...
When Yue Jiang arrived at the main hall, Cheng Suyun was kneeling in the center of the hall, her face pale and her clothes disheveled.
Jing Shuo sat in a wheelchair, bloodstains at the corner of his mouth, and his clothes were also disheveled. He held a silver hairpin in his hand, with drops of undried blood dripping from it.
Jing Huaixu, Empress Dowager Zheng, and Empress Dowager Cheng were not present, but there were chaotic footsteps coming from the side rooms on both sides.
The voices of Jing Huaixu and others could be heard intermittently, suggesting that something serious might have happened to someone else inside the two rooms.
As soon as Yue Jiang appeared, Empress Ye, who was sitting in the main seat, hurriedly came down to ask with concern: "Jiang'er, why is your face so pale? Were you frightened by what happened tonight?"
"Mother, there's no rush with my daughter-in-law's matter. What's going on here?" Yue Jiang glanced at the scene before her.
When asked about this matter, Empress Ye's usual calm and dignified demeanor vanished, and she shook her head with a worried expression: "What a tragedy!"
"Cheng Suyun, you little slut, how dare you drug the prince! I'll kill you!"
Empress Dowager Zheng rushed out of the room on the left, raising her hand to strike Cheng Suyun's face. Cheng Suyun screamed in fright, covering her head.
Fortunately, Jing Huaixu was behind her and stopped Empress Dowager Zheng from actually swinging her hand.
"Mother, please ask me first if there is anything wrong. I will never let this go easily."
"Grandmother, it's all my fault, it's all my fault. I did something wrong. Please don't be angry with yourself."
Jing Lu stumbled out from behind, wearing only a single layer of clothing, his face showing signs of weakness as if his yang energy had been completely drained.
"Lu'er, what's it to blame you for? Anyone who's been poisoned with potent drugs can't withstand it. The imperial physician said you just suffered a loss of vital energy. What were you doing out here!"
Jinglu's mother, Consort Zheng, chased after her son, crying and speaking through gritted teeth.
Inside the room on the right, Empress Dowager Cheng came out. She stared intently at Jing Shuo and Cheng Suyun without saying a word, her eyes filled with disappointment.
Behind her, Empress Dowager Zheng's personal nanny supported Zheng Yutong, who was swaying and covered in bloodstains from her collarbone. The nanny frowned deeply and leaned close to Empress Dowager Zheng.
"Your Majesty, Miss Zheng has lost her innocence."
The scene before them was already horrific. Zheng Yutong was in such a miserable state that something must have happened that needed to be investigated. There was no need for the nanny to deliberately hide anything. Everyone heard this clearly.
"What!" Empress Dowager Zheng almost rolled her eyes when she heard what was said. After taking a long breath, she cried out as if no one else was around.
"Great, great, this is Jing Shuo and Cheng Suyun conspiring together to ruin Lu'er and Yu Tong."
"What have I done to offend you all? Why are you bullying my children like this?"
"What? How could my cousin Yutong...?" Jing Lu murmured in disbelief, vomiting blood in Consort Zheng's arms.
Consort Zheng was so frightened that she quickly summoned the imperial physician to continue treating Jinglu.
When Empress Dowager Zheng saw Jing Lu vomit blood, she abruptly swallowed the rest of her words and glared sharply at Empress Dowager Cheng: "Sister Cheng, you owe me an explanation?"
Empress Dowager Cheng didn't speak. Of the four, only Jing Shuo remained calm. He looked at Empress Dowager Zheng pressing Empress Dowager Cheng for answers and sneered.
“Grandmother Zheng, isn’t your grandson your child? Why be so heartless? Your grandson is crippled, how can he ruin anyone’s reputation?”
Jing Shuo raised his blood-stained hand, held up the silver hairpin, and pointed the shiny silver tip at Zheng Yutong, which startled Zheng Yutong so much that she trembled all over and felt a faint pain in her collarbone, which had just stopped bleeding.
"She was the one who seduced and flirted with me. Aren't you going to stand up for me?"
Empress Dowager Zheng didn't believe it at all; even if it were true, she would deny it to the death.
