Chapter 364: Killing Two Birds with One Stone, a Game Within a Game
"I……"
The Fourth Prince choked. He couldn't bring up his affairs with Xiao Yan publicly, so he could only speak to Tang Ning, "I truly didn't harm you. I'm completely unaware of what happened today. My mother told the eldest princess that because she was afraid Sun Yi would get entangled with you. Yin Xuan must have misunderstood. She harbored ill intentions because of my admiration for you."
Things have come to this point, and he can only give up the Fourth Prince's wife.
"I didn't expect Yinxuan, who looks kind but has a wicked heart, to actually use something as vicious as Buddhist beads to harm others. It's my fault that I didn't notice in time that she actually had such thoughts. It's also my fault that I couldn't control my emotions and showed my affection for the county lady in front of her, which almost put the county lady in danger..."
Rong Yue looked at the Fourth Prince's affectionate face and almost spit in his face.
Tang Ning pursed her lips as she listened to the Fourth Prince's words. "So what you're saying is that the Fourth Prince's wife was responsible for what happened tonight, and you know nothing about it?"
The Fourth Prince nodded quickly: "Yes, I don't know."
Tang Ning: "Then what are you going to do to her?"
The Fourth Prince only wanted to distance himself from this matter. In his opinion, the Fourth Prince's wife had lost her innocence and was no longer worthy of staying in the mansion, so he said without hesitation:
"Of course she will be severely punished. As the Fourth Prince's consort, she has instigated the Princess with her words and actions, repeatedly harming the County Lord. Her actions are vicious and cruel. When we return to the capital, I will definitely ask my father to punish her severely."
Tang Ning said quietly, "She is your first wife. She has already lost her innocence tonight. If she is charged with such a crime again, she will die. Is the Fourth Prince really willing to do that?"
Seeing that her face seemed to be softening, the Fourth Prince quickly expressed his feelings: "Why would I be reluctant to let go of such a vicious woman like Zhao Yinxuan!"
"But she is your wife..."
"Such a vicious person is not worthy of being a royal wife!"
Tang Ning stared at the indignant Fourth Prince for a long while before turning his head to look at the curtain beside the hall.
"Fourth Prince Consort, did you hear that?"
The Fourth Prince's face froze, and he saw the curtain over there suddenly being lifted. Standing behind it was the Fourth Prince's wife, whose face was pale, holding on to the curtain tightly and trembling all over.
"Yinxuan..."
The Fourth Prince's face changed drastically. He never expected that the Fourth Prince's wife had already woken up. Thinking that what he had just said might have fallen into her ears, he was completely panicked.
The Fourth Prince's wife was on the verge of collapse. Someone next to her wanted to help her, but she just pushed them away and walked in front of the Fourth Prince.
"Xie Guangzheng, I must have been blind to believe your lies and do all the evil things for you!"
"Yinxuan..."
"Don't call me!"
The Fourth Prince's wife was in pain all over, but the pain was not as great as the Fourth Prince's betrayal of her.
When she woke up and knew what happened, she almost collapsed. She didn't know why things turned out like this and why she became the person in the Buddhist temple. But no matter how much she hated him and cried, she never thought of betraying the Fourth Prince.
She knew that she had acted carelessly and was being plotted against. She was standing behind the curtain with her mouth covered. When she heard that her instigation of the eldest princess had been exposed, she was filled with fear, but also with determination.
The Fourth Prince's wife thought that her innocence had been ruined, and she must not drag down the Fourth Prince and Queen Lu anymore, so she planned to take all the blame on herself.
But she never expected to hear the Fourth Prince pushing her out impatiently.
The Fourth Prince, who claimed that he only loved her, used their past relationship to deceive her into making a move on Song Tangning. He did not even try to make amends, but instead pinned all the accusations on her, calling her a vicious woman.
The Fourth Prince's wife felt that those words were like heavy hammers, hitting her again and again, smashing her to pieces, and her infatuation became a huge joke.
"I'm a vicious woman? Xie Guangzheng, if I'm a vicious woman, you're shameless and despicable!"
"If you hadn't begged me so earnestly, saying that you were in a difficult situation at court, how could I have helped you plot against Song Tangning? If the Empress hadn't repeatedly told me that if you could win Song Tangning, you could turn the situation around and return to court, how could I have helped her instigate the Princess?"
"When you used our marital love to trick me into attacking Song Tangning, you kept saying you only had me in your heart. Now that something's happened, you're calling me a vicious woman?"
"Yinxuan!" The Fourth Prince panicked: "Shut up... The Fourth Prince's wife is crazy, tell her to shut up..."
The people behind the Fourth Prince tried to move forward in panic, but were blocked by Canglang with his sword.
"The Fourth Prince's wife hasn't finished speaking yet, why is the Fourth Prince so anxious?"
"You!" The Fourth Prince glared at Cang Lang: "Does your master know what you are doing?!"
He wanted to bring up Xiao Yan, to hint to Cang Lang that he should stop, but Cang Lang just said coldly, "My master is recuperating in the mansion, so he naturally doesn't know what happened tonight. But if someone harms the county lady, he will definitely not let them off easily. So, doesn't the Fourth Prince know how the governor treats the girl?"
The Fourth Prince's face turned pale. Of course he knew. It was because of this that he had this evil intention. He wanted to use Song Tangning to completely tie Xiao Yan to their side. But who could have imagined...
He was extremely regretful at this moment, regretting that he shouldn't have set his sights on Song Tangning.
