My sister became the empress, but I'm still growing vegetables and raising chickens

Chapter 304 Obtaining Evidence

The second sister listened quietly, her heart filled with mixed emotions.

Although Rongjie was only ten years old, she was very articulate.

"Later, when the Third Prince in the palace was choosing a study companion, I don't know what happened, but he actually chose my brother. We were all very happy and thought it was his good fortune... Later we found out that it was not good fortune at all. It was clearly because, out of all the students in the Wan family, my brother was the weakest and easiest to bully."

The second sister was heartbroken.

Rongjie ran back to her room, took out a cloth bag, and handed it to her second sister.

"This...what is this?"

Rongjie wiped away her tears and looked at Mr. and Mrs. Wan.

"Father, Mother, every time my brother comes back from the palace, he says he's doing very well and tells you not to worry, but actually..."

She lowered her head and murmured, "He is indeed living a good life, at least better than being bullied in the Wan family. He coaxes the Third Prince, and the Third Prince treats him well, feeding and drinking him, and even letting him study. Consort Xin likes him and bestows many good things upon him, most of which are taken by the Wan family. This part is what he secretly kept."

The second sister opened the bundle and found two jade crowns and some jade pendants and jade ornaments of decent quality, all things that ordinary twelve or thirteen-year-old boys would wear.

"These were things the Third Prince didn't want, which he bestowed upon my brother. The Wan family didn't even know about them. He kept some and brought them back, saying that when I grew up, he would pawn them as part of my dowry..."

Rongjie cried bitterly.

"I don't want a dowry, I just want my brother..."

The father wept uncontrollably, saying, "Your brother did this without telling us, why didn't you tell us either?"

Rongjie raised her head: "What's the use of telling you? If we tell you, you'll just send all these things to the clan. How much of it will we have left?"

Upon hearing this, Wan's mother felt an even greater heartache and cried so hard she could barely breathe.

The second sister took out several small booklets from the middle. It was obvious at a glance that they were bound together by herself using scrap paper. Each page was not neat, some were cut off, and some were torn off.

She opened it and took a look. It contained detailed records of her situation in the palace, with entries every three days, almost without interruption.

Rongjie, who was illiterate, said, “Noble sister, I don’t know if these things will be of any use to you. But I think you are right. It was my brother’s last wish, which I was unable to fulfill for him. I hope that you, noble sister, can fulfill it for him.”

The second sister said solemnly, "Thank you for trusting me, I definitely will."

“My brother was such a good person,” Rong’er said, wiping away her tears. “From a young age, he wouldn’t even step on an ant. He worked so hard because he felt he could bring hope to our family…”

The father and mother supported each other, listening quietly to their daughter's words.

“From the clan to the Wan family, and from the Wan family to the palace, my brother was always very happy. He felt that by moving up step by step, he could succeed and make sure that our parents and I would have a good life in the future.”

Rong-jie sniffed: "But after he became a study companion, he became more and more introverted. He didn't like to talk when he came back, and he became thinner and thinner. Even though he had enough to eat and drink, which was much better than when he was at home or at the Wan family in Kyoto, he still got thinner and thinner."

"Also, he always wakes up in the middle of the night from nightmares. My room is separated from his by only a curtain, so I can hear everything he does at night."

He said: No, don't come any closer. He said: It's not my fault, I was forced into this.

“At first, I thought he had killed someone. Then one day, he encountered some black wild cats by the river. He was so frightened that he screamed and hid behind me, saying that he hadn’t killed anyone. That’s when I realized that he had killed cats, not people.”

Rong'er cried even harder, looking at her second sister: "Noble Sister, my brother is the kind of person who wouldn't even step on an ant, how could he kill a cat? He... he's suffered so much. Noble Sister, please, help my brother find out the truth, okay?"

The second sister held back her tears, hugged Rong'er tightly, and nodded, saying, "I will!"

She definitely will. Wan Cheng paid with his life to expose the Third Prince's evil deeds.

After taking all the booklets out of the bundle and putting them away, the second sister handed the bundle to Rong-jie: "These are not of any use to the case. You should keep them safe."

As soon as she left the Wan family's house, Second Sister saw a group of people peeking around in the distance, including several older people.

She thought for a moment and realized that the important people from the city who were visiting Wan Cheng's parents would definitely bring many gifts. The gifts she brought today would not possibly end up in Wan Cheng's parents' hands.

For a moment, the second sister really wanted to step forward and tell those people that all these gifts were left for Wan Cheng's parents.

But she stopped and thought about it seriously.

If you were the eldest sister, what would you do? If you were the youngest sister, what would you do?

She stepped back, walked to Wan's mother's side, and said loudly, "By the way, I came here today because Wan Cheng risked his life to save my brother, and I came here specifically to give him a thank-you gift."

After saying that, she put several money bags in her hand and placed them in Wan's mother's arms, saying in a low voice, "Keep these safe and don't be so foolish again."

Wan's mother was stunned. Rong'er stepped forward, stuffed the money bag into her arms, and then gave her second sister a smile.

The second sister, surrounded by maids and guards, headed towards the road outside the village, where her carriage was parked.

There was a very nice house by the roadside, which must have been built by a wealthy person who could stay and relax there in their spare time.

A young woman was passing by outside the courtyard, preparing to go in. But seeing the magnificent carriage, she curiously glanced at it a few more times, and just then she saw her second sister being helped into the carriage by a maid.

The young woman's face changed drastically, as if she had seen a ghost. She rubbed her eyes hard, checked again, and then ran home as if fleeing.

She was panting heavily and drenched in sweat.

Seeing her like this in the hall, Jiang Jianchun, the eldest son of Jiang Dalang, said with displeasure, "What are you doing? Why are you so startled? Have you seen a ghost?"

"I... I saw a ghost..." Sister-in-law Jiang trembled and tried to go inside, but she was so frightened that she couldn't stand up and sat down on the ground, unable to get up.

It was Chen Ma, who did the heavy work, who came over to help her up: "What's wrong, Grandma?"

After entering the house, Sister-in-law Jiang drank a large glass of water before she recovered. Her commotion alerted her parents, who also came out of the house.

They were sent to the countryside, where they could move around freely and even visit nearby towns. However, they were always accompanied by guards, who prevented them from doing this or that, and going to the capital was out of the question.

It's so annoying!

So they would be curious to see anything that happened in the village.

Sister-in-law Jiang said, "Father-in-law, Mother-in-law... Eldest son, I just saw... Third son's wife!"