On Our Wedding Night, I Discovered the Crown Prince’s Hidden Illness
Chapter 494 Quick Judgment

Chapter 494: Chapter 494 Quick Judgment

Soon, many curious commoners followed behind them.

Fortunately, the Capital Mayor Mansion was not far from Prince Zhenbei Mansion, and after a short while, Leng Yu Yan and her entourage had entered the government office.

Driven by curiosity, the commoners, held back by the door frame, remained quiet.

Seeing Ye Yiheng, Lai Yuyue, and Ye Jiu arrive together, Lord Zhao quickly stood up from behind the three-foot official desk.

"This humble official pays respects to Your Highness the Crown Prince, and to Ninth Princess," Lord Zhao respectfully saluted them, "This low-ranking official greets the Princely Heir."

Ye Yiheng, supported by Song Guo’s arm, spoke softly, "Dispense with the formalities."

Lord Zhao hurriedly commanded the government officials, "Prepare the seats, quickly prepare the seats!"

The officials brought over three armchairs, inviting Ye Yiheng, Ye Jiu, and Lai Yuyue to be seated.

Madam Lai and Mrs. Feng stood aside, exchanging glances upon seeing the visitors.

"Could it be that Lord Zhao, owing to the arrival of His Highness the Crown Prince, intends to turn a blind eye to Leng Yu Yan’s case?" Madam Lai began to interrogate.

After Lord Zhao sat back down at the official desk, he struck the gavel, "Before the court, the Old Madam and Lady of the Marquis Ningyuan’s Mansion accuse Princess Beilan of encroaching on the mansion’s assets, and demand the Princess return the assets in full!"

Leng Yu Yan straightened her sleeves, "May I ask, Sir, what assets of the mansion have I encroached upon?"

Lord Zhao looked towards Mrs. Feng and her daughter-in-law, "Which of you will speak?"

Mrs. Feng thought, if they could retrieve Mrs. Zhang’s dowry, they would have the funds to invite the Divine Doctor from his retreat, hence she said, "Sir, I will speak."

Lord Zhao nodded, "Please speak, Lady."

Mrs. Feng turned her head and saw more and more commoners gathering at the entrance of the government office. A cold sneer formed in her heart, resolved to ruin Leng Yu Yan’s reputation today.

Even if she could not get Mrs. Zhang’s dowary back, the fact that Leng Yu Yan was born from her mother’s adultery would become widely known among the common folk.

She turned back and said loudly, "The birth mother of Leng Yu Yan, Mrs. Zhang, was the primary wife of our lord of the mansion. A woman who marries carries over her dowry, and since Mrs. Zhang and our lord were husband and wife, naturally, the dowry she brought should belong to the mansion. However, last year, when Leng Yu Yan was first betrothed to His Highness the Crown Prince, she, relying on having powerful backing, reclaimed Mrs. Zhang’s dowry. Today, my mother-in-law and I accuse Leng Yu Yan. We beseech the official to enforce the return of Mrs. Zhang’s dowry!"

Upon hearing this, a commoner at the door said, "Yes, once the dowry is brought to the husband’s family, it usually merges into the family funds."

Another person added, "After all, it’s one family and should naturally be shared."

Leng Yu Yan smiled, thinking it to be a trivial matter.

"Sir, under Tiancheng Law, the dowry a woman brings to her marriage belongs to her. If she wishes to contribute to her husband’s family, she may take some to contribute, but the decision ultimately rests with the woman herself."

Her statement immediately caused confusion among the commoners, who started discussing intensely.

"Is that really so?"

"We don’t understand the law; we just know if it’s money belonging to a family, then it belongs to that family."

Lord Zhao looked towards Ye Yiheng, "Your Highness, what do you think of this?"

Ye Yiheng’s face showed no emotion. "Lord Zhao should simply follow Tiancheng law to the letter."

Upon hearing this, people exclaimed, "Look, the Crown Prince is fair and just, not showing favoritism toward Princess Beilan!"

Lord Zhao banged the gavel and said solemnly, "According to Tiancheng Law, a woman’s dowry naturally belongs to her. The husband’s family, including the husband himself, does not have the right to dispose of the woman’s dowry."

Outside the gate, a woman tugged at her husband’s ear, saying, "Listen, my money is still my money, depending on whether I’m willing to let you use it!"

