Great, it's just a lackey, we're saved!

Chapter 237 Imperial Sister, are you going to imprison me?

"Zhou Wei, you shameless..."

The third prince covered his face, unable to hold back from cursing.

Zhou Wei looked down at him condescendingly: "If Your Highness were to utter those words, you should know the consequences."

Faced with this blatant threat, the Third Prince hesitated, swallowing back the words that were about to escape his lips.

He was utterly humiliated and began berating the servants in the courtyard: "Are you all blind? Why aren't you helping me up?"

The servants dared not act on their own and knelt on the ground to kowtow to the princess.

After the eldest princess waved her hand, someone stepped forward to help the third prince.

The Third Prince was so angry that his chest felt like it was about to explode, and his eyes were glaring at Zhou Wei as if they were breathing fire.

Zhou Wei also looked at him. The Third Prince had helped the Eldest Princess during this palace coup, and Zhou Wei thought that this guy was at least a decent person.

Unexpectedly, he didn't change his ways and started abusing his servants again!

Seeing the maids lying on the ground, Zhou Wei thought that the Third Prince was beyond saving.

Although the plot changed, the Third Prince did not do anything excessive to the Eldest Princess.

But a person's nature is fixed; just because someone acts like a human once doesn't mean they are a human being!

The third prince was helped up and sat down, his broken lower leg looking empty.

The eldest princess glanced at them, feeling weary, and said, "Since you agreed to rob your own residence, why punish them?"

The Third Prince also looked unconvinced: "Why can't we fight? I only told them to pretend to rob, not to actually rob! But look at my mansion, sister, how is it any different from a beggar's den now?"

"Do you think a few servants can control refugees?" the princess exclaimed angrily. "What's the difference between this and scolding the cook after putting down your chopsticks?"

Looking at the several maids who had been beaten to death on the ground, the Third Prince felt somewhat guilty.

He muttered under his breath, "So what if a few people were killed? We can just pay some compensation."

His words were both naive and cruel. Zhou Wei's right hand was itching to rush up and slap him twice more.

At this moment, a bearded servant stepped forward and said to the princess with a fawning smile, "Your Highness, our prince made an unintentional mistake and was only given a slight punishment. Who knew that these servants were so easily beaten... Please, Your Highness, consider the prince's merits and do not be too harsh on him."

The eldest princess squinted at the person who spoke.

This man looked to be around forty years old. Although he had a fawning smile on his face, his eyes were not very respectful.

The princess remained silent, only staring intently at him.

As time passed, the smile on the man's face gradually froze, until he dared not look directly at Jiang Yueli and slowly lowered his head.

Jiang Yueli then asked, "Who are you?"

The eldest princess rarely visited the third prince's residence, so she was unfamiliar with the people who served him.

"I am the steward of the Third Prince's residence... I have been with the Prince since he established his residence and government office."

The Third Prince was also a fool, and he followed up with a boastful statement: "Yes, Your Highness, this is Old Yang. Mother bestowed it upon me. Old Yang is a very capable steward. Without him, the servants in my household would be in complete chaos."

The eldest princess took a deep breath and glanced at Old Yang.

Consort Li was obsessed; she only had eyes for the Empress. Even after giving birth to the Third Prince, she didn't really raise him by her side.

The Third Prince established his own residence and government office before he was even twelve years old, and Consort Li sent such a scoundrel to manage his household!

The eldest princess finally understood who had raised the third prince, who treated human life like dirt.

"Yue Lin, how come you often kill people and then just pay compensation to settle the matter?"

The Third Prince, not understanding, nodded and said, "Yes, Your Highness, what's wrong with that? Old Yang said that these servants are worthless and not worth much money. If I beat them to death, the compensation I pay them will be enough for their whole family to live comfortably for several generations."

"Old Yang also said that with my generosity, everyone in this manor probably hopes to be beaten to death by me!"

good good!

well said!

The eldest princess smiled and looked at Old Yang.

Old Yang was trembling all over, kneeling on the ground, kowtowing and begging for mercy: "Your Highness, spare my life! That's not what I meant! It was the Prince who misunderstood..."

