eurekapd Chapter 185 Rumors
Chapter 185 Rumors
Chapter 185, Rumor 185
Mingqiao never imagined that less than an hour after An Rong entered Chunyu Jing's study, news would spread that she had suddenly contracted a serious illness and died! At first, she couldn't believe it, but when she saw the guards carrying An Rong, whose eyes were wide open as if she had died with her eyes open, out of the secret room, she felt as if she had been forcefully pushed into water, making it hard for her to breathe!
How could this be! Although Her Majesty is frail, she shouldn't die from pleasure in the bedroom! There must be something wrong with the medicinal food Her Majesty just drank! It must be that little slut Ye Yingrou who's behind this!
Mingqiao glared fiercely at Ye Yingrou, who was being held in Chunyu Jing's arms and showered with concern. Her eyes were filled with deep-seated hatred. She gritted her teeth, cast aside her fear of Chunyu Jing, and knelt down before him with a thud, crying out in a pitiful voice:
"Your Highness! You must do justice for the Empress!"
Chunyu Jing raised his head, his brows furrowed, his eyes icy cold: "Get out."
"Your Highness! The Empress has been working hard to recover her health these past few days, and recently her condition had been improving. How could she suddenly fall ill like this? Someone must have done something to her, feeding her something she shouldn't have!" Mingqiao cried. "Your Highness, you can't let the Empress die like this without knowing why!"
Mingqiao's crying made Chunyu Jing feel inexplicably impatient and irritable. He didn't want to hear the maid's cries anymore, so he raised his foot to kick Mingqiao.
Ye Yingrou sensed his intention and quickly stopped him, gently advising, "Your Highness, Mingqiao is right. Consort An is, after all, the apple of Vice Minister An's eye. If he finds out about his daughter's sudden death, the Prince's Mansion will have a hard time explaining itself. Why don't we listen to what this girl has to say before making a decision?"
"You vile woman! You must have poisoned the concubine's medicinal meal just now, that's why you're acting like a good person now!" Mingqiao roared angrily with red eyes after hearing this, "Not only did you make medicinal meal for the concubine, you also made that pigeon soup for the prince. I'm sure you added something to that pigeon soup too. Your Highness, please don't believe the lies of this heartless woman!"
Although Chunyu Jing was affected by Ye Yingrou's Heart Gu, the level of the Heart Gu was too low, only increasing his favorability and affection points by thirty. Therefore, he still listened to some of Mingqiao's words, frowned, looked at Ye Yingrou, and asked:
"Rou'er, what is she talking about? The medicinal food that An Rong drank, and that pigeon soup, were all cooked by you?"
Ye Yingrou sensed something was wrong and immediately put on her Oscar-worthy acting skills, quickly making her eyes red and putting on a pitiful look, saying:
"I dare not deceive Your Highness. Before Her Highness came to the study just now, she did indeed drink a bowl of medicinal food, which Rou'er personally prepared. However, Rou'er swears to heaven that she did nothing to Her Highness's medicinal food. When Rou'er was preparing the medicinal food, Sister Mingqiao was also present. She could have testified to Rou'er's innocence, but I don't know why... why..."
Two lines of tears slid down Ye Yingrou's cheeks. She turned to look at Mingqiao and choked out, "Sister Mingqiao, why did you accuse Rou'er of killing Consort An?"
Chunyu Jing's gaze pierced Mingqiao like a sharp blade. Mingqiao trembled at his gloomy expression and stammered, "I didn't slander you. It must be you who killed the Empress. It must be you!"
"If I really poisoned both the medicinal food and the pigeon soup, why was His Highness unharmed after drinking them?" Ye Yingrou sighed. "Sister Mingqiao, I know you can't accept the sudden death of the Consort, but this matter truly has nothing to do with me. You're putting His Highness in a difficult position..."
Before Mingqiao could defend herself any further, Chunyu Jing shouted sternly, "Enough! What kind of master raises what kind of lowly servant! Guards, drag this wretched girl away, cut off her tongue, and gouge out her eyes, so that she can never slander or defame others again!"
"Yes!" the guard outside the door responded loudly, grabbed Mingqiao's arms, and dragged her away cruelly despite her struggles.
Ye Yingrou watched as Mingqiao and her maid Anrong plummeted from heaven to hell, feeling a surge of satisfaction, all the humiliation she'd suffered at the Marquis of Anshi's mansion earlier that day vanished. But she remembered to maintain her innocent facade, gently clutching Chunyu Jing's sleeve, and asked with concern:
"Your Highness, what should we do about Vice Minister An?"
Chunyu Jing said dismissively, "You don't need to worry. He's just a lowly vice minister. How could he possibly cause such a ruckus? If he dares to cause trouble, I will make sure he suffers the consequences."
Hearing the system notification that her favorability rating had increased again, Ye Yingrou's smile was as sweet as honey.
With the Heart-Binding Gu in hand, she naturally had nothing to worry about. From this day forward, in the Nanping Prince's Mansion, she would be the only woman left by Chunyu Jing's side, and no one could stop her from becoming the Nanping Prince's Consort!
——※※※——
As Liu Luluo had predicted, the news that Chunyu Yang had stood up for Ye Pianran at the Marquis of Anshi's residence and taken good care of her quickly reached the palace and the ears of Consort Zhuang.
"I heard that the Third Prince took great care of the eldest daughter of the Marquis's family. He not only rescued her first and kept her close by his side, but also argued with the Fourth Prince for her sake. In the end, he even disregarded the presence of Marquis Anshi and sent her back to her boudoir..."
As the palace maid Qiulu peeled walnuts for Consort Zhuang, she spoke softly:
"The most interesting one is the young master. He is also very interested in that woman. If he hadn't gone to the front yard to find the Fourth Prince in time, the eldest daughter and the young master of the Marquis's mansion would probably have suffered this time."
Consort Zhuang put a walnut into her mouth, and the rich, fragrant flavor immediately filled her mouth. She smiled slightly and said:
"Good."
The eldest daughter of Marquis Anshi, her status is indeed worthy of Boyuan, and with Jingxuan also liking her, it couldn't be better.
"This servant also thinks it's excellent. Judging from today's situation, there must be a joyous occasion in the palace soon," Qiu Lu said with a smile.
"After the morning court session tomorrow, have Boyuan come here," Consort Zhuang said with a smile after clearing her throat twice. "It's better to be sure than to speculate. Ask Boyuan what he really thinks tomorrow."
Qiu Lu's eyes curved into two crescent moons with laughter: "Yes."
The next morning at the imperial court, in the golden hall of the Great Xia Palace, with a "smack," the emperor slammed a bamboo slip onto the face of the crown prince below the steps.
The sharp edge of the bamboo slip grazed the prince's forehead before it bounced to the ground with a loud thud, making everyone present's hearts skip a beat.
"You worthless wretch, look at this! Look at the mess you've made!"
The emperor sat on the dragon throne, raging with anger, his eyes filled with resentment and disappointment as he looked at the crown prince.
The morning court session had just begun, and the Crown Prince, who was not yet fully awake, was completely bewildered by the Emperor's outburst. He endured the sharp pain in his forehead, bent down to pick up the bamboo slips that had fallen to the ground, unfolded them, and then his pupils suddenly contracted. His body felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, and his blood seemed to stop flowing.
The bamboo slip was covered with countless bloody handprints and was filled with bloody accusations against him!