Lady Tongjia did not see the three brothers, Yinzhi, Yinxiang, and Yinxiang, near Chuxiu Palace. She led her daughter-in-law into Chuxiu Palace and found the head maid in charge of the palace.
Today's arrival was entirely unexpected. The nanny from Chuxiu Palace reported that one of the young ladies-in-waiting had developed a rash on her face, which had damaged her appearance.
According to palace rules, if a candidate falls ill or makes a mistake during the period of learning etiquette in the palace, she will be sent out of the palace and lose her eligibility for the final selection.
However, this young lady's identity was somewhat special. She was the younger sister of Empress Yuan and Consort Ping, of the Hesheli clan. She considered herself to be the Crown Prince's aunt and of noble status, and caused quite a bit of trouble during her time in the Chuxiu Palace.
Now she has many rashes on her face and can no longer participate in the talent show. She keeps saying that someone is trying to harm her and demands that the truth be found out and her innocence be cleared.
Tongjia and Yunyi came for this very reason. They wanted to investigate whether anyone was up to something, since the Hesheli family behind this young lady was deeply involved with the Crown Prince, and they had to be cautious.
Upon arrival, the matrons had already gathered all the young women together, waiting for Lady Tongjia to come and take charge.
Yunyi happened to come over to pay her respects and stumbled upon this incident, and was pulled over by Lady Tongjia.
Yunyi had seen Zhaojia's portrait before, but she didn't see her when she came yesterday. Today, with everyone present, Yunyi spotted Zhaojia at a glance.
The young women in front of him had different personalities. Some were bold enough to secretly observe their surroundings at this moment, while others were timid and terrified in the face of such a large group.
But Lady Zhaojia seemed different from the other candidates. She stood respectfully and properly, neither looking around nor showing any fear or timidity, yet she was more lively than the other candidates who stood quietly.
Perhaps it was because Lady Zhaojia was pleasing to Yunyi's eye that she found Lady Zhaojia so appealing.
After hearing the nanny's report, Lady Tongjia gave a stern look at all the young ladies below, making them extremely nervous, before speaking in a low voice and saying some words of admonition.
As the victim, Hesheli was also standing below. Upon hearing the words of the Imperial Noble Consort, her heart pounded like a drum, and her expression changed.
However, she had a rash on her face and wore a veil to cover it, so others couldn't see her complexion.
Just as she was having second thoughts, Tongjia called her name.
Giving herself a pep talk, Hesheli raised her head, adopted the posture of a victim, and stepped forward to pay her respects.
Tongjia looked at Hesheli in front of her, her expression unchanged: "So you're the one who said someone framed you?"
Although Hesheli had something to hide, she maintained proper etiquette and manners on the surface. She bowed before speaking to Tongjia.
Her words, tone, and emotions were all spot-on, but they couldn't stand up to scrutiny.
Tongjia watched coldly, already having made her own deductions. Having been in the palace for so many years, she had seen all sorts of tricks. Just by looking, she could tell that Hesheli's words were false.
"Oh! Really? You said someone attacked you, do you have any suspects?"
Hesheli had already prepared her explanation when the incident occurred. Now that Tongjia had finally asked, she immediately rattled off a long list of names, all of whom were top contenders in this talent show.
Zhao Jia was among those on the list. Although she did not come from a prominent Manchu family, her father, Marhan, was highly trusted by Emperor Kangxi and was an important minister in the court. Therefore, Zhao Jia's status rose accordingly, making her quite good among the candidates.
Knowing that she was no longer eligible for the selection, Hesheli now only wanted to muddy the waters and implicate as many people as possible, so as to drag down other potential candidates and vent her anger.
Tongjia didn't expose her words, but instead played along with her with great interest. She gave a wink to the nanny next to her, who understood and brought out the few young ladies whose names had been called earlier.
These young ladies-in-waiting were all pampered and spoiled from childhood. They had never been slandered like this before. Some of them had fiery tempers and started to refute the accusations right in front of Lady Tongjia.
But there were also clever and rational people who, despite being slandered like this, remained calm and stood there waiting for the Imperial Noble Consort to ask them questions.
Lady Tongjia didn't ask, but just looked at the maids and let them ask.
They vehemently denied doing things they didn't do, and some even produced evidence to prove they couldn't have committed the crime.
But Hesheli insisted that it was they who had harmed her, and the two sides argued back and forth, neither willing to give in.
In the end, it was Lady Tongjia who made the final decision, ordering the maids to go and search. As long as the task was done, there would always be some clues.
Since the Imperial Noble Consort had said so, Hesheli and the other young ladies-in-waiting fell silent and waited quietly for the investigation results to come out.
After a long while, the nannies returned. One of them had a slightly changed expression. She came to Tongjia and whispered a few words in her ear.
Tongjia's expression also changed. She looked at the few young women below her, her feelings indescribable.
Yunyi was nearby and overheard the old woman's words. She was surprised to learn that she had found Zhaojia's belongings in Hesheli's room.
Based on her appearance alone, Yunyi didn't quite believe that Zhaojia was the one who harmed Hesheli, and she also trusted her thirteenth brother's judgment; he wouldn't spend his life with a woman with a vicious mind.
Tongjia looked at Zhaojia and told her what the nanny had just reported.
Upon hearing this, all the young ladies looked at Lady Zhaojia, some of them revealing their emotions and showing surprise on their faces.
Yunyi's gaze also fell on Zhaojia, but she didn't see any guilty expression on her face, so she was immediately relieved. It seemed that there was more to this matter than met the eye.
A sense of curiosity arose in Yunyi's heart; she wanted to see how Zhaojia would prove her innocence.
Tongjia thought the same thing. She didn't believe that Zhaojia was the one who harmed people, but she was also curious and wanted to know how Zhaojia would resolve today's events.
Despite facing so many eyes, Zhao Jia remained completely calm and methodically questioned the nanny who had just inspected the evidence: where was it found, where was it kept, and how could she prove it was hers?
The old woman answered all her questions, and every word she uttered confirmed that the items were indeed hers.
Zhao Jia remained calm. She requested to examine the evidence to see if she could find any problems, and Tong Jia nodded in agreement.
The old women watched Zhao Jia's actions, waiting to see what she would do, but Zhao Jia simply picked up the evidence, looked at it, and then smiled.
Yunyi watched, her curiosity growing. It seemed that Zhaojia had discovered something that could prove her worth.
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