Chapter Fifty
There was a rapid knocking sound at the door.
"Xue'er, Xue'er, are you there?" A gentle voice came into my ears from outside the door.
I still didn't answer, and continued munching on sunflower seeds.
A moment later, someone burst through the door and fell to the ground.
"Xue'er," Jie'er walked in, and was stunned to see me sitting there eating sunflower seeds. After a moment, she recovered and said with a smile, "Xue'er, why didn't you answer when you were in there? You scared me to death!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Jue walked in, followed by the Emperor, the Empress Dowager, the Empress, and some unnamed concubines. It seemed everyone had arrived!
"What's wrong?" I asked, feigning confusion.
"It's nothing," Jie'er said with an embarrassed smile, unsure of what to do next.
"What's wrong, Xiaoxue?" At this moment, the man who had been sleeping in bed suddenly woke up and slowly walked in front of us.
"Ah, a man!" Jie'er exclaimed in surprise, pointing at the man.
Everyone in the room gasped and looked at Jue, whose still cold face showed no sign of anything amiss, yet it sent a chill down their spines.
The man, belatedly realizing something was wrong, looked at the people inside the house and turned to run away.
The Empress Dowager gave the order to "seize him," and now that she had the chance to teach that reckless Lady Jue a lesson, she was not about to let him go easily.
During this time, I didn't say a word. The ladies who didn't know the situation all thought I had tacitly agreed, and they all shot me contemptuous and mocking glances.
"Xiaoxue, Xiaoxue, save me!" the man pleaded with me with difficulty after being caught.
"Madam Jue, you have committed adultery in the harem, what is your punishment?" The Empress Dowager shouted at me, her face flushed.
"Indulging in debauchery in the harem, what a serious crime! Zixue can't bear that responsibility," she said casually, continuing to munch on her melon seeds.
"Xue'er," Jie'er looked at me with concern.
I ignored her, brushed the crumbs from my sunflower seeds, and said to the man with unprecedented gentleness, "Do you think I would save you?"
The upturned corners of his mouth are like a demon in hell, like the alluring scent of a poppy, yet capable of causing one to lose their senses in agony.
"Xiaoxue, didn't you say you loved me?" Driven by his fear, the man continued, seemingly unafraid of death.
“Oh, I like you,” I said, drawing out the words.
"Yes, yes," the man nodded frantically, trying to drag me down to hell with him.
"Madam Jue, the evidence is conclusive, how can you deny it?" The Empress Dowager immediately convicted me. How much she hated me!
"So, since you say I like you, then tell me, what is it about you that I like?" Jue had remained very quiet the whole time, while Xingyi looked at us with an expression of amusement.
"Xiaoxue, you said you like everything about me," the man desperately tried to come up with the worst possible excuse.
"Hahahahaha!" I burst out laughing. "I like everything about you. Don't you think what you're saying is hilarious?"
"There are plenty of rich people and good-looking people, why would I like you? I'm not stupid. Besides, don't you know that the price of casually calling me Xiaoxue is very high?" She counted Jue's advantages on her fingers, not even noticing the smile in Jue's eyes.
"Xue'er, why are you still denying it?!" Jie'er, who had been ignored by me, finally said this.
“You didn’t do it, so why deny it?” I looked at Jie’er with sharp eyes.
"Xue'er, you're the one who told me you liked him."
People who were initially skeptical became even more certain that I had cheated on them because of Jie'er's words.
"Really?" I stood up, jumped into Jue's arms, and snuggled against him. "Look how much we love each other! Who would want this ugly man?"
Jue then hugged me and tapped my nose.
"Xue'er, that's not what you said back then. Did you say it because Young Master Jue was here?" Jie'er said, trying her best to say things that were unfavorable to me.
"Alright then, how can I prove my innocence to you?" I looked at Jue helplessly.
"No need," Jue said, looking at the man. He hugged me even tighter, his voice as cold as the dead of winter, filling me with fear and dread.
The man collapsed to the ground. His eyes were not human; darkness and gloom were insufficient to express the light shining from them. It was the pain and helplessness of a soul falling into an abyss, gradually eroding a person's heart.
"Wow!" This was completely beyond my expectations. In my plan, it shouldn't have stopped them from making things difficult for me.
"What?" He looked down at my expression and chuckled as he looked at the adorable woman in his arms.
"Young Master Jue, this..." The Empress Dowager, seeing that she could not reprimand me, was unwilling and wanted to continue speaking.
He glanced up at the Empress Dowager, and that glance left her speechless.
"Alright, everyone, let's go. Perhaps it's a misunderstanding. As for this man, take him out and execute him," Xingyi said, looking at me as if I were really that man's mistress. Actually, now I understand. Among those here, the ones who understand best are Jue and Xingyi.
Since no one could see that I was being punished, nor could they see Jue's anger, the meeting ended unhappily.
The room was empty, except for Jue and I, who were embracing, and Jie'er, who kept her head down and didn't say a word.
"Why isn't Young Master Jue angry?" Jie'er asked Jue persistently, without looking at me in Jue's arms.
"You're trying to sow discord, but it seems things aren't going your way," I said pitifully, looking at Jie'er.
That's right, all of this was done by Jie'er, including the poisoning.
"Shut up!" Jie'er glared at me angrily.
Uh, I'm speechless. This woman has gone mad; she actually told me to shut up on my own turf.
"Shut up!" Jue hugged me even tighter, looking at Jie'er with a chilling gaze.
"Why?" Jie'er pleaded sadly for an answer from Jue.
