"No, Princess, it's unfair. I am being wronged. It's really not me who did it. I know nothing about it."
Hua Shi refused to admit it. She had a look of panic on her face. Seeing everyone looking at her with mocking eyes, she started to cry, "I... I just wanted to come to the lake to relax, but I saw my sister fell into the water. I just wanted to help her and this happened. I didn't push her at all. This girl is talking nonsense."
Hua glared at the maid fiercely. If no one had restrained her, she would have rushed up and hit someone.
Princess Shou naturally did not show any emotion because of her behavior. She had also heard about the bad things happening in the family of Prefect He Dongming. She walked to Ming Rulan, comforted her with a few words, and then asked the servants to take her to the side room to change clothes.
Next, the interrogation location was moved to the inner hall, and unimportant personnel were dismissed.
Such a thing happened at such a nice birthday banquet. Princess Shou's face looked very grim and she was determined to find out the truth of the matter.
When Ming Rulan changed her clothes and returned to the palace, she received a report from outside that the prefect He Dongming was coming. Princess Shou couldn't help but frown and immediately asked someone to let him in.
The servant went to pass on the message, and then saw a middle-aged man walking quickly towards the hall.
As soon as he entered the room, his eyes fell on Hua who was kneeling on the ground, and a trace of heartache flashed in his eyes. As for Ming Rulan who was sitting next to her, he didn't even look at her, as if he didn't know her at all.
"master......"
As soon as she saw He Dongming, Hua called him in a weak voice as if she was about to cry.
"Don't worry, Jiaojiao. I'll take care of this matter."
Without caring about the many people in the room, He Dongming whispered a few words of comfort, took two steps forward, first kowtowed respectfully to Princess Shou, and then said: "Princess, there must be a misunderstanding here, please look into it."
Princess Shou had been watching all of He Dongming's actions since he came in. Seeing that he showed no concern for his wife who had fallen into the water, but instead only wanted to make way for his evil concubine, she couldn't help but feel a little angry.
"Oh, I wonder what misunderstanding Mr. He is talking about?"
"Reporting to the princess, there must be another reason why Ming fell into the water."
After He Dongming finished speaking, he looked at the woman sitting beside him. His eyes were instantly filled with disgust and reproach. "Ming, why don't you come over and apologize to the princess? You have always been jealous. You deliberately fell into the water this time and wanted to put the blame on Hua, ruining the princess' birthday. Do you know that you are guilty!?"
The man's fierce expression and his scolding words were like the sharpest knife that stabbed into Ming Rulan's heart and crushed it.
She didn't know how the man who had been so close to her could now say such vicious words to judge her. Didn't he know what kind of quagmire his words would put her in? Was she such a terrible person in his heart?
He knows, but he doesn't care!
At this moment, Ming Rulan felt that her heart had completely died. Despair appeared on her face, and she no longer had any expectations for him.
He Dongming's completely different attitude also surprised everyone. He Dongming was not at the scene when the incident happened, so it was impossible for him to see the truth of the matter. But as soon as he arrived, he blamed Ming without asking any questions, obviously favoring his concubine Lan.
"Oh, this is clearly a case of favoring the concubine over the wife. Lord He didn't even glance at his wife just now. Instead, he showed extra care for the seductive concubine. This shows how much he dislikes Ming. His attitude is obvious."
Another noble lady nodded slowly in agreement, "That's right. No matter what, Ming is his wife of poverty and hardship. He shouldn't treat her like this. After all, so many people are watching. And Hua looks frivolous. She's not from a rich family. You can tell who's superior and who's inferior at a glance. I don't know what tricks Hua used to confuse Lord He."
The people around her also nodded, thinking that what she said made sense. Hua had tried to get close to them before, but they had avoided her calmly.
They were all people of noble status, so naturally they disdained to associate with such people. Now seeing that the prefect, Lord He, was still trying to comfort the concubine Hua, their faces looked a little ugly. After all, they were all the wives of the principal family, and they couldn't stand such behavior.
The people present were talking about it and felt that He Dongming's move was inappropriate.
Ming Rulan's eyes were also red at this moment. She thought He Dongming would be more considerate in front of everyone, but he didn't care at all. There was no sympathy in his eyes, let alone the so-called reputation and face.
"How can you arbitrarily pin the crime of murder on someone else? Are you just basing it on the one-sided statement of a little maid?"
After He Dongming comforted Hua, he still blamed Ming Rulan, "You must have fallen down carelessly. You can't talk nonsense in front of so many people. Jiaojiao has always been kind-hearted. How could she do such a despicable thing?!"
Ming Rulan felt even more heartbroken after hearing these words. She was clearly the one who suffered, but now she was being blamed by him. He wanted to make her lose everything in front of everyone!
Just when Ming Rulan was about to speak in despair, Madam Ming came hurriedly. She had already heard the maid report the whole process. She stood in front of her daughter, protecting her tightly and sneering.
"Master He, what you said is really interesting. It's obvious that you favored your concubine and killed your wife first, but now you blame my daughter for talking nonsense. Do you think I'm dead?"
The air suddenly fell into silence, and the discussions stopped abruptly.
He Dongming was also stunned. He didn't expect that his mother-in-law was such a hot-tempered person. She actually criticized him in public and said such harsh words.
Of course he was not convinced, his face turned cold, and he said in a deep voice: "Humph, I didn't wrongly accuse her. Even if you were here, I would still say this. Ever since Hua came into the family, Ming Rulan has been restless and has been making trouble all day long. It can be said that she is jealous by nature and makes people restless."
“Nonsense!”
Ming Rulan was so angry that she almost vomited blood after hearing his distorted remarks.
They have been married for so many years, no matter what, they should have some affection for each other. But who would have thought that not only did he not care, he also threw dirty water on her in front of everyone!
Her chest was heaving violently and her lips were trembling, and she was obviously out of breath.
"He Dongming, you have been bewitched by Hua and only believe her words. You cannot distinguish right from wrong and have no conscience. You and I have been married for so many years. Don't you know what kind of person I am?"
To others, every word sounded heart-wrenching, and even the ladies with indifferent personalities were moved after hearing these words.
Every family has its own problems. It is common for men to have three wives and four concubines. The wives can only swallow their anger and be misunderstood. These men still favor their concubines and ignore their wives. It's really...
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