"Ah, lucky money! Grab it quickly!"
"This is mine, mine!"
"Don't grab it, there are so many, don't take mine."
Suddenly, the whole street erupted into chaos.
Although Princess Shuangxia entered the palace with Ouyang Yue, they did not travel together. She and Xuanyuan Chaohua took a shortcut to the palace first, while Baili Chen's entourage took Ouyang Yue on a tour of the capital before entering the palace. Ouyang Yue's dowry was delivered directly to Prince Chen's residence by Baili Chen and the princess's residence, and then protected. Ouyang Yue would distribute it after returning to Prince Chen's residence.
The palace was filled with joy today, but there were no carriages around. All vehicles were prohibited from passing through the main street of the imperial city today, as everything had to make way for Baili Chen and Ouyang Yue's wedding procession. The procession entered the palace smoothly. The main hall of the palace was already open, and officials, wealthy merchants, and their female relatives were gathered there. The banquet had not yet begun; Baili Chen and Ouyang Yue still needed to pay their respects at the Imperial Ancestral Temple. Therefore, not everyone had arrived yet, and the Emperor, Empress, and other dignitaries were not present.
At this moment, the Crown Prince and the Third Prince were jointly entertaining guests in the main hall. One was the future heir apparent, and the other was Baili Chen's elder brother; these two were the most suitable candidates. They mainly greeted the male guests, while the women from both residences attended to the female guests.
In this setting, Ning Xihe, as the Crown Princess, naturally took the lead, while the two concubines of the Crown Prince's residence, Lin Yingying and Mu Cuihuan, could only play supporting roles. Sun Meng'er, the Third Prince's concubine, couldn't help but sneer and took the opportunity to say to Lin Yingying, "Why does Concubine Lin look so unhappy? Today is Seventh Brother's wedding banquet. If Concubine Lin looks like this, people will think that the Crown Prince and Seventh Brother are not on good terms, and you'll become a laughing stock."
Lin Yingying coldly stared at Sun Meng'er. Because the Empress and Consort Sun had been locked in a power struggle for years, their relationship was openly hostile. Consequently, the Lin and Leng families were constantly at odds, and the younger generation in both families would inevitably engage in mutual sarcastic remarks whenever they met: "Speaking of which, Consort Sun and I are truly destined to be together. I am a consort, and so are you. I am a consort because the Emperor bestowed this title upon me, so I had no choice. But the Third Prince has no principal wife, and it's quite surprising that you, with your status, are also only a consort."
Sun Meng'er's expression changed, and she sneered: "Consort Lin, it's a pity I don't have that chance, and neither do you. Look at the Crown Princess's smiling face. I think even the most beautiful flowers can't outshine her smile. It seems that Consort Lin, you're not having a very good time in the Crown Prince's residence either. Hehe, silly."
Lin Yingying's face was cold and indifferent. She glanced coldly at Sun Meng'er, then saw Ning Xihe surrounded by people like a butterfly, constantly being flattered and smiling smugly. She sneered inwardly. If Xuan Yuan Yue were the Crown Princess, that would be one thing, but what was Ning Xihe? From childhood, her family had been cultivating her so that she would become the third member of the Lin family to marry into the royal family and become the third Empress of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Did Ning Xihe even deserve to block her path?
Suddenly, Lin Yingying revealed a cold smile. She had also participated in the Crown Prince's selection of concubines and had secretly observed the various competing young ladies. As far as she knew, although Ning Xihe and Xuan Yuan Yue were related by marriage, their relationship seemed to be not very good. Thinking of this, Lin Yingying smiled meaningfully.
After bathing and changing, Baili Chen and Ouyang Yue went to the Imperial Ancestral Temple to pay their respects. Ouyang Yue then had to reapply her makeup. By the time they finished, it was already past noon. Just after midnight, Baili Chen and Ouyang Yue arrived at the main hall, where the Emperor, Empress Dowager, Empress, and others were already waiting. The two respectfully listened to their admonitions and bowed under the watchful eyes of everyone. However, the customs of the royal family of the Great Zhou Dynasty were slightly different from those of the common people. The Emperor presided over the wedding, and the bride and groom first toasted some important figures of the Great Zhou royal family. Then, representatives from the civil and military officials and other important noble families would send two representatives to toast the newlyweds. After that, the bride and groom, as princes, would return to their own residences to take the final step: entering the bridal chamber!