The Fourth Prince wanted to ask the Fourth Prince's wife for help, but unfortunately, his previous words almost offended the Fourth Prince's wife to death, and completely destroyed the relationship between them.
The Fourth Prince's wife looked at Tang Ning, her eyes red as she whispered, "I was the one who gave her the Buddhist beads, and I was the one who suggested Lingyun Temple, but I was also acting under the Queen's orders. It was she who first instigated the Princess after she knew her intentions. It was she who hinted that the Princess could destroy your innocence and force you to marry her by any means necessary..."
"Zhao Yinxuan!"
The Fourth Prince opened his mouth to stop the Fourth Prince's wife, but Canglang had already thrown the scabbard in his hand, and it hit the Fourth Prince's mouth with a "bang".
The fourth prince screamed, and blood and teeth came out of his mouth.
Canglang said coldly, "If the Fourth Prince interferes with the trial again, don't blame me for being rude."
He looked at the Fourth Prince's wife:
"continue!"
The Fourth Prince's wife's face was pale. She felt happy to see the Fourth Prince in such a miserable state and had no intention of covering up for them.
"The Queen knows the County Lady is stubborn, and even if the Princess tries everything, you might not agree to marry her. Furthermore, as long as she knows it was she who plotted against you, Governor Xiao will definitely not let Princess Leyang go. They knew the Princess intended to have that eunuch discredit you tonight, so they had Sun Yi swapped with that eunuch."
"As long as people see you and Sun Yi together, and then let the Fourth Prince protect you in public in the name of his admiration for you, you will definitely be moved. Then I can use some means to make you willingly marry into the Fourth Prince's mansion and hand over Rongsheng Academy to him."
Seeing Tang Ning's extremely cold expression, the Fourth Prince's wife laughed softly, full of sarcasm.
"We schemed everything out, thinking we were the jackal, and painstakingly sent Sun Yi to the Buddhist temple, but who could have imagined..."
The Fourth Prince's wife couldn't stop crying whenever she thought about her innocence being violated and the disgusting marks on her body.
But no one in the palace sympathized with her.
Tang Ning looked at the Fourth Prince's wife crying loudly, with a cold expression and no trace of softness in her heart.
She never wanted to use such despicable means to deal with anyone, but the Fourth Prince's wife knew very well what the consequences would be if she was sent to the Buddhist temple tonight. She knew very well what would happen if the woman's innocence was destroyed and she was caught defiling the Buddhist temple in public. Even if it was later found out that she was framed, she had already been ruined.
As a woman, she would understand what would happen to her but still took action. From the moment the Fourth Prince's wife agreed to act on his behalf and gave the Buddhist beads to him, she did not deserve sympathy.
Tang Ning looked at her: "If you want to harm me and Sun Yi, then why are you in the Buddhist temple?"
The Fourth Prince's wife looked at the crowd and said, "Then ask Madam Pei and Second Lady Bai."
Among the crowd, two figures had pale faces.
The Fourth Prince's wife said coldly, "I used the excuse of spraining my ankle during the Dharma Assembly and wanted to go back to my room to arrange the rest of the matter and clear myself of suspicion. But who knew I would run into Madam Pei and Second Lady Bai on my way back."
"Fourth Prince's wife, we just met you by chance..." Mrs. Pei's face was pale.
"Meet by chance? I was walking along a small path at the time, how could I have run into you by chance? Besides, everyone knows that the Second Prince and the Fourth Prince are enemies."
The Fourth Prince's wife angrily said, "The Pei family is close to the Second Prince, and Second Lady Bai is his biological sister. I wasn't familiar with you before, but you blocked my way after the ceremony and deliberately tried to get close to me and chat about all sorts of nonsense."
The Fourth Prince's wife was not stupid, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to sow discreet strife in Princess Leyang every time. She looked at the two people who looked flustered.
"You stopped me for a cup of tea. After I got back, I was so sleepy that I didn't have the energy to finish arranging the rest of the things."
"Tonight was a big night. I should have been waiting in the Buddhist temple, but I definitely couldn't fall asleep. Instead, I fell asleep and passed out. And the Fourth Prince hasn't been willing to sleep with me lately, so no one noticed I was abducted. When I woke up, I was already in the Buddhist temple, and I ended up in such a mess."
The Fourth Prince's wife's eyes were red, and she looked at the two of them with resentment and said:
"I've carefully considered everything that happened tonight. I've been extremely cautious. Besides you two, I haven't seen anyone else, let alone been close to anyone else. Apart from you two, no one can do anything to me."
Mrs. Pei panicked: "It's not us, we don't have it!"
Miss Bai Er was also panicked: "Don't frame me like that. Madam Pei and I did talk to you, but we didn't do anything!"
She and Madam Pei were indeed ordered to come to the temple to cause trouble in the Fourth Prince's Mansion. Their purpose was to help the Second Prince prove that the Fourth Prince's Mansion had framed the Princess of Yi Yang. After the incident, they would find an opportunity to expose the matter and let the Fourth Prince die without a burial place.
But they hadn't had time to do anything yet, and meeting the Fourth Prince's wife before was really just a coincidence.
At that time, I kept the Fourth Prince's wife just to get information from her, but I didn't expect what would happen later.
They had always thought that the people in the Buddhist hall were Sun Yi and Song Tangning, and were thinking of exposing them after the Fourth Prince jumped out. However, when they saw the Fourth Prince's wife appear in the Buddhist hall, their jaws almost dropped.
Now that they were being pointed out by the Fourth Prince's wife, it was like a blame had fallen from the sky on them, and they felt completely wronged.
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