Chapter 733 One Person's Words Are Not Trustworthy
Fu Wenqing's face darkened, and she turned to glare at the two elders of the Fu family: "Didn't I tell you to stay in Jinxiang Courtyard? Why did you come here to the princess?"
"I remember I assigned people to watch you. How did you manage to escape?"
The two elders of the Fu family looked at each other, and finally turned to look at Cui'er in unison: "It's her!"
"Yes! It was Cui'er who sent us!"
"The gatekeeper was distracted by Qingfeng beside you, and then Cui'er found a maid to bring us here."
"Your Highness, did you hear that? Draw away the gatekeepers, and let them out your trusted confidants!"
No sooner had the Fu family elders finished speaking than Xiuxiu said with a mocking expression, "Does the prince consort dare to say that you didn't deliberately send your parents to coerce the princess?"
Although the Fu family elders were still somewhat confused about the matter, they were somewhat aware that something was wrong.
Old Lady Fu quickly explained, "We came to beg the princess, it really wasn't my son's idea! We came of our own accord!"
Old Man Fu grabbed Old Woman Fu, glared at her, and said irritably, "What do you mean we came on our own? We were clearly persuaded to come by this girl!"
As she spoke, she pushed Cui'er, who was hiding behind them, to the front.
"Distinguished guests, all of this was this girl's idea!"
Old Lady Fu also realized what was going on and nodded quickly, saying with certainty, "Yes, yes, yes! It was all this girl's idea!"
"She was the one who encouraged us to take a concubine for my son, she was the one who made us buy her back, and she even helped us choose the woman!"
"It was she who urged us to come to the princess's residence today."
“My son strongly opposed the idea of taking a concubine and gave us a severe scolding.”
"I heard that distinguished guests have arrived outside the mansion, so my son made us stay in the courtyard and not go anywhere. He also sent people to watch over us."
"It was this girl who used sweet words to deceive us, and then found someone she knew to lure the gatekeeper away, leading us here to beg the princess."
Old Man Fu followed up with a summary: "It was all this girl's doing behind the scenes! It has nothing to do with my son! It has nothing to do with us old folks either!"
"Please, esteemed sirs, make the wise judgment!"
Xiuxiu scoffed and questioned, "How could a maidservant have such great abilities? She even dared to make decisions for the Fu family's master?"
Wenwen scoffed dismissively, "She's just a maid who sold herself into slavery, yet she dares to so brazenly instigate her master without knowing her place. How can you tolerate her?"
Seeing that no one believed her, Old Lady Fu gritted her teeth and said, "What I said is true."
"This girl, this girl is in love with my son. She's trying to find a good concubine for my son to test the princess's attitude."
"If this matter succeeds, she will also have the opportunity to become my son's concubine in the future."
Upon hearing this, everyone suddenly realized what was going on, and many people believed it.
Fu Wenqing secretly breathed a sigh of relief and immediately ordered loudly, "Guards! Quickly drag this arrogant, malicious, and disrespectful maid out and beat her to death!"
This time, neither Wenxi nor Madam Wen spoke up to stop them.
If what the Fu family elders said is true, then this girl's death was not unjust.
But just then, Qiao Qinghe spoke up, "Wait."
Everyone looked at her.
She didn't seem to care, and calmly said, "My parents and the Fu family elders talked a lot just now, but this girl hasn't said a word yet."
"Everything you've said is just your side of the story."
"Shouldn't we also listen to what this girl has to say?"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Wenxi looked at Cui'er, who was kneeling on the ground with her head down and eyes lowered, and asked in a cold voice, "Do you have anything to say?"
Cui'er didn't react.
Upon seeing this, Old Lady Fu quickly pointed at Cui'er and said, "See? See? She herself has nothing to say! We didn't wrong her!"
Old Man Fu nodded in agreement: "Yes, yes, what we said is true."
Fu Wenqing also let out a long breath, her mind calming down a bit.
Seeing this, the others shook their heads, basically concluding that the matter was most likely as the Fu family had said, and that it was all Cui'er's doing.
Qiao Qinghe subtly curled the corners of her lips, looked down at Cui'er, and said with a hint of pity, "Your name is Cui'er, right?"
"Cui'er, are you still not willing to say a word in your defense?"
"You should be able to see very clearly what your masters' attitude is."
"Are you really going to die for a group of people like this?"
Everyone looked at Qiao Qinghe in confusion.
Qiao Qinghe smiled and explained, "Didn't you notice the problem?"
"Old Madam Fu said that this girl is in love with the prince consort and wants to become his concubine. But have you ever seen a girl who wants to become her master's concubine who doesn't dress up, doesn't put on makeup, and doesn't even look at her beloved?"
"I noticed that this girl does have a shrewd look in her eyes, but I didn't detect any inappropriate thoughts she might have towards the prince consort."
"Everyone here has eyes to see, surely they can see it?"
Everyone fell silent. To be honest, they were all busy watching the drama unfold; they wouldn't care about such details.
Qiao Qinghe looked at Cui'er again, "You are a good girl, you still refuse to betray your master. But you are still young, you have decades to live."
"Do you really want to die with this stigma, shrouded in mystery?"
Finally, Cui'er, who had remained unmoved until now, reacted.
She slowly raised her head, her eyes brimming with tears as she looked at Qiao Qinghe. "If I tell the truth, can I really still live?"
Everyone was taken aback by these words.
The Fu family members' expressions all changed.
Before Qiao Qinghe could answer, Old Madam Fu pointed at Cui'er in a rage and demanded, "What truth? We're telling you the truth! If you dare to spout nonsense, I'll tear your mouth apart!"
Old Man Fu roared angrily at Cui'er, "If you dare to talk nonsense, I'll take your life!"
Cui'er flinched, clearly frightened.
Qiao Qinghe looked at Fu Wenqing, "Doesn't the prince consort care about your parents?"
"So eager to scare people, not even letting them speak, are you feeling guilty?"
Fu Wenqing glared at the two elders of the Fu family with a dark face, then looked down at Cui'er and said threateningly, "I advise you to think carefully before you speak about what you should and shouldn't say."
Qiao Qinghe glanced at Fu Wenqing with disdain. The whole family is the same. Besides threatening people, can they learn anything else?
"Cui'er, don't be afraid, just say what you want to say."
Qiao Qinghe said in a gentle but firm tone, "As long as it can be proven that this matter has nothing to do with you, I will make the decision to have the Fu family release your indenture and give you your freedom."
"Really? Really?" Cui'er looked up at Qiao Qinghe in disbelief.
Qiao Qinghe nodded with a smile, "If you don't believe me, ask Princess Chu."
Cui'er turned her head and looked at Wenxi with hopeful eyes.
Wenxi frowned, somewhat displeased that Qiao Qinghe had asked her to act as guarantor without her consent, but she still nodded and said, "If what you say is true, I will also agree to what Old Madam Qiao promised."
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