This small act of spreading rumors in private is absolutely different in nature from spreading leaflets in public.
In the beginning, the rumors were only spread among the lower classes in Beidi City and had not spread to the upper class yet. Hua Jin could let Er Gouzi deal with them.
But these little leaflets today have suddenly penetrated these rumors into the superstructure of Beidi City.
In ancient times, rumors and malicious slander could kill people. If Hua Jin was a woman who regarded her husband as her first priority, wouldn't she have to die in front of so many people today to express her ambition?
So the mastermind behind this not only wants Hua Jin to be ruined, but also wants Hua Jin to die.
Hua Jin sneered, walked out of the shop, and glanced at the dignitaries outside. Wouldn't it be nice for the person behind the scenes to live a good life? She had to be forced to open up.
The dignitaries had been tortured so much by Li Yunqing recently. When they saw Hua Jin suddenly come out of the room, they immediately put the leaflets in their sleeves in embarrassment.
"Don't accept it, what you have in your hands, I also have!"
Hua Jin snorted and ordered the guards to seal off the entire street.
"Today, my concubine would like to see who is spreading random advertisements in this public place."
When everyone saw Hua Jin's handiwork, they started to tremble. A few brave ones stood up with a smile and raised their hands towards Hua Jin.
"Don't be upset, Princess. There must be someone who can't stand her arrogance and wants to throw dirty water on her."
"Yes, yes, princess, we are not fools, who would believe such rumors?"
Everyone nodded in agreement and exchanged ambiguous glances with each other.
On the surface, everyone said they didn’t believe it, but actually, some people were whispering,
"It is said that there is no smoke without fire. Although Princess Li was ruthless and stabbed Qu Lechang with a sword, she wiped herself clean, but Qu Lechang may not let go."
"It must be that the old relationship is still unresolved, so she decided to have an affair. The princess can't give birth to a child, and she will fall out of favor with King Xiao Li sooner or later. Of course she has to find a way out for herself."
"In full view of everyone, she sealed off the entire street. What on earth is she going to do?"
In the midst of such discussion, a servant hurriedly ran over and bowed his hands to Hua Jin, who had an upright back.
"Empress, the person who distributed the flyers has been found."
The people who distributed the leaflets were a few refugees who had just arrived in Beidi City. When they were caught, they were still holding a large stack of leaflets in their hands.
They had a satchel on their shoulders, and there was a large stack of leaflets in the bag.
There were five people in total, kneeling in front of the newly opened restaurant in Huajin, looking dejected.
All the dignitaries of Beidi City were standing around. Hua Jin stepped forward with his hands behind his hands, looked down at the five people, and asked coldly,
"I'll give you one stick of incense to explain who asked you to do this."
One of them knelt down and pouted,
"We just don't like you and want to reveal the truth."
He does bad things out of loyalty, and it is impossible to expose the mastermind so easily.
But Hua Jin obviously didn't have the patience. With a wave of his hand, two palace guards came forward and held down the man who was talking back. They raised their knives and cut off the man's little finger.
The screams sounded, Hua Jin's face was expressionless,
"From now on, within a stick of incense, if I ask you every question, if you don't answer truthfully or tell a lie, I will cut off one of your fingers. After cutting off the finger, I will cut off the toes, then the ankles, calves, and knees.
.....It doesn’t matter, just hide it for others.”
She has too much time to waste with these ghosts and monsters!
Before the man whose finger was cut off could speak, the man kneeling next to him began to explain tremblingly.
The five of them were all foreigners who had fled to the North. They had no idea about the situation in the North City, and they didn't know what grudges Hua Jin, Princess Xiaoli, and Qu Lechang had.
It's just that someone found them, gave them money, and asked them to enter Beidi City to spread such rumors. They must take advantage of the opening of Huajin's restaurant today to spread these pieces of paper at the scene.
"Mother, we just want to make some money to make ends meet. Mother... have mercy on me, mother..."
After the explanation was made clear, the five men on the ground began to kowtow.
Hua Jin snorted coldly,
"I would like to spare you, but in this fucked-up world, there are so many women who have been killed by rumors. You are making money to live on, but what about my reputation?"
She waved her hand,
"Tell me clearly what are the characteristics of the person who gave you money."
According to what the five men on the ground told them, the person who asked them to do this was very rosy and hunchbacked.
There was a powerful man next to him, and he shouted very flatteringly:
"Are you Mr. Turtle from Qinghua House?"
Hua Jin looked at the guard,
"Bring the Turtle Master and the Madam from Qinghua House here."
Another powerful man complained in a low voice,
"Didn't we catch the people who spread the rumors? Why aren't we allowed to leave? Is it necessary to make such a big deal?"
Some dignitaries felt that Hua Jin was a bit over the top, so Hua Jin sealed off the street just for the sake of a few rumors that were unclear whether they were true or false.
The battle is too big, which only proves that Hua Jin is unreasonable and unforgiving.
Hua Jin glanced coldly at the impatient dignitaries beside her, turned around, and shouted to Wu Tian,
"A law in the North is promulgated. Anyone who slanders others with words, if no evidence can be produced, will be guilty of defamation. The lighter punishment will be confiscation of family property, and the worst will be imprisonment. Anyone who is slandered by words, regardless of gender, can go to court.
Complain to the Yamen."
Wu Tianying responded and immediately ordered someone to write down this law.
The dignitaries nearby were originally complaining that Hua Jin was making a fuss out of a molehill, but as soon as she promulgated the law, they immediately fell silent.
The flower brocade is folded with hands, the green clothes are fluttering,
"This law is just to tell you that I don't like to slander others, and I don't like to be slandered by others. I didn't care at first because I didn't get in front of me, but now I'm singing in front of me with gongs and drums.
Big drama, I will let you know why the flowers are so red!"
Soon, the hunchbacked man and the madam of the Blue and White House were escorted over by the palace guards as told by the five men who distributed the small advertisements.
The two of them knelt in front of Hua Jin and shouted loudly,
"It's unjust, my empress, it's unjust~~"
Hua Jin waved and asked Wu Dalang and Dabao to bring her two chairs. She sat on the chair, folded her legs, and smiled.
"Whether it's unjust or not, let's talk about it separately. It's just mom. We are old acquaintances. I usually patronize your business. Your move has broken my heart."
Because there are no singing and dancing girls in Prince Li's palace, Hua Jin wants to hold a banquet or make some big scene, but all the singing and dancing girls are invited from the Blue and White House to perform.
She was willing to spend money and had almost never bargained with the madam. She was considered a regular customer of Qinghua House.
But now that Mr. Turtle of Qinghua House is suspected of slandering Hua Jin's reputation, Qinghua House is naturally involved.
The old bustard, with a big red flower on his head, knelt on the ground and beat the turtle next to him desperately.
"You are a fool, who asked you to do such a shameless thing? Why don't you do it quickly? Do you want to kill Qinghua Tower? Ahhh!"
When the palace guards found out about Hong Xiu from Mr. Gui's mouth and rushed into the Blue and White Building to look for the person, Hong Xiu's face was red and her ears were red, and she was pinned down by a fat and greasy prostitute.
The two of them were fighting and having fun.
Therefore, the guards of the palace kindly waited for half an hour, and after the clients were over, they took the red sleeves and escorted them to the palace prison.