The newcomer wore a brocade robe and a loose belt.
It was Li Junru, the son of the Minister of War, who approached step by step, his eyes full of suspicion as he looked at Xie Lingqin.
"Young Master Li, what do you mean by this?" Zihe naturally felt indignant on Xie Lingqin's behalf.
“Young Master Li, you were the one who was pestering the Fourth Miss just now, and it was Young Master Liu who pushed you into the lake. You can’t hold a grudge against me because of this.”
Xie Lingqin's slightly raised eyebrows perfectly conveyed a sense of neither arrogance nor servility.
Among the crowd, Liu Yunzhou, upon hearing these words, gaped, shivering in the wind, utterly bewildered.
He clearly...didn't do it on purpose.
But these words...
The Minister of War walked in from outside, glanced at Li Junru, and said with a solemn expression, "Miss Xie, you must not speak recklessly."
"Your Excellency's words... clearly indicate that Young Master Li has wronged me..."
"Whether you've been wronged or not, just look at the wound on your arm." Li Junru ignored everything else, and after speaking, he glanced at the Crown Prince, who was sitting there and clearly didn't care about what was happening, before turning to the Prince Xian. "Your Majesty, I humbly request that someone examine Miss Xie's wound."
"This..." The Prince Xian put his hands behind his back, looking somewhat troubled. He then looked at General Xie, who had been standing there without saying a word, "General Xie, this..."
General Xie stepped forward.
How can a woman remove her sleeves in public?
However, Xie Lingqin's rift with Xie Lingqin was simply too great.
Everyone else was here, but she left with her maid.
Xie Lingqin was the legitimate daughter of his general's mansion, and to some extent represented the face of the mansion. If she were to be inspected in public, then...
General Xie also secretly glanced at the apricot-yellow figure behind the crowd.
However, the crown prince simply stood there, gazing at the horizon, his emotions unfathomable, profound and distant.
He was clearly in charge this time, yet it seemed as if the wise king had taken over the reins.
"Your Highness, please don't make things difficult for my father." Xie Lingqin suddenly raised her head, her small face calm and composed. Then, under General Xie's stunned gaze, she rolled up her blood-stained sleeve and untied the silk handkerchief that had been used to bandage her.
Suddenly, a blurry and hideous gash appeared on that slender, fair arm.
Before anyone could even be surprised, the usually quiet eldest daughter of the general's mansion showed such courage and went to examine the wound.
"The blade starts deep and ends shallow, indicating a side cut, this..."
"It couldn't have been done by me."
Someone spoke up first.
Zihe, who was standing nearby, immediately stepped forward with concern to bandage Xie Lingqin's wound.
Li Junru looked at it, still not quite believing it, and then looked at the maid beside Xie Lingqin.
“Your Highness, a mere maidservant couldn’t possibly do such a thing.”
General Xie looked at Li Junru with displeasure, but he could not show it. He immediately bowed to the Prince Xian.
"In that case, I was being presumptuous. Please don't take offense, General."
Li Junru was flexible and adaptable; with a simple bow, he made himself perfectly pleasing to the eye.
However, only Xie Lingqin saw the disdain in Li Junru's eyes when he secretly looked at her.
He did it on purpose.
Do you want to provoke her and make her lose her temper?
Oh……
Xie Lingqin finally understood the argument between Li Junru and An Shangning earlier.
It's likely they were using "jade" as bait to search the Marquis of Anping's residence, but she interrupted them.
No wonder Li Junru harbored resentment towards her.
After all, she might have jeopardized Li Junru's chance to make a contribution.
"Young Master Li, you flatter me." Xie Lingqin bowed slightly, displaying even greater magnanimity and tolerance than he had.
This magnanimity and composure.
Among those present, not to mention the women, there were probably few men who could compare.
The gazes directed at Xie Lingqin subtly shifted.
"Your Highness, the fire in the east courtyard has been extinguished by us. We did not find any trace of Miss An Si and Miss An Jiu, but we did find two unrecognizable corpses that looked very much like them."
At that moment, a team of guards rushed over to report.
He went directly past the Prince Xian and the Minister of War to respectfully report to the Crown Prince.
“But there is still one person.” Before the Crown Prince could speak, the Prince Xian spoke first, his gaze falling on the Marquis of Anping, who sat there looking dejected. “My lord, your eldest son is dead, but there is no trace of the second son.”
"If you want to condemn someone, you can always find a pretext. I have never colluded with the barbarians. I only ask Your Majesty to be wise." Marquis Anping glanced at Prince Xian, but instead of feeling sorry for himself, he proudly raised his head and looked in the direction of the Crown Prince, defending his innocence.
"Innocent?" Yuwen Xian murmured the two words with his hands behind his back, a half-smile on his face. Then he turned to look at the Crown Prince and said in a mocking tone, "Your Highness, the Marquis says he is innocent."
Yuwen Yao remained expressionless, his icy yet alluring gaze suddenly landing on Yuwen Xian.
Yuwen Xian was startled by that look in his eyes.
Although this crown prince was his brother, he had never been able to see through the prince's thoughts from childhood to adulthood.
Just when he thought he would spare no effort and devise flawless strategies, he stumbled, incurring the displeasure of his father and being forced to evade the palace gates. After leaving the Crown Prince's residence and finally making a name for himself in front of everyone, he thought he was about to make his mark, but then he fell ill.
He sent people to test him several times, and it turned out he was truly ill.
So, is it that Heaven is treating him this way, or is he scheming?
"What I hold in my hand is an imperial edict given by my father. What do you think, Your Highness?" Yuwen Yao walked over slowly and spoke in a deep voice.
The meaning of this statement is already quite clear.
Yuwen Xian overstepped his bounds and did the work for him.
The Crown Prince emerged from behind the Imperial Guards.
His every step was so light, yet each step felt like he was stepping on the tip of a human toes.
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