Qingying then instructed Yu Yue to send a letter to Jin Heng.
After Jin Heng inquired, he learned that what Wei Dongchen said was true; the Emperor really wanted her to enter the palace, but he had not yet found the right time to bring it up.
Knowing Liu Yu as she did, she was certain he wouldn't offend the Emperor for her sake. As for Lady Pan, she was probably overjoyed; even if she gained favor upon entering the palace, she wouldn't have many good days ahead of her, and would only be adding another head to the ranks of those to be buried alive with the Emperor.
The Emperor has recently issued an edict announcing the cancellation of her engagement to the Crown Prince.
The incident of the Crown Prince kneeling before the palace was brought up again, and the rumors of Liu Shushu stealing her sister's husband were pushed to the forefront.
However, before long, news spread that Liu Qingying, out of jealousy for her elder sister, had deliberately poisoned her. This gradually overshadowed the rumors about Liu Shushu, and some even said that Qingying was disliked by the Crown Prince because of this incident. They even brought up the matter of her being seen arguing with the Prince Yu's son in the street and made a big deal out of it.
"They actually said that before His Highness the Crown Prince went to war, the young lady was already entangled with the Prince Yu's heir, and that the reason the Prince Yu's heir was on good terms with the eldest son was to facilitate your secret affair! This is outrageous! Who spread these rumors? They're trying to kill the young lady!" Tong Xia said, extremely agitated.
Qingying, on the contrary, appeared quite calm. She could no longer tell who was trying to harm her; there were simply too many people who didn't want her to have a good time.
She held a peeled orange in her hand, ate a segment, and found it tasted a bit sour and astringent.
She blinked, thinking that even an orange was working against her.
"If no one wants me to have a good time, then no one should have a good time either." She chuckled and popped another segment of orange into her mouth.
“It’s not like they’re the only ones who use rumors. These kinds of small things are easy to handle with money.” She said, giving Yu Yue a wink.
Yu Yue immediately understood, leaned closer, and whispered a few words in her ear. Yu Yue's eyes lit up immediately, "This servant will go right away."
Tong Xia was a little confused: "Going to do what?"
Qingying waved to Yu Yue, "Go."
As soon as Yu Yue left, Qing Ying looked at Tong Xia and smiled mysteriously, saying, "You'll understand soon enough."
She continued eating the orange, but the sourness made her shrank her shoulders. She then tossed it aside and scoffed, "You really can't force yourself to eat something that doesn't suit you."
...
Soon, news spread throughout the capital from who-knows-where that Liu Shushu once had a lover, but now that she had become the legitimate daughter of a great general, she had abandoned her poor lover and even wanted to become the crown princess. The news was spread with great detail, even including the lover's name, address, and almost his birth date.
This matter was naturally Qingying's doing, and the lover was not something she made up. It was because the person she sent to monitor Liu Shushu reported that she frequently exchanged letters with a man.
She just didn't expect things to escalate to such an absurd point—someone actually said that Liu Shushu had been married and had a child who was less than a month old.
This was completely unexpected for her, so much so that when the two Liu brothers came to her door, the bewilderment and innocence on her face were genuine. "You two have misunderstood, this matter really has nothing to do with me."
Liu Chenglin clearly didn't believe it. "If it wasn't you, who else could it be?"
"How would I know? Maybe she's made some enemies herself." Qingying looked at Liu Chengfeng and laughed, "Brother, don't you believe me either? You already wronged me once last time, are you going to do it again this time?"
Regarding the poisoning of Liu Shushu, Liu Chengfeng had already learned the whole story from Wei Dongchen. At first, he found it hard to believe, until Wei Dongchen found the broken antidote bottle that Qingying had thrown away, as well as evidence that Zhang Mama had been coerced before her death. Only then did he have to believe that Qingying had been plotted against, and that the person who plotted against her was his own sister.
"Brother, don't believe her. If she didn't intend to harm Second Sister last time, why would she have accepted that bottle of antidote?" Liu Chenglin said angrily.
But as soon as he finished speaking, he realized something, turned around and met Liu Chengfeng's questioning gaze, and immediately felt a little guilty, "Big brother, I..."
Qingying laughed sarcastically, "So Fourth Brother was involved in what happened last time... But it's not surprising, if it weren't for you, how could her poison have been cured so quickly?"
Therefore, the person who wrongs you will always know your innocence better than anyone else.
Looking into her cold eyes, Liu Chengfeng felt a pang of pain in his heart, and suddenly felt ashamed to face her. He lowered his eyelashes and said softly, "Don't worry, I will find out the truth and clear your name."
After saying that, he grabbed Liu Chenglin and tried to leave.
Liu Chenglin retorted, somewhat unconvinced, "What is Big Brother feeling guilty about? The plan last time was proposed by His Highness the Crown Prince. If she hadn't clung to that imperial decree of marriage, would they have resorted to such a desperate measure? His Highness clearly doesn't love her anymore, yet she still won't give up. Isn't she just trying to climb the social ladder and become a phoenix? She's blinded by greed, always trying to take everything from Sister Shu..."
"Enough!" Liu Chengfeng interrupted him rudely, giving him a cold glance, and said, "Without conclusive evidence, you can't arbitrarily accuse Shu..."
He stopped abruptly, glancing at Qingying's still indifferent expression, as if all of this had nothing to do with her. He then stopped talking and forcefully dragged Liu Chenglin outside.
Watching them leave, Qingying chuckled softly, "Heh~ do you think all the men in the Liu family are a bit dim-witted? They always believe everything they hear."
Yu Yue, who was standing to the side, didn't dare to respond, but she wholeheartedly agreed in her heart.
Qingying turned and went back into the house, not taking the matter to heart.
The attitude of the Liu family no longer has much influence on her emotions. Her most urgent task is to find out the truth about the massacre of the Ye family and the cause of her birth mother's death.
She was too young when her mother died. She only remembered her mother being covered in blood, but she had forgotten how her mother died.
At that moment, all she could do was send someone to find Li Niang, the woman who had played the pipa in the teahouse. Her intuition told her that Li Niang must know something.
She couldn't keep being led by the nose and marry Wei Dongchen in such a muddled way.
Fortunately, with the help of Xie Jiaoying and Jin Heng, the investigation became much easier.
Within three days, she had discovered the whereabouts of Li Niang.
It turned out she had already left the teahouse and been recruited by the owner's friend to work as a courtesan in a music troupe. Hearing that the music troupe had powerful backers, Madam Zou dared not cause any more trouble.
Qingying disguised herself and went out through the side gate of the General's Mansion to the music hall.
Wei Dongchen was a regular customer here and had already taken care of everything for her. She arrived at Li Niang's room without any problems.
As soon as she entered, Li Niang greeted her, "Please sit down, Miss."
Qingying looked down at her male attire, then at Li Niang's lifeless eyes, and clicked her tongue. "Did someone tell you beforehand?"
"The shopkeeper only said that one customer specifically requested my name."
"Then how did you know I was a young lady?" Everyone had been calling her "young master" as she walked by.
"So you were disguised as a man, young lady." Li Niang smiled and explained, "I smelled your scent last time and I've memorized it."
More than a year later, she could still recognize her by her scent. Qingying couldn't help but sigh, "Even a dog's nose can't compare."
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