Everyone looked over and saw that Hua Yin, who had been rushing out, had now collapsed softly to the ground, with a blood-stained stone lying at her feet.

All around was quiet.

After a long while, Shangguan Yanran came to her senses and looked at Rong Qingqing in surprise.

Rong Qingqing patted the dust off her hands and said innocently, "I didn't really want to throw it away, but she suddenly ran out, and it scared me so much that my hand trembled..."

Shangguan Yanran's lips twitched, and her hand trembled. How could she hit someone so accurately on the back of the head?

Despite the complaints, I still feel really good.

"Your throw was incredibly accurate! How did you do that?"

"I don't know either. Maybe that rock also disliked Huayin. It just suddenly flew over there." Rong Qingqing said, seemingly serious but actually not. She walked over, kicked the unconscious Huayin with her foot, and then instructed Xiao Tao, "The dragon boat race is about to start. I'll go over first. Have someone drag her away. Don't spoil my fun."

"Yes." Xiao Tao wiped her sweat. Her young lady was getting more and more formidable; she showed no mercy when it came to smashing people's heads.

The place was quiet, and no one came by, so Huayin's commotion went unnoticed.

After giving her instructions, Rong Qingqing glanced at Xingchun.

Xingchun shuddered and lowered her head even further.

Rong Qingqing paused for a moment, but did not ask any more questions. She turned around and left the courtyard with Shangguan Yanran, heading towards the stands.

After leaving the courtyard, Shangguan Yanran frequently glanced at Rong Qingqing.

Rong Qingqing noticed and turned her head, amused, asking, "Is this the first day you've met me? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Unable to suppress her curiosity, Shangguan Yanran couldn't help but ask, "What exactly were you thinking about what Huayin said just now?"

Rong Qingqing glanced at her and shrugged. "What else can I think? Of course, it's all made up by her."

Shangguan Yanran was quite surprised to hear her so certain. "But what they said was so detailed and convincing. Don't you have any doubts at all? Do you trust the Emperor that much?"

Rong Qingqing was silent for a while before saying, "Actually, I've already guessed what's going on with this matter. Some time ago, the Empress Dowager suddenly took me to the Imperial Estate for a few days. At that time, I knew that the Empress Dowager was trying to get rid of me, but I trusted Xie Jingrun, so I obediently went with her to the Imperial Estate. But I didn't expect that even though Huayin had already been betrothed to the Prefect of Jinzhou, she still wouldn't give up."

I initially thought the Empress Dowager had other plans, but I never imagined her plan was to target Hua Yin. If I'm not mistaken, Hua Yin stayed in the palace those past few days, trying to seduce Xie Jingrun while I was away, but as you can imagine, she failed.

Shangguan Yanran was astonished; she hadn't expected there to be such a thing.

but--

How do you know she didn't succeed?

Rong Qingqing laughed and said, "Didn't you notice that she was actually not very confident when she said those things? If she had succeeded, she wouldn't have been so hysterical and desperate."

"Then why did she make up those stories? Wasn't she afraid that her lies would be exposed and she would be punished by the Emperor?" Shangguan Yanran couldn't understand it.

Rong Qingqing narrowed her eyes slightly, with a hint of sarcasm, "Her purpose is nothing more than to sow discord between me and the Emperor."

Shangguan Yanran asked in surprise, "But what benefit can she gain from doing this?"

"Some people are twisted; if they can't have it themselves, they won't let anyone else have it either," Rong Qingqing said calmly. She could actually guess Hua Yin's thoughts to some extent.