Bai Lichen carefully helped Ouyang Yue down to offer toasts to everyone. After the Emperor, Empress Dowager, and Empress were toasted, the first person to be toasted was Ning Xihe, the Crown Prince's wife. Ouyang Yue naturally had to offer a toast to her as well: "Crown Princess, your sister-in-law toasts you."
"Congratulations to you two newlyweds." Ning Xihe smiled, but her expression was icy cold. Ouyang Yue was still wearing her red veil, and her outstretched hand was a bit far away. Ning Xihe naturally had to move forward a little to reach it. However, just as she took that step forward, a shocking change suddenly occurred.
Ning Xihe's body suddenly swayed, about to fall. She instinctively cried out and flailed her arms, grabbing Ouyang Yue's sleeve. Ouyang Yue tried to back away, but Baili Chen pulled her into his arms and angrily said, "Crown Princess, what are you doing!"
Baili Chen's shout immediately attracted the attention of everyone in the hall. Ning Xihe, at this moment, had no time to care about Baili Chen's anger. The wine cup in her hand had already fallen to the ground. She lost her balance by grabbing Ouyang Yue and fell downwards with a "bang, pfft!"
As luck would have it, the moment she landed, her hand was pierced by a shattered wine glass, causing blood to spurt out. Meanwhile, blood splattered onto Ouyang Yue's exquisite embroidered shoes, which were not far away.
The entire hall fell silent instantly. There were many customs associated with the wedding day of the newlyweds. It was one thing for Ning Xihe to fall on this occasion, but she was bleeding, and the blood even seeped into Ouyang Yue's shoes. Did this foreshadow a bloody disaster for Ouyang Yue, or did it mean that this wedding would be tragic, foreshadowing that one of Ouyang Yue and Baili Chen would die in their union?
This is a bad omen!
Ning Xihe was completely stunned as soon as she fell. Baili Chen's face was extremely ugly: "Crown Princess, did you do this on purpose! What do you want to do!" His gaze was like a sharp sword, piercing Ning Xihe's heart. Ning Xihe's face turned pale instantly, and all eyes in the entire hall were on her!
Ning Xihe was stunned on the spot!
"Speak!" Baili Chen roared angrily, not letting her off the hook!
☆, 175, The Death of Ning Xihe! (Seeking votes for the company's annual meeting~)
Everyone could see that Baili Chen was extremely angry, and no one spoke. Most people watched Ning Xihe coldly from the sidelines. Only the people from the Ning family showed worried expressions, but their gazes towards Ning Xihe were also tinged with resentment. Today was a big day, and for Ning Xihe to do such an outrageous thing at such a time was really too impolite. Even they felt that Ning Xihe had gone too far today.
Ning Xihe's expression changed drastically. Faced with Baili Chen's anger, she could only say, "I didn't mean to. I just slipped. This Crown Princess had no bad intentions."
Baili Chen stared coldly at Ning Xihe, looking unconvinced. The others couldn't help but sneer. Slipped? Not on purpose? That's a really lame excuse.
"Unintentional, slippery foot? Crown Princess, you should know that you have not only insulted my Princess, but also me. Do you think you can get rid of me with such a ridiculous excuse?" Baili Chen was dressed in a red suit, which made his face look even more stunning and devilish. At this moment, his eyes narrowed and his expression was a half-smile, but it gave people a chilling feeling.
A flicker of fear flashed in Ning Xihe's eyes. As the Crown Princess, Ning Xihe's status was, according to custom, better than Baili Chen's, at least as his elder sister-in-law. However, in reality, she was less favored than the concubines in the mansion, so she wasn't very confident. She glanced at Ouyang Yue, whose blood had been splattered on her, and her heart skipped a beat. She angrily looked around. The Crown Prince was standing to her left, and beside him stood Concubine Lin Yingying and Mu Cuihuan. Behind her were her personal servants.
Could they be her servants? How dare they be so bold?
