Chapter 133 Obsessed

The room was extremely quiet. Normally, at this time, if she got up and made some noise, the two maids waiting outside would knock on the door and come in to help her wash up. But today, even when she opened the door herself, she didn't see anyone.

She turned around and took a closer look at the room, but found that the small mechanisms she had set up showed no signs of being tampered with. Obviously, no one had entered her room.

Just when I was wondering where all these people had gone, I saw Xier and Zi Yan hurriedly walking in from outside. Seeing that Zhong Min had gotten up, they hurried forward to prepare toiletries and help Zhong Min wash up.

"Where did you come back from so early?" Zhong Min asked curiously, "Are you feeling better? Wasn't Zi Yan feeling a little unwell yesterday?"

"I'm fine now, thank you for your concern, young lady." Zi Yan smiled quickly and said, "Young lady, please wash up quickly so that you can have breakfast."

"Why are you guys acting so strange today?" Zhong Min was a little confused and asked Xi'er beside him, "Where are the two maids that Concubine Liu called over temporarily? Why are they nowhere to be seen?"

When Xi'er saw Zhong Min asking about the two maids, she felt a little awkward for a moment and mumbled, "They, they've already gone back. Zi Yan and I are fine anyway, so we let them go first."

"Yes, it's getting late, girl, hurry up and wash up." Zi Yan quickly handed a towel to Zhong Min, as if she was afraid that Zhong Min would ask something.

Seeing this, Zhong Min felt something was amiss, but she didn't ask any more questions. Instead, she cooperated and washed up. Then, while combing her hair, she said to Zi Yan, who was waiting nearby, "Zi Yan, I want some sweet potato porridge today. Go to the kitchen and tell them not to make it too thick."

When Zi Yan heard this, she nodded repeatedly, as if relieved, and hurried out.

As soon as Zi Yan left, Zhong Min stopped pretending and went straight to Xi'er, asking, "Xi'er, tell me, what happened? If you still care about our relationship, don't hide it from me. Tell me everything."

Xi'er paused as she heard this. Seeing that no one was in the room, she turned to Zhong Min and said, "Here's what happened. The prince originally told us not to tell you, but I figured you'd know eventually. I didn't expect you to notice it so quickly."

As she spoke, Xier explained the whole cause and effect of the matter in detail. As Zhong Min listened, he became extremely angry. He really didn't expect that such a thing would happen. It seemed that Xiao Mingzheng was really possessed by the devil.

It turned out that Jiang Xiyan had invited Xiao Mingzheng over the previous night and somehow managed to tell him about Xier and Ziyan feeling unwell after eating something unclean a few days ago. She must have been sobbing and saying that Zhong Min had misunderstood her and was ignoring her. When Xier and Ziyan were summoned for questioning, Jiang Xiyan looked incredibly aggrieved, and it was unclear how she could escalate the situation.

Xiao Mingzheng didn't care too much at first, after all, Zhong Min was fine. However, Jiang Xiyan insisted that he get to the bottom of the matter and clear her name, so he had no choice but to summon the court physician, Xier and Zi Yan to question her.

It was already quite late and Zhong Min had already fallen asleep. Xiao Mingzheng ordered people not to disturb Zhong Min, so Zhong Min had no idea what was happening outside the other house in the yard.

The court physician was the first to respond. He naturally didn't dare lie to the prince's question, and quickly revealed that Xi'er and Ziyan were suffering from Qingmang poison. However, because they were in front of others, he didn't dare tell the truth. Instead, he speculated about Zhong Min's intentions and said he didn't tell her that they were poisoned, saying only that they were skin allergies, fearing that she might be frightened. He wasn't clear on anything else.

Hearing this, Xiao Mingzheng naturally took it more seriously. He also heard Xier and Zi Yan say that they felt unwell after eating those cakes, and Xier ate less, while Zi Yan ate more, which was why the symptoms were of different severity. He was even more certain that the poison must have come from that plate of cakes. Fortunately, Zhong Min did not eat it, so he did not suffer.

Jiang Xiyan felt even more aggrieved, claiming she genuinely had no idea the pastry was drugged. She urged Xiao Mingzheng to identify the ruthless individual who had intended to harm Zhong Min and frame her. She also claimed Zhong Min must have misunderstood her, as otherwise, when she went to question her about the matter that afternoon, she wouldn't have lied to her about eating the pastry and being fine. If this matter wasn't thoroughly investigated and her innocence cleared, she wouldn't be able to remain in Prince Mu's mansion with dignity.

In this way, the clue of the investigation naturally fell on the maid who was responsible for delivering the cakes that day. After several questionings failed, Xiao Mingzheng ordered his men to drag her down and beat her with a stick. As a result, the maid confessed everything before she was beaten much. She said that everything was instructed by Concubine Liu, who asked her to take the opportunity to drug her and then put the blame on Jiang Xiyan, thereby provoking conflicts and fights between the two so that Concubine Liu could profit from it.

Not only that, the maid also handed over the remaining green mango powder from that day, and looked like she was truly repentant and asking for forgiveness. She also said that she was forced to do so, and if she didn't do so, Concubine Liu would harm her family.

