Guo Wanqiu was taken aback.
Even at this point, is Pei Xuan still trying to exonerate Jiang Wan?
It seems she guessed correctly; Pei Xuan was indeed so biased. If he let Jiang Wan go today, she would surely become an obstacle to her taking over the Eastern Palace in the future.
She took a deep breath and said firmly, "I swear by the ancestors of the Guo family that everything I just said is true..."
"You...you're shameless!"
A curse suddenly came from the wellhead. The voice was muffled due to the depth of the well, but the anger in it was clear.
Wang was the first to react, covering her mouth and exclaiming, "It's Yingying...it's Yingying's voice!"
Her shout startled everyone, who instinctively looked at the abandoned well.
Guo Wanqiu's face turned ashen; her position happened to be very close to the abandoned well, so she could hear it even more clearly.
Terrified, she turned around abruptly.
A woman's head emerged from the dry well, soaking wet, with long black hair covering most of her face, except for one resentful eye that stared intently at her.
The gold hairpin in the woman's hair... belonged to Cui Yingying.
"Ah—a ghost! A ghost!"
Guo Wanqiu screamed and nearly fainted.
Wang rushed forward and hugged the "female ghost," crying, "Yingying, my good child, it's you who has returned to see your mother..."
"Mother, what are you saying? I'm perfectly fine."
Cui Yingying brushed aside her wet hair, used her hands to support herself on the well opening, and leaped lightly onto the ground.
"The water in that abandoned well was very shallow, barely waist-deep, not enough to drown a person."
She looked at Guo Wanqiu and snorted angrily.
"I treated you like a sister, yet you took advantage of me! If I hadn't been stuck in the well for half an hour, I wouldn't have been able to see through your hypocritical face!"
“I heard it all clearly from inside the well; you didn’t call for help at all! Later you said you were going to rescue someone, but you disappeared for almost half an hour. Were you going to call for help, or were you waiting for me to die?”
"A gentleman to your face, a devil behind your back, two-faced and treacherous—truly shameless!"
Grand Secretary Guo frowned: "Miss Cui, what do you mean by that?"
"Yingying, Yingying..." Guo Wanqiu was still in shock, but she had already reacted and stepped forward to take Cui Yingying's hand.
Cui Yingying shoved her away and looked at Pei Xuan.
"Your Highness, it was Guo Wanqiu who said that you and Madam Jiang had an affair and instigated me to deal with Madam Jiang. She even said that once she becomes the Crown Princess, I can also live a good life! Bah, how could someone like her be worthy of being the Crown Princess? Dream on!"
She vented her anger, feeling much better, and then glanced at Jiang Wan.
"In my opinion, any talk of a secret affair is mostly fabricated by her. Perhaps she's just jealous of Madam Jiang's beauty!"
"You, you..." Guo Wanqiu was so angry that her face turned pale, but she couldn't utter a single word in her defense.
Pei Tang already disliked Guo Wanqiu, and glared at her unhappily: "How dare you slander my brother and Sister Jiang behind their backs? With such character, you still want to marry into the royal family?"
The Guo family members' expressions changed simultaneously, and Grand Secretary Guo's face also darkened.
He raised his cane and slammed it down on Guo Wanqiu. Guo Wanqiu clung to her mother's legs, tears streaming down her face.
After reprimanding him, Grand Secretary Guo looked at Pei Xuan with great sorrow and indignation.
"My daughter is ignorant and has caused Your Highness trouble. Please tell Her Majesty that tomorrow I will bring Wanqiu to apologize to Her Majesty in person."
"No need."
Pei Xuan's eyes darkened slightly, but his tone revealed no anger; instead, it was somewhat lighthearted.
“Ah Tang is right. With such character, she is indeed not worthy of marrying into the royal family.”
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