The eldest princess ignored him and continued to ask the third prince, "So, if you kill someone, how much compensation do you pay?"

The Third Prince was already somewhat panicked. Seeing Old Yang kneeling and kowtowing, he didn't know what had happened.

But seeing the princess's expression, he could only whisper, "A few hundred taels..."

The eldest princess nodded. "Several hundred taels? That's quite a lot."

Zhou Wei finally understood why the Third Prince was so poor.

Over the years, he must have paid out a considerable amount of compensation.

Upon hearing this, the Third Prince immediately grinned and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, buying a literate servant from a slave trader only costs a few dozen taels of silver, and that's with a life contract! If I were to offer several hundred taels, that would be an astronomical price."

The princess turned and glanced at Zhou Wei, who understood and took out a thousand-tael silver note from her bosom and threw it on the ground.

“The Third Prince’s residence has strict rules, with several hundred taels of silver for a single life. Our princess has been granted the title of Crown Princess today, making her status even more noble, so naturally the price should be raised.”

"Here is a thousand taels, just enough to buy this Steward Yang's life."

As soon as Zhou Wei finished speaking, Steward Yang collapsed to the ground, shouting for the Third Prince to spare his life.

The third prince was shocked, "Elder sister...you..."

"Yue Lin, if you dare to utter another sound, your life is only worth a thousand taels."

The princess looked at him coldly: "If you don't believe me, you're welcome to try."

Zhou Wei then looked at the person who had just been knocked to the ground by the Third Prince and instructed, "If he can still move, find some handy tools. After you finish beating him, the princess will reward you."

After Zhou Wei gave the order, the servants who had been trembling just moments before immediately began to act.

One of the maids picked up the Third Prince's whip, which was wrapped with barbs, and lashed it at Steward Yang.

She whipped herself while crying out in anguish!

The rest of the men, needless to say, found wooden sticks from various places and kept hitting Steward Yang.

With so many people working together, Steward Yang was silenced and unrecognizable after only a short while.

The first maid who had been holding the whip suddenly knelt down on the ground.

With tears streaming down her face, she said, "This servant thanks the Princess for punishing this wicked man!"

Upon hearing this, the Third Prince looked puzzled: "What are you saying, you lowly servant? What evil person?"

With the princess backing her up, the maid was no longer afraid. She wiped away her tears and said fiercely, "Does Your Highness not know? The maid you beat to death last month was my sister."

The Third Prince frowned: "How would I know about this? Besides, she's dead, so what? Didn't I have Old Yang give her family a few hundred taels of silver?"

The maid sneered, "Several hundred taels? Your Highness is joking. Do we lowly people like us deserve to have several hundred taels?"

"Not only did Steward Yang not give my family a few hundred taels, but he also told my parents that my sister had offended the prince, and if they didn't spend money to avoid trouble, I would be beaten to death, and my parents would suffer as well."

"My parents had no choice but to sell all the things that my sister and I had saved up over the years to buy with our monthly interest, and gave all their money to Steward Yang."

"In the past, when the prince killed someone, he always paid compensation in this way. Some families were even driven to ruin and death because of him!"

The Third Prince stared in shock at Steward Yang lying on the ground, seemingly unable to believe it.

"How could this be... how could this happen..."

Seeing the Third Prince like this, Zhou Wei shook her head helplessly. This was probably a huge ideological difference brought about by the class gap.

The third prince looked down on a life, thinking that money could solve everything.

For some poor people, they might really be willing to risk their lives for a peaceful life for their whole family.

But he never imagined that someone could resist such a big piece of cake.

The maid also said, "Your Highness is born noble, how could you know how difficult it is for someone of such lowly status as me to live? Steward Yang has been instigating Your Highness to kill people ever since you established your residence and government office, all for the sake of money."

The eldest princess could no longer bear to listen.

She directly ordered, "Guards, surround the Third Prince's residence! From this day forward, without my decree, the Third Prince shall not step out of the residence."

The Third Prince looked at the Eldest Princess with a shocked expression.

"Royal sister... are you going to imprison me?"