Chapter 389

Baili Junyi did not care about the Third Prince’s accusation at all. Instead, he looked at him strangely. “Third Brother, I simply kicked a palace maid who falsely accused the Master. Why do you have such a big reaction?”

“Fifth Brother, we have not interrogated the matter clearly, so it is hard to tell if it’s a false accusation. However, you seem like you’re trying to cover up the incident by doing what you did, don’t you think?”

Baili Junyi sneered and was about to say something when Shen Ninghua interjected, “Junyi, calm down and let Third Brother explain what happened. Why are you so anxious? True blue will never stain. I’m sure that Father Emperor will prove my innocence.”

The Third Prince had just opened his mouth when he was stopped by Noble Consort Li’s cold gaze. “Princess Zhaohua, I came with the Third Prince just now, and we are still confused. How could he know what happened?” The Third Prince almost landed himself in trouble again! Why did he always act so rashly?

The Third Prince paused, and then his face sank. He almost fell for Shen Ninghua’s words. “Yes. Princess Zhaohua, even if you want to prove your innocence, you can’t defame others.”

Noble Consort Qi’s face was full of tears. “Your Majesty, my niece specially came to the palace to visit me today. I thought about the flower viewing banquet organized by Noble Consort Li, so I asked her to come here to join the fun. If I had known what would happen to her today, I would rather see her practice the rules at home. Oh, poor girl! You are so young and naive! How can someone do something so horrible to you…”

Yang Yingxue stepped forward to support Noble Consort Qi. “Noble Consort, please accept my condolence. His Majesty will definitely figure out what had happened to Miss Qi.”

Baili Qingcang’s face was tense. “Ninghua, tell me what happened.”

“Yes, Father Emperor.” Shen Ninghua stepped forward and recounted, “I was admiring the flowers in the garden when that palace maid, Lv Rou, ran over all of a sudden and told me that Side Concubine Yang had fainted and was covered in blood. Side Concubine Yang knew that I was here and knew medicine, so she asked the maid to come to me for help. I was a little confused at that time, wondering why she came to me after she fainted instead of the imperial doctor or Noble Consort Li. However, Side Concubine Yang is my cousin, after all, so I came to check her condition in person. When I arrived here, I realized that the woman lying on the floor was not Side Concubine Yang at all. This palace maid pushed me from behind when I was preoccupied, which was why my feet and clothes were stained with blood. After that, she shouted, and you know what happened after that.”

Yang Yingxue was full of surprise. “Princess Zhaohua, I was invited to participate in the flower viewing banquet, but after entering the palace, I heard that Noble Consort Qi was not feeling well, so I went to visit her at Chunlan Palace and thought that I would come with Her Grace later. I was there all along. What…”

Shen Ninghua’s calm gaze fell on Yang Yingxue. After a while, she looked away. “I think this is a trap. I remember that Lv Rou is your personal maid. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have followed her here so casually.”

“Yes, Miss Qi was also with us at Chunlan Palace. When she heard that the banquet was about to start, she wanted to come over first. I was worried that she couldn’t find her way to the garden because she was unfamiliar with the palace route. Because Lv Rou was familiar with the route and was gifted to me by Noble Consort Qi, I asked her to lead the way for Miss Qi. Who would have thought that things would turn out like this?”

Noble Consort Li felt that the breathing of the person beside her was quite uneven. She turned her head and found that it was Lin Feiran. “Feiran, why is your face so pale? Are you scared?”

Being suddenly questioned, Lin Feiran trembled all over. “N-No, I just didn’t expect that Princess Zhaohua would actually…” As she spoke, she met Shen Ninghua’s gaze and quickly shut her mouth as if she had been frightened. Her hesitation intrigued everyone’s curiosity even more.

Baili Qingcang asked, “What’s wrong? Did you see something?”

Lin Feiran’s face turned even paler. She reached out to hold Bu Yonghan, who was at the side. Only then did she seem to have gained some courage. “Your Majesty, Princess Yonghan and I wanted to talk to Princess Zhaohua, but just as we took a few steps closer, we found that she hurriedly followed the palace maid. We were curious, so we followed them too, but…”

“What did you see?”

“We were far away, so we didn’t see clearly. We only saw Princess Zhaohua and Miss Qi who had fallen to the ground. At that time, we didn’t know what was going on. It wasn’t until the palace maid cried out in alarm that we realized something had happened.”

Just as Lin Feiran finished speaking, Lv Rou, who had been kicked away, shakily got up. “Your Majesty, it was Miss Qi who asked me to invite Princess Zhaohua over. I didn’t dare to go at first, but Miss Qi looked as if something was bothering her. I was worried about her, so I did as I was told. However, after Princess Zhaohua came, they spoke a few words, and Princess Zhaohua suddenly pushed her against the rockery. Because I was sent away from the scene, I didn’t manage to save Miss Qi. So, I could only shout for help.”

Baili Qingcang narrowed his eyes and looked at Shen Ninghua, who stood quietly with an expressionless face. There was not even a trace of fright or panic on her face. “Ninghua, you said that Qi Ying had already fallen to the ground when you came, but the palace maid claimed that you talked to Qi Ying first before pushing her. There is a big contradiction in both stories.”

Shen Ninghua raised her head, her face calm and confident. “Father Emperor, the big contradiction indicates that someone is lying.”