Yes, Ning Xihe's sudden fall just now was definitely not an accident, but it wasn't intentional either. She clearly felt that someone had deliberately pushed her, but now it seemed that no one was the real culprit. Could it really have been just an accident? How could that be? But she knew very well that saying it was an accident was laughable, and if she implicated someone else now, she would lose even more face. For a moment, the atmosphere became somewhat heavy.
Ning Xihe said, "It was my mistake just now, please don't take offense, Prince Chen and Princess Chen." As the Crown Princess, her personal apology was already a great show of respect to Baili Chen and Ouyang Yue. Of course, this was Ning Xihe's own opinion.
Baili Chen looked at Ning Xihe and sneered, "Hehehe, if I were to kill the Crown Princess directly and then apologize to her, would she accept it?" What's the use of an apology when the person is already dead?
Ning Xihe's face was gloomy. She knew that such a big incident had occurred in the main hall. If Baili Chen didn't pursue it, it would be a loss of face for him. However, if Baili Chen pursued it, she would also lose face, and the Crown Prince's residence would also lose face. Ning Xihe couldn't help but look at Baili Cheng with worry. Although Baili Cheng was very dissatisfied with Ning Xihe's behavior, Ning Xihe was, after all, his Crown Princess. If this continued, he would be overshadowed by Baili Chen: "Alright, the Crown Princess was wrong just now, but it was all an accident. Today is your big day, Seventh Prince. It's best to keep things peaceful."
The Fifth Prince, now known as Prince Baili Jian, also laughed and said, "Yes, Seventh Brother, I think the Crown Princess just slipped. You shouldn't make any plans, otherwise it would affect your wedding today."
The Ninth Prince, Baili Mao, now known as the Prince of Sheng, chimed in, "Seventh Brother, one should be forgiving. I doubt the Crown Princess meant it. If you keep pressing this, you'll only appear unreasonable." Baili Mao glanced at Baili Chen and Ouyang Yue, who was hidden under a red veil, a chill running through him. Back then, because Xuan Yuan Yue hadn't accepted his marriage proposal, he had been treated coldly by his Fifth Brother. Now, Baili Chen had married his beloved and had the support of the Xuan Yuan Army. Did he really think all good things would fall into his lap? This unexpected turn of events was entirely his own fault.
Baili Chen sneered, "If I, the Princess Consort, were to be offended today, no one could bear the responsibility. If it were you, would you let it go so easily? My brothers and Ninth Prince, you truly have the magnanimity of saints. However, I am always very petty. Whoever makes me unhappy, I will make them unhappy in return!"
Bai Licheng's face turned cold: "Seventh Imperial Brother, what kind of accident is this? Are you planning to keep this up? Father and Grandmother are here now. Do you really think this is your own Prince Chen's Mansion? How can you have no manners at all? You have offended Father and Grandmother, and you cannot bear the consequences."
Baili Chen looked at him coldly: "Oh, is that so?" Baili Chen looked at Baili Cheng and suddenly smiled coldly. Then, the corner of his mouth curled up, his eyes suddenly turned cold, and he began to cough violently. Ouyang Yue hurriedly said, "Your Highness, what's wrong with you?"
"No...it's nothing, just an old ailment flaring up, it's nothing serious."
"Pfft!" Although Baili Chen hurriedly explained, his cough was really frightening, as if he was coughing up his intestines. He sounded extremely hoarse and exhausted. Finally, he coughed violently and swallowed a mouthful of blood. Baili Cheng was startled and quickly stepped back. The blood sprayed onto the table in the Crown Prince's residence, making it a bloody mess!
"Whoosh!"
"This...this..."
"What's going on?"
"Oh my god, there's blood again!"
Chaos erupted in the hall, with people whispering amongst themselves. Emperor Mingxian, the Empress Dowager, the Empress, and others also changed their expressions, and Baili Cheng's face turned ashen: "Baili Chen, you did this on purpose!"
Baili Chen coughed up a mouthful of blood, his body swayed and tilted to the side. Ouyang Yue reacted quickly and caught him, preventing him from collapsing. Baili Chen looked very weak. Ouyang Yue hurriedly asked, "Your Highness, what's wrong? Why are you coughing up blood?"
Bai Lichen clutched his chest, his voice weak, "It's...nothing, I just vomited blood from anger, it's nothing..."
Ouyang Yue asked anxiously, "What's wrong, Your Highness? You should