Leng Yu Yan persisted, "My mother once said that her dowry belongs to both my brother Leng Yi and me. After my brother, unfortunately, passed away on the battlefield, she said that the dowry was solely mine."

Mrs. Feng and Madam Lai looked embarrassed; they had miscalculated and had not managed the legal matters well.

At that moment, Madam Lai said, "Leng Yu Yan grew up in the Marquis Ningyuan’s Mansion until she was ten. During those ten years, our mansion provided for her food and clothing, spending a considerable amount of Silver. Just for this reason alone, our claim to Mrs. Zhang’s dowry is not unreasonable, is it?"

Mrs. Feng hurriedly agreed, "Leng Yu Yan is Prince Zhenbei’s biological daughter, not our Marquis’s daughter. The mansion has raised her as the legitimate daughter, incurring naturally higher expenses. My Lord, do not let Leng Yu Yan’s current status affect your fairness!"

Lord Zhao groaned softly and thought to himself that this matter was difficult to handle.

"Last year I reclaimed a part of the dowry, which is a fact, but another part was swallowed up by Marquis Ningyuan’s Mansion and has yet to be disgorged, and that is also true," Leng Yu Yan said calmly. "Today, I want to reclaim the remainder of my mother’s dowry, please help me, my Lord!"

"Of course, they claim they spent Silver on raising me for ten years, then let’s calculate how much money I used in those ten years? And how much of it was from my mother’s dowry. Let’s also calculate how much of my mother’s dowry those mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, as well as others in the mansion, have swallowed. After offsetting both, how much should the mansion still return to me?"

Lord Zhao nodded, "It should indeed be so!"

Leng Yu Yan smiled faintly, "The monthly silver for the legitimate daughter in Marquis Ningyuan’s Mansion is six taels. Every season change, three new sets of clothing, these accounts are still clearly calculable."

While speaking, she darkened her face, "And many of my mother’s shop leases and deeds have been swallowed by them. Just one shop alone could offset ten years of expenses, do I need to expound these accounts one by one?"

Mrs. Feng stiffened her neck and said, "No matter what, you are not my Lord Marquis’s daughter, you are born from Mrs. Zhang’s adultery, which alone proves Mrs. Zhang’s impropriety. A woman of impropriety, how can she have the right to bequeath the dowry to her daughter?"

"My mother-in-law is not someone you can slander!" Ye Yiheng spoke coldly. "Moreover, regardless of how a woman is, you cannot strip her of her right to handle her own dowry!"

Lord Zhao affirmed, "The law is indeed as stated!"

Unconvinced, Mrs. Feng turned to the crowd and yelled loudly, "Everyone, you must know, this Princess Beilan was born from Mrs. Zhang’s affair, and the man she had an affair with is Prince Zhenbei!"

Even if she couldn’t get the money, she intended to ruin Leng Yu Yan’s reputation!

Lai Yu refuted sharply, "My Father King and the late Madam of the Marquis Mansion were framed by others. Such remarks from the current wife of the Marquis Mansion give me reason to believe that, when you were still a concubine, you wanted to frame my mother and usurp her dowry by setting a trap."

Leng Yu Yan couldn’t help but nod, "My brother speaks the truth. When Mrs. Feng was still a concubine, her intentions were unsavory!"

Hearing this, Mrs. Feng was choked with anger, and she hurriedly marched to the gate, shouting to the people, "Everyone, come judge this!"

Contrary to Madam Lai and Mrs. Feng’s expectations, people shook their heads.

"We common folk are neither deaf nor blind. We already knew what the Lady of the Marquis Mansion said. Last year, wasn’t the princess’s origin a big scandal?"

"The princess’s birth mother has long passed away, and the dead should be respected; it’s not our place to judge her character. But Prince Zhenbei is our Tiancheng’s war god. With him, the northern countries dare not invade; he is truly a good man!"

"Right, Prince Zhenbei only has one woman by his side, Princess Consort. Just this point alone surpasses many men. If Prince Zhenbei were greedy for beauty, how could he have only the Princess Consort?"

"The Lady of the Marquis Mansion is now fixating on the princess’s origin because the princess is about to marry the Crown Prince while her own daughter was divorced by Prince Liang; perhaps it’s her inner imbalance speaking?"