Mei Fei sat up straight. "The eunuchs from the Department of Ceremonial Affairs are responsible for collecting garbage from all the palace courtyards. They collect the garbage every day and dump it into the palace's waste pit. As long as the waste pit is not full, the garbage will not be burned or buried. Therefore, Lord Han, if you want to find evidence, you must hurry."
What else could Lord Han do? Both the plaintiff and the defendant had powerful backing. Judging by the way things were developing, he could only proceed as he was.
He asked, "Suspect Lu Ye, are you sure your dog can really find that box of rouge?"
Lu Ye replied respectfully, "Reporting to Your Lordship, as long as the Fifth Princess really threw away that box of rouge, this humble subject will surely find a way to locate it."
"How long will it take?" Lord Han asked.
"From this afternoon until the hour of Chen tomorrow!" Lu Ye said with confidence. "However, to ensure transparency and fairness, I request that Lord Han assign two yamen runners to accompany my servant Yang Ming. Yang Ming will take three dogs to search."
Yang Ming immediately stepped forward and knelt on the ground, kowtowing. "Your Lordship, this humble servant is Lu Ye's family servant. I will take the three dogs to search for the evidence. I beg Your Lordship to assign yamen runners to follow the entire process to prove that the search is conducted openly and fairly."
Lord Han had no choice but to assign two yamen runners to follow Yang Ming.
Lord Wei, who was sitting to the side, trembling with fear, suddenly spoke, "Many palace maids and concubines have also bought rouge from 'Hong Fen Jia Ren.' Even if the dog finds the rouge box, how can we guarantee it is the one discarded by the Fifth Princess?"
Bai Sheng smiled and said, "You don't need to worry about this, Your Lordship. A box of rouge from 'Hong Fen Jia Ren' can last for a year. 'Hong Fen Jia Ren' has only been open for less than a month. Generally speaking, as long as they don't deliberately cause trouble, those who have used our rouge and powder are reluctant to discard it. I am confident about this.
"On the other hand, the Fifth Princess just said that Zhou Yanran and Dong Xue Rou bought it as a gift for her. This can be verified against our shop's sales records.
"Every product from 'Hong Fen Jia Ren' has a product number. And when a customer purchases, we meticulously record the purchase, such as who the buyer is, the purchase date, the product purchased, and its number."
This was a method Bai Sheng devised, having learned from the experience of 'Mo Sheng Grain Shop' being framed, to prevent competitors from causing trouble. She hadn't expected it to be so useful.
Everyone was surprised by Bai Sheng's words. Simply doing business, yet her thinking was so meticulous.
This young girl, though not old, was so thorough in handling matters.
Lu Ye cupped his fists and said respectfully, "Your Lordship, the Fifth Princess said that box of rouge was bought by Zhou Yanran and Dong Xue Rou as a gift for her. Therefore, I humbly request Your Lordship to summon those two young ladies for confrontation in court!"
Lord Han glanced at Lu Ye and said in a tone that suggested he couldn't be bothered, "You don't need to explain. This official has his own arrangements!" Kuaishuge
With insufficient evidence today, the trial had to be adjourned. Lord Han asked everyone to withdraw, and the case would continue at the hour of Mao tomorrow.
After the adjournment, everyone dispersed.
Lord Han slumped onto the main seat, his face full of worry. In this trial, he had been led by the nose by the suspect, yet he couldn't refute him because every request the suspect made was reasonable.
The problem was that the Fifth Princess had given him no evidence, which put him in such a passive position.
His face filled with anger, he glared at Lord Wei and demanded, "Lord Wei, you arrested the criminal. Why didn't you ask the Fifth Princess for evidence?"
Lord Wei, as a seventh-rank Dali Cheng, was half a rank below Lord Han's Dali Pingshi. Half a rank was still a rank, so Lord Wei was quite respectful to his superior. "Lord Han, you have misunderstood this subordinate. I did ask for evidence at the time, but the Fifth Princess angrily cursed me, saying that if I continued to babble, she would have my entire family executed. You know, the Fifth Princess did something like this when she was twelve years old. This subordinate... is afraid."
Lord Han sighed deeply, his face full of frustration. "Lord Wei, what do you think our Dali Temple Minister Qi would do if he were here?"
Lord Wei looked up at the nonexistent sky and sighed, "At this point, we can only wait for evidence. The matter has escalated so much. What if the Emperor finds out..."
The Emperor did indeed find out. He summoned Yan Mingkun to the Xuanzheng Hall.
The Emperor was reviewing memorials. After Yan Mingkun knelt and paid his respects, he lowered his head and stood quietly to the side.
After a long while, the Emperor looked up at Yan Mingkun and said, "I heard that Lord Yan went to the Dali Temple to supervise the trial today? Such a thing is rather rare."
Yan Mingkun replied respectfully, "Indeed. Regarding the case of the Fifth Princess being disfigured, the Dali Temple arrested the suspect without evidence. Moreover, this case has become known throughout the city. Any slight misstep could cause extremely bad consequences. Therefore, this humble minister went to supervise."
"Oh?" The Emperor raised an eyebrow and glanced at Yan Mingkun, saying calmly, "Why do I hear that Consort Mei is also involved?"
Yan Mingkun, having anticipated the Emperor's question, maintained a composed expression. "Your Majesty, I heard that the two suspects are the farmers who reported the Crown Prince—no, the Jiang family for illegally manufacturing weapons. And they have a good personal relationship with Prince Yu and Consort Mei."
The Emperor was slightly surprised. "Such a coincidence?"
"Exactly, it's truly a coincidence," Yan Mingkun secretly exhaled.
"In that case, it makes sense for you to personally supervise this case. Is there any other reason?" The Emperor looked at Yan Mingkun, his gaze sharp.
Yan Mingkun suddenly knelt before the Emperor, his face full of sorrow. "Your Majesty, you are truly formidable. You saw at a glance that my going to supervise the trial had ulterior motives."
"Oh? What ulterior motives do you have?" The Emperor's expression turned a bit colder.
"When my eldest son, Yan Shuo, bought rouge and powder for his sister, he happened to meet Miss Lu from that merchant family and fell in love with her at first sight, wanting to marry her.
"My wife and I strongly opposed it, as the difference in their status and position was too great.
"My wife fancied a young lady from the Zhou family and wanted to form an alliance with the Zhou family. As for me, I just wanted my son to marry a scholarly young lady from a modest family. However, my unfilial son is hopelessly devoted to that mere merchant's daughter and is even threatening to die to force me to supervise this case.
"After all, the suspect comes from a farming background and is too weak compared to the Fifth Princess. I am not interfering with the Dali Temple's judgment, but merely ensuring that the Dali Temple handles the case fairly and justly. I hope Your Majesty will investigate!"
Most of what Yan Mingkun said was true, so his demeanor and tone were very earnest.
The Emperor's expression relaxed slightly, and he smiled, "Your son's taste is indeed extraordinary. Alright, you may go and supervise this case. Handle everything impartially."
"Thank you for Your Majesty's grace!" Yan Mingkun felt greatly relieved.
Fortunately, it was the Fifth Princess who was in trouble this time. If it had been the Eldest Princess, that entire merchant family would have lost their lives.
Of all the princesses, the Emperor doted on the Eldest Princess above all others. He might not even remember the names of other princesses.