Upon hearing this, Lan Ying said, "Miss Ge, I know you are always upright, but it is because it is difficult to obtain justice that I resort to lynching."
"That's right." Zhao Lian agreed. "Lan Ying must have made this decision because she could no longer tolerate it. I won't offend others unless they offend me!"
Then she turned to Lan Ying, "Lan Ying, talk to me. I'll go with you."
Ge Yuanhui's noble face showed an expression of deep sorrow, but he did not leave.
Zhao Lian watched, secretly feeling contempt in her heart: Ge Yuanhui's noble and perfect image had already collapsed during the Changqing Garden banquet. There was no one else here, and she didn't know who he was acting out this fair and selfless act for. It was disgusting.
…
Jianzhang Palace.
When Xue Zhiyi returned, she was about to go to the main hall to ask the Queen Mother for instructions, but Chuizhu stopped her and said, "Sister, don't go in. His Majesty is inside."
"Your Majesty?" Since she entered the palace, she had only followed the crowd from a distance and knelt down to pay homage to the emperor.
"Why is Your Majesty in Jianzhang Palace right now?"
Chuizhu replied, "How would I know that? Can I eavesdrop?"
"I understand. Thank you." Xue Zhiyi said.
Since the Queen Mother had no time to spare at the moment, she also had no time to wait here, as she had her own tasks to do.
Just then, Jingchun came looking for her, holding a wooden box. "Sister Zhiyi, the palace flowers are all packed up. Shall we take them to the Imperial Garden first?"
Today, the Empress Dowager will give palace flowers to the new Jinshi. There are 134 people who have passed the exam this year. These palace flowers have been counted a few days ago and prepared according to the number of people. They will be used after the banquet starts.
Jingchun opened the box and showed her the flowers. She saw that the palace flowers inside were different from the other palace flowers made of silk. The branches and leaves were made of pure silver, and the jade was carved into emerald feathers. It looked very exquisite and unique.
This is the palace flower of the number one scholar. Different from the flowers of the other successful candidates, it is the most delicate and precious, so it is specially sealed in a box and placed separately.
Xue Zhiyi saw nothing wrong with it and nodded, "Send it on. You will be in charge of these palace flowers when we get to the Imperial Garden. Don't let anything go wrong."
Just as Jingchun responded with a "yes," he saw a young eunuch about to go into the main hall. Chuizhu stopped him and said, "Your Majesty is inside."
The young eunuch simply said, "Then please tell Miss Ge to come and pay her respects to the Empress Dowager."
Because of Concubine Ge's favor, Ge Yuanhui had been in and out of the palace since he was a child. Before the Changqing Garden Banquet, the Empress Dowager had always loved her very much, so it was expected that she would come to pay her respects.
But Xue Zhiyi was vaguely wary, after all, Ge Yuanhui hated her so much.
Chuizhu agreed and went into the main hall.
Ge Yuanhui also entered from the main gate of Jianzhang Palace. She walked slowly into the courtyard. The palace maids lowered their eyes, knelt down and saluted, and stepped aside to make way for her.
Seeing this, Jingchun held the box tighter.
But just as she was kneeling to salute, for some reason, she was suddenly caught off guard and fell forward.
"careful!"
Xue Zhiyi wanted to hold her back, but it was too late. Jingchun fell out with the box.
Xue Zhiyi turned around suddenly and saw Lan Ying, who had returned at some point behind Jingchun, putting her hands behind her back. When she met Xue Zhiyi's sharp gaze, she felt guilty for a moment.
But at this moment, everyone's eyes were focused on Jingchun. She didn't even care that she was covered in dust, and just picked up the box in a hurry.
But the box was already open, and the palace flower fell to the ground. The silk flower and silver parts were fine, but the green feather was made of jade and was now broken into pieces.
"How could this happen..." Jingchun was panicking as he held the palace flower in his arms: "What should I do..."
Xue Zhiyi stepped forward, picked up the person on the ground, and took the palace flower to look at it. He saw that the green feather was broken into three or four pieces. It would be difficult to repair it. Moreover, the Qionglin Banquet was about to start. How could he have time to repair it?
Before Xue Zhiyi could even speak, Lan Ying started to complain: "Zhiyi, the Queen Mother gave you this mission. Now that something has gone wrong, what should we do?"
Xue Zhiyi just looked at her coldly. There are really many idiots in the world who are looking for trouble.
Ge Yuanhui also showed pity: "How could such a mistake happen out of the blue? The Qionglin Banquet is about to begin. If I delay the palace banquet, I'm afraid the blame will be severe."
Then, he said with great sympathy, "Xue Zhiyi, for the sake of our acquaintance, I can plead with the Queen Mother on your behalf."
Xue Zhiyi raised the corners of his mouth stiffly: "Thank you, but Zhiyi dare not trouble Miss Ge."
After she finished speaking, she only asked Jingchun, "How did you fall?"
At this moment, Jingchun's eyes were already red with anxiety. She whispered, "It seems...it seems that someone pushed me..."
She hesitated and looked at Lan Ying who was standing behind her.
In fact, she also thought it was Lan Ying who did it, but... but when she met Lan Ying's eyes, she couldn't help but avoid them. How could she dare to point her out?
Xue Zhiyi asked, "Lan Ying, you were the only one behind Jing Chun, why did you push her?"
Lan Ying was unfazed. She confidently said, "You said I was the only one behind Jingchun, so who saw me do it? Maybe she stepped on the hem of her skirt and fell out, and she was afraid of being punished, so she wanted to drag me to take the blame!"
"I...I didn't!" Jing Chun was so timid that even his rebuttal was timid and weak at this moment.
Lan Ying was used to bullying the weak and fearing the strong, and seeing her like this, she felt that she was even easier to manipulate: "Jingchun, you can't say anything careless. Don't let Xue Zhiyi instigate you to slander me with such lies!"
This time, Jingchun was so frightened that he dared not speak at all.
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