Men tend to sympathize with the weak.
As long as Zhao Zhiyan is willing to soften his heart, she will have a chance to explain.
Xu Lingqing had no idea how much Zhao Zhiyan had actually seen.
"Your Highness..."
Empress Dowager Xu, her face pale, came back to her senses, feeling somewhat guilty. She cleared her throat and said, "Today, the Eighth Princess Consort disrespected me and defied my authority. Considering it was her first offense and that she had miscarried, I will let it go. Eighth Prince, you must go back and teach the Eighth Princess Consort proper manners!"
Xu Lingqing held back her tears and looked at Zhao Zhiyan with a wronged and innocent expression. She was dressed plainly today, but her face was swollen beyond recognition. She stumbled toward Zhao Zhiyan and said, "It's my fault. I shouldn't have replied, and I shouldn't have offended Princess Guangjia. It's also because I'm unlucky that I couldn't keep the child. I'm a useless person."
Seeing her frail body and face covered in injuries, and being pointed at and whispered about, Zhao Zhiyan felt a pang of resentment. He took a step forward and put his arm around Xu Lingqing's waist.
"Your Highness, I shouldn't have entered the palace." She choked up, looking timidly at Empress Dowager Xu and Song Yue: "I am just a peasant girl, of lowly status, and I am not worthy of Your Highness. Please, Your Highness, allow me to return to Xingshan Village."
Upon hearing the words "Xingshan Village," Song Yue's eyes flickered slightly.
Isn't this the villa where she lived for thirteen years?
Could it be that Xu Lingqing also grew up in Xingshan Village?
What a coincidence.
"Nonsense!" Zhao Zhiyan said in a deep voice, "You are the princess I married with great ceremony, who would dare to look down on you?"
Empress Dowager Xu looked embarrassed and looked up at Song Yue, somewhat annoyed that Song Yue hadn't appeared sooner.
That girl is incredibly clever!
Xu Lingqing gripped Zhao Zhiyan's sleeve tightly, as if grasping at the last piece of duckweed, and said in a low voice with her head tilted back, "Your Highness, it is nothing for me to suffer a little grievance. Please do not be angry. At this critical moment, so many people are watching you, wanting to find something to use against you."
These words were a reminder to Zhao Zhiyan that Empress Dowager Xu and Song Yue were very likely deliberately trying to provoke him and smear the Eighth Prince's Mansion.
Song Yue had to admit that Xu Lingqing was quick-witted; with just a few words, she had softened Zhao Zhiyan's expression, clearly showing that she was on Xu Lingqing's side.
If she continued talking, it would be somewhat directed at Xu Lingqing.
Just then, a palace maid brought out the Jade Snow Cream and handed it to Xu Lingqing, who trembled slightly.
She snuggled closer to Zhao Zhiyan.
"The Jade Snow Cream is an apology from the Empress Dowager. Eighth Imperial Aunt, please be magnanimous and don't hold a grudge against an ignorant palace maid." Song Yue pointed to Lingxi kneeling on the ground.
When Lingxi looked up, the injuries on her face were even more severe than those on Xu Lingqing's.
Zhao Zhiyan frowned.
Empress Dowager Xu remained silent with a sullen face, which was taken as an admission of Song Yue's words.
"The Empress Dowager is very magnanimous. She did not hold the Eighth Princess's recklessness against her. She beat her personal maid and gave her Jade Snow Cream as compensation. She has already done more than enough."
"That's right. The Eighth Princess's constant crying and wailing is petty and doesn't deserve any respect."
"How can someone like that be worthy of the title of Eighth Prince's Consort?"
"How could a girl from a respectable family be pregnant?"
There were quite a few scions of prominent families who came with Zhao Zhiyan earlier. They whispered among themselves, and their eyes were filled with disdain and contempt when they looked at Xu Lingqing.
Xu Lingqing heard this too, and her face turned deathly pale instantly. Today, she had been humiliated and beaten in the palace, gaining nothing and being misunderstood as petty.
She's so angry!
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