The moment Xiao Jinyi heard Emperor Wu’an’s words, he turned and left, taking several men straight to the Princess Consort’s residence.
Princess Kangning was delighted to see him. “Jinyi, what brings you here? Come, sit inside with your aunt. I’ll have the kitchen make your favorite lamb hot pot. Don’t leave today stay the night here!”
Princess Kangning was Emperor Wu’an’s full sister, and she had contributed greatly when he ascended the throne.
She treated the Emperor’s princes and princesses well, and especially doted on Xiao Jinyi as if he were her own son. That was why the Crown Prince and Xiao Jinyi both held her in great respect.
“Aunt, I’m afraid I can’t stay today. I’ve come for Jiang Bin. I’ve been investigating a case these past few days, and it was just resolved today. The culprit is him, I’m here to take him away.”
Princess Kangning stumbled at these words, and Xiao Jinyi hurried to steady her. “Aunt, careful.”
She clutched his arm and asked again in disbelief. “Could you have investigated wrongly? How could Bin be connected to your case? He has some bad habits, but he would never harm anyone!”
Princess Kangning knew that any case Xiao Jinyi was willing to take personal responsibility for was no ordinary case, at the very least, it had to involve human lives.
Xiao Jinyi hadn’t believed it was Jiang Bin at first either. No matter how much of a scoundrel the boy was, he wouldn’t dare play with people’s lives. At worst, he’d abduct girls, beat someone half to death, and clash with other young dandies.
But all the evidence pointed to Jiang Bin. The holder of that residence was Jiang Bin, the confessions of the people he had captured also named Jiang Bin, and all the victimized women said they had seen Jiang Bin.
“Aunt, no matter what, have my cousin brought back first. I’ll question him myself and see whether he’s been framed.”
Xiao Jinyi now suspected that this result might have been arranged by someone in advance, but either way, he needed to see Jiang Bin first.
Princess Kangning hurriedly sent someone to call Jiang Bin home. He was out drinking and carousing with his dissolute friends on a pleasure boat, and returned impatiently when urged by the Princess’s messenger.
The moment he entered, he complained loudly, “Mother, why did you call me back at this hour? I was having a great time with my friends!”
Only as Jiang Bin approached did he notice, why had his cold-faced cousin suddenly shown up? The moment he saw Xiao Jinyi, the impatience on his face vanished instantly, and he shrank into himself like a frightened quail.
“C-Cousin, you’re here too!”
Xiao Jinyi didn’t bother with pleasantries and questioned him directly. “A group of girls was found locked up in Qiuyuan Lane. According to the testimony of those girls and their guards, you were the one who captured them, locked them up there, arranged for people to watch over them, and ran a secret brothel out of the place!”
Jiang Bin felt a pang of guilt when he heard “Qiuyuan Lane.” He had indeed secretly purchased a residence there, meant as a love nest for keeping a mistress. But later he grew tired of her and simply paid her off to send her away, after which the residence had sat empty.
But upon hearing what Xiao Jinyi said next, he was completely dumbfounded, then frantically grabbed Xiao Jinyi’s hand, no longer caring at this point about being afraid of him, and said with a look of terror: “I didn’t! Cousin, I really never engaged in that kind of business. I do own a residence in Qiuyuan Lane, but I bought it to keep a mistress in a golden house.
That was a year ago. Later I got tired of her and sent her away, and I never went back again.”
Xiao Jinyi saw that his frightened, panicked manner didn’t seem fake. So could everything they had uncovered have been planted by someone to frame him?
If that were really the case, then the true mastermind would have to be someone close to Jiang Bin, first and foremost, those good-for-nothing friends of his.
As for the matter of keeping a mistress, Jiang Bin would never dare let his family find out, but given his personality, he would certainly have bragged about it to his friends.
“I believe you were framed, but you have to cooperate with my investigation. Let me ask you: who knows that you bought a residence in Qiuyuan Lane? Don’t even think about hiding anything. The most important thing for you right now is to clear your own name.”
How could Jiang Bin dare conceal anything now? If his cold-faced cousin had come personally, this had to be a major case, one wrong move and he could lose his life.
Those wastrel friends of his were only good for eating, drinking, and carousing. If real trouble arose, they’d be quicker than anyone to shift the blame.
Xiao Jinyi, following Jiang Bin’s information, sent people to investigate each one, even the servants around those men, and the courtesans and singing girls who had attended them when they boasted, were all investigated one by one. Nothing turned up.
After hearing his subordinates’ reports, Xiao Jinyi looked at Jiang Bin with disappointment in his eyes. “I was originally wondering whether someone had wronged you. Now it seems you’ve been playing tricks on me all along.”
Jiang Bin understood what he meant, he still suspected him of being the mastermind. He flew into a rage at once. “It wasn’t me! It really wasn’t me! I swear to Heaven, if I really forced anyone into secret prostitution, may I die a horrible death and be struck by lightning!
Cousin, I want to confront them face to face! I want to see which son of a bitch dared to slander me!”
Seeing that he wouldn’t give up, Xiao Jinyi took him to the prison of the Court of Judicial Review to confront the captured thugs face to face.
But the moment they confronted each other, something was wrong, the two groups didn’t recognize each other at all.
Xiao Jinyi seized one of the men by the collar and dragged him in front of Jiang Bin, his voice icy. “When you gave your confessions, didn’t you say the one who hired you was Jiang Bin, son of the Grand Princess? Now that I’ve brought him before you, you claim you don’t know him?
Have the jailers been too merciful with you? Do you want me to entertain you personally!”
The man seized by Xiao Jinyi truly couldn’t bear any more torture, and he cried out: “It’s true, everything we said is true! The man who came to us claimed he was the Grand Princess’s son.
We’d never seen the Grand Princess’s son before, and he looked so noble and wealthy that we naturally assumed he really was her son!”
Xiao Jinyi saw that the man didn’t seem to be lying and he doubted the man had the guts to lie to his face, but now everything was back to square one.
Since this matter had nothing to do with Jiang Bin, then who was the true mastermind behind it all?
Xiao Jinyi let Jiang Bin, who had been cleared of suspicion, go back first, while he continued pondering the ins and outs of the case, yet he couldn’t find anything amiss no matter how he thought about it.
If Jiang Bin hadn’t stubbornly refused to confess, shouting that he wanted to confront the culprit face to face, Xiao Jinyi would never have thought to bring him here for a direct confrontation. Otherwise, wouldn’t he have fallen right into the scheme of the person behind the scenes, making Jiang Bin the scapegoat!