Chapter 201 Princess Qinyu Murdered? Was She a Resurrected Corpse or a Ghost?

Li Qingluo and Nanping were both taken aback.

Nanping immediately tried to pull Li Qingluo out to take a look, but was stopped by Madam Pei.

"If such a serious matter truly arises, it is of utmost importance. Please take your seats! We may not be able to keep it from His Majesty..."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than an exclamation came from outside: "Miss—Miss—my eldest daughter!!"

"Gone, gone, Your Highness, Prince Consort—my eldest daughter is gone—she was murdered—"

It was a servant woman from the Pan family, who was crying and shouting in a mournful and pitiful manner.

Such shouts could no longer be drowned out by even the most string and wind instruments.

Many people in the hall heard it, and the emperor was certainly not deaf.

He glanced coldly at Eunuch Zhou, who immediately raised his voice and asked, "How dare you! What day is it today? Who dares to make a scene outside the palace? Seize them at once!"

The crying and screaming stopped instantly.

At that moment, a guard carrying a knife entered, and Eunuch Zhou immediately waved his hand, ordering all the singing and dancing to stop.

"Your Majesty, just now, several young ladies were pushing and shoving each other when a dispute broke out. One of them, a young lady named Pan, accidentally fell into the water. Your subjects just pulled her out... but unfortunately, she is already..."

Princess Xiyue stood up instantly, her face full of surprise: "Could it be Pan Li!? Where is she? She was just in the palace a moment ago, how come she's gone now!?"

The prince consort was so panicked that he smashed the cup in his hand.

"Li...Li'er? Is it Li'er?!"

Pan Li was the niece of the Grand Prince Consort, so after the Grand Prince Consort and his wife returned to Jinling, they treated Pan Li with the same love and care as their own daughter.

Even though the Pan family wasn't qualified to attend the banquet, the Grand Prince Consort still brought her into the palace with him.

But at this moment, something happened to her!

The eldest princess and her husband hurriedly left Zhaohua Palace, and Nanping also pulled Li Qingluo away while Old Madam Pei was not paying attention.

When the princess and her husband arrived at the pond not far from Zhaohua Palace, Pan Li was already lying on the ground, her face deathly pale.

And indeed, it was no longer breathing.

Although Pan Li was vain and somewhat arrogant, and her personality never aligned with Nanping's, Princess Nanping was still very saddened to see her truly dead.

"Really, that's all...?"

She stared blankly at Pan Li's corpse, her eyes reddening.

After all, she was related to me by blood, someone I could call my cousin...

The eldest son-in-law rushed forward in heartbreak: "Li'er—Li'er, how am I supposed to explain this to your parents—Li'er!!"

The Grand Prince Consort held the already dead Pan Li and wept bitterly, while Princess Xiyue was filled with rage.

She ordered the Imperial Guards to release the servants of the Pan family, then went over and slapped the old nanny hard.

"How could you possibly take care of your eldest daughter?! How could she have fallen into the pond?!"

"If you don't explain yourselves clearly today, I will make you all pay with your lives for Miss Pan!"

Princess Xiyue's overwhelming rage terrified all the palace maids and guards in the garden, making them tremble with fear.

But how exactly did this happen?

In reality, very few people saw it clearly.

Although lights were lit everywhere, it was still a dark day.

Outside Zhaohua Hall, the trees are lush and green.

The girls sneaked out for some fresh air and went to the lake together. They were talking normally at first, but then they suddenly started making a fuss!

Everything happened so fast; with a 'plop,' a guard immediately jumped in to rescue the person.

But when they pulled him out, he was already gone...

"Your Highness, please spare us! We truly have no idea what happened to the young ladies!"

"We servants originally wanted to go with them, but Miss Pan got very angry and drove us all away..."

"She also said that if the servants didn't get out of the way, she would have Her Highness the Princess cut off all their heads..."

Nanping sniffed and muttered in surprise, "Although Pan Li is always annoying and outspoken, she shouldn't use my mother as a scapegoat, right? She wouldn't dare..."

The Grand Prince Consort was furious: "This is absolutely impossible! Li'er is not the kind of person to speak such vile words! It is you damned lowly maids who have neglected your duties and dared to deceive this Grand Prince Consort and the Princess!"

"Guards! Slap them until they tell the truth!"

Just then, an announcement came from inside the palace: "His Majesty and the Empress have arrived—"

Everyone outside the hall knelt down in unison.

When Emperor Liang and Empress Liang came out and saw this scene in the garden, their faces were naturally gloomy.

The eldest son-in-law turned around and cried, "Father, I beg you to do me justice! My brother only has this one daughter..."

The Pan family has two brothers.

After Pan Erlang became the emperor's son-in-law, he hadn't enjoyed his wealth and honor for long before he and Princess Xiyue were demoted to the northwest.

Pan Dalang had been supporting his parents on his own for many years and had also been secretly helping the eldest princess and her husband. Therefore, the eldest prince consort always felt ashamed and extremely grateful to his elder brother.

After returning from the Northwest, the Grand Prince Consort naturally provided much support and guidance to his elder brother, Pan Dalang, who has now risen to the rank of a fifth-grade official.

Apart from their daughter Pan Li, Pan Dalang and his wife had only sons.

Now that Pan Li has died in the palace, how could the Grand Prince Consort not go mad?

He put Pan Li down, knelt down beside Emperor Liang, and hugged Emperor Liang's legs, pleading bitterly.

"I beg my father to grant me justice!!"

The eldest princess, heartbroken for her husband, knelt down with tears in her eyes, pleading, "Father, please do justice for my husband! Our child, Li'er, died so mysteriously in our palace tonight. How can my husband and I explain this to the Pan family..."

Emperor Liang roared, "What on earth is going on?! Bring all the troublemakers here immediately!"

The girls by the lake were completely terrified.

But no one dared to utter a sound at that moment.

They were brought up, their faces ashen.

Among them were Princess Qinyu, Pei Si Niang, and Cui Shiyi Niang, as well as several other noble ladies whose faces Li Qingluo found familiar.

"Qinyu!? It's you!?" the Empress exclaimed in surprise.

Emperor Liang was also somewhat surprised: "What exactly happened?! Qinyu, why don't you tell the truth quickly?!"

Qin Yu knelt down straight, her face ashen, yet she answered honestly and frankly: "Your Majesty, it has nothing to do with the others. It was... it was Qin Yu who pushed Miss Pan into the water."

She didn't utter a single word of shirking responsibility, nor did she intend to defend herself.

In this light, he does seem to be a person who dares to take responsibility for his actions.

Her answer made Li Qingluo look at her with new respect.

This Qin Yu is truly an extraordinary person.

The eldest princess 'whoosh—' turned her head and glared at Qinyu.

His eyes were filled not only with confusion, but also with surging anger and murderous intent: "It's you—? Why is it you!?"

"Qinyu, I have always valued you so much and regarded you as someone I could trust. Why would you want to take Li'er's life?!"

Qin Yu looked at Princess Xi Yue and said frankly, "She insulted me first, but no matter what, I accidentally killed someone today and I will not shirk my responsibility!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Pan Li, who was lying on the cold ground and had been dead, suddenly gasped!

Then, with a "whoosh," she opened her mouth, turned her head, and vomited up all the water in her stomach!

Pan Li opened her eyes, and after waking up, she looked at everyone present with a look of horror!

"How...how did I get here...? Someone...someone wants to kill me—"

The sudden turn of events left everyone nearby stunned.

Then a palace servant cried out in alarm: "Ah!!! It's...it's...it's a zombie?!"

"A ghost! A ghost! It's a ghost!!"

Everyone around was frightened and ran away, until Eunuch Zhou shouted angrily: "What chaos is this? The Emperor is here, what demons and monsters dare to act so recklessly in the palace?!"

Nanping was so frightened that she hugged Li Qinglu tightly.

"She...she's not dead!?"

Li Qingluo was also confused, so she could only continue watching with Nanping.

Only the Grand Prince Consort was unafraid; he was overjoyed and rushed over to help Pan Li up.

"Li'er, you're not dead? You're really not dead! That's wonderful, that's wonderful! It's good that you're still alive, child... your second uncle thought you..."

The prince consort wiped away his tears with excitement. When he met Pan Li's bewildered and somewhat timid gaze, he simply assumed she was just scared out of her wits.

"Quickly summon the imperial physician! Have someone come and examine Li'er! She might have lost her mind from fright..."

Upon seeing that the person was indeed alive, the surrounding area instantly erupted in chaos.

"He's still alive? That's too strange. Weren't they supposed to be dead?"

"Yes. Maybe they didn't get treatment quickly enough; it was just a mouthful of water stuck there."

"The Grand Prince Consort just shook her a few times while holding her. Could that be why he spat out that saliva?"

"It's good that they're not dead, otherwise all the girls from these families tonight would probably be held responsible."

"Does that mean Princess Qinyu is alright again?"

"She is a princess of two countries, so His Majesty would not punish her for any serious offense."

Sure enough, seeing that Pan Li was still alive, Emperor Liang seemed to have dissipated much of his anger.

"Although no one has died, what happened tonight was truly absurd!"

He glared at Qinyu before turning to the Empress beside him: "Your Majesty, you are the mother of the nation, and the daughters of all the ministers present today are the ones who caused this trouble. In that case, this matter of the inner court will be left to you to handle!"

Upon hearing the mention of a matter concerning the inner quarters, all the court officials present, except for the Princess and her husband, who were implicated, breathed a sigh of relief.

The Empress bowed: "Yes, Your Majesty."

"Although Miss Pan is not dead, I believe that Princess Qinyu acted rashly today and almost caused a real death. She deserves to be punished."

Emperor Liang: "She is a princess of both Liang and Chu. Empress, what do you think should be done to punish her?"

Empress: "Your Majesty. Princess Qinyu has always been calm and composed since childhood, and has never made such a mistake as today."

"For the sake of peace between the two countries, she has tirelessly traveled between them for many years. For a woman like her, losing the peaceful and happy life of a young lady in her boudoir is surely a sacrifice and a grievance."

"Whenever natural disasters or man-made calamities occur, she never misses an opportunity to do good deeds such as distributing porridge and spreading kindness. It is no exaggeration to call her a heroine of both countries."

Emperor Liang said, "But we cannot excuse her past mistakes because of her past merits! Since she has made a mistake, she has made a mistake."

"Even the emperor is subject to the same laws as commoners, so how can she be exempted from punishment because of her merits?"

The Empress said, "Then punish her... send her to a temporary palace outside the main palace and confine her for three months to reflect on her mistakes. Also punish her by making her copy the 'Precepts for Women' one hundred times and give Miss Pan a sincere apology."

"All the other young ladies involved in this matter who did not advise Princess Qinyu and stood by indifferently have failed in their moral conduct, so they shall all be punished by going home and being confined to their quarters to reflect on their mistakes. They shall also copy the 'Precepts for Women' twenty times and apologize to Miss Pan."

"Your Majesty, I wonder if my approach is appropriate?"