Chapter 13 She must seize the initiative
The noisy crowd quieted down for a moment.
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw a wheelchair that had appeared at the bottom of the steps. Sitting in the wheelchair was a man dressed in a black brocade robe.
He was slender with an exceptionally handsome face, but his deep eyes were now flashing with a chilling glint. Even seated in a wheelchair, the sharp, domineering aura of someone long accustomed to a high position still exerted an invisible pressure on those around him.
"Is it...the Regent?"
It was indeed Chu Jichen.
Chu Jichen quickly maneuvered his wheelchair and arrived in front of Shen Qingci.
His gaze fell on the pool of blood, on that familiar yet pale, almost transparent face, and a surge of rage suddenly rose in his eyes.
Without the slightest hesitation, he bent down from his wheelchair and picked up Shen Qingci, his face terribly gloomy.
"Bring the carriage over here! Quickly!"
"Send men down the mountain as quickly as possible, and order all the imperial physicians to await orders at the Prince's residence! If there is even the slightest mishap, you will be beheaded!"
Liu Ruolan finally came to her senses and hurriedly stepped in front of Chu Jichen, saying, "Your Highness, the woman you are holding is my sister-in-law, Shen Qingci, the widow of General Zhengxi."
"Your Highness, why don't you hand her over to me? What Your Highness is doing might be against etiquette and propriety?"
"Child..." Shen Qingci in his arms was so weak that her eyes were closed, and there were still wet tears on her long eyelashes. She seemed to be about to die at any moment. She was just murmuring in a low voice that was almost inaudible, her voice full of pain.
Chu Jichen raised his eyes to look at Liu Ruolan, his gaze as sharp as a blade, causing Liu Ruolan to shiver involuntarily: "Of course I know she is the widow of the General Who Conquers the West!"
"General Zhengxi died for his country two months ago. I saw his widow seriously injured and in this state. What's wrong with taking her down the mountain to find a doctor?"
"Hand her over to you?" Chu Jichen's voice grew increasingly cold: "So many people here saw it. It was you who pushed her down those steps, causing her to fall and end up like this!"
"You plotted to harm her, and I'm handing her over to you? How can she possibly survive?"
"As for etiquette and rules? Madam, rest assured, everyone knows that I, Chu Jichen, am a cripple and incapable of sexual intercourse. There is no one here more trustworthy than me."
He stared intently at Liu Ruolan: "Move aside."
Liu Ruolan's heart trembled, and her body went limp with fear. She hurriedly stepped aside.
The guards pushed Chu Jichen to the hastily arriving carriage. Chu Jichen, holding Shen Qingci, leaped up and sat steadily on the carriage. The carriage door closed, and the carriage turned around and hurried away.
With the oppressive feeling from Chu Jichen lifted, Liu Ruolan suddenly realized what Chu Jichen meant. Did he mean... that she deliberately pushed Shen Qingci?
She didn't!
She took a few steps forward, wanting to explain, but Chu Jichen's carriage had already disappeared.
Liu Ruolan felt a chill rise from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.
Chu Jichen is the regent. For him to say such a thing in front of so many people, unless she can produce irrefutable evidence to prove her innocence, she will likely be unable to clear her name of the crime of murdering Shen Qingci and the child in Shen Qingci's womb!
Liu Ruolan couldn't help but stomp her foot in exasperation. How could this happen!
She did indeed want Shen Qingci and her unborn child to die! But it wasn't like that at all!
The surrounding worshippers also heard Chu Jichen's words clearly, and whispered among themselves, "It really was her who pushed him! The Regent must have seen it, that's why he said that. It can't be that the Prince is slandering her, can it?"
"What's this about slander? Everyone... saw it, didn't they?"
Liu Ruolan was furious. She stomped her foot and turned around to shout, "I didn't push her! My prayer beads just broke! I was just bending down to pick them up! I just lost my balance! Who knew she was so close to me!"
But with Chu Jichen's words and so many people witnessing it firsthand, no one believed her at all.
Liu Ruolan could tell what those people were thinking from their facial expressions, and she was so angry that she almost ground her back teeth to powder!
She wanted to argue with them, but the maid quickly stopped her: "Madam, we should hurry down the mountain. With the Second Madam in such a predicament, we need to get down and think of a solution. Otherwise, we'll be truly unable to defend ourselves!"
Liu Ruolan took a deep breath. Yes, the maid was right.
Now that the rumors have become like this, there's no point in her arguing with them here.
She needs to quickly find a way to prove her innocence.
"Quick, help me pick up those prayer beads!"
Those Buddhist prayer beads are key evidence.
She gritted her teeth, staring at the direction the carriage had disappeared in, and recalled Chu Jichen's expression and his almost murderous gaze.
She frowned deeply: "Shen Qingci...does he know the Regent?"
The maidservant thought for a moment, then shook her head: "I've never heard of it."
The maid paused for a moment, then said, "They probably don't know him; they just happened to be there. If Shen Qingci knew the Regent, the Shen family... probably wouldn't have suffered such a fate of being executed, right? After all, even His Majesty has to be somewhat wary of the Regent."
"If he really has some kind of relationship with Shen Qingci, wouldn't protecting the Shen family be a piece of cake?"
That's true.
Liu Ruolan let out a long breath. It's good that she doesn't know him.
Perhaps, as the maidservant said, it was just a coincidence that we met.
Huo Yunzhan had previously made many contributions on the battlefield, and now he had died in battle...
It must be because of this, it must be simply because Shen Qingci is Huo Yunzhan's widow, and the child in her womb is Huo Yunzhan's only child.
Liu Ruolan gritted her teeth. It was all those Buddhist beads' fault! They ruined her perfectly executed plan.
The maid had already picked up most of the scattered prayer beads. Liu Ruolan glanced at the beads and felt utterly disgusted.
"Let's go down the mountain!"
The Regent had just instructed his subordinates to have the imperial physician summoned to the Prince's residence, presumably to bring Shen Qingci there for a medical consultation.
Then she would have to rush back to the Marquis's residence first.
Tell the old lady and Huo Yunzhan about it...
This matter requires careful consideration. It relates to the attitudes of the old lady and Huo Yunzhan towards this issue.
She had to seize the initiative.
Liu Ruolan walked quickly toward where the carriage was parked, instructing her maid as she went: "Once we enter the city, get off the carriage first and go directly to the Prime Minister's residence. Tell my father about this and invite him to the Marquis's residence."
"This concerns whether I, the Lady of the Marquis, can keep my position. You must make him go."
Liu Ruolan knew very well what the Yongning Marquis's mansion valued most.
She needs to make the most of her strengths.
Meanwhile, in Chu Jichen's carriage, Chu Jichen's gaze was fixed on Shen Qingci's pale lips, and then he reached out and pressed his hand on her pulse.
Shen Qingci felt the warmth on her wrist and suddenly opened her eyes...
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