Xia Tong really doesn't like people talking to her in such a coercive tone. Who cares about the Xiahou Mansion? She wants to save her parents. What does the Xiahou Mansion have to do with her?
"Tong'er understands what uncle said, but I can't guess the prince's mind. Now I can only do my best." She sighed in embarrassment.
Hearing this, Xia Lin was about to say something, but Xia Min pulled him aside, and suddenly smiled and walked forward, with a kind face, "Take your time with this matter, you don't have to rush. Judging from the attitude of the prince, he will definitely not let it go. Your father is right, as long as you and Ning'er are safe, everything can still turn around."
As soon as she finished speaking, Xia Ning's eyes turned red and she sobbed, "It's all because I'm useless. I can't save my father and grandmother."
"What are you talking about? I believe that the prince is a man who knows right from wrong." Having said that, Xia Min could not hide his sadness on his face.
The atmosphere in the cell suddenly became solemn. Looking at the empty wall, Xia Tong felt heavy-hearted. Everyone knew that this matter might not be so easy to resolve.
"By the way, how did His Royal Highness the Crown Prince get poisoned that day?" she suddenly asked.
At this point, Xia Zhian and the others all looked solemn, as if they were recalling something. Finally, Xia Min took the lead and said, "It's strange. If it was a problem with the food and wine, we ate everything and nothing happened. But if it was a problem with the wine glass, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wasn't sitting there at first, so we are all puzzled and don't know how someone took advantage of it."
"Unless it's not a matter of food and wine." Xia Lin said seriously.
Xia Tong didn't say anything. She just wanted to know whether it was the Third Prince who did it this time, or someone else?
As they were talking, there were suddenly sounds of footsteps outside the cell, and judging from the sounds, there were quite a few people coming.
Not long after, a familiar figure gradually walked in, and swept a cold gaze over the few people, "Your Highness asked people to confess them, but it seems that Lord Xia and his men are living a leisurely life."
The man was dressed in a dark blue brocade robe, a jade-bound high crown, and had a cold and intimidating look. None of the jailers behind him dared to say anything. Only Xia Tong gave him a cold look and said, "Confession is not forced. I wonder what method the Third Prince is going to use to get a confession?"
Who else could the person who came be but the Third Prince? When he saw Xia Tong and the others, his expression suddenly became gloomy. The Ministry of Justice was the domain of the Regent, and it seemed that Gu Qin really couldn't bear to see his father-in-law suffer.
"It is not the Princess's place to intervene in what method they use, but I am not here today to ask them to confess, because I have already found evidence that the Xiahou Mansion poisoned them. I am here to interrogate them!"
As soon as the words fell, Xia Lin and the others all changed their expressions. They had never done such a thing, so how could there be evidence of poisoning?
Xia Tong looked coldly at this sinister man, her voice sinking slightly, "Even if we find evidence, it will be up to the emperor to decide. Does the Third Prince want to be a dictator?"
"Father has given this matter to me to handle. Why is the princess obstructing us again and again?" The third prince's eyes became sharp, and he looked behind him fiercely, "What are you still standing there for? Take everyone inside away!"
"Dad!" Xia Ning hurriedly grabbed Xia Min.
All of a sudden, the people brought by the Third Prince came in to arrest people. Xia Tong was so anxious that she could only stand in front of her father. If she left, her father would surely lose half his life!
A group of people didn't dare to touch the princess, and could only stand there looking at each other. But the third prince suddenly came over, with a gloomy face, he suddenly pulled out the guard's sword, pointed it at the woman in front of him, "My prince's patience is limited. Princess, if you don't move away, don't blame the sword for being blind."
In an instant, Xia Zhian quickly pulled his daughter behind him and shook his head to signal her not to be so impulsive.
"Your Highness, should you ask the prince about this matter when you ask him to come to the Ministry of Justice?"
At some point, Xifeng suddenly appeared outside the cell, with a cold face and sharp eyes scanning the third prince. He was so arrogant when he was bringing someone to the Ministry of Justice, and he even dared to attack their princess!
Seeing him, the Third Prince's face darkened, but he finally said in a cold voice: "My father has asked me to handle this case with full authority. Could it be that the Regent wants to deliberately shield the suspect?"
"This case affects so many people. Your Highness should hand over the evidence to the Emperor for a decision, rather than bringing the case to trial privately."
The two looked at each other, neither of them giving in. After a moment, looking at the jailers outside, the Third Prince glanced at Xia Tong coldly, then left with his men.
Just wait, even if Gu Qin protects them, everyone in Xiahou Mansion will die!
Seeing the person leave, Xia Tong breathed a sigh of relief. She felt that Xifeng came at the right time and she must repay him when she had the chance.
"Dad, don't worry, I will rescue you no matter what."
After saying that, Xia Tong looked at her father deeply again, then walked out of the cell and went to her mother's side.
Just as Xifeng said, her mother was not seriously injured, but anyone who stayed in this cold and damp cell would get sick, not to mention that her mother was already in poor health. The old lady was even more impatient and hinted at her to ask Gu Qin for help, as if she didn't want to stay here for a moment longer.
At this moment, Xia Tong suddenly hoped that the old lady would stay here longer to see how the aristocratic family she once protected had sent her to hell. Now the only person who could save them was the villain they had avoided in the past.
After leaving the Heavenly Prison and on the way back, Xia Tong thought a lot and finally decided to ask Xifeng to help look after her parents more often. The Heavenly Prison was really not a place for human beings to stay.
"Every prisoner is treated equally. Lord Xia and his men have already received too many preferential treatments. If they want more, the princess can only ask the prince for help." Xifeng said leisurely while driving the carriage.
Xia Tong was not a fool, so she naturally knew what the other party meant. She had indeed wrongly accused the villain yesterday, but who told him to always have a cold face and look indifferent? She had said those words in the heat of the moment.
But she was indeed wrong in this matter. From beginning to end, Gu Qin had never done anything to hurt her, but she had never truly trusted him.
After returning to the palace, Xia Tong hesitated for a long time, but finally followed Xifeng slowly to the study, but this time, she was stopped again.
"The prince has ordered that from now on the princess is not allowed to set foot in the study again." The guard at the door said calmly.
The cold wind was raging outside. Xia Tong held her breath and could only look at Xifeng. The latter shook his head, indicating that he could not help her.
Regardless of her dignity, she sat at the door of the study and confessed through the door, "Yesterday I was impulsive and wrongly accused the prince. You are right, I never chose to believe you, but this is not my fault. Who told you to always scare me and throw me into a snake cave? I am so timid, so I took it seriously. Who would believe someone who wants to kill me?"
The cold wind whistled past, and Xia Tong's nose tip was red from the freezing cold, but she was still persevering in "confessing" there, because she knew that the people inside must be able to hear her.
Xifeng on the side had a strange look on his face. Was the princess admitting her mistake or complaining?
"But I was wrong in this matter. Although you always scare me, no matter what I do, you never punish me in the end. Now I really know that I am wrong. I promise that from now on, no matter what happens, I will believe you. If there is a next time, then... let me choke to death while drinking water, or be hit by a carriage while walking, how about that?"
Xia Tong stared at the motionless door, rubbing her hands tremblingly. She had sworn such a vicious oath, so why did he still refuse to forgive her?
Seeing that the princess had sincerely repented, but the prince was probably still angry, Xifeng could only persuade her: "Why don't you go back first? The master should be able to calm down soon."
"Yes, it's so cold outside, and your body isn't fully recovered yet. If you continue like this, you won't be able to bear it sooner or later." Fang Yu also frowned and went forward to help her up.
But Xia Tong still shouted inside without giving up: "Look, it's so cold and windy outside, can you really bear to let me stand in the cold wind?"
As she was talking, Xia Tong suddenly felt a lump in her throat. Well, this time the villain was really angry with her.
Looking at the branches swaying in the wind, Xia Tong took a deep breath and helped Fang Yu get up from the ground.
"It turns out you haven't been frozen to death yet."
A cold male voice suddenly came from behind her. Xia Tong turned around immediately and met a pair of bottomless black eyes. She saw that the man had been standing behind her without her knowing, with a gloomy face and a cold aura surrounding him.
Xia Tong was so happy that she immediately stood up from the ground, hurried forward to hold his arm, sniffed pitifully, and said in a weak voice, "You will be frozen to death soon."
Fang Yu smiled softly and turned her back to the two of them. Everyone else pretended not to see anything.
Gu Qin glanced coldly at the ungrateful woman and walked back without saying a word. Xia Tong behind him quickly closed the door and followed him eagerly.
The room was indeed much warmer. Xia Tong held the man's arm tightly and continued to "confess". "Yesterday, I was impulsive and misunderstood you, Your Excellency. You are very generous and will not hold it against me, right?"
Even through her clothes, he could feel the coldness of those little hands. Gu Qin frowned slightly, but did not look at her any more. He continued to sit there and review documents with a serious face.
The fact that the other party could see her meant that he had already forgiven her for the most part. Xia Tong could only grind the ink diligently. Perhaps her hands were really frozen, and she couldn't even hold the ink stick steadily, and a few drops splashed on her hands.
Just as she was about to wipe it with a handkerchief, her little hand was suddenly held by someone. It felt as hot as if it had fallen into a charcoal fire, and the ink on the back of her hand was instantly wiped off with a gray brocade handkerchief.
"Heartless thing."
The man frowned, his stern features revealing deep displeasure, and he wished he could throw this ungrateful thing into the snake cave right away.
Xia Tong knew that the other party just liked to scare her, so she also plucked up the courage to hold his hot big hand tightly and shook it gently, "Only in this way can we show that the prince is magnanimous?"
Perhaps because he had been outside in the wind for too long, the tip of his small nose was still slightly red. His entire neck was tucked into the cloak, leaving only half of his pale face outside, looking at him pitifully.
With his sword-like eyebrows slightly furrowed, the man still compromised and pulled her into his arms. He raised his hand to take off her furry cloak hood and said in a cold voice, "Why are your hands so cold?"
She's still cold after covering herself for so long. Is this woman made of ice?
When their eyes met, Xia Tong blushed and slowly lowered her head, saying softly, "Who told the prince not to let me in just now?"
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