"Fourth brother, be careful with your words." The prince walked slowly towards me, wrapped in a fox fur coat. His pale face looked even sicker in the twilight. "I saw it with my own eyes. You fell into the water and grabbed my sleeve."
Xinyi Zigu's pupils suddenly shrank: "Why did my brother frame me?"
"Enough!" Princess Linchuan interrupted sharply, "Daoyi has been weak since childhood, how could he play with his life?" She pointed her armor towards the lotus pond, "If the Fourth Prince is dissatisfied, he can ask the imperial physician to examine his injuries!"
Jiang Dinglian responded at the right time: "I will go to the palace to ask for your permission." He turned around and was about to leave, but Xinyi Zigu grabbed the corner of his robe.
"No need!" The Fourth Prince gritted his teeth. "This prince... This prince may have been drunk and misremembered." He glanced at Jiang Songyi with a sinister look. "But the Second Miss Jiang was also in the pavilion just now."
"Fourth Prince, please be careful with your words." Madam Xu suddenly spoke, pulling her daughter behind her. "Yier has been in the front hall talking with the eldest princess. All the ladies can testify to this."
The ladies at the banquet nodded one after another. Yang Shuyu waved her round fan and chuckled, "I saw the county lady playing the zither in the plum forest with my own eyes. How could she have gone to the lotus pond?"
Xinyi Zigu's face turned pale. He clearly remembered the force of the pair of moon-white embroidered shoes kicking his chest, but at this moment Jiang Songyi's skirt was as clean as new, without even a trace of mud.
"Your Highness is probably in a state of terror." Jiang Songyi timidly poked her head out, her pearl hairpins trembling slightly. "I heard that a maidservant drowned in the lotus pond years ago."
"You!" Xinyi Zigu raised his hand to hit him, but Jiang Dinglian grabbed his wrist.
"Fourth Prince," Marquis Yongding said, squeezing the gilded armor with his knuckles, causing it to creak. "My daughter is more timid than a rabbit. Please don't scare her."
Jiang Yuyao suddenly sobbed, "Father, the Fourth Prince just said that I pushed him." She covered her cheek with her hands, her fingers revealing red marks. "I was just trying to help His Highness."
"Shut up!" Xinyi Zigu shouted, but was silenced by the cold gaze of Princess Linchuan. He realized with a start that he had unknowingly fallen into a trap—everyone believed he had murdered the crown prince, while Jiang Songyi was innocent.
Someone among the generals sneered, "Your Highness, with your physique, I'm afraid the wind could blow you into the pond!"
"That's right," someone continued, "Last month during the autumn hunt, His Highness couldn't even draw his bow."
Amidst the laughter, Xinyi Zigu's ears flushed red. He stared intently at Jiang Songyi, who was hiding behind Xu, revealing half of her tearful face, a hint of sarcasm in her eyes.
"Enough!" Princess Linchuan waved her sleeves. "Today is Yi'er's coming-of-age ceremony. How shameless to make such a fuss!" She turned to the Crown Prince and said, "Daoyi, please come back to the palace with me. Your clothes are wet."
"Aunt, please go ahead," Xin Yidao interrupted with a cough, "My nephew still has something to say to Song Yi."
When everyone dispersed, Su Sheng was the last one left. He caught a glimpse of the faint water stain on Jiang Songyi's sleeve, and remembered her ruthless plot against the Fifth Princess that day in the palace. A playful smile curled up at the corner of his lips.
The lotus pond returned to silence. Xin Yidao leaned against the pavilion pillar, playing with her pearl earrings. "My disciple, you used this trick of escaping from your shell brilliantly."
Jiang Songyi put away her fear, raised her eyebrows and chuckled, "Not as good as Master's self-torture trick." She reached out to grab the earring, "Return it to its original owner."
The prince put the earring into his sleeve and said, "I must keep a proof, lest one day..." He suddenly coughed violently, blood seeping from between his fingers, "I will be silenced by my disciple."
"Master, you're joking," Jiang Songyi handed over the handkerchief. "If you die, who will help me prevent the Fourth Prince from getting married?"
As dusk deepened, the last ray of sunset light passed across the prince's pale lips: "Disciple, do you know where the biggest flaw in today's game lies?"
"Master, please give me some advice."
"You kicked him too hard," he pointed his finger at his chest, "and the bruise doesn't match the mark on the Fourth Prince's neck."
Jiang Songyi's smile froze for a moment, then quickly returned to normal: "So that's why Master had to 'accidentally' fall into the water to fill in the gap for me?"
Xin Yidao didn't answer, but looked at the withered lotus leaves in the pond and laughed softly: "The water in this mansion is deeper than that in the East Palace."
The pavilion in the center of the lake was covered in fallen lotus leaves. Xinyi Zigu's python robe dripped with water, and his gold and jade belt was tangled in water plants. He scanned the crowd with red eyes, and when his gaze passed over Jiang Songyi, he suddenly erupted: "How dare you, bitch!"
"Fourth Prince, be careful with your words!" Xin Yi said, wearing a snow-white crane cloak and blocking Jiang Songyi's way. The white jade ring on her fingertip reflected the gilded candlelight. "I saw you fall into the water with my own eyes. Why are you biting the county lady?"
Jiang Dinglian slammed his iron palm on the gravel table, and the black iron wristband made the teacup jump. "My daughter is a golden branch and jade leaf, it's not your place to throw dirty water on her!" He stared at the broken belt around Xinyi Zigu's waist with his copper bell eyes. "The gold thread is hooked on the seaweed. It was clearly torn when you pushed the prince!"
Xinyi Zigu clutched the half-broken jade belt buckle, his knuckles turning white. "I was unconscious in the pavilion at the time."
"Fourth brother, you're confused." Xin Yidao suddenly coughed violently, blood staining his handkerchief like red plum blossoms blooming in the snow. "You fell into the lotus pond to save me, and how come you woke up like a madman?" He trembled and grasped the Fourth Prince's wrist. "The imperial physician said that choking on water can damage your mind."
"You're talking nonsense!" Xinyi Zigu shook off the prince, crushing the moonlight on the ground with his jeweled python boots. "When Jiang Songyi kicked me into the water, you were still pretending to be dead in the warm room!"
Jiang Songyi suddenly covered her lips and cried out in surprise, her jade bracelet knocking against the stone pillar. "Is the Fourth Prince in a state of terror? Court doctor."
The old man with a goatee stepped forward tremblingly, carrying a medicine box. "The Fourth Prince's pulse is disordered. Perhaps the cold has entered his brain."
"How dare you!" Xinyi Zigu kicked over the medicine box, and the golden nanmu pillow rolled down the Nine-Curve Bridge. He pointed at the tip of the prince's nose and sneered, "What a brotherly gesture! You're all in cahoots."
"Enough!" The princess swept the mess on the ground in her python-patterned dress. "The Fourth Prince has been disrespectful. Send him back to Liuyun Palace for confinement!"
The iron boots of the Black Armor Guards clattered on the ground like muffled thunder. Xinyi Zigu looked at Jiang Songyi, who was fiddling with her dogwood bag behind the crowd. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of the silver chain gleaming on her sleeve—it was the Prince's Order he had lost when he fell into the water!
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