Baili Qingcang swept his cold gaze across the crowd. Just then, the imperial doctor rushed over. “Doctor, go and check on Miss Qi’s condition.”

The imperial doctor hurriedly stepped forward. When he was checking her breath, he accidentally touched Qi Ying’s face and felt his heart sinking in despair. Her entire body froze, and she was completely dead. “Your Majesty, I’m sorry, but this young lady is dead. Judging from the wound on her head, I suspect that her death was caused by the impact.”

After listening to the imperial doctor’s report, everyone couldn’t help but gasp in horror. The young lady was indeed dead because she was pushed against the rockery. They began to throw their suspicious gazes at Shen Ninghua.

Yang Yingxue slightly stepped forward and bowed, “Your Majesty, Noble Consort, Miss Qi has passed away. It is not good for her to lie on the ground and be watched by others. Please order the maids to tidy up her appearance.”

Hearing this, Noble Consort Qi was in despair and wailed sadly. Her maternal family had very few family members, and Qi Ying was the only girl in her generation. Noble Consort Qi planned to let her marry the Second Prince, so that she could watch over her and not let her be ill-treated. However, before she could ask the Emperor to arrange for the marriage, Qi Ying perished! How could she convey such sad news to her maternal family?!

“Chun Lan, Chun Ju, hurry up and do your job.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

The two palace maids quickly stepped forward to lift Qi Ying out of the pool of blood. Unexpectedly, one of them slipped, and Qi Ying’s corpse collapsed to the ground again. The maid immediately knelt down and apologized, “Your Grace, please forgive me. I didn’t mean it.”

“Hey, there seems to be something in Miss Qi’s hand.”

With a cry of alarm, everyone hurriedly looked over. Something poked out of Qi Ying’s hand, which seemed like a slip of paper.

Noble Consort Qi personally went forward to take it. When she saw the contents of the slip of paper, she looked at Shen Ninghua in disbelief, and her face turned pale. “How…”

Yang Yingxue stepped forward to support Noble Consort Qi. When she saw the contents of the note, she widened her eyes in surprise and muttered, “Please stop seeing Second Cousin…”

The surroundings were exceptionally quiet. Although she spoke in a low voice, they could hear her clearly. Second Cousin? There were not many people in Qi Ying’s family. There seemed to be only one person whom she could address Second Cousin. He was Baili Jinchuan, Noble Consort Qi’s son.

When Baili Qingcang saw the contents of the note, his eyes swept over Shen Ninghua and Baili Jinchuan in shock and bewilderment. Back then, Jinchuan had begged him to approve his marriage with Shen Ninghua, but he didn’t succeed in the end. Could it be that they were still seeing each other after that?

Lv Rou suddenly exclaimed, “No wonder Miss Qi looked as if something was bothering her. So, this was the reason. Your Grace, Miss Qin has taken a fancy to the Second Prince for a long time. She had discovered the secret relationship between His Highness and Princess Zhaohua, so she met the Princess alone, wanting to suppress this matter. However, she never had expected that the Princess would be so cruel as to murder her in order to prevent the matter from being exposed…”

Noble Consort Qi’s face suddenly tensed up. Only then did she suddenly realize that the mastermind’s targets were Shen Ninghua and her son, and the innocent Qi Ying was sacrificed because she was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Baili Jinchuan was the apple of her eyes, and no one could touch him. With that, she stopped crying abruptly, pulled her hand away from Yang Yingxue, and glared at her coldly. Lv Rou was Yang Yingxue’s personal maid. Noble Consort Qi wanted to pair Qi Ying and the Second Prince up. It was possible that Yang Yingxue did something because of jealousy…

Feeling Noble Consort Qi distancing herself from her, Yang Yingxue lowered her head as if nothing had happened, yet her heart skipped a beat.

Baili Qingcang’s eyes were gloomy to the extreme. He originally thought that it only involved Shen Ninghua, but he did not expect that even Baili Jinchuan was involved. “Ninghua, do you admit to your crime?”

Shen Ninghua glanced coldly at Lv Rou. “Father Emperor, I haven’t done anything, so I don’t know what crime I have committed. However, I feel a little strange. When did a small-time palace maid have the courage to speculate about her Master’s matters? In fact, she was so bold that she even defamed the Prince and Princess!”

Lv Rou quickly kowtowed, and in a few moments, she wounded her forehead, and blood oozed out. “Your Majesty, I only said what I know. I didn’t dare to defame my Masters. Please, Your Majesty, please investigate the matter. I’ve been serving Noble Consort Qi for many years, and I don’t dare to act against my Masters in any way. If you don’t believe me, I will prove my innocence with death!” As she spoke, she got up and charged toward the rockery.

Baili Junyi sneered. He had predicted such a move from this maid. With that, he kicked Lv Rou in the chest, and she flew and collapsed to the ground. “How can you die when Father Emperor hasn’t told you to die?!”

Lin Feiran’s heart skipped a beat. Many people also felt a tightness in their chest when they saw this. Royal Prince Yi’s kick was simply too ruthless. They even heard the sound of ribs breaking.

Shen Ninghua swept her gaze across everyone’s faces calmly. Then, she stood up and said, “Father Emperor, it is time to end this case since it has come to this point.”