"That was the godmother I hired. She came from a brothel and taught me the arts of the bedroom."
"Pfft! Cough cough cough..."
Mo Yunhan clenched his fist and pressed it against his lips, looking at her in disbelief.
Mo Yunzhao, who was on the dragon throne, almost choked.
Jiang Qingwan, however, remained remarkably calm.
“Zheng Chengye, when you saw her that day, didn’t you also comment that she was shameless for exposing her flesh in broad daylight?”
Reminded by her, Zheng Chengye recalled the scene when he met Su Liuer.
Her slender, white waist was dazzling, and her movements were alluring and seductive; she certainly didn't seem like a proper woman.
The thought that Jiang Qingwan had learned such things from a prostitute and used them to tarnish the image of the mighty war god in his heart filled him with rage.
"How...how can you be so shameless!"
His reaction gradually eased Jiang Qingwan's tense nerves.
“I was abandoned by the Qin family, and now I have met a good man again, but because of my status, I have to accept that my husband will take another concubine to warm his bed. I am doing this in order to gain more favor and keep my position. Otherwise, as things are today, you, an ignorant young man, could have driven me away with just a few words.”
Zheng Chengye's face turned red with frustration, and he didn't know how to refute her.
Mo Yunzhao coughed lightly.
"That makes sense, but Chengye says he was misled by you to go to Huguo Temple to lead the way. How do you refute that?"
Jiang Qingwan looked at Zheng Chengye again.
"Was it really the Huguo Temple that I sent you to?"
A hint of panic flashed in Zheng Chengye's eyes.
They were no longer as resolute as before.
He was, after all, still quite young and had never experienced hardship.
Coupled with his deep-seated prejudice against Jiang Qingwan, after being questioned by a messenger at the Huguo Temple County Office, his thoughts had already followed the guidance of others, and he single-mindedly blamed Jiang Qingwan, even going so far as to tell some lies.
Being confronted face to face at this moment, I couldn't help but feel uneasy.
"You might as well tell the truth!"
Mo Yunhan's sharp shout startled him so much that his legs went weak and he knelt on the ground.
Her face was deathly pale, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
“Cousin, Mother and you were both bewitched by this woman. I suspect she uses witchcraft. Just that day when I returned home, she gave me a talisman. I thought I'd go to Huguo Temple to ask the abbot. I didn't know the Empress Dowager was praying there. When I sneaked in through a side path, I stumbled upon a fight inside. I was so scared that I didn't dare go in and hid in the bushes. Later... later I was found by the yamen runners.”
"I also heard that the imperial tombs had been looted, and I remembered that the address written on that piece of paper was near Xuanling Mountain, so that's why..."
Mo Yunhan raised his hand in anger, wanting to strike, but seeing his pitiful dodging appearance, he couldn't bear it and could only angrily withdraw it, bowing to Mo Yunzhao.
"I beg Your Majesty to forgive his youthful ignorance and prejudice, and to allow me to take him back and teach him a lesson."
He had barely finished speaking when an urgent report came from outside the hall.
"Your Majesty, a mummified corpse was found in the Ninth Prince's residence. Upon investigation, it was determined to be Xiao Cui, a maidservant who accompanied Princess Yun during her dowry."
"What?"
Mo Yunzhao was greatly alarmed.
"Where is the mummified corpse? Bring it up."
Two guards quickly entered.
On the stretcher, a woman dressed in a bright green dress had her hair still adorned with pearls and flowers, and even her skin was still a vibrant color, but it was already withered and clung tightly to her bones. Her eye sockets were sunken, and she looked like a skeleton. Her death was extremely horrific.
Zheng Chengye was so frightened that he fell to the ground.
Her finger trembled as she pointed at Jiang Qingwan, "You...you really know sorcery?"
Jiang Qingwan didn't have time to pay attention to him at the moment.
She stared at the desiccated corpse, her heart filled with turmoil.
There are many evil techniques among the esoteric practitioners, and many of them use the blood and essence of others to enhance their cultivation.
But this mummified corpse is different.
Not only was its life essence drained, but its vitality and soul were also sucked away.
After a person dies, their soul is truly scattered, and even if a ritual is performed, it will be impossible to find any trace of them.
This method, like the talisman she had placed on the piece of red jade she had given to Qin Minglang, is a forbidden technique of the Zhuge Sect.
Because it was so insidious, she had seen it but was ashamed to practice it.
Could it be that someone from the Zhuge School has secretly mastered the art?
She was lost in thought when she heard mournful cries coming from outside the palace.
"Your Majesty, I beg you to do me justice!"
Dressed in plain clothes, with red eyes from crying, Yun Xiaoran knelt outside the hall, her head hitting the ground in a mournful manner.
Mo Yunzhao shouted, "Enter the hall and report back. What exactly happened?"
With tears in her eyes, Yun Xiaoran got up and walked into the hall, kneeling down again.
“Your Majesty, Xiao Cui has taken care of me since I was a child, and she stayed by my side when I was lonely and helpless. Although she was a maid, she was like a sister to me. I never saw her again after the second day after she married into the Prince’s Mansion. Later, something happened in the Prince’s Mansion and no one was allowed to go out. I thought she had gone out early in the morning but was stopped outside. Who would have thought that she would die in my sister’s backyard and become like this.”
She looked at Jiang Qingwan through her tears.
“Sister Jiang, you stole my Bai Ci Manor, and you falsely accused me of harming my own sister to Brother Yun Han, and even threw her into a dry well. I don’t know what happened to me, but I agreed to whatever you said, as if I wasn’t myself anymore. I became emaciated and almost died those days, but fortunately the Empress Dowager took pity on me and sent the imperial physician to take care of me day and night. Now I dare not compete with you. Even if I become a concubine, as long as I can be with Brother Yun Han, I will accept my fate. But why did you still have to kill Cui’er?”
Zheng Chengye, who already felt he had done something wrong, immediately stiffened his neck again upon hearing this.
"You wicked woman, you've done so many evil things to Sister Xiaoran. Cousin, look carefully, don't be fooled by her anymore."
Yun Xiaoran cried bitterly.
The mummified corpse served as evidence, further fueled by Zheng Chengye's instigation.
The accusation of using witchcraft to harm people was firmly pinned on Jiang Qingwan's head.
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