Chapter 355: Watching Xingqingโs Performance
Palace of Compassion and Tranquility
The Empress Dowager and the Emperor were seated in the main seats, with the Empress seated below the Emperor.
Princess Changle sat opposite the Empress, already dressed neatly, but her eyes were swollen from crying.
A man in his undergarments knelt on the floor.
Wen Ruiqing, the Yong’an Heir Apparent, and Shen Ruolan all stood to the side.
As for the noblewomen who were watching the commotion earlier, they were all dismissed by the Empress Dowager when she heard Princess Changle’s voice!
She believed that even if they had a hundred times the courage, they wouldn’t dare to speak about what they saw today!
The Empress Dowager was getting impatient and was about to lose her temper when she heard the palace attendants announce: “The Emperor, the Empress Dowager, the Crown Prince, the Crown Princess, Princess Xingqing, and others have arrived!”
“Summon them!” Princess Changle was crying here, and the Emperor was annoyed that the Empress Dowager and Princess Changle always liked to stir up trouble. He immediately said this when he heard the people had arrived.
Several people walked in.
The Empress Dowager frowned in displeasure when she saw the Jin Kingdom Crown Princess was also present.
Family scandals should not be publicized. Why did Chu Tiankuo bring an outsider?!
Xingnong and the others kept their eyes straight ahead and bowed one after another: “Your son/Your daughter-in-law/Your humble subject/Your subject daughter, greets the Emperor, the Empress Dowager, and the Empress!”
The Jin Kingdom Crown Princess said with a smile: “This princess greets the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, and the Empress.”
The Empress Dowager was unhappy in her heart but still said calmly: “No need for formalities, Jin Kingdom Crown Princess. Why is the Jin Kingdom Crown Princess here? This old one has family matters to deal with.”
The implication was that if she understood etiquette, she should take the initiative to leave!
The Jin Kingdom Crown Princess smiled: “Now we are also family, the Empress Dowager doesn’t need to be polite with this princess. Just now, this princess was accompanying Princess Xingnong and Princess Xingqing when we heard the Empress Dowager’s summons, so we came together.”
The Empress Dowager’s hand resting on the armchair tightened its grip. This shameless woman!
Who was family with her?
Although the Emperor also didn’t want to be seen as a joke by the Jin Kingdom Crown Princess, she clearly had no intention of leaving and obviously knew what had happened and wanted to support Xingqing. So, he said: “Bring a seat for the Jin Kingdom Crown Princess!”
Family scandals should not be publicized. The Emperor was also a little angry that Chu Tiankuo brought the Jin Kingdom Crown Princess. Wasn’t this making Jin Kingdom laugh at them? He directly refused to let them sit.
The Empress was unhappy. She looked at Chu Tiankuo and Xingqing with a gentle expression and said: “Crown Prince and Crown Princess, please have a seat! You must be tired after a busy day.”
After speaking, she looked at the Emperor: “Right, Emperor?”
Emperor: “โฆThe Empress is right. Please have a seat.”
He had finally managed to coax her out of the Cold Palace, and it was only by inviting all the officials together that he managed to do so. He didn’t dare to make her angry again, so let them sit!
As for the others, they were not qualified to sit.
Only then did the Jin Kingdom Crown Princess smile and say: “Thank you, Emperor!”
“Thank you, Mother Empress.” Chu Tiankuo held Xingnong’s hand and they sat down together.
The Empress Dowager was unhappy with the Empress’s actions. She gave Chu Tiankuo and Xingnong a cold glance and said in displeasure: “A moment of spring night is worth a thousand gold. It’s the Crown Prince and Crown Princess’s wedding day, why are you here instead of staying in the Eastern Palace?”
They were never seen visiting the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility on ordinary days!
Don’t think she didn’t know they were here to support Shen Xingqing.
She was only summoning Shen Xingqing!
โฟโฟโฟ
The Empress immediately notified the Emperor to come over. Now the Crown Prince had even invited the Jin Kingdom Crown Princess. What did this mean? Did they not even put her, the Empress Dowager, in their eyes?
