Xue Lingyu was furious. Meeting those disapproving looks at her, her face flushed red, and she quickly spoke up to defend herself, "You're talking nonsense. That's not what I meant. Don't try to pin this on me."
Jiang Yimian just smiled and said, "Oh? What does Miss Xue mean? Didn't you insist that I explain how I entered the palace?"
"So, according to you, you didn't even see how others entered the palace, yet you insist on making them explain exactly how they got in. Isn't that treating yourself as the master of this palace?"
Seeing the increasingly stern gazes directed at her, Xue Lingyu became somewhat exasperated, but for a moment she didn't know how to argue back. Just as she was about to lose her temper, she heard a stern rebuke.
"Where did this ignorant fool come from, daring to speak ill of the royal family behind their backs? Someone, take this woman away!" Madam Bai walked over from a seat not far away, her face full of displeasure.
This woman is really difficult to deal with; she even dared to frame Lingyu. She's truly hateful.
Upon hearing the reprimand from inside the palace, the guards outside rushed in.
Upon seeing this, Bai immediately said, "Why don't you take this person who infiltrated from who-knows-where away? It's one thing to be of unknown origin, but now he dares to speak ill of the royal family and arbitrarily label people. His crime is doubled."
The leading guard saw that Jiang Yimian was indeed a stranger, someone he had never seen in the palace before. However, fearing that she might be a relative of some high-ranking official and afraid of offending someone unintentionally, he hesitated for a moment before looking at the crowd in the hall and raising his voice, "May I ask which official this young lady is the daughter of?"
The people in the hall looked at each other, their faces full of confusion, as they didn't recognize a single one of them.
Upon seeing this, the guards immediately realized what was happening and rushed forward to apprehend the person.
Seeing Jiang Yimian surrounded by guards, Xue Lingyu felt relieved, a smile appearing on her lips and her eyes full of smugness.
Ha, trying to label her as a traitor, without even considering her own status.
She had originally planned to torture this person thoroughly, but now, although she couldn't torture him herself, the thought that Jiang Yimian would not have a good end in the hands of these guards made her feel a sense of satisfaction.
Chen Feiyan was a little anxious and wanted to go forward to help, but Zhang Yuyao held her down firmly.
It was clear that the guards were about to take Jiang Yimian away.
A stern female voice rang out from outside the hall, "Stop! All of you! Do you have any objections to the people I brought in?"
Xie Yu, dressed in a magnificent palace gown, his handsome face stern as he surveyed the crowd in the hall.
Behind her followed a large group of officials who had just entered from outside the palace. The group consisted of more than a dozen people, dressed in official robes of various colors, exuding an imposing aura. Lu Cijian was also among them.
Upon seeing this, everyone in the hall bowed to Xie Yu.
Xie Yu looked at the guards and coldly shouted, "Since when do I have to report to you about the people I bring in? Get out of here now!"
The guards quickly retreated.
Bai Shi and Xue Lingyu were quite frightened, keeping their heads down and not daring to speak, for fear that Xie Yu would take his anger out on them.
Xie Yu merely glanced coldly at the two of them and said sternly, "Miss Jiang is someone I brought in. If either of you has any complaints, come and speak to me directly. What kind of skill is it to bully people behind their backs?"
She only went to pay her respects to the Empress Dowager, yet these people dared to treat her differently based on her status. Lu Cijian's assessment was indeed correct.
Fortunately, she returned in time; otherwise, Jiang Yimian might have been truly harassed by these people.
Upon hearing this, Bai realized something was wrong and quickly explained, "Your Highness, it's a misunderstanding. The two girls had a quarrel, it wasn't bullying at all. I didn't expect to disturb Your Highness."
"Your Majesty, I and Lingyu apologize to the Princess."
As he spoke, he pulled Xue Lingyu to apologize to Xie Yu.
A deep but cold male voice rang out at that moment, "The person you should apologize to is Miss Jiang, after all, she was the one who was wronged just now."
Lu Cijian glanced coldly at the two of them, his eyes filled with displeasure.
Both Bai Shi and Xue Lingyu were taken aback.
Xue Lingyu looked at Lu Cijian with a wronged expression, somewhat incredulous that this person would actually ask her to apologize to Jiang Yimian.
It was clearly Jiang Yimian's fault. If she hadn't kept quiet, would she have suspected that the other person had sneaked in?
Bai was somewhat unsure of the person's identity and was pondering this when she heard Xue Lingyu say, "Young Master Lu, how can you make me apologize to her? She clearly didn't explain herself and deliberately framed me..."
Seeing the impatience flash in Xie Yu's eyes, Bai quickly pulled Xue Lingyu aside, concealing her shock, and forced a smile as she agreed, "Young Master Lu is right, we should apologize to this young lady."
As he spoke, he quickly said to Jiang Yimian, "Miss, I misunderstood earlier. I thought you were someone with ill intentions. It's just that no one in the hall knows you. Please forgive me."
She truly hadn't expected that Lu Cijian was the person her daughter was engaged to. She remembered seeing him back in Qingshui Town.
Back then, this guy had a very close relationship with Jiang Yimian.
If her daughter were to marry this man in the future, she would have to get rid of Jiang Yimian.
As she thought about it, a murderous glint flashed in her eyes.
Looking at Jiang Yimian's face, Xue Lingyu couldn't bring herself to apologize. She felt wronged, but all eyes in the hall were on her. She only glanced at Lu Cijian with a wronged expression before whispering, "I'm sorry to have wronged Miss Jiang."
"It was Lingyu's fault just now. She misunderstood Miss Jiang without understanding the situation. Please don't be angry with Lingyu, Miss Jiang."
Jiang Yimian simply said, "Miss Xue, please make sure you understand the situation before you lecture others, otherwise you'll only make yourself a laughingstock."
"you……"
Before Xue Lingyu could say anything more, Bai Shi pulled her back.
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