"Zou" Jue embraced me and led me into the inner room, ignoring Jie'er who was standing there.
"Xue'er, let's go out and play!" Jie'er suddenly changed her attitude, walked up to me, took my hand and started to walk outside.
With a flick of my wrist, Jie'er fell to the ground, staring at me in surprise.
"Have you had enough? Have you always thought I was a fool? Did you think I didn't know what you were doing?" I looked pitifully at the person on the ground who had caused me so much pain. I genuinely considered her a friend, but she tried to kill me time and time again. It turned out that in her heart, I was not a friend at all, nothing at all.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Jie'er said calmly, looking at me without any sign of surprise.
"Ever since that poisoning incident, I've been suspicious of you." He breathed a sigh of relief and leaned into Jue's arms.
Jie'er looked at me, anticipating what I would say next.
"Remember what happened after you cried that time? I always felt something was off, but I just couldn't figure it out. It was the way you looked at me that told me. At first, I thought you were looking at me, but when I looked up, do you know what I found? The roof, which was dry before, was actually wet. So I asked Xiaowu to investigate. But obviously, the person who taught you was much smarter than you. At least she knew when the right time was. Your cleverness made me see through the deception. The person who taught you probably didn't tell you that what she gave you wasn't poison, but something called a 'puppet' that controls people's minds. And you gave her a different kind of poison. Gradually, the two merged, forming what Xiaowu called 'ecstasy.' Should I say you're lucky or unlucky?"
"Hehe," Jie'er didn't say anything, but looked at me with a mocking smile, as if I were a clown who was talking and acting all by himself.
"What, still won't admit it? Maybe you'll admit it when you see her," I clapped my hands. "Xiao Wu."
Then, Xiao Wu threw a woman down in front of us, and Jie'er saw that the woman's face turned much paler.
Chapter 51
"Do you know her?" I never imagined that Jie'er and I would break off our relationship under these circumstances.
Jie'er's ashen face quickly recovered. "Her? Isn't that the palace maid we rescued that time?"
“You know that’s not what I want you to answer,” she said, pointing to Xiao Wan on the ground, who was immobilized by Xiao Wu’s acupoints. “She should be yours.” She didn’t ask questions but affirmed.
"Ha, what you're saying, I understand less and less. She's your palace maid, how did you drag me into this?" She still refused to admit it.
"Xiao Wan," I called out to Xiao Wan, who was lying on the ground, instead of continuing to argue with Jie'er about the issue.
The "madam" looked at me timidly.
"What do you say?" I asked, placing my hands on my chest and looking down at her.
"Madam, what do you want me to say? You've wronged me!" Xiao Wan's eyes were filled with tears.
"Innocent? Then," I crouched down, took a jade pendant from Xiao Wan's arms, and threw it in front of Jie'er, "What is this?"
Upon seeing the translucent jade pendant on the ground, Jie'er could no longer remain calm and looked at me with a slight tremor.
“Madam, this doesn’t prove anything.” Biting her lower lip, Xiao Wan’s rosy face turned ashen when she took out the jade pendant, but she stubbornly refused to admit it.
“Indeed, a jade pendant doesn’t prove anything. Okay, Xiao Wu,” I shrugged, stood up, and called to Xiao Wu beside me.
Xiao Wu approached Jie'er step by step, and Jie'er retreated in panic.
As she dodged, Jie'er's jade pendant fell to the ground, landing next to Xiao Wan's jade pendant.
"So you still won't admit it?"
"It's all your fault, it's all your fault!" The revelation of the truth made Jie'er's originally pale face turn ferocious.
"What?" I looked at her in confusion. So I asked her to come and kill me!
“He only has eyes for you. I fell in love with him the moment I saw him. Even though I know I have become the emperor’s concubine, I have always been chaste and have never been served by the emperor. But he has never even looked at me. Why do you deserve his favor? I’m not convinced!” Jie’er’s tears fell one by one onto the carpet, like blooming flowers on the red carpet.
"Him?" I turned around and looked at Jue. Could it be that she liked Jue? I was shocked because she had never shown any signs of liking her.
An indifferent expression, calm eyes.
I knew it was cruel to say "he doesn't like you," but I still chose to say it anyway.
"You...it's because of you that he doesn't like me," Jie'er's mind was clouded by love, and she began to ramble incoherently.
"Jie'er, he doesn't like you." His expressionless face chilled me to the bone, yet I felt he hadn't done anything wrong.
"No, no!" Jie'er collapsed to the ground, covering her eyes with her hands.
"Master," Xiao Wan, lying on the ground, glanced at me with a mournful look and called out to Jie'er anxiously.
"Jie'er," I cried out in sorrow and melancholy, not knowing what to say, and could only call out to her.
Jie'er, who had been covering her face, suddenly looked at me with hatred. "You, Zixue, won't get away with this. She won't let you get away with this, hahahaha!" It was like a curse that made my heart tremble. Looking at the unfamiliar Jie'er in front of me, I felt as if I had been put under a forbidden spell and could not move.
Jie'er's dark face looked like a vengeful ghost from hell, ready to drag me down to hell with her.
Helpless, Xiao Wan could only watch as her master, whose emotions had spiraled out of control, became the "master."
"Who is she?" Even though my heart ached, I still asked the real mastermind. Jie'er must have been taught to do this by someone. Having spent so much time with her, although it was somewhat fake, I could still see through Jie'er's personality. Jie'er is a straightforward person. If she wanted to kill me, she would just poison me directly. She wouldn't devise any plan. However, it seems that Jie'er disrupted the original mastermind's plan. This is just my opinion.