Chapter 723 Questioning and Defense
Xiuwen said sadly, "It's not just the three of us; everyone who serves the princess has had their names changed."
“There are also names like Wenwen, Xiuxiu, Wener, and Xiuer.”
"The princess was heartbroken by the death of Miss Wenxiu and changed all our names."
"Just to commemorate Miss Wenxiu."
At this point, Xiuwen's eyes reddened, and her tone became increasingly sorrowful. "Madam, you don't know, after the princess learned of Miss Wenxiu's death, she lost her appetite and fell seriously ill."
"After that, he hid in his room and kept drawing portraits of Miss Wenxiu."
As he spoke, Xiuwen winked at Axiu and Awen.
The two understood and quickly opened the wooden crates they had brought in.
The wooden box was filled with rolled-up scrolls.
Xiuwen casually picked up a painting, unfolded it, and handed it to Qiao Qinghe, saying, "Please take a look, Madam."
The painting depicts a half-length portrait of Wenxiu.
Ah Xiu and Ah Wen each took out a painting and showed it to Qiao Qinghe.
Ah Shuang stepped forward, reached into the bottom of the box and pulled out a scroll of paintings. It was still a portrait of Wen Xiu, and after careful comparison, it could be confirmed that the paintings they had unfolded were all by the same hand.
As for whether Li Sanqi drew it himself, A Shuang didn't know.
But Qiao Qinghe knew that the painting must have been done by Li Sanqi himself.
There was no way around it, because Li Sanqi's painting techniques were influenced by Qiao Yuanyao.
She had studied under Qiao Yuanyao for a while, so she could easily recognize Qiao Yuanyao's unique painting techniques.
Thinking of this, Qiao Qinghe couldn't help but sneer inwardly. Was Li Sanqi afraid that she wouldn't believe that she painted the painting herself, so he deliberately used the techniques that Yuanyao taught her?
That's more than enough sincerity!
Although she felt a pang of irony, Qiao Qinghe wore a moved expression, her eyes reddening as she took the portrait from Xiuwen's hands with trembling hands, and said sadly, "Wenxiu, my poor Wenxiu girl!"
"How could you abandon the princess and me to go with that girl Zhuxi?"
As soon as Qiao Qinghe started crying, A Shuang put down the portrait she was holding and came over to comfort her, "Madam, don't be sad. If Wenxiu and Zhuxi find out that you are so heartbroken, they won't be able to rest in peace in the afterlife."
As she spoke, she turned and glared at Xiuwen, saying sarcastically, "My old lady is truly heartbroken. As for whether the princess is truly heartbroken, we have no idea."
"After all, Wenxiu and Zhuxi both died at the hands of the princess's servants!"
"The house where they had the accident was also owned by the princess!"
Upon hearing this, Qiao Qinghe sternly rebuked, "Stop talking nonsense!"
"The princess isn't that kind of person!"
Ah Shuang retorted, unconvinced, "That's exactly right!"
"Madam, others may not know the inside story, but don't we know it?"
"Wenxiu and Zhuxi were clearly murdered by the princess's men!"
"So much time has passed, and they still haven't given us an explanation!"
"Yesterday, when I went to the princess's residence, the gatekeeper chased me away, making our household feel embarrassed. Today, they've brought this box of tattered paintings to provoke the old lady. What are they up to?"
Ah Shuang glared at Xiu Wen and the others with an expression of resentment and utter anger.
Upon seeing this, Xiuwen immediately knelt down.
"Madam, I'm innocent!"
Xiuwen cried out in alarm, protesting her innocence: "Miss Wenxiu is the princess's savior, and the princess's affection for her is higher than mountains and deeper than pools. The princess would rather be injured herself than harm Miss Wenxiu in the slightest! How could she possibly kill Miss Wenxiu?"
"It's all a misunderstanding!"
"Ha! A misunderstanding?"
Ah Shuang glared aggressively at Xiu Wen, "Then tell me, why was my old lady's bodyguard, Zhu Xi, in the princess's residence? And why was she tortured to death?"
"Why would Wenxiu go to Dongcheng to save people, only to lose her own life in the process?"
"I'm just asking you, did the incident happen at the princess's residence?"
"Were the people who attacked them from your princess's residence?"
Xiuwen, her face deathly pale, prostrated herself on the ground and wept bitterly, "Madam, please understand, all of this has nothing to do with my princess!"
"My princess has been wronged!"
"All of this...all of this was done by the Prince Consort!"
At this point, the other maids chimed in.
Ah Xiu said, "Madam, my princess was also deceived and tricked by the prince consort!"
Awen also said, "Madam, you don't know this, but the Prince Consort bribed the servants of the Princess's residence long ago. The people who killed Miss Wenxiu were all acting on his orders!"
"It has absolutely nothing to do with my princess!"
"We urge the old lady to investigate thoroughly!"
At this point, both of them had tears in their eyes.
Xiuwen gritted her teeth and said in a desperate manner, "Madam, you don't know, my princess is in a difficult situation. Not to mention commanding the servants in the mansion, even the princess herself is being monitored by the consort."
"We have come here today for two reasons: first, to apologize for what happened yesterday; and second, to seek your help."
"Please, Madam, step in and help my princess!"
He then kowtowed to Qiao Qinghe and knelt down on the ground.
Ah Xiu and Ah Wen also shouted in unison, "Please, Madam, help our princess!" Then they kowtowed and prostrated themselves.
All three of them were extremely humble and sincere.
If Qiao Qinghe and her servant hadn't already guessed the truth, they probably would have been persuaded by the three of them and believed their story without even realizing it.
A Shuang curled her lip and asked the three of them the most profound question: "A princess of such high status, can she really be manipulated by her husband?"
Xiuwen straightened up upon hearing this and explained, "Miss A Shuang is unaware of this."
"Whoever my princess likes, whoever she treats well, she treats them with the utmost sincerity!"
"That's how we treated Miss Wenxiu back then, and that's how we treated the Prince Consort later."
Ah Shuang said irritably, "Just say 'Prince Consort,' don't bring up Wen Xiu!"
Xiuwen twitched her lips, nodded quickly, and continued, "The princess fell in love with the prince consort at first sight. She ignored countless noble young men from prominent families in the capital and insisted on marrying him."
"But the prince consort is flamboyant by nature, has a strong personality, and is not good at etiquette. After marrying the princess, he caused a lot of trouble. I'm sure the old lady has heard about it."
"Even so, the princess remained devoted to him, humbled herself to clean up the mess for the prince consort, and sacrificed herself to protect him."
"Unfortunately, the prince consort is an ambitious and extremely controlling person."
"After testing the princess's feelings for him, he became increasingly capricious in his actions."
"Not long after the marriage, the prince consort began to wrest control of the princess's residence from her."
"In the past few months, the prince consort has replaced all the stewards in the mansion with his own people."
Xiuwen became more and more heartbroken as she spoke, and her tone became increasingly agitated, appearing completely genuine and without any trace of acting.
Ah Shuang clicked her tongue in amazement.
Xiuwen continued, "When Miss Wenxiu had her accident, the Princess's residence had already fallen into the control of the Prince Consort!"
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