"Nonsense! Yutong has always been well-behaved. You yourself said that your legs are crippled. Why would she, with her beautiful face, try to seduce you?"
"Yutong, did you tell His Majesty?"
Empress Dowager Zheng reminded Zheng Yutong that it was not true. Zheng Yutong naturally wanted to deny it a thousand times over. She even secretly went to look at Jinglu, wanting to see his expression towards her.
Unfortunately, Jinglu vomited blood and was being treated by the imperial physician with acupuncture.
Zheng Yutong felt extremely resentful when she thought of Jing Shuo's previous threats to her. Otherwise, she would not have lost her innocence to him, so she was determined to blame Jing Shuo.
She looked up and met Jing Shuo's gaze, only to see a piece of her own clothing clutched in his hand.
Jing Shuo laughed fearlessly: "Grandmother Zheng, what you said hurts my feelings. I am not worth Yu Tong's seduction. Then who is worth her hiding in such a small room at night?"
"Cousin Yutong, are we waiting for our third brother, or perhaps..."
His gaze casually drew everyone's attention to Yue Jiang.
Jing Huaixu and the others looked at Yue Jiang and saw that she was no longer wearing the clothes she had worn before.
Yue Jiang subconsciously guessed that the two palace maids were probably acting on Zheng Yutong's orders, so she took the opportunity to bring up the matter of the wine.
"I had an unexpected incident tonight. Two unfamiliar palace maids from Liushang Pavilion spilled wine all over me. There was some medicine in the wine that was bad for the fetus."
“One of the palace maids took it upon herself to lead me to change clothes, while another palace maid actually tricked His Highness, who was releasing lanterns, and led me to another place where I was not.”
"Fortunately, when I was feeling unwell, Miss Xiange was there. She went to great lengths to find the imperial physician for me. On her way out, she ran into His Highness, who had been deceived, which prevented His Highness from going astray."
After Yue Jiang finished speaking, Empress Dowager Zheng went to see Zheng Yutong, who seemed to be hearing the news for the first time as well.
She instructed someone to wet Yue Jiang's clothes and then secretly tricked the Crown Prince away, but she did not administer any medicine that would harm the Crown Princess's unborn child.
"I didn't. I didn't harm the Crown Princess's child. I don't understand what the Crown Princess is saying. I can confront the palace maid she's talking about."
Zheng Yutong only wanted to become the Crown Prince's woman as soon as possible and enter the Eastern Palace. She did not want to cause the Crown Princess to lose her baby and plunge the entire palace into a state of grief.
At worst, if the standoff continues, she'll be accused of deceiving the crown prince, which is better than being implicated in plotting to harm the imperial heir.
"Jiang'er, no wonder you look unwell. Are you still feeling unwell?"
Empress Ye was exhausted from the troubles of others all night. When she heard that her son and daughter-in-law had almost been in danger, her hands trembled with fear.
"Mother, don't worry, I'm fine now," Yue Jiang comforted Empress Ye, holding her hand.
Jing Huaixu: "Have those two palace maids been arrested?"
Yue Jiang glanced meaningfully at Zheng Yutong's expression first. Since Zheng Yutong had poisoned the two palace maids, she should be at ease.
She scrutinized Zheng Yutong's expression for a long time and found that she was guilty and scared, which was obviously very disadvantageous for her.
Yue Jiang suspected that Zheng Yutong was unaware that the two palace maids had died.
She turned her gaze away from Zheng Yutong's face and shook her head in disappointment: "The two palace maids were poisoned long ago, and they've already passed away before we could even get the details."
"Dead," Zheng Yutong was indeed caught off guard; she hadn't used any methods to eliminate him completely.
However, this also gave her a perfect opportunity to deny everything, leaving her with no way to prove anything.
“Grand Aunt, Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress, Yu Tong did not harm the Crown Princess, nor did she lure the Crown Prince to any small house, much less kill anyone to cover it up!”
"The fact that the dead cannot testify means it has nothing to do with me. I was just feeling dizzy tonight and wanted to find a quiet place to stay. I didn't go to any small house at all."
“It was the Second Prince. The Second Prince had me dragged into the house and humiliated. He took my hairpin and used my appearance as a blackmail to force me to submit to him.”
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