The rest didn't walk far. Because of Princess Mingzhu, they were all frightened by the scary Hua Qiyue.
"Princess Huiya... please help Mingzhu! I had asked Miss Qiyue out to discuss some private matter, I..." As Princess Mingzhu spoke, she looked shy and afraid. "I wanted to know the likings of a king and would like to ask Qiyue, who was close to him. However, not only did Princess Jinghua not tell me anything, she pushed me into the pond! She wanted to kill me, oooo..."
Princess Mingzhu cried out loud. She would definitely look endearing in the eyes of the Emperor.
Hua Qiyue smirked as she made the mental note on the hypocritical nature of this lady. She did not expect her rival to act so well.
Princess Huiya stared at Hua Qiyue with shock, looking incredulous. "That's impossible, Princess Jinghua is not someone like that..."
The rest started to scold Hua Qiyue respectively, mocking her and laughing at her. They were still patronizing her just now but had changed their att.i.tude instantly.
Human selfishness could be easily seen from this.
"Princess Jinghua, how can you treat Princess Mingzhu like this?"
"Ya, it does seem that the Emperor crown the wrong person!"
"Hua Qiyue, how can a b*tch like you be crowned a princess? Hurry and apologize to Princess Mingzhu?"
"Apologize?"
Hua Qiyue smirked coldly. She did not think that Princess Mingzhu merely wanted her to apologize. She accused her of attempted murder, framing her of a huge hideous crime.
"Stop! Princess Mingzhu, there must be a misunderstanding! Don't cry, wait for me to ask clearly!" Princess Huiya said calmly as she ordered for her servants to coat Princess Mingzhu with a jacket.
The rest looked at the three individuals silently. Hua Qiyue was calm and composed.
"Princess Jinghua, can you explain to me what had happened?" Princess Huiya asked politely. At this juncture, Ji Jing nagged, "How can sister Qiyue be someone so malicious? Don't be fooled by Princess Mingzhu?"
"Miss Ji, that's not right. Hua Qiyue had a poor reputation to start with, and it's nothing surprising that she is malicious." A woman laughed coldly. That was Ouyang Liuer. She had hated and resented Hua Qiyue ever since losing to her.
Now that she had finally gotten the opportunity, she decided to hurt the d.a.m.ned woman to seek revenge.
"Hey, why did you speak like this ! I bet you are framing sister Qiyue because she had won you in the compet.i.tion!" Ji Jing smiled coldly. Hearing the conversation, the rest remembered the compet.i.tion between Hua Qiyue and Ouyang Liuer. They couldn't help but laugh secretly.
It was a great joke that the First Miss of Ouyang family had lost to the loser legitimate daughter of the Hua family. Ouyang Liuer was now known as the "loser of the losers", making her angry and frustrated.
"You, you are sprouting nonsense!"
Having had been poked at her sore spot, she pointed at Ji Jing, fuming.
"I didn't push her. She fell down herself," Hua Qiyue spoke gently. Even though her voice was emotionless, her words were magical, attracting everyone's glance to her.
"Princess Jinghua... how can you do this to me? I didn't... never did hurt you, how can you frame me like this?"
Tears welled up in Princess Mingzhu'e eyes, making her look pitiful.
Hua Qiyue smiled as a glimmer of cold light flashed across her eyes. Her pupils seemed to be to penetrate one's mind, exposing all of one's thoughts.
"You do flatter me, Princess Mingzhu. How can I do something like this? Princess Mingzhu, you had jumped down yourself, and I even caught your sleeve, see... I wanted to pull her up, but her clothes are too thin and thus it broke."
Hua Qiyue waved her hands. She had a small piece of sleeve inside her hands. All looked at Princess Mingzhu's hand and saw her naked arm and broken sleeve.
Princess Mingzhu was focused on framing Hua Qiyue. Thus, she heeded no attention to her sleeves. Now that she had seen it, she was shocked!
She did not feel Hua Qiyue pulling her and thus she did not notice her broken sleeve.
"You can look here if this is not enough evidence!" Hua Qiyue pointed at where she and Princess Mingzhu were standing. "Because Princess Mingzhu had fallen into the pool and struggled, she moved to the left. There are still signs of where we were standing before here. If you don't believe in me, you can ask the elite guards or Commander w.a.n.g to check the signs." Hua Qiyue pointed at the neat gra.s.s patch beside her.
"If I pushed her down, she should stand in front of me. However, she stood behind me. Isn''t it ridiculous to say that I had pushed her?" Hua Qiyue retorted calmly as she stared at the s.h.i.+vering Princess Mingzhu expressionlessly.
The rest all turned to look at the elite guards upon hearing what Hua Qiyue said.
The elite guards in the palace were skilled in many ways. They were Qi Artists proficient in the skill of observation, trained by Qi Artists of the highest tier. Thus, the elite guards were well revered in the palace.
An elite guard stood out and checked the spot behind Hua Qiyue. He then nodded. "Princess Jinghua was right. Princess Mingzhu stood behind her just now."
The crowd was astonished.
Ji Jing snorted and looked at Princess Mingzhu with contempt. "What a loser trying to marry Prince Nan, bleh!"
Ji Jing was a wild girl that spoke straightforwardly and crudely. However, the ladies did not disagree with her as they all threw disdainful looks at Princess Mingzhu.
After all, one can obtain no sympathy by framing others and utlizing others for your own success.
"No... I am innocent! Princess Huiya, Princess Jinghua pushed me down..." Princess Mingzhu did not expect Hua Qiyue to be so meticulous, dismantling her plan in two simple steps. She was thus both shocked and furious.
"Innocent? Princess, if Qiyue did push you down, how did your sleeves end up in my hands?"
Hua Qiyue waved the broken sleeves in her hands.
Princess Mingzhu bit her lips. "You, you held on to my sleeves when you pushed me..."
"Before letting you fall? Princess Mingzhu, could you not have pulled me into the pond by grabbing my hand? Such an explanation is illogical!" Hua Qiyue smirked. "The texture of this clothing was from the most famous Fu Gui Clothing brand. The Moons.h.i.+ne Fu Gui silk was not easily broken and not easily burnt. We can try again..."
Contempt from everyone's glances increased in intensity.
"No... I am innocent. I was so scared that I don't remember going ash.o.r.e, don't remember pulling her down..."
Princess Mingzhu's face was pale white as she continued lying.
"Princess Mingzhu, trees require barks and humans require faces. How can you be so shameful? I saw you jumping into the pool personally." A cold voice rang in the distance and all turned to look at her. The crowd gave way to Prince Nan, who was viewing the situation from a distance not far away.
Hua Qiyue didn't expect Yun s.h.i.+mo to stand up for her. It was strange.
Behind Yun s.h.i.+mo, the corner of Bingyi's mouth twitched. "The prince does protect Hua Qiyue all the time now."
This time, even Prince Nan testified, leaving no chance for Princess Mingzhu to defend herself. Without that courage, she lowered her head and sobbed.
"Princess Mingzhu, what a foolish woman! How can you use such an underhand method to frame Princess Jinghua !"
"Yes, I have never seen such a malicious person!"
The crowd turned their shameless accusation of Hua Qiyue to Princess Mingzhu. The mentality of the crowd was indeed fickle.
Hua Qiyue smiled slightly. "Thanks to Prince Nan for testifying for Qiyue, or... someone would be lying till the cows come home."
Princess Mingzhu's body turned soft as she fainted. Princess Huiya hurried and ordered for someone to bring her away, smirking. "The human heart is indeed a mystery. I am right in that Princess Jinghua is not a malicious person. Princess Jinghua, let's go and get some tea."
The crowd stared at Hua Qiyue in envy. She was really lucky to not only obtain the testament of Prince Nan, but also the protection of Princess Huiya.
However, it was too late. Hua Qiyue rejected the request and indicated her interest in a possible future meeting.
This evening had turned Hua Qiyue's reputation for the better. After all, the Emperor did crown her as Princess Jinghua and she did hold Long Red in her hands. Thus, everyone wanted to figure out the mystery behind her.
The herbal families Ouyang family, Xia family, as well as the two major families in the capital, Baili family and Liu family, had obtained more information about Hua Qiyue.
Everyone was shocked by the transformation of the useless legitimate daughter. The Hua Qiyue before was a weakling that allowed herself to be bullied without complaining to Old Madame and Hua Liting, enduring and tolerating every step of the way.
However, she became extremely intelligent now. With a master behind her back, people did look forward to Hua Qiyue's Long Red more.
The stupid and s.l.u.tty Hua Qiyue of the imperial city seemed much more mysterious now.
Who could be the person who helped her?
In front of Hua's Mansion, Hua Qiyue thanked Prince Nan before entering the mansion with Old Madame. Prince Nan lifted up the curtains of his carriage to see the closure of the two large and heavy red doors. As they closed, he smiled.
Hua Qiyue then ordered her servants to buy two roasted chickens, a large bowl of fried peanuts and five bottles of plum blossom wine from w.a.n.gyue Restaurant.
She then said that she was going to rest, and asked for the food to be placed in her room.
Lv Xin and the rest were skeptical of her as she seemed to be particularly hungry recently, eating a lot.
Tianci was about to be abandoned outside, and he could not help but be discouraged. However, when studying was mentioned, his energy returned.
Hua Qiyue took all those food into the mysterious world. Seeing her, Tianpi pounced on her like a tiger, s.n.a.t.c.hing the baggage away from her. Opening it, he shouted, "Oh my G.o.d! Oh my G.o.d! Wine! Chicken! Peanuts!"
Those were all the food that he enjoyed.