Chapter 362 The Queen and the Fourth Prince's Consort Exposed
The fear on Madam Pu's face was so obvious that everyone could tell something was wrong.
"Is your nephew here?" Canglang asked.
Aunt Pu's eyes were red, and she pointed at one of them with a trembling finger: "Yes, he is my nephew."
Cang Lang glanced down, then walked over to the other corpses, seemingly examining their wounds. After a moment, he stood up, wiped his hands with a handkerchief, and said,
"They were all killed with a single blow. Their cervical vertebrae were severed. However, the wounds on their necks were very continuous, and there were no other injuries on their bodies."
"These men have thick calluses on their knuckles and fingertips, and their limbs are strong. They are obviously martial artists. Even if they face a powerful opponent, they will never surrender. Unless someone they trust suddenly attacks them from a very close distance, they will not even put up a fight."
Upon hearing this, Madam Fu spoke up, "So, these people were probably bribed a long time ago. They knew the county lady hadn't fallen for the trick, but they still spread the news to mislead the princess and the others, and were later silenced."
"Nine out of ten."
Canglang looked at Pu Mama.
Madam Pu's face turned pale: "Impossible, how is it possible? He is my nephew, how could he help outsiders to harm me..."
"Even close relatives can fight each other, let alone a nephew."
Tang Ning's words brought the crowd to a state of complete silence. Thinking back to the Song family, she simply continued to ask, "Did your nephew know about the incident where Sister Qian and I fell into the water on the night of Qixi Festival?"
Madam Pu nodded with a trembling voice: "I know, it was him who was in the water with the young master that night."
"How did the princess see Tan Yan?"
Aunt Pu was stunned.
Tang Ning frowned. "Tan Yan is a male servant of Chun En Lou. Even if he made a mistake and fled, he would definitely not run towards the downtown area. The Princess's Mansion is in a very prestigious place in the east of the city. People like Tan Yan and Chun En Lou who are the most knowledgeable about the signs and the ways of survival would never seek death and disturb such a noble person."
"Qiuqin just said that the princess originally wanted to find someone to insult my innocence, but she changed her mind after running into Tan Yan who was fleeing. How did she run into him?"
Aunt Pu's face was pale and her lips were trembling uncontrollably.
Qiuqin trembled as she spoke, "I remember that day when the Princess was harassed by the Zongzheng Temple. On the way back, it was Pu Da who drove the carriage. He accidentally startled the horses on the way, causing the Princess to get off the carriage. That's when she ran into Tan Yan being chased out of the alley..."
What else could others not understand after hearing this?
Pu Ma's nephew had been bribed long ago, and even the male servant of Chun'en Tower was deliberately sent to the eldest princess. The eldest princess was used as a knife.
Pu Ma Ma reacted and knelt down in front of the princess: "It's my fault. I have harmed you."
Princess Leyang's face turned pale as well. She hissed, "Someone is plotting against me..."
"If you don't have evil thoughts, no one can plot against you!" Rong Yue cursed.
Princess Leyang also knew that she was doomed to be in trouble tonight. She no longer had the arrogance she had before. Tears streaming down her face, she cried, "This princess, this princess didn't intend to harm Song Tangning at first. This princess just wanted Yi'er to marry her and let her enter the Princess's Mansion. It was you who repeatedly refused..."
"You have such malicious thoughts because we have rejected you time and again?"
"No, I wanted to persuade you slowly, but then I heard that there were too many people asking to marry you recently, and you were also interested, so I was anxious..."
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Tang Ning frowned tightly: "How come I don't know that someone is asking to marry me?"
Rong Yue also said, "Is the Princess crazy? Tang Ning's engagement with the Lu family was just cancelled, and so many things happened before. Then, Governor Xiao was seriously injured, and the academy was extremely busy. How could she possibly consider marriage so soon?"
Princess Leyang's eyes suddenly widened: "How is that possible? The Queen said it herself..."
