Chapter 186: Smart Miss Xie
"Ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous! How dare Xie Zhuoning, a mere servant, destroy the Crown Princess' wedding attire? Who gave her the courage? I think she doesn't take the royal majesty seriously at all!"
Princess Jing'an was the first to stand up and shouted angrily with a stern look on her face.
She has always enjoyed prestige in the capital, and as soon as she opened her mouth, many people immediately agreed with her.
Zhuang Qingyi, who was standing by, said softly, "Could there be some misunderstanding here? I have met Miss Xie before, and she doesn't seem like an unreasonable person. Perhaps the prince's decision to break off the engagement was a huge blow to her, so she was confused for a moment and made a mistake..."
It sounded like he was defending Xie Zhuoning, but implicit in his words, he had already confirmed that she was the one who did it.
Empress Sima's eyes suddenly became filled with dark clouds, "Where is Xie Zhuoning?"
Immediately, a palace maid brought Xie Zhuoning up.
Xie Zhuoning looked around and thought, Wow, everyone is here, except Princess Yunheng.
Before she even had time to salute, the Queen directly questioned her, "How dare you, Xie Zhuoning, do you admit your guilt?"
Xie Zhuoning's eyes were bright and she looked innocent, "I don't know."
Bai Yingxue bit her lip and immediately began to speak in a charming manner, lowering her eyes and wiping away tears, "Xie, Miss, I know that the position of Crown Princess should have been yours. You resent me for taking your place, and you are justified in beating and scolding me. I will never complain. But you should never, ever ruin the wedding dress!"
As she finished her speech, Zhuang Qingyi joined in, "Yes, Miss Xie, you are really something. How can you be so impulsive? The destruction of the auspicious clothing is a bad omen. The ceremony of offering sacrifices to the heaven is related to the people's livelihood and the country. What if the heaven is angry and brings down a disaster?"
Her delicate eyebrows were slightly wrinkled, and she seemed to be very worried about Xie Zhuoning.
But these few sentences pushed the consequences of the matter to a new level.
When it comes to the lives of ordinary people all over the world, this is more than just destroying a piece of auspicious clothing.
If any natural disaster or man-made disaster occurs in the future, who will bear the responsibility?
The Crown Prince, the Crown Princess? Or is it Xie Zhuoning?
The queen looked at Xie Zhuoning and shook her head in disappointment. "Even now, you are still stubborn and refuse to repent!"
She used to think that Xie Zhuoning was tactful, knowledgeable and well-informed, and she was very satisfied with this daughter-in-law from the bottom of her heart.
Even though the prince later insisted on breaking off the engagement, she still wanted to make her his concubine.
But I didn't expect that she would do such an outrageous thing!
Xie Zhuoning blinked and said, "Your Majesty, how can you blame me for this? The Crown Princess specially sent someone to invite me to the East Palace. I thought it was something important. When I got there, I saw her using scissors to cut the wedding dress. After cutting it, she stuffed the scissors into my hand. I was also confused at the time!"
Hearing this, everyone present looked at each other with a hint of shock in their eyes.
Why does it sound like Miss Xie has been set up?
But Xie Zhuoning raised his chin and said complacently, "Fortunately, I was smart enough to react immediately. The Crown Princess must not like this wedding dress and wants to cut it up and replace it with a new one. Then I must help her. After all, the bride is the most important!"
It was obviously a very serious moment, but when a group of people heard this, for some reason, they inexplicably wanted to laugh.
What a clever Miss Xie!
If it were anyone else, no one would be able to do such a thing!
And if what Xie Zhuoning said is true, then the nature of this matter is different.
Bai Yingxue, as the Crown Princess, did not hesitate to destroy her own wedding clothes and sabotage the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven in order to frame the Crown Prince's ex-fiancee. She is so short-sighted and loses the big picture for the small. How can she be the Master of the East Palace?
The Queen's gaze also shifted to Bai Yingxue, and her slightly narrowed eyes were filled with dissatisfaction, "Is what she said true?"
Bai Yingxue hastily denied, "Mother, how could my daughter-in-law be so stupid? It was Xie Zhuoning who suddenly went crazy as soon as she entered the palace. She picked up the scissors on the table and started cutting randomly. When my daughter-in-law reacted and wanted to stop her, it was too late! Everyone in the palace can testify for my daughter-in-law!"
A group of palace maids and guards stepped forward and pointed out Xie Zhuoning.
"Miss Xie's eyes were red at the time, as if she was possessed by a demon. She roared and rushed over to cut the wedding dress randomly..."
"The Crown Princess tried to stop her, but she almost hurt her dragon fetus..."
"It was her! I swear on my life that it was she who did it!"
Everyone in the East Palace is Bai Yingxue's people, so whatever she says is what counts.
They had already colluded with each other in their confessions, and when words spread, lies became true.
After hearing this, the queen realized that the matter was clear as day and was about to speak.
"Wait." Empress Dowager Yin, who was sitting on the left, fiddled with her armor and looked at Bai Yingxue with interest. "Although the Empress and the Grand Empress Dowager are here, it is not my turn to intervene in this matter. But I have one question that I don't understand. I want to ask the Crown Princess, why did you call the eldest daughter of the Xie family to the East Palace?"
Yes, the wedding day is the busiest time.
Why did she choose to call Xie Zhuoning to the East Palace at this time?
If she hadn't called people over, the wedding dresses wouldn't have been destroyed.
No matter how you think about it, her behavior is quite intriguing!
"I..." Bai Yingxue stammered, "The wedding dress is complicated. I just want Miss Xie to help me change my clothes."
This explanation has little credibility.
Queen Mother Yin raised her eyebrows with a smile, "Could it be that the Eastern Palace doesn't even have a maid to help with changing clothes? Do we need to find an outsider to help?"
Don’t be afraid of being laughed at when you tell others about it!
Bai Yingxue's face flushed, she stammered, unable to explain herself.
There are hundreds of maids in the East Palace, so naturally there is no situation where there is no one to serve them.
At that time, she heard that the prince went to see Xie Zhuoning before his wedding, and she was so angry that she found a random reason to summon Xie Zhuoning.
It is of course not enough to rely on this explanation to get away with it now.
When the queen saw her like that, she understood.
It seems that even if Xie Zhuoning was wrong in this matter, Bai Yingxue was definitely not innocent!
Although she resented her for causing so much trouble, she could not just sit back and do nothing when she saw the Queen Mother attacking her.
"The Crown Princess was probably a little nervous before the ceremony and wanted to find a little sister to talk to and relieve her emotions, but unexpectedly, the girl from the Xie family lost control of her emotions, which led to the destruction of the wedding dress."
Bai Yingxue nodded immediately after hearing this, "Yes, that's it!"
"Really? But from what the Xie family's maid said, it was the Crown Princess who cut it first..."
Queen Mother Yin raised her eyes and looked at Xie Zhuoning, "Don't be afraid, girl from the Xie family. When the late emperor was alive, he often told me that the generals should not let their hearts down when they are out there protecting their country. So if you have any grievances, just tell me and I will definitely take care of it for you!"