The group of wandering martial artists hired by Bian Tong were all dumbfounded—who could have expected these common people would actually dare to break into someone’s home?

Once people see profit, peaceful attitudes can no longer remain peaceful. The mentality of resenting the wealthy has existed since ancient times, not to mention that those who had already broken in today—if they could take away even one or two items from here, it would be enough for their families to live on for a year or two.

When the common people saw real gold and silver, they naturally paid no heed to anything else. The force erupted from the crowding masses made those martial artists retreat in fear.

They too were merely hired help, just taking money to help eliminate disasters for others. Now that their employers were already panicking without giving any orders, they saw no need to do anything that would further implicate themselves for their masters’ sake.

Thus, under deliberate instigation, several dozen common people charged inside to loot like madmen, shouting that they were seeking justice for Prince Zhongshun.

Once people scattered into various rooms, they became even harder to catch. The female family members in the residence shrieked continuously while the servants scattered like rats.

Bian Ruohan stamped her feet in fury, roaring at the top of her lungs: “Stop! Stop! All of you put those down! Those are my things! Put them down!”

Bian Ruohan lifted her skirts and was about to charge forward, but Bian Tong grabbed her arm.

“Madam, if you rush forward now, there might be danger. Please try to stay calm…”

“Bah! How can I stay calm! All of that was bought with my own personal savings!”

Bian Ruohan acted as if her heart and liver had been touched. She had volunteered to come to Huichuan County first precisely because she didn’t want to lose to Qin Yining. What Qin Yining could accomplish, why couldn’t she, Bian Ruohan, do the same?

But when leaving home, neither her husband’s family nor her natal family approved of her departure. She had spent so much time being ingratiating before finally getting the chance to leave, and had sworn confidently that she would handle things beautifully in Huichuan County without using a single penny from Lu Heng or the family.

The personal savings she had accumulated over the years—to please Lu Heng, she had spent them all on this residence. Now it was being stormed and looted by rioters—how could she let this go?

“Quickly, quickly go find people, quickly tell the yamen!”

Bian Ruohan finally remembered she could seek help from the constables at this moment.

The nearby common people heard Bian Ruohan wanting to inform the authorities and thought they should quit while ahead—grabbing something was better than being caught by government officials.

So the ringleader shouted: “That woman is going to tell the authorities! Let’s go!”

The common people inside immediately grabbed things and ran outside.

There were still a few stubborn ones with bulging arms and holding vases and paintings who, upon hearing the authorities were coming, didn’t want to leave at all. They roared: “We’re seeking justice! That shrew can bully Prince Zhongshun’s family members—why can’t we avenge the princess consort? Even if the authorities come, I’m not afraid!”

Tang Xiu and others in the crowd secretly cursed these fools and hurriedly urged everyone to leave.

But before they could get out, more common people charged in from outside. They had heard news of this place and rushed over without even bothering to put on rain gear.

Those inside pushed outward while those outside rushed inward. The scene was as chaotic as if they were fighting a battle, with Bian Ruohan and others directly pushed and squeezed into hiding behind a water vat in the corner.

Just then, a loud shout suddenly came from outside: “Everyone be quiet! The princess consort is here!”

Tang Xiu and others in the crowd felt delighted and quickly echoed: “The princess consort is here, everyone stop making noise and see what the princess consort has to say!”

They were originally the ones who had initially instigated the common people, so although they were unfamiliar faces, they still had some credibility when speaking. The common people gradually fell silent.

Qin Yining wore a lotus-root colored jacket with her long hair neatly pinned up in a high chignon, secured with a simple and elegant jade hairpin that revealed her slender and graceful neck. The continuous rain had made the weather extremely cold and damp. Qin Yining still wore a pale white cloud-shoulder cape, with oil-paper umbrellas held open on her left and right. As she walked slowly forward, her wooden clogs made crisp “tap, tap” sounds on the wet ground.

Some of the common people had seen Qin Yining at the prince’s mansion yesterday, while others were seeing her for the first time. But when they saw her, the originally somewhat noisy courtyard immediately fell silent.

“Princess Consort.” Just then, the head constable arrived with constables and officers. Upon seeing Qin Yining, he stopped and bowed first.

Qin Yining nodded in acknowledgment.

The common people in the courtyard immediately became agitated.

“The constables are here! We can’t get away!”

“What’s to fear—we’re seeking justice!”

“But they won’t let us go!”

…

Qin Yining looked back at the commotion in the courtyard, then turned and smiled at the head constable: “May I ask the head constable’s honored surname?”

“I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare. This humble person’s surname is Guo.”

Head Constable Guo clasped his hands and bowed.

Qin Yining smiled and lowered her voice: “Head Constable Guo, today’s events arose from the grievances between the prince’s mansion and the Lu family. I imagine Head Constable Guo being involved in this must be quite difficult—whom to arrest, whom not to arrest, what your superiors might say later, and what your superiors’ superiors might say. The stakes and relationships involved—Head Constable Guo, having worked in the government office for many years, naturally understands these much better than I, a mere housewife.”

With Qin Yining saying this, Head Constable Guo immediately broke out in cold sweat.

“The princess consort speaks truly. What this humble person is troubled by right now is precisely this matter. Not only are there these relationships, but there are also so many common people. This matter is truly difficult to handle.”

The law doesn’t punish the masses—could they really arrest all the common people present today? If there were major orders from above, that would be fine, but right now they were leaderless. The largest official in the county yamen was the deputy magistrate, who upon hearing of trouble had already withdrawn his turtle neck and disappeared without a trace.

If things went badly, wouldn’t he be pulled out to take the blame later?

Qin Yining smiled and said: “I have something to say, and hope Head Constable Guo will listen.”

“Please speak, Princess Consort.”

“Since today I brought the prince’s mansion’s guards, the common people probably won’t make things too big either. I think since this matter arose from issues between our prince’s mansion and the Lu family, it wouldn’t be good to delay Head Constable Guo’s proper duties because of this. How about we handle this matter privately between ourselves? What do you think?”

Head Constable Guo nearly jumped for joy!

What a kind-hearted Goddess of Mercy! At this critical moment, someone actually stepped forward to take the trouble off his hands!

If the prince’s mansion was willing to settle privately with the Lu family without involving the authorities, turning big problems into small ones and small ones into nothing—how much trouble would that save them?

Such a reasonable and understanding princess consort was truly admirable.

And after being run around several times by the Bian family yesterday, plus the fact that yesterday’s incident was entirely instigated unilaterally by the Bian family alone, when Head Constable Guo looked again at Bian Ruohan cowering in the corner of the courtyard, his expression held some disdain.

“Since the princess consort says so, this humble person must certainly comply.” Head Constable Guo was shrewd—he immediately bypassed Qin Yining and addressed the dazed common people in the courtyard: “You’re lucky! Today the princess consort spoke for you and saved your lives!”