"aunt!"
The Fourth Prince shouted.
Unfortunately, Princess Leyang's words had been heard clearly by everyone. Tang Ning was stunned: "You mean, it was the Queen who told you that I was seeing someone?"
"County Lady..."
"I didn't ask the Fourth Prince!"
After Tang Ning shouted coldly at the Fourth Prince, he looked directly at Princess Leyang.
Princess Leyang also came back to her senses at this moment, as if her mind was suddenly cleared by Tang Ning's words. She widened her eyes and said anxiously:
"She's the Queen, that's right. On the day Rong Yue hosted the banquet, I mentioned Yi'er's marriage to her, but Rong Yue flatly refused. And you humiliated me in public."
"The other day, the Empress sent her confidant, Jinzhi, to your residence to present a gift. I wanted her to help me arrange this marriage, but the Empress refused. She even told Jinzhi to tell me that you now have the Rongsheng Academy and Xiao Yan's protection, and that there are countless people in the capital who want to marry you."
"She said she'd heard Rong Yue was secretly looking for you, and even the Empress had many people asking for your hand in marriage. They wanted to use you to curry favor with Xiao Yan and take over Rongsheng Academy. Jin Zhi said you're a hot commodity right now, holding onto gold ingots. She said even an ordinary man could rise to prominence through the academy if they married you."
Princess Leyang knew that she was doomed, but she also realized that something was wrong, and she spoke quickly and anxiously for fear that Tang Ning would not believe her.
"I really didn't intend to harm you at first. Even though I was dissatisfied with you, I didn't have such thoughts. It was the Queen who told me those words that made me anxious. I was afraid that you would fall into the hands of others, so I wanted to use the drowning incident to facilitate your marriage with Yi'er."
Everyone in the palace had different expressions. The Fourth Prince saw that something was wrong and quickly said, "Princess, please don't try to blame my mother!"
He looked at Tang Ning,
"County Lady, your mother treats you like her own daughter and has always loved you dearly. She asked Jinzhi to say this because she must have felt that Sun Yi and you were not a good match, and that's why she wanted to dissuade the Princess from having any thoughts."
"My Queen Mother definitely had no other intentions. It was the eldest princess herself who became greedy and developed a vicious heart."
Princess Leyang's eyes were red as she angrily said, "No, it was really Jinzhi. She was the one who bewitched me. And the Fourth Prince's Consort, too. Oh, and the Fourth Prince's Consort!"
Her mind was clearer than ever, and she was eager to throw the blame on others.
"Song Tangning, do you still remember that night when you fell into the water? I did go find Princess Lu. I originally wanted to use her strict and rule-abiding nature to force you to agree to the marriage, but things didn't work out, so I didn't want to do anything else."
"It was the Fourth Prince's wife. She was the one who angered Old Princess Lu by using your neglect of the Queen. She also made Old Princess Lu think that you were disrespectful to the royal family, which is why she made things difficult for you. It was also she who mentioned the Mu family's daughter to me after you left, saying that she had been forced to become a nun after spending a night outside the city."
Princess Leyang raised her head and hissed, "I was disappointed at the time, thinking I'd missed that opportunity and lost it all. It was the Fourth Prince's wife who whispered in my ear that if you lost your innocence, you'd be worse off than the girl from Commandant Mu's family."
"And Lingyun Temple. She was the one who told me about Lingyun Temple. She was the one who mentioned the Ullambana Festival to me! She was the one who mentioned it!!"
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Once was a coincidence, but twice or three times couldn't possibly happen.
What Queen Lu said might be a misunderstanding, but how could the Fourth Prince's wife also happen to cause such a "misunderstanding", and she was actually there when the Princess of Yi Yang fell into the water on the night of the Chinese Valentine's Day.
Is this a coincidence or intentional?
Everyone looked at the Fourth Prince, whose eyes were so flustered that he could hardly keep his composure.
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