Mu Chenshuang got up and went out, a gust of cold wind swept over her.
A cold wind is blowing; it looks like it's going to snow again.
She did not see Linglong.
At this moment, a maid rushed over and said urgently, "Your Highness, something terrible has happened! Sister Linglong, she..."
Mu Chenshuang's expression changed.
He went back inside, put on his fox fur coat, and left with the maid. However, he hadn't gone far when he heard a terrible scream, followed by a burst of laughter.
That scream was Linglong's voice.
Mu Chenshuang strode forward and saw that in the courtyard, guards were supporting Linglong as she knelt on the ground.
The person cracking the whip was none other than Pear Blossom.
At this moment, she held the whip and lashed Linglong mercilessly, tearing Linglong's clothes to shreds and sending cotton fibers flying everywhere.
"stop!"
Mu Chenshuang let out a fierce shout.
However, Lihua's whip did not stop because of the reprimand; instead, it lashed Linglong even harder.
"ah!!"
Linglong let out a loud scream of pain, tears streaming down her face.
Mu Chenshuang's eyes widened in surprise. She strode forward, grabbed Lihua's wrist tightly, and stared at Lihua with a sharp gaze. "Who gave you the audacity to hit my maid?"
Pear Blossom tried to pull her hand back, but Mu Chenshuang, in her anger, gripped her hand with tremendous force, causing Pear Blossom unbearable pain. However, she endured the pain and a mocking smile appeared on her lips.
"The Crown Princess really loves her servants deeply; she even came out to find a maid in this freezing weather."
The next second.
Snap!
Mu Chenshuang slapped Lihua hard across the face. "Lihua, how dare you speak so disrespectfully to me!"
Pear Blossom covered her slapped cheek with one hand, her hatred intensifying. "This servant doesn't know which of my words was disrespectful to the Crown Princess. I was praising you. If the Crown Princess didn't have something to hide, why would she be so angry?"
Mu Chenshuang stared at Lihua with icy eyes, "Do you think that by siding with Xiao Qingyu, you can be disrespectful and disregard the laws of Tianzhao Kingdom, failing to kneel before the Crown Princess? Who is bolder, you or Xiao Qingyu?!"
The mere phrase "disregarding the laws of Tianzhao Kingdom" sent Lihua's legs trembling, her sinister gaze fixed on Mu Chenshuang.
The servants who had been watching the play were so frightened by these words that they trembled and hurriedly knelt down to pay their respects.
Upon seeing this, Pear Blossom's heart trembled uncontrollably.
He knelt on the ground, unwilling to accept his fate.
"Greetings, Crown Princess."
Every word was spoken with extreme repression.
When they finished bowing and were about to get up.
"Did I tell you to get up?!"
A cold shout brought Pear Blossom to a halt.
Immediately afterwards.
Mu Chenshuang snatched the whip from her hand, and Pear Blossom felt fear.
"Pear Blossom, if you cannot give me a reason to convince me of your guilt today after you have whipped Linglong, I will beat you until your skin is torn and your teeth are scattered all over the ground."
The menacing aura made Pear Blossom tremble uncontrollably.
Although Mu Chenshuang was a female general, she had never had such a terrifying and bloodthirsty aura. The woman in front of her was like a demon who had walked out of hell.
moment.
She suppressed her fear and clenched her fists. "This servant was ordered by the Crown Prince to prepare medicine for Consort Yu to heal her wounds. Consort Yu was seriously injured and needed extremely precious medicinal materials. However, Linglong stole the medicinal materials in an attempt to keep them for herself. Lanxiang and I happened to witness this, and the Crown Prince ordered that the thief be severely punished."
Pear Blossom spoke decisively, placing all the blame on Linglong without the slightest hesitation.
Linglong stared at Lihua with immense grief, enduring the pain in her body, and roared, "Lihua!"
The pain of being betrayed and framed was something Linglong deeply resented.
“I treated you like a sister. Not only did you betray the Crown Princess, but now you’re slandering me. You were the one who said you were repentant and wanted to make amends to the Crown Princess, and you lured me to the storeroom.”
Pear Blossom, however, remained unfazed and said, "Everything I said is true. The person who captured Linglong was not me, but a guard."
"You...cough cough cough"
Linglong coughed violently, her breath coming in short gasps.
Pear Blossom raised her head to meet Mu Chenshuang's gaze, her eyes filled with confidence, and said, "According to the laws of Tianzhao Kingdom, thieves are punished with thirty strokes of the cane for minor offenses, and death for serious offenses. Stealing precious medicinal herbs from the Eastern Palace is a serious crime. Is the Crown Princess going to disregard the laws of Tianzhao Kingdom, disregard His Majesty, and protect this servant?"
Mu Chenshuang stared at Lihua with cold, unwavering eyes, her gaze as frigid as if it were filled with ice.
That look filled Pear Blossom with fear, but right now she had no need to be afraid of her and forced herself to meet her gaze.
"If you want to find fault, you can always find a pretext."
Today's punishment of Linglong is probably a warning from Feng Xilan.
By making Lihua the punisher, Xiao Qingyu instigated this behind the scenes, probably to make Lihua prove her loyalty to her.
"I'd like to know what rare medicinal herbs Linglong stole?"
"Second-grade ginseng medicine."
Upon hearing this, Linglong choked up and said, "Your Highness, this servant did not."
Mu Chenshuang looked down at Linglong, who was kneeling on the ground in agony and convulsing from the cold. She felt a pang of sadness, took off her fox fur coat, and bent down to drape it over Linglong's body.
Linglong quickly refused, "Your Majesty, no."
"I'm fine."
He held her hand tightly, trying to reassure her.
Mu Chenshuang helped her stand up, withdrew her hand, and stared at Lihua kneeling on the ground with her cold eyes.
“Just now I asked Linglong to brew medicine for me. If it weren’t for someone she values deliberately calling her away, how could Linglong dare to disobey my orders and leave Yuxi Palace? That’s one point. Secondly, even if Linglong really disobeyed my orders and stole, the storeroom is heavily guarded. How could a mere maidservant easily enter? If she could, wouldn’t we need to punish the guards who failed in their duty of guarding?”
These words startled the warehouse guard, whose face changed drastically.
"Thirdly, second-grade ginseng is a supreme tonic. What use is it if a mere maid steals it? She has always worked for me. Does the Crown Prince think that I ordered Linglong to steal it?"
At this point, Mu Chenshuang gave a cold laugh.
"As the Crown Princess, I am entitled to these tonics every month. Even if I didn't have them, does my Marquis's mansion really not have enough to produce a mere second-grade ginseng, so that I need a maid to steal it?!"
At the end, his voice suddenly became sharp.
Pear Blossom's throat tightened, unable to utter a single rebuttal, and her heart trembled uncontrollably.
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