied coldly.
“If I don’t return home, am I to remain a servant in the Marquis’s household? I would never accept such humiliation!”
“Not a servant? How could your mother bear to see you as one?”
Madam Shen warmly held Jiang Rui’s hand, smiling gently.
“Your father was only speaking in anger. From now on, you and Yao’er are both ladies of the Marquis’s estate, both my dear daughters. Isn’t that right?”
Jiang Rui cast a cold sidelong glance at Madam Shen—if harsh words didn’t work, now they tried gentleness?
Thinking of the suffering she endured in her previous life, Jiang Rui could not believe a word of their deceitful promises.
“Whether it’s just anger or if you truly intend to force me into servitude, you know your own hearts.”
Unmoved, Jiang Rui pried Madam Shen’s hand away and withdrew her own.
“Madam Jiang, I am truly puzzled—why does your whole family prevent me from returning home?”

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She was even more curious about what Jiang Yao had said to them alone to cause such a change.
Clearly, when she was still at the Marquis’s estate, the Anle Marquis’s attitude toward Jiang Rui was at least somewhat fatherly. Now, he had turned into an enemy intent on forcing her into servitude. This change could not be separated from Jiang Yao.
Jiang Rui pushed past Madam Shen, stepping aside to speak to Cui Huaiyuan.
“Sir, I know that Miss Jiang stayed at Binzhi Inn after arriving in the capital. Please send someone to check the registration records there to confirm her origin.”
“Very well.” Cui Huaiyuan nodded slightly and dispatched a constable to inquire at Binzhi Inn.
Seeing this, Jiang Yao nervously bit her lip. “Sir Cui, the Marquis and Madam have already recognized me as their daughter. Do you still doubt my identity?”
“It’s just a routine check,” Cui Huaiyuan replied calmly.
“Since Miss Jiang cannot produce a travel permit and refuses to say where she came from, I have no choice but to have someone verify. Besides, some of Miss Jiang’s actions are indeed unusual.”
Madam Shen quickly pulled Jiang Yao behind her, defending her.
“Sir Cui, Yao’er truly is the legitimate daughter of our Anle Marquis’s estate. The Marquis and I have both confirmed this. There’s no need to trouble you further.”
Cui Huaiyuan smiled faintly. “Madam Jiang, it’s merely a matter of checking the inn’s guest registry. There’s no need to be so anxious.”
He sent a constable to investigate Jiang Yao not only because of Jiang Rui’s request but also because Jiang Yao’s behavior was suspicious.
Jiang Rui observed their reactions, her doubts growing ever deeper.
If, as Jiang Yao claimed, her family was a destitute farming household, why were they doing everything possible to stop her from going home?
Why were they unwilling even to disclose her biological parents’ whereabouts?
What had caused the Anle Marquis to change his stance so drastically, joining Jiang Yao in falsely accusing her of being a family-born servant?
Jiang Rui knew the Anle Marquis well—he was not like Madam Shen, lacking much affection for his children. Only matters concerning the estate’s fundamental interests could sway him.
Could it be that Jiang Yao possessed something the Marquis could not refuse?
What did the Anle Marquis desire?
To restore his family’s honor, to raise his head high, to shine publicly…
A thought stirred in Jiang Rui’s heart—could her biological parents offer the Marquis such benefits?
Is that why Jiang Yao was unwilling to let go, even resorting to lies?