Emperor Rongcheng believed it at the time and did indeed do so.

But he still couldn't understand why Jiang Xianhao had such a strong reaction.

At this moment, Emperor Rongcheng came to this tree again.

The woman in the tree caught a glimpse of his expression, smiled smugly, and then gracefully leaped down.

Judging from your face, things must have gone wrong.

Emperor Rongcheng's face suddenly turned cold, and he glared at her fiercely.

The woman's heart tightened, fearing that angering him would lead to her death. She paused, then forced a feigned anger as she said:

"Why are you glaring at me? I was trying to help you! You messed it up yourself, and now you're blaming me?"

Emperor Rongcheng casually found a spot under the tree to sit down and wearily uttered two words: "Didn't mess it up."

It was precisely because he hadn't messed things up that he felt so disappointed, sad, and upset.

Upon hearing this, the young Consort Hui felt even more pleased, but showed no sign of it on her face.

She sat down beside Emperor Rongcheng and said, "I'm sure she'll gather all sorts of evidence tomorrow to prove that what she said is true. If you want to reconcile, you should tell her now that you believe her and don't care about these things."

Emperor Rongcheng glanced at her: "I have always trusted her and have never cared about these things."

The young Consort Hui snorted coldly: "If you truly believed that, why would you have such an expression right now?"

Emperor Rongcheng glared at her again, his tone harsh: "I told you, I don't care."

The young Consort Hui glanced at him, her lips curling slightly, and silently scoffed.

——-

The next day.

After waking up, Jiang Xianhao immediately recalled all the details of the day that Emperor Rongcheng misunderstood her.

She wrote down in detail all the parts that he might have misinterpreted.

Not only that, she also specially ordered someone to invite the head of the Imperial Hospital, Wang, to inquire about the matter of a woman's first time bleeding.

On the second day of her marriage, she also had doubts about the bleeding and privately consulted with Director Wang.

At that time, Chief Wang explained to her in detail: "Your Majesty, the saying about 'fallen blood' is utter nonsense and is by no means proof of a woman's chastity."

Not all women bleed on their first time, Your Majesty, please rest assured. I will certainly explain this clearly to Your Majesty.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xianhao felt relieved. She assumed that the head of the academy had already explained the situation to Emperor Rongcheng.

Little did they know that the head of the academy had only mentioned it briefly to Emperor Rongcheng, which had already enraged the emperor. From then on, the head of the academy dared not mention the matter again.

Now, the head of the academy was summoned by Jiang Xianhao again, and the old matter was brought up again. He immediately knelt down in fear and said:

"Your Majesty, please forgive me! It was only because His Majesty was so enraged back then that I... I dared not speak further. Later, I intended to find an opportunity to report to Your Majesty, but I was transferred away from the capital."

When I returned, I saw the Empress and His Majesty in perfect harmony, and I felt it was better to avoid trouble, so I dared not bring it up again..."

Jiang Xianhao never expected that there would be such a lapse in the matter back then, so he naturally couldn't help but give her a scolding.

Chief Physician Wang was prepared and presented two booklets: "These are the relevant historical records that I investigated back then. Your Majesty may present them to His Majesty for review."

Jiang Xianhao sighed: "In that case, you will come with me and explain this to His Majesty in person!"

——-

Inside the Wanhe Hall.

Emperor Rongcheng was reviewing memorials with a troubled mind. Every few strokes he wrote, his gaze would involuntarily drift toward the palace gate.

Consort Hui's words echoed repeatedly in his mind. He both hoped that Jiang Xianhao would come and feared that she wouldn't.

Just then, Jiang Xianhao arrived.

"Ah-hao." Emperor Rongcheng saw her and slowly rose to greet her softly.

However, the head of the Imperial Medical Academy, Wang, followed closely behind.

Emperor Rongcheng paused, his gaze sweeping over Chief Wang before turning back to Jiang Xianhao.

Jiang Xianhao bowed respectfully before speaking, "Since Your Majesty does not believe me, I will bring Chief Wang here to explain things to you in person."

Before he could finish speaking, Emperor Rongcheng suddenly flew into a rage: "Are you insane?!"

The roar froze Jiang Xianhao in his tracks, and he looked at him in disbelief.

Emperor Rongcheng glared fiercely at the head of the courtyard and shouted sternly, "Get out!"

The head of the academy was so frightened that he forgot all about bowing and scrambled out of the room.

This attitude astonished Jiang Xianhao. He then heard Emperor Rongcheng suppress his anger and say:

"Ah Hao! You're foolish! I executed a group of gossips over this very issue back then! And you still want the imperial physicians to know? Don't you care about your reputation or your name?!"

Jiang Xianhao took a deep breath and handed over the two booklets in his hand: "In that case, Your Majesty may wish to take a look at them yourself."

One of the two booklets contains a clarification written by her own hand.

The other book is a collection of medical evidence compiled by the head of the hospital.

He only needs to take one look to know the truth.

However, after Emperor Rongcheng took it, he only sighed heavily and casually set it aside.

"Ah, I know what you're going to say, but I already made it clear yesterday that I don't care about these things."

Jiang Xianhao stared at Emperor Rongcheng's face and suddenly realized:

No matter what she says, Emperor Rongcheng will not truly believe her.

No matter how she explained, in his eyes it was just an excuse she made to cover up her true feelings.

Her heart sank as if into an abyss.

She looked at the man she loved so deeply, and felt he was a complete stranger.

Without uttering another word, she turned and left.

——-

From that day on, their relationship took a sharp turn for the worse.

Even though Emperor Rongcheng went to see Jiang Xianhao every day.

But he was met only with a cold, icy face.

The two either remained silent or engaged in a heated argument.

They loved each other with all their hearts and souls, and they knew all too well how to use words to hurt each other's most sensitive spots.

Those sharpest words wounded each other deeply.

During that period, Jiang Xianhao spent her days in tears, no longer showing her former innocence and carefree nature, as if she had become a completely different person.

Emperor Rongcheng, on the other hand, was shrouded in a low mood all day long.

On one occasion, the eunuch Dexi accidentally broke a cup and was nearly beheaded by the enraged Emperor Rongcheng.

Fortunately, Jiang Xianhao happened to be passing by and saved Dexi with just a few words.

However, this led to an even more intense argument between the two.

After the argument, Jiang Xianhao went back and immediately closed the palace gates.

Emperor Rongcheng repeatedly requested an audience, but was always refused entry.

Over time, Emperor Rongcheng felt he had lost face and stopped going.

Feeling frustrated and with nowhere to vent, he would often wander alone under that tree and confide in the young Consort Hui.

Until that night, he got drunk.

In his hazy, drunken state, he saw the figure of Consort Hui, and in a daze, it seemed as if Jiang Xianhao was walking towards him.

He could no longer care about anything else, rushed forward and hugged her tightly, pouring out all the grievances and pain that had been building up for days:

"Ah Hao... I was wrong... I really know I was wrong... Please don't ignore me..."

"It's my fault... I shouldn't have made unfounded accusations... and brought up those things..."

"If I keep pretending I know nothing... can we... go back to the way things were before?"

"Ah Hao..." He buried his head deeply in "her" arms, his voice choked with sobs, "How could you bear to... ignore me for so long?"