Yao Ling asked the woman once again to get the real answer from her, "Is it really true, little girl?"

Xiao Yu really wanted to laugh when Yao Ling called Ying Ying as a little girl --- she really wanted to show her dominance in a subtle way ah~! Sometimes, her young mistress was really black-bellied.

Ying Ying gritted her teeth in annoyance because she knew that the woman in front of might be younger or even the same age as her --- judging from her voice --- but she seemed to be mocking her. That veiled woman was indirectly belittling her in front of so many people but there was nothing she could do at this point because she was the one who needed their help.

Ying Ying quickly answered, "Ye... Yes... But, there's also a story behind it!"

"A love story?" Yao Ling asked softly.

"Ye... Yes... I... I'm doing this for my sister..." Ying Ying started her explanation and tried to look as sad as possible. She wanted to tell everything right away so the woman would pity her --- after all, no woman would be able to refuse a romantic love story, right?

Most n.o.blewomen were like that... They loved hearing juicy gossips and because their marriage was usually being arranged by their parents, they loved to listen to love stories from a performance trope and be touched by them --- she knew it better than anyone else.

Yao Ling merely laughed coldly inwardly. Her pitiful look wouldn't affect her whatsoever, besides, her marriage was quite happy so she didn't really feel interested in others' love stories! Ying Ying had really chosen the wrong target this time. Out of all n.o.blewomen that pa.s.sed by, she chose her.

She didn't plan to deal with her but she was the one who came to deliver herself out of the blue. This way, Yao Ying wouldn't be able to blame her, right?

"What happened to your sister?" Yao Ling asked curiously. With so many people around, would she dare to lie?

"She fell in love with a man but the man had gone missing..." Ying Ying said weakly while wiping her teary eyes.

"Where is your sister now? Why are you the one who is here and not her?" Yao Ling asked --- this was the thing that she was feeling curious about.

Ying Ying looked around in embarra.s.sment and said, "There... there are too many people here and the story is quite personal." She wanted them to talk in private so that she could convince them better.

"Why? Is there something that you need to cover up? With so many people here, they could help my young mistress judge whether she should help you or not, right?" Xiao Yu was the one who said this. Even though she wore a gentle smile on her face, her words were quite vicious.

Ying Ying looked at the arrogant maidservant and really wanted to slap her!

The surrounding people murmured their agreement --- maybe this woman was trying to cover up something. Otherwise, why would she want to keep it under wraps?

"Just say it already!"

"We want to hear it too!"

"The maidservant Jie Jie said is correct! We will become the judge!"

"True ah~!"

"You have been standing here pitifully all morning so people already know about your problem. Just let everyone hear everything!" A woman said loudly. She was feeling irked by Ying Ying because her husband kept peeking at the latter due to her charm. It made her feel jealous and hate Ying Ying! If she wanted to gain pity, she should just gain it from someone else! Why did she need to seduce her husband as well?!

Ying Ying's face turned paler when she heard people's words. It seemed like she chose the wrong n.o.blewomen. If she had just waited for a few moments, there was another n.o.blewoman that pa.s.sed by --- that woman looked pitifully at her and it would be easy to manipulate that woman.

However, it was already too late for her to do anything else. She could only move forward.

She quickly tried to kneel down and kowtowed to Yao Ling --- she wanted to bang her head to the floor so she was able to envoke the sympathy of others once again. She knew that people merely wanted a drama...

Too bad, Xiao Fang's maidservant was faster than her. The maidservant that Xiao Fang had brought at the moment was proficient in martial arts and with a single glance from Xiao Fang, she already knew what to do. Thus, she quickly took hold of Ying Ying's hand and prevented her from kneeling down.

Xiao Fang might be innocent in most things but she knew the inner backyard fight --- especially after spending a lot of time in the palace. How could she not see Ying Ying's trick?

Xiao Fang's maidservant said, "Please... we are just talking casually... why should you kneel down in front of our masters?"

She didn't imply anything but the surrounding people weren't that stupid --- even the n.o.blewoman that pa.s.sed by and saw the commotion with interest, sneered at Ying Ying. She felt grateful that this woman didn't choose her as a target...

Ying Ying felt helpless for the first time --- no matter what she did, they knew how to counterattack her before she was successful. In the end, she was the one who was fully embarra.s.sed.

"Come... tell me..." Yao Ling said with a gentle voice.

"My... my sister has been imprisoned..." Ying Ying said weakly. If powerful people tried to search for her background, sooner or later, they would know. In the end, she decided to mix the half-truth with a half-lie.

"Hmm... Why?" Yao Ling felt interested because she finally found something more useful.

"Is it because of that man? That's why you are searching for him...?" Xiao Fang impatiently asked. Why didn't she just tell the story in one go? Did she want to collect more onlookers? Didn't this woman feel that it was already embarra.s.sing enough?!

"No... but this man might be able to help her... He has the power to do so... He has gone missing all of a sudden and we don't know why..." Ying Ying said weakly.

"Why is she imprisoned?" One of the onlookers asked. Being imprisoned meant that she wasn't a good person. Why did she make a fuss for such a woman?

Ying Ying glared at the person who asked in hatred. "She's being framed! I know that she's not like that!"

"What kind of crime that she has been charged with?"

"It's not her fault, actually. But..." Ying Ying looked a bit hesitant. This matter was quite a headache for her because she didn't want her status to be known here. She looked at Yao Ling with clear eyes, "Can you protect me if you know the truth?"

Yao Ling furrowed her eyebrows, knowing that thing wasn't as simple as she thought it to be.

Xiao Fang quickly said to Yao Ling, "You can't promise something without knowing everything first!" She was feeling worried that Yao Ling would be used by this woman. If she made a promise in front of so many people, she wouldn't be able to retract the words back and people would blame Yao Ling if something went wrong!