Chapter 28 Confrontation
"Nonsense, sheer nonsense!" Old Madam Xie was the first to lose control. "Zhuo Ning is going to be the Crown Princess in the future. How could she be interested in someone like you?"
Liang Ke sneered and said disdainfully: "Even the prince doesn't want her anymore. Who else would want a useless woman like her except me?"
Without waiting for Madam Xie and Xie Zhuoning to react, Xiao Jinxuan's face turned cold and he gave the order directly, "Ling Xiao, slap him!"
Ling Xiao took a few steps forward, grabbed Liang Ke and slapped him several times, instantly making him behave himself.
Everyone present looked at Xiao Jinxuan in surprise.
Is he standing up for Miss Xie?
Xiao Jinxuan spoke slowly, "I have never heard of His Majesty's intention to replace the Crown Princess. Insulting Miss Xie is equivalent to insulting the royal family. If you do it again, I will cut off your tongue as a warning to others!"
"yes."
Liang Ke shuddered when he heard this.
Everyone suddenly realized that His Royal Highness Prince Xuan's action was to maintain the reputation of the royal family.
Xie Zhuoning continued to ask, "You said I gave you those things. Well, then tell me where and when I gave them to you."
"Yes, yes, yes..." Liang Ke's mouth and face hurt at the moment, and his brain seemed to be not working properly. After a long while, he managed to utter, "A few days ago, you asked me to go out for fun, and you gave it to me."
"Oh? Which day?"
“I don’t remember clearly.”
"You can't remember clearly, but I remember it very clearly." Xie Zhuoning raised his eyes and looked at the two people sitting on the first seat. "Your Highness Prince Xuan, Lord Yang, my entry and exit records are all kept. I left with so many things, so the gatekeeper must have remembered it. You two can ask the gatekeeper to check my entry and exit records to see if I left the Xie Mansion with these gifts!"
Upon hearing this, Yang Fangwen glanced at Xiao Jinxuan.
Xiao Jinxuan glanced at him and said, "Master Yang, please look at what I am doing and investigate as you see fit."
"Then Madam Lao will call the doorman and the entry and exit records over." Yang Fangwen said to Madam Xie.
"As I should." Madam Xie immediately made arrangements.
Looking at the mountain of records, I thought it would take a long time to check.
As a result, I just opened the latest record and got the result.
Just last night, Mrs. Liang and her daughter-in-law Liang Li came empty-handed and returned with full bags. The gatehouse even prepared a carriage to take them back.
"This is interesting," Yang Fangwen stroked his beard, "Liang Ke owed a huge gambling debt in the casino. Old Madam Liang and Mrs. Liang Li came to the Xie family and used the gifts to pay the ransom... Liang Ke, are you sure these things were given to you by Miss Xie? Were they not taken by your grandmother when she came to the Xie family?"
Liang Ke saw that the situation was not good, and immediately changed his words, "I remembered it wrongly, it was yesterday, those things were given to my grandmother by my cousin Zhuo Ning yesterday, asking them to save me!"
After saying that, he was still afraid that people would not believe him, so he added, "My aunt Liang is also the eldest wife of the Xie family. She can testify!"
Yang Fangwen simply called everyone over, whether it was Mrs. Liang who was in confinement or the dying Old Lady Liang, no one was left out.
Old Madam Xie had never expected that even though Liang had been locked up to reflect on her actions, she would still not stop. She asked with a stern face, "What happened?"
After secretly glancing at Xie Zhuoning, Liang hesitated for a moment and said, "My daughter-in-law dare not say it."
"Speak!" Old Madam Xie stomped her dragon-head cane hard, startling everyone.
Liang shuddered, then said: "Those things... were indeed taken out by Miss Zhuo Ning!"
"My daughter-in-law said before that she and Ke'er had been in love for a long time, but you just didn't believe it. This time Ke'er was detained by the people in the casino, and everyone was very anxious and raised money everywhere. After Zhuoning knew about this, she immediately opened the warehouse, took out those things, and asked us to redeem the person. Otherwise, with Zhuoning holding the key to the warehouse, who could have opened it?"
Xie Zhuoning was not surprised at all when he heard these words.
From the moment Liang Ke insisted on her, she knew that this statement must have been something they had discussed long ago.
Not only was the charge of losing the gifted items from the warehouse pinned on her, but also her affair with Liang Ke was proven!
Everyone's eyes fell on Xie Zhuoning.
Old Madam Xie's eyes also changed from disbelief to annoyance, "Zhuo Ning girl, you... you are confused!"
"Miss Xie, don't you have anything to say?" Xiao Jinxuan looked straight at Xie Zhuoning.
He never believed what others said, he wanted to hear it from her own mouth.
Xie Zhuoning smiled bitterly, "If I say I didn't, would Your Highness believe me?"
"Yes!" Xiao Jinxuan answered decisively without any hesitation.
Even though the girl lied a lot and was hypocritical, he believed her when she said no.
Xie Zhuoning never expected that when her grandmother began to doubt herself, Xiao Jinxuan would be the first person to believe her.
No, what on earth is this guy doing? Doesn’t he know that what he is doing could easily lead to misunderstanding?
Besides, she was still angry with him...
Xie Zhuoning pinched her palm, using the pain to remind herself not to fall for a man's sweet words.
In the previous life, Xiao Bicheng coaxed her into marrying into the East Palace and becoming his chess piece with just one sentence: "I trust her".
How can we repeat the same mistakes in this life?
She looked up at Liang and said slowly, "Aunt, do you believe in fate?"
"What's the matter with life or death..." Liang didn't know what she wanted to say.
She sighed, "Life is a good thing."
Fate allowed her to experience one life and live it again, so naturally she knew many things that others did not know.
She smiled lightly, and the maid Jinxiu who followed Liang fell to her knees on the ground.
"Your Highness Prince Xuan, Lord Yang, Old Madam, those gifts were not given to Young Master Liang by the eldest daughter, but were secretly sent by the eldest wife to take them!"
Jinxiu was Liang's head maid and had been with her for seven or eight years.
The moment she opened her mouth to speak, even Liang was stunned.
Madam Xie was shocked. "Jinxiu, are you telling the truth?"
Jinxiu said, "I dare not lie. I saw with my own eyes that the first lady secretly copied the key to the western storehouse and hid it in the secret compartment of the dressing table. In recent years, the first lady secretly took out a lot of things from the western storehouse for use. Not to mention the Jinyutang, even many of the jewelry worn by the second young lady came from the western storehouse. Although I have followed the first lady for many years, I still have a conscience and don't want the first young lady to bear this innocent crime!"
This sudden reversal left everyone stunned in amazement.
Liang reacted and rushed towards Jinxiu, "You bastard, you are talking nonsense, I will tear your mouth to pieces!"
But before she could make a move, she was caught by Ling Xiao.
Xiao Jinxuan said: "Master Yang, please continue the trial."