Chapter 187: They Gang Up To Bully The Prince
With a face full of weakness, she said, “Your Majesty, the Fifth Princess was indeed dismissed by His Highness, but His Highness was also because the Fifth Princess pushed your servant into the lake first, and no one rescued your servant. The Crown Prince was angry and vented his anger on the Fifth Princess. In the end, the fault in this matter is still with your servant. If Your Majesty wants to punish, then punish your servant. This matter has nothing to do with the Crown Prince.”
The Emperor frowned tightly as he looked at the Fifth Princess beside him. “Is that how things are?”
The Fifth Princess immediately stopped crying, scared and let go of her hand. “I, Father Emperor, don’t listen to their nonsense. They are slandering me.”
The Emperor looked stern, but anyone with eyes could see that the Emperor was biased toward the Fifth Princess.
Jiang Ruanxi was a bit doubtful.
Wei Chang was the Crown Prince, but the Emperor did not seem to trust him much.
When questioning Wei Chang the Crown Prince, he only needed the Fifth Princess’s one-sided words, but when it came to the Fifth Princess’s issue, he sought confirmation from the Fifth Princess.
After the Fifth Princess finished speaking, a trace of hatred flashed in her eyes, but it quickly disappeared.
Seeing that the Emperor’s face had already darkened, she stepped forward again and hugged the Emperor’s arm, crying and complaining.
“Father Emperor, I am really wronged. Miss Ling is the Crown Prince’s fiancée and the future Crown Princess. Even if your daughter is ignorant, she would not do such a foolish thing. On the contrary, the Crown Prince has never liked me much on ordinary days. He is mostly taking revenge and deliberately finding trouble with me here.”
Wei Chang was about to speak up to refute, but Jiang Ruanxi did not want him to get involved, so she pulled his hand to stop him and said, “Fifth Princess, you keep saying you are wronged. When you pushed me into the water, besides the two of us being present, the Empress’s maidservant was also there. Why don’t we find someone to confront face-to-face?”
“Good, then go find her.”
The Fifth Princess seemed very confident, even if Wan Bi really came, she would not speak for Jiang Ruanxi.
What kind of confidence was that, to not even put the Empress in her eyes?
Jiang Ruanxi was increasingly curious about the power dynamics in the Imperial Palace.
Soon, the guards beside the Emperor brought Wan Bi over.
The Fifth Princess, disregarding her soaked body, eagerly asked, “Wan Bi, what exactly happened here just now? Think it over clearly. If you dare to lie in front of His Majesty, you will surely regret it later.”
This was clearly laced with heavy threat.
Wan Bi naturally understood, and walked up to the Emperor neither humbly nor arrogantly.
“This servant has seen Your Majesty. Just now, this servant was ordered by the Empress to escort Miss Ling to rest. Who knew we ran into the Fifth Princess coming to make trouble on the way. Miss Ling protected this servant and told this servant to wait ahead, but soon after, the Fifth Princess pushed Miss Ling into the water. This servant wanted to save her but was blocked by the Fifth Princess.”
As soon as she finished speaking, although the people around did not dare to speak, they all looked at the Fifth Princess with unusual gazes.
The Fifth Princess, furious, stepped forward and said through gritted teeth, “Wan Bi, do you know what you are saying?”
After speaking, she glared at her fiercely with her eyes to threaten her.
But Wan Bi was not afraid at all and knelt down. “Your Majesty, every word this servant said is true. If there is any lie, may I be struck by lightning.”
Wan Bi’s oath caused cracks to appear on the Fifth Princess’s face. She was already starting to panic inside and hurriedly looked toward the Emperor.
“Father Emperor, they are all in cahoots. They are ganging up to bully your daughter.”
With witness and material evidence present, the Fifth Princess did not seem afraid at all.
Jiang Ruanxi was even more shocked. The Empress was after all the master of the Imperial Harem. The Emperor was one thing, but what was the Fifth Princess to dare to be so disrespectful to the Empress?
Could it be that she really did not want to live?
The Empress beside her suddenly knelt down as well. “Your Majesty, we husband and wife have been together for decades. Is there not even this bit of trust? This maidservant has been with me for over ten years. She would not lie.”
“Does the Empress mean that I am lying?” the Fifth Princess questioned.
Jiang Ruanxi truly had not expected that a mere princess would be so arrogant.
It seemed that even after changing her fate, the Empress lived very miserably.
She slightly lowered her eyes. “Fifth Princess, even if the Empress’s people made a mistake, that is still the Empress. She is His Majesty’s principal wife and your legal mother. It is not your place to question her like this. Even if she really did wrong, with the Emperor here, it is the Emperor who decides. Yet you are so disrespectful to the Empress. I wonder if it is the Fifth Princess’s own intention or your Imperial Mother’s intention?”
Mentioning the Imperial Consort, the Fifth Princess flew into a rage. “Bitch, shut up. What are you to mention my Imperial Mother?”
“Enough, shut up!”
Before Jiang Ruanxi could speak, the Emperor had already flown into a rage. “Wei Jiao, have you made enough trouble?”
The Fifth Princess had a face full of disbelief. Her father emperor, who had always doted on her without boundaries in the past, was now actually scolding her.
And when he called her by name, it meant he was really very angry this time.
The noblewomen and noble daughters around all lowered their heads, not daring to speak.
But everyone had their own thoughts in their hearts.
The Fifth Princess was truly arrogant to the extreme, relying on the Imperial Consort’s favor. Being arrogant and overbearing on ordinary days was one thing.
But now, in front of the ministers’ madams and daughters, not giving face to the Empress was not only slapping the Empress’s face but also slapping the Emperor’s face.
It was just a pity that the Fifth Princess would not understand this reason.
“Father Emperor, would you rather believe outsiders than me?”
“The Fifth Princess is mistaken. The Empress and the Emperor are originally husband and wife. How could she be an outsider?” Jiang Ruanxi said neither humbly nor arrogantly. “On the contrary, the Fifth Princess does not put the Empress in her eyes at all, and now calls the Empress an outsider one moment after another. I wonder what intentions she has, or if someone has such intentions?”
“You…” The Fifth Princess was already furious to the extreme.
“Come, drag the Fifth Princess out and confine her to the Princess Mansion. Without my order, she is not allowed to come out.” The Emperor no longer wanted to hear her words and directly gave the order.
The Fifth Princess could no longer hold it together and cried and complained, “Father Emperor, you cannot treat me like this.”
“Are the people dead? What are you standing around for?”
The Emperor’s irritable voice rang out, and only then did the guards beside him tremblingly drag the Fifth Princess away.
The originally noisy scene was now deathly silent.
Jiang Ruanxi looked toward Wei Chang, only to see his expression cold and aloof, his face tense, yet he said nothing.
Only Jiang Ruanxi found it ridiculous. Clearly, the Fifth Princess had done wrong, and the Emperor was very angry, but he merely confined the Fifth Princess. Was this punishment not really too light?
Rather than calling it punishment, it was more like protecting the Fifth Princess.
“Alright, this matter was originally the Fifth Princess’s fault. Now that the Fifth Princess has been punished, I think we can let this matter end here.” The Emperor looked at the Empress. “What is your opinion?”
