Everyone looked in the direction of Huo Zhiyu.
I saw a little girl, about the age of 16, with a cute and fair face. Her childish face was made even more charming by the jade rabbit glass hairpin on her head.
And the person following behind him had a pair of shimmering almond eyes, like a lake, shimmering in the sunlight, as if shining, yet bottomless.
She was clearly wearing her Master Attendant's clothes, but her steps were steady and she didn't show any servility at all.
It was Huo Zhiyu and Xue Zhiyi.
Looking in the direction of Huo Wuyou, Xue Zhiyi exchanged glances with him. She clearly saw that his shoulders, which were tense due to nervousness, relaxed for a moment.
In just a moment, she looked away.
She followed Huo Zhiyu in bowing, only to hear Huo Zhiyu say, "Anle pays homage to His Majesty and Grandmother."
Seeing her, the Queen Mother also breathed a sigh of relief.
Concubine Wu Lifei was struck by lightning, and her expression was a little difficult to control... Just now, Yu Yu came to report that Huo Zhiyu had been knocked unconscious and sent to Liuhuaxie. How could he be safe and sound here now?
She almost blurted out: "Why did the princess come back at this time?"
The moment she said it, she knew she had spoken out of turn and quickly shut up. She felt the empress dowager's gaze on her was unsettling.
"Where have you been? Why are you here so late?" The Queen Mother's voice was still gentle when facing Huo Zhiyu.
Huo Zhiyu rubbed his forehead and said, "Before the Anle Banquet, I greedily drank Second Brother's wine. I didn't expect it to be so strong. I was so drunk that I couldn't even stand up. Anle was afraid of being punished by Grandma, so he didn't dare let anyone know. I made Grandma worry."
"Zhiyi, is this true?" the Queen Mother asked her.
Xue Zhiyi bowed and said, "Your Majesty, it is just as the princess said."
Seeing Huo Zhiyu coming back, the emperor was relieved: although Huo Zhiyu was not the only candidate for the marriage, even if he died, there were still others to choose from, but after all, he was the person Helian You liked, and he was inclined to choose Huo Zhiyu as the one for the marriage.
It was a false alarm, so he just acted like an elder, joked with Huo Zhiyu for a few words, and let her sit at the table.
Some were happy while others were sad. They returned safely. Everyone present, except Concubine Wu Lifei, Concubine Ge and Xue Panrou were also extremely shocked.
An Zhaoyi's gaze lingered on the faces of several people, and then she sighed leisurely, "Come to think of it, someone just reported that Royal Attendant Xue Zhiyi had murdered the princess."
Huo Zhiyu was surprised: "How could it be? Zhiyi has been taking care of me in Yuhua Pavilion, why would she want to harm me?"
Like watching a play, An Zhaoyi looked at the man who was now trembling and kneeling on the ground: "Xue Panrou, tell me something?"
Xue Panrou, whose knees were numb from kneeling, felt a sudden shudder down her spine. She was practically terrified and said, "No... no! Your Majesty, I just found the princess's pearl hairpin by the Taiye Lake and I'm worried about her! How dare I lie to you!"
The plan was completely disrupted. Concubine Ge panicked for a moment, but then calmed down. With a hint of anger on her face, she said to the emperor beside her, "Your Majesty, Xue Panrou is so bold that she disrupted the banquet based on her wild imagination. I think the story about Xue Zhiyi plotting to harm Anle in the Xue family was also a lie told by this lowly slave."
Perhaps because death was imminent, Xue Panrou's mind suddenly came to life, and she thought of a rare excuse: "Your Majesty, this time I made a mistake in judgment and had no intention of deceiving you. However, it is true that Xue Zhiyi pushed the princess into the water! Even if she didn't do it today, it doesn't prove her innocence!"
Hearing this, Huo Zhiyu refuted on the spot: "You are lying. Don't I know whether Zhiyi has harmed me or not?"
But Concubine Ge pretended to be concerned: "An Le, this servant was sure that you fainted that day, and he didn't see the real culprit who pushed you into the water, so he dared to speak nonsense."
Every word that Concubine Ge said increased Xue Zhiyi's suspicion.
Everyone turned to look at Xue Zhiyi, but she simply lowered her eyes and walked to the center of the banquet. She bowed slowly to the palace masters and said, "Your servant Xue Zhiyi, beg Your Majesty to allow me to ask Xue Panrou a question."
The emperor's face darkened at the chaos that had occurred in front of the envoys, but he still agreed: "Go ahead."
Xue Zhiyi just glanced at Xue Panrou beside him, which made her shudder again.
Xue Panrou no longer has the delicate appearance she once had. She is now pale and thin, with unkempt hair and dirty face. There is dirty mud on her clothes and between her fingers. She is hunched over and curled up on the ground.
Even so, Xue Panrou still stared at Xue Zhiyi, as if it was Xue Zhiyi who had robbed her of her good days, just like the clothes and jewelry she had robbed from the Xue Mansion in the past.
"Xue Panrou." Xue Zhiyi called out.
"You said you saw me harm the princess with your own eyes?"
"Yes!" Xue Panrou answered her with her neck stiff.
"Okay." Xue Zhiyi only smiled slightly: "Then do you remember the day when the princess fell into the water?"
Xue Panrou was stunned for a moment. Before she could speak, Xue Zhiyi smiled slowly, "That day was the wedding ceremony of Zhao Shen, the third son of the Zhao family, the Marquis of Yongping, and your sister Xue Hanshu."
As she spoke, her smile deepened. "Because you admired the Third Young Master Zhao, you became jealous of Xue Hanshu and were sent to the Xue family's farm to reflect on your mistakes. The Third Young Master Zhao and the Third Young Master's wife should know about this."
At this moment, the faces of the Zhao family members all changed, and they seemed to not want to mention this shameful marriage.
"If that's the case, Xue Panrou, how can you be a witness?"
"I……"
After saying this, Xue Zhiyi bowed to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, this matter is very easy to verify. All we need to do is find the servants who worked at the Xue family's farm at the time and ask them. Also, many of the guests at that wedding were at today's banquet. I wonder if anyone saw Xue Panrou at the Xue family's house that day?"
Hearing this, Concubine Ge was also stunned: "God damn it! Xue Panrou didn't mention this matter when she came to surrender that day."
At this moment, Xue Panrou finally felt scared... She trembled like a sieve: "That's not true! The person who ordered her swore that there would be no problem, so she dared to make up this lie!"
At this moment, someone laughed and said, "I remember someone just said that if what she said is false, she would die as a token of her guilt?"
The usually benevolent Empress Dowager now wore a stern expression. "You've fabricated rumors to slander those close to me, and even attempted to implicate A-Yu. Not only have you disrupted the banquet, you've committed the crime of deceiving the emperor. How could a mere servant in the imperial court have such audacity? I'm afraid this isn't a personal grudge, but rather someone's instigation. How do you, the Emperor, think you'll handle this?"
The emperor had already been humiliated enough in front of the envoys. Upon hearing this, he just wanted to make a small matter. He simply said, "It's just a servant's fault. There's no need to make a big fuss. Let the queen handle it according to the palace rules."
Although it was downplayed, who doesn't know that following the palace rules would lead to death?
Xue Panrou almost fainted on the spot. When the guards came to drag her away, she screamed unwillingly, "Your Majesty, spare my life! Your Majesty!"
Seeing that the emperor was unmoved, she belatedly turned to someone else for help: "Empress Li! Empress Li, you can't just ignore me! It was you who asked me to slander that bitch Xue Zhiyi! You promised to take me out of the palace!"
For a moment, everyone's expression changed again.
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