The moon hung high in the sky, the stars twinkled, and the clouds in the sky were layered like gauze.
Moonlight streamed through the window, illuminating Jianning's thin frame. Combined with her ferocious face, she looked quite eerie.
Then she suddenly burst into laughter, saying in a mocking tone, "It's all your fault."
Xuan Ye frowned. "I harmed them? You were the one who did it!" He was the emperor, and no matter how angry he was, he still had to keep his expression calm so that no one could see his joy or sorrow.
"Yes, it's all your fault." Jianning angrily pointed at Xuan Ye and said, "If Hesheli Mingyue wasn't your most beloved woman, or your son, they wouldn't have died."
"My sons?" Xuan Ye frowned even more deeply. "You're the one who ruined them all?"
“That’s right!” Jianning’s eyes were red. “I killed them, it was me.”
"It's you..." Xuan Ye's voice turned low, "Since you hate me, why don't you kill me?"
Jianning sneered: "At first, I wanted to kill you, but then I thought, wouldn't it be too easy to let you die like that? I want you to experience the same pain and helplessness I felt, watching your loved ones die in front of you, and having all your sons die before you!"
Her words made Xuan Ye tremble slightly, and his eyes narrowed a little. His voice was cold, "You're really ruthless!"
"What's this?" Jianning gritted her teeth and said, "You were afraid that your achievements would make the emperor wary, so you used treason as a pretext to kill Ao Bai, who was loyal to you. Compared to your ruthlessness, I am not even a tenth as vicious as you!"
She became more and more excited as she spoke, and eventually she even laughed out loud.
Looking at her frenzied appearance, Xuan Ye felt a pang of sorrow. "Ao Bai, like Wu Sangui, is truly plotting rebellion. I have not done anything wrong."
"Hahaha, what a fine line about treason!" Jianning laughed loudly, "Unfortunately, I have no interest in listening to your fallacies! I hate you, I hate everyone associated with you, so I'm going to send them all to hell. How does that feel?"
Before Xuan Ye could reply, a female voice rang out.
"Hell?" the woman scoffed. "Do you have that ability?"
Mingyue, upon hearing Jianning confess to all her crimes, stopped pretending to be dead and slowly sat up. From Jianning's words, she also guessed something else.
"You're still alive?" Jianning looked up and saw Mingyue staring at him with her dark, night-sky-like eyes.
"How could I possibly grant your wish!" Mingyue got out of bed and slowly walked to Xuan Ye's side.
Seeing this, Xuan Ye held her hand tightly, fearing that, as Jian Ning had said, he would lose the person he loved most forever.
"So... this was all part of your scheme? You knew all along?" Looking at the two of them so calmly, Jianning suddenly realized something, and a deep sense of despair swept over her.
“Indeed, we knew about your schemes a long time ago.” Mingyue looked at her. “Princess Jianning, you are really too stupid.”
"Heh!" Jianning sneered, "It's stupidity, otherwise how could I have fallen into your trap?"
Mingyue shook her head. "The stupidity I'm referring to isn't that, but rather that you're being deceived without realizing it."
Jianning coldly glanced at her, "Just say what you want to say directly, don't beat around the bush."
“Fine!” Mingyue stopped being polite and said directly, “You said that the Emperor insisted on killing your husband and child, but the Emperor was only ten years old at that time. The court was controlled by the Empress Dowager and the Regent. What power did he have?”
"he…"
Jianning wanted to refute, but Mingyue interrupted her, "That's one thing. Secondly, everyone knows that you married Wu Yingxiong to monitor the Wu family's every move. The Wu family father and son are such shrewd people, how could they not know? They will definitely try to sabotage you when they do things, so that you will submit false information."
After saying all this in one breath, Mingyue felt her lips were a little dry. She picked up the tea beside her, moistened her throat, and continued, "After the rebellion failed, Wu Sangui took all the blame upon himself in order to protect Wu Yingxiong. With you, a princess who is full of love, around, he thought Wu Yingxiong would be fine. Unfortunately, what he didn't know was that the Empress Dowager saw through his little tricks at a glance."
"Nonsense!" Jianning clearly didn't believe it. "You're just speaking up for Xuan Ye and Dayuer."
Mingyue explained softly, "Originally, I also thought that the Emperor and the Empress Dowager killed them in order to eliminate any future troubles, but from what you just said, it can be seen that you are being misled while you are in the thick of it."
"Which sentence?" Jianning asked, frowning.
"So you're saying Ao Bai is an innocent man, with irrefutable evidence, how could he be innocent?" Mingyue replied, "If I'm not mistaken, these absurd words were said to you by Huanzhu!"
Mingyue turned slightly to the side, lowering her eyes and looking coldly at Huanzhu.
Huanzhu maintained her stance of vehemently denying anything and refusing to say those things.
Mingyue ignored her explanation and followed her heart, asking, "Who is Ao Bai to you?"
"What nonsense is Your Majesty talking about? What could I possibly have to do with him?" Huanzhu said, her head bowed.
"So, 'it's alright'?" Mingyue's lips curled up slightly. "Since it's alright, then I'll have his grave dug up and whip him dozens of times. You shouldn't have any objections, right?"
After speaking, just as she was about to order the guards to act, Huanzhu could no longer hold back.
She angrily said, "Hesheli Mingyue, you poisonous woman, you actually want to dig up the grave and whip the corpse, you will die a horrible death."
Ignoring her insults, Mingyue smiled and said, "So agitated, yet you still say you have nothing to do with him."
“I…” Huanzhu was speechless after being confronted.
Mingyue raised an eyebrow: "Judging from your age, you must be his granddaughter!" Although her tone was casual, it carried an undeniable air of dominance.
Upon hearing Mingyue's words, Huanzhu's body trembled slightly, her eyes filled with panic and despair.
Her silence was tantamount to an admission.
Perhaps feeling there was no way out, Huanzhu collapsed to her knees, her eyes bloodshot, and said, "Yes, he is my grandfather. If it weren't for a loyal maidservant who would die for me, how could I be here to avenge them?"
Only after Huanzhu's tearful pleas did everyone learn that she was only eight years old when Ao Bai and his entire family were executed.
After escaping the execution ground, in order to survive, she was sold into the Ulanara Mansion as an ordinary person. She was ruthless and would often frame people to take their place. In just a few months in the mansion, she rose from the lowest-ranking maid to the deputy head of the kitchen. Soon, she caught the eye of Wanwan and was kept by her side as her personal maid.
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