In this way, it seemed that there was complete evidence, so Xiao Mingzheng had Concubine Liu called in for a confrontation that night. Naturally, Concubine Liu denied it and kept crying out that she was innocent, but apart from crying out, she obviously had no other way to prove her innocence.

Xiao Mingzheng immediately reprimanded Liu, wrote a letter of divorce that very night, and expelled her from the palace. The two maids Liu had originally sent to Zhong Min were also implicated and expelled along with them, never to be allowed to set foot in Prince Mu's palace again.

Not only that, Xiao Mingzheng also made it clear to everyone in the palace that from now on Jiang Xiyan would be in charge of all matters in the back garden. In order to avoid dissatisfaction among everyone, he also specifically stated in front of everyone that after he finished dealing with the thorny northwest affairs for a while, he would issue an order to propose marriage and marry Jiang Xiyan as the Princess of Mu. From then on, everyone in the palace treated Jiang Xiyan as the principal wife.

Hearing this, Zhong Min was momentarily stunned. Even she could see the numerous flaws in the whole thing, but why had the usually clever Xiao Mingzheng believed Jiang Xiyan's one-sided story and the supposed witnesses and evidence? If it were truly Liu's poisoning and deliberate frame-up, why wouldn't there have been any action at all? Instead, why was it Jiang Xiyan, the so-called victim, who took the initiative to bring up the whole thing before anyone else had even mentioned it?

Liu was not such a stupid person, so how could she leave such obvious witnesses and evidence for Jiang Xiyan to catch? It was obvious that all this was designed by Jiang Xiyan herself. Zhong Min originally thought that if she didn't reveal this matter, her efforts would be in vain, but she didn't expect that this person was really not simple, and she found ways to find Xiao Mingzheng and bring it out on her own.

What made her even more unacceptable was that Xiao Mingzheng actually believed it. Not only did he divorce Liu and kick her out of the house so easily, but he also announced on the spot that he would marry Jiang Xiyan as his principal wife. It was obvious that he was protecting Jiang Xiyan.

It is not uncommon for men to be easily seduced by beauty, but Xiao Mingzheng is not the kind of person who is easily overwhelmed by beauty and becomes impulsive. What is going on?

Zhong Min immediately wanted to go find Xiao Mingzheng and ask for clarification, but as soon as she stood up, she began to wonder. While she had some connection to this matter, ultimately, Xiao Mingzheng was standing up for Jiang Xiyan, and the person he divorced was his own concubine, so it felt more like a family matter. If she just went there, wouldn't that be overstepping her bounds? It would be easy for people to misunderstand her intentions.

But if she didn't speak up, how could she be willing to watch Jiang Xiyan use her situation to do bad things? What about knowing who the real conspirator was but not being able to speak out? Putting aside whether Liu was wronged or not, Jiang Xiyan had bad intentions towards her. How could she turn a blind eye and suffer such a loss in silence?

After thinking about it, she simply didn't bother to think about all these messy things. She just thought that even if she couldn't change anything, she had to let Xiao Mingzheng find out the truth and prevent that Jiang guy from being too arrogant and complacent. Did he really think that she was so easy to use and that he could do whatever he wanted to her?

"Jin'er, where are you going?" Xi'er saw Zhong Min trying to run out with her hair uncombed and tangled. She got anxious and quickly grabbed her, saying, "Don't bother with so much nonsense. Liu has already been divorced. Even if you say anything to the prince, it's useless. Besides, the prince has already said he wants to make Jiang Xiyan his principal consort, so he's definitely worried about that woman. Even if he knows something's wrong, it doesn't mean he'll completely listen to you."

"How can it be a trivial matter? Jiang Xiyan is using me as a stepping stone this time. What's more, this woman has no good intentions towards me at all. How can I pretend to be ignorant when I know the truth?" Zhong Min will naturally not change her decision easily. Besides, she couldn't believe the way Xiao Mingzheng handled the matter this time, so she had to go and get it clear.

Seeing this, Xier hurriedly said, "You'd better not go. The prince didn't let us tell you about this. I guess he's afraid that you will definitely go to him after you know it."

"So I have to go," Zhong Min said as she walked out, leaving no room for negotiation. Since Xiao Mingzheng had specifically forbidden Xier and the others from telling her about this, it naturally meant that he had something to hide. Otherwise, why wouldn't he tell her about this?

In fact, Xiao Mingzheng was getting dumber and dumber. He probably stayed with Jiang Xiyan for too long, and his IQ was really lowered by the beauty. He even forgot the truth that truth will come out sooner or later. If this matter had nothing to do with her, it would be fine. But Jiang Xiyan was restless and plotted against her several times not long after she came. How could she be so "broad-minded" and act as if nothing had happened?

Even if, as Xier said, Xiao Mingzheng was intentionally biased towards Jiang Xiyan, she couldn't just sit there in silence. If she didn't react, then she really wouldn't be able to live in Prince Mu's Mansion for another day. Who knew what conspiracy Jiang Xiyan would use to plot against her next time?