After all, he was not her own son or grandson!
The Empress Dowager somewhat regretted supporting the Emperor to ascend the throne.
Chu Tiankuo said in a lukewarm tone: “When the Empress Dowager sent someone to summon Princess Xingqing, Princess Xingqing was with this son and the Crown Princess, so we came together to see what happened.”
He didn’t even address her as Grandmother. The Empress Dowager snorted coldly and looked at Xingqing, her eyes filled with venom: “Shen Xingqing, do you know your crime?!”
Xingqing’s expression became blank for a moment, and she said with a confused look: “In reply to the Empress Dowager, this subject daughter does not know!”
“โฆ โฆ”
The Empress Dowager was choked by her words.
“Pfft!” The Empress couldn’t help but laugh, then quickly covered her mouth with a handkerchief.
The Empress Dowager’s face darkened. This time, she was truly enraged by their attitudes!
She slammed her palm on the tea table with a loud “bang” and said sharply: “Stop pretending in front of this old one! Speak! Did you deliberately frame Changle?! Behave yourself and confess your crime! Otherwise, just the crime of fornication within the palace is enough to sentence you to death a hundred times over!”
Xingqing pretended to be startled by the “bang” of the table slam and her expression became even more bewildered: “Empress Dowager, please calm down! May the Empress Dowager please see clearly, this subject daughter is a little confused. How could I be accused of harming Princess Changle and fornicating within the palace just because I went to the toilet and then accompanied Miss Ren to admire the flowers in the Imperial Garden for a while? What exactly happened to Princess Changle? Moreover, this subject daughter is a woman, how could I fornicate within the palace? Isn’t that something only men can do? This subject daughter doesn’t have that ability, right?”
They had already discussed the whole story with Xingnong on their way here, and the two sisters had already come up with a plan. At this moment, she was not afraid at all.
Her sister said she didn’t need to plead innocence. She just needed to use her words step by step to lead to the truth of the matter. In the end, who harmed whom, the rest would be left to the evidence.
She had a Jin Kingdom princess sister, a Crown Prince brother-in-law, and a Grand Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard as her maternal grandfather. No one could easily wrong her!
“Pfftโฆcough coughโฆ” The Empress couldn’t help but want to laugh again. She quickly covered her mouth with a handkerchief.
The Emperor’s mouth twitched. This Princess Xingqing really dared to say anything.
The Empress Dowager was half-dead with anger at Xingqing’s innocent little white flower act. She had really underestimated her before. She should have known better than to let this family live.
Now they had all come to the capital, it was simply adding to her troubles!
Empress Dowager: “You don’t need to play dumb! You deliberately caused Princess Changle to lose her innocence! You have such audacity! You dare to harm this old one’s granddaughter, to harm a member of the imperial family! You’re not putting this old one in your eyes! You’re not putting the Emperor in your eyes!”
Shen Ruolan was anxiously twisting her handkerchief at the side, but with the Empress Dowager and the Emperor present, she didn’t dare to make a sound.
She didn’t understand how so many things could have happened today. Xingqing wouldn’t really harm Changle, would she?!
Wen Ruiqing’s face was gloomy at this moment. No one knew what he was thinking.
Xingnong sat there calmly without speaking, watching Xingqing’s performance.
She believed that Xingqing could seek justice for herself.
Yes, seek justice, not clear her name. She was innocent to begin with, there was no need to clear her name.
It was much more reliable for a person to have the ability to protect themselves than to rely on others!
After all, no one would be by your side to protect you all the time.
Xingqing’s body trembled slightly as if frightened by the Empress Dowager. “Empress Dowager, please calm down! What do you mean by deliberately harming Princess Changle? What do you mean by harming a member of the imperial family? You can accuse someone of anything if you want to! This subject daughter doesn’t even know what happened. May the Empress Dowager please see clearly, what crime has this subject daughter committed?”
At this time, Princess Changle looked at Xingqing with red eyes and said with a choked sob: “Sister, I was so good to you, why did you harm me like this! Why did you deliberately hide a man in the room and push me into the room on purpose?”
