Princess Kang, who is always calm and modest, couldn’t help but show her real anger, "Eldest Young Lady Ma, your words are ridiculous. My sister-in-law has no grudge against you sisters, so why would she frame you? Moreover, it is her first time to the Hou Mansion, and she is completely unfamiliar with its layout. How could she have brought you here without alerting anyone? And how could she arrange for you to meet with three men... Eldest Young Lady Ma, are you aware that framing a current princess is a grave and evil offense?"
There were ladies around who were on good terms with Princess Kang, and they understood that with her usual conduct, she would not speak so pointedly unless she was unable to restrain her anger. Most importantly, Princess Kang’s words were logical, Princess Chen had no enmity with the Ma sisters and was not familiar with the layout of the Hou Mansion, so how could she possibly have framed them?
"If I’m not mistaken, this man should be Long Fengying’s guard, who should be waiting outside the mansion. Eldest Young Lady Ma, don’t tell me my sister-in-law has the ability to fly through the skies and burrow through the earth to not only abduct you sisters here, but also bring in a guard from outside the mansion?"
Long Jingxi originally didn’t want to get Long Fengying involved; after all, Long Fengying was from the royal family. However, Long Fengying had repeatedly targeted her younger sister-in-law, and it was likely that this matter was also related to Long Fengying. Naturally, she saw no need to preserve Long Fengying’s face.
Ma Ruyin was at a loss for words, so she looked at Long Fengying, hoping for rescue. However, Long Fengying kept her head down and remained silent. Hearing the condemnation and disgust from the people around, Ma Ruyin turned pale, resenting Long Fengying for not coming to her aid, jealous of Yang Mengchen for having so many people protect her, and most of all, she was in despair over her lost purity and ruined reputation, fearing that Prince Chen would never look at her again.
At that moment, Long Fengying was secretly annoyed with herself. She first was shocked as to why Prince Jing got involved, and then she was focused on using the Ma sisters to deal with Yang Mengchen, the wretched woman, and did not notice her guard was also part of the scheme. How was she going to explain now?
With his arms crossed over his chest, standing on the side, Prince Jing had been watching the whole scene with cold eyes. Although this incident had damaged his reputation, he was framed and would just need to lay low for a while. Once the scandal blew over, he would still be able to rebuild his good name.
"Tell the truth, how did you get here?" Princess Ning demanded harshly from the guard.
Knowing he was bound to die, but steadfast in his loyalty to the princess, the guard suddenly pulled out his sword and sliced it across his neck, killing himself on the spot.
The sudden turn of events took everyone by surprise, and they watched in shock as the guard died instantly, blood gushing out.
Long Fengying secretly sighed with relief; with the guard dead, there was no witness against her. But she immediately tensed up again, wondering about the three guards she had arranged for Madam Zhang—only one was here; where were the other two? Had they met with misfortune, or had Yang Mengchen, that wretched woman, captured them?
The guards and the young men knelt together, watching the blood that poured forth slowly reach them. Seeing the guard’s eyes wide open, dying with unresolved anger, the young men turned pale with fright, trembling all over, and soon a suspicious puddle of liquid spread beneath them on the ground.
People turned their heads away, covering their noses and backing off, looking at the young men with disdain and revulsion.
The young man, desperate to save his own life, didn’t care about this humiliation and kept kowtowing and begging for mercy, "Your Highness, someone gave a commoner one hundred taels of silver to ruin a person’s purity today. It was also that person who had the guard bring the commoner here. The commoner is just a loafer and had never seen so much silver before, so I agreed. Every word the commoner speaks is true. I beg Your Highness to spare my life!"
It turned out there was a malicious plot. Everyone’s face changed dramatically. Madam Zhang and her companion, Sister Dan, were scared out of their wits, while Long Fengying kept her head down, trying hard to reduce her presence.
Princess Ning asked in a grave voice, "Who is that person?" It was clear that the incident was targeting Jiujiu.
"It was..." The young man looked around and pointed at Sister Dan, saying loudly, "It’s her. She found me in the street yesterday afternoon, told me to come to the Xinyang Marquis Mansion today, and gave me the silver. It was also her who had the guard bring me in."
Sister Dan, pale, defended herself loudly, "You are spouting nonsense! I do not know you at all. How could I have given you silver and brought you into the mansion?"
"When you left, I saw a bean-sized black mole on the back of your neck, and there’s the one hundred taels of silver you gave me—I hid it under my bed at home without touching it." The young man said urgently, "If Her Highness sends someone to check, they will know."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com