He Jingyan stared blankly in Song Xizhi's direction, momentarily losing the ability to react.
Song Xizhi stared coldly at them: "You have tried to kill me time and time again, but I am not dead. You are very surprised, are you?"
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager finally came to her senses: "Impossible! This Song Xizhi in front of us must be a fake! It must be a fake made by the Crown Prince!"
"The Crown Prince used a human skin mask to impersonate He Jingyan before, which was originally malicious. Now he is using a human skin mask to impersonate Song Xizhi, trying to pass off the fake as the real one!"
The Empress Dowager shouted hoarsely, pointing her finger firmly in Song Xizhi's direction: "Crown Prince, you have treacherous intentions! You raped and murdered Song Xizhi, causing your father's death, and now you're sending someone to impersonate Song Xizhi to frame me!"
"What exactly are you trying to do? Disappearing for five days, is this the method you came up with?"
Song Xizhi gently helped his eldest uncle up, and patted his trembling, cold hand.
"Your Majesty, you said you regarded me as your adopted daughter, and Lord He said you loved me. But my uncles' behavior just now is the true reflection of their love for me."
"When a person sees a loved one come back to life, their first reaction is joy and a desire to rush forward without hesitation, yet they dare not get close, fearing it is all a dream."
"Only a true murderer would be so shocked when the dead come back to life."
As Song Xizhi spoke, he turned his gaze to the people of the world: "What do you think?"
Her words were deafening, sending chills down the spines of all the people in the land. They all looked at the Empress Dowager's face, and indeed, they felt a bit hesitant.
The Empress Dowager wanted to put on a show in front of all the people, to make everyone in the world willingly submit, so that she could rightfully take control of the powerful court.
So today, she and Pei Yunyi are going to take advantage of the situation and expose the Empress Dowager's wolfish ambitions in front of the people!
Song Xizhi thought for a moment, then continued, "The Crown Prince has been cultivating his character and temperament by Master Yuanhui's side for decades. How could he possibly kill me?"
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager gritted her teeth, feeling a sharp pain in her back teeth: "Since you are alive, why don't you show yourself? Why is the world in turmoil? You just watch all the people kneel before the imperial gate for you, and you remain unmoved?"
Upon hearing this, Song Xizhi's eyes darkened for a moment, then he turned to look in He Jingyan's direction: "Because I was imprisoned by He Jingyan!"
These words caused an uproar in the audience!
Song Xizhi continued, "He imprisoned me in the cellar of the Marquis of Anding's mansion. He found someone to impersonate me and then framed the Crown Prince. However, I was rescued by He Yunce because of the fire at the Marquis of Anding's mansion, and with He Yunce's help, I escaped."
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager clenched her fists tightly.
This is the worst-case scenario!
They used Song Xizhi's identity as a raft, which was the fastest way to incite public anger, punish the crown prince, and seize the throne, but this method had a weakness.
That's when Song Xizhi appeared...
The Empress Dowager trembled with rage. She was unwilling to let her years of preparation go to waste, so she continued, "That's just your side of the story!"
"You have absolutely no evidence to prove that you are the real Song Xizhi!"
"My relationship with Zhizhi is so good; I even bestowed upon her the title of Princess and regarded her as my adopted daughter! Yet you have wronged me and framed a loyal official!"
"He Jingyan is your husband. He is loyal and devoted to the country. How could he possibly imprison you!?"
The common people and the officials, upon hearing this, for some reason, also felt that it made some sense.
They all saw how good the Empress Dowager and He Jingyan were to Song Xizhi, and they could even sense the Crown Prince's covetousness towards Song Xizhi from the beginning.
After all, they've been married for so long. How could they not have any other thoughts?
That's why they readily believed from the beginning that the bright and handsome Crown Prince would want to "get close" to Lady Song, and that he would accidentally kill her, because that was Song Xizhi!
If it were another woman, they might not have believed her so easily!
Hearing the Empress Dowager's eloquent words, Song Xizhi's eyes grew even colder: "Because this He Jingyan in front of us is also a fake! Just like the Song Xizhi before, he's a fake!"
“I spent every day with He Jingyan and discovered something amiss, which is why he cruelly silenced me! He Yunze also discovered the strangeness between his elder brother and sister-in-law, which is why He Jingyan cruelly killed him!”
When Song Xizhi got to this point, he paused slightly, his voice becoming somewhat hoarse.
Marquis An Ding's face turned pale, his body swayed violently twice, and he collapsed weakly, only to be hurriedly helped up by his ministers.
Pei Yunyi also spoke at this moment, recalling the truth he had uncovered over the past few days, his voice resounding:
"The earth shook, floods and plagues occurred, and all these strange phenomena over the past five days were caused by you. Empress Dowager, you used the pretext of Buddhism to collude with Huang Siqi, the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies, intending to use Buddhist temples throughout the land as bases for recruiting soldiers and plotting to seize the throne!"
All the people who heard this looked in disbelief in the direction of the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager swayed twice, her face deathly pale. She pointed sharply in the direction of the unconscious Emperor, her fingertips trembling:
"You plotted to anger your father to death and caused him to fall into a coma. This is irrefutable evidence!"
"Because of what happened to you, your father was so angry in court that he coughed up blood! He was unconscious and unable to speak, so say whatever you want now!"
"Heaven is watching what people do. I only know that your father was angered to the point of imminent death by you, and the evidence is irrefutable! If you say this is your scheme, then you deliberately angered your father to death?! Making your father inexplicably become like this?!"
After the Empress Dowager finished speaking, the altar fell silent.
Not only did the common people remain silent, but even Song Xizhi and Pei Yunyi were silent.
Seeing their speechless expressions, the Empress Dowager slightly raised her chin, feeling somewhat smug. However, she noticed that everyone was staring at the direction behind her, their eyes filled with disbelief.
Immediately afterwards, the Empress Dowager heard a familiar, sorrowful voice coming from behind her, which made her body stiffen.
"Mother, the poison you fed me is so bitter! So bitter!"
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