Lin Mengli was a little anxious when she heard this, "Your Highness the Crown Prince..."
Su Bi didn't care what Lin Mengli said, and only ordered: "Huaichuan, Huailiu, seal all the doors of Linhua Palace and don't allow anyone to enter or leave for the time being. Take people to check the maids to see if there are any bad guys who sneaked in."
Lin Mengli was really panicked this time. She quickly grabbed Su Xu's sleeve and looked at him pleadingly.
When Su Xu saw Lin Mengli's reaction, he knew everything.
He just couldn't believe it. He thought Ning Xihua was dissolute and unethical, but he didn't expect that it was Lin Mengli who did it!
His expression was complicated, but looking at Lin Mengli's tearful eyes, he still spoke.
"Brother, I think this matter should not be publicized. Now everyone knows that Princess Yuexi was framed, and it will definitely not cause damage to the princess's reputation."
Everyone nodded. Just by looking at the way Princess Yuexi insisted on sealing the palace to find someone, they knew she must have been framed. And that Miss Lin...
Everyone has a scale in their heart. The ladies who are familiar with the inner palace struggles already roughly understand what is going on, and their eyes on Lin Mengli are filled with contempt.
Su Xu continued, "We can search for these bad guys in private. It would be inconvenient for the people who come to the banquet to check the maids one by one in such a grand manner."
What Su Xu said was indeed correct. Even if there was no problem, it was still an offense to have the maid in the mansion interrogated.
Ning Xihua also didn't want to ruin Su Bi's banquet and let people have opinions about Su Bi, not to mention that he had already been caught.
She looked at Su Bi, winked at him secretly, and said, "Thank you for your understanding, Your Highness. I was not thoughtful enough. Since the envoys from various countries are still here, it is indeed not appropriate to close the palace for investigation."
Everyone immediately took a liking to Ning Xihua.
Originally, Princess Yuexi was framed, and it was understandable that she wanted to find out the truth. Now she is so sensible and considerate of the overall situation. In order to give face to the various governments, she gave up further investigation to clear her reputation. This kind of mind and bearing is not comparable to ordinary women.
Su Xu was surprised that Ning Xihua would speak up for him. He looked at Ning Xihua's bright and beautiful face, with doubts in his eyes, and also apologies for misunderstanding her.
Lin Mengli noticed the way Su Xu looked at Ning Xihua. She gritted her teeth, grabbed Su Xu's sleeve again and shook it, looking pitiful.
Su Xu did not push her away. He just turned around and looked at Lin Mengli with complicated eyes. Seeing that she looked like she was about to cry, his heart softened.
Su Bi saw Ning Xihua winking at him and knew that she had her own opinion. So she said, "Since the princess said so, I will withdraw my order. But I will still assist the princess and get to the bottom of this matter."
At this point, Chen Fen was no fool and knew that he had been tricked.
He was already sober, and then he remembered that Ning Xihua was the only daughter of Prince Ning. If he made enemies with Prince Ning's mansion for this matter, his father, who had always been accustomed to him, would not let him go.
Chen Fen took a deep breath and bowed solemnly to Ning Xihua.
"Chen Fen was fooled and offended the princess. I hope the princess will be magnanimous and not punish me. I will go to your house with my father to apologize some other day."
Ning Xihua raised her hand and said, "My lord, your words are too serious."
Chen Fen stopped talking and felt ashamed to stay there, so he took the opportunity to say goodbye to Su Bi and left Linhua Palace with his men.
After the farce, people began to have different opinions about Ning Xihua and Su Bi.
Princess Yuexi is calm, organized, and magnanimous. She is not obsessed with personal interests, but is quite aware of the overall situation. If such a woman is married home as the mistress, she will surely lead the family to prosperity.
If they were not still waiting to see the royal family's attitude, the threshold of Prince Ning's Palace would probably be broken down by the official media from today on.
As for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, since the announcement of his enthronement, everyone has seen the bold and decisive side of this crown prince who was rumored to be indecisive and gentle.
Although he looked weak, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince did not seem as sickly as imagined. Moreover, he would uphold justice for Princess Yuexi, and would resolutely seal the palace to find out the truth, and he was not angry when Princess Yuexi declined his kindness.
From this and that, if he were to ascend the throne in the future, he would certainly be fair and just, accept advice from all sides, and become a benevolent monarch.
After this banquet, I wonder how many people had some thoughts in their minds.
Seeing that everyone was drunk, Su Bi announced as usual that everyone could have fun on their own.
Then the nobles left their seats one after another, gathered in twos and threes, and drank and talked happily.
Many young ladies and gentlemen also gathered together, playing the game of flying flowers, throwing pots, and shooting covers.
Ning Xihua, however, was too lazy to join them, as she disliked the noise caused by the crowds. So she left the Chuihua Gate and walked around the Linhua Palace as if she was familiar with the place.
When they were in a less crowded place, Song Yi asked her, "Princess, what happened just now? I was almost scared to death."
Seeing Song Yi patting her chest with one hand and looking relieved, Ning Xihua patted her head soothingly.
"Do you remember the little maid who bumped into me outside before we sat down to eat?"
Song Yi suddenly realized, "She stole your handkerchief!"
Ning Xihua nodded, "I felt something was wrong at the time, so I asked Chang Yi to check it out."
Tired of walking around, she found a stone bench to sit down and continued to explain to Song Yi.
"During the banquet, I discovered that the handkerchief was missing. Chang Yi came to report that they had captured the maid in the Feng Palace and had tied her up in the front hall, but she had not confessed yet."
Song Yi was still puzzled, "Where did the princess get that handkerchief?"
She was very sure that her princess did not have the handkerchief on her before entering Linhua Palace today.
Ning Xihua narrowed her eyes, her eyes sparkling.
"I felt something was wrong at the time, so I asked Chang Yi to find an embroiderer to make a handkerchief for me. Chang Yi was also very smart. As soon as she heard which embroiderer I was looking for, she knew what kind of handkerchief I wanted. After she made it, she asked the palace maid to secretly give it to me while serving food."
Linhua Palace is at least half her home, and she didn't spend all these years there in vain.
She knew that there was an embroiderer in Linhua Palace who was very good at double-sided embroidery with different colors and her embroidery speed was very fast. She was curious and went to observe it.
When Chang Yi heard her ask him to find the embroiderer to make a handkerchief, he knew what she wanted.
In the end, not only did she embroider the word "Ning" in vine flowers on the handkerchief, she even used the Xingchenqi that she had once been in the spotlight with, which was even more convincing and didn't look like it was rushed at all.
Song Yi was still a little nervous, "It was dangerous."
She was so anxious that her heart was about to jump out. Fortunately, the banquet was held in Linhua Palace, otherwise where could she go to make a star-shaped silk handkerchief with embroidery for the princess?
Ning Xihua also sighed, "Yeah, it was dangerous."
Fortunately, she was familiar with the people in Linhua Palace, and because of Su Bi, Chang Yi was very dedicated to her and did everything she could. That's why she didn't fall into Lin Mengli's trap.
Maybe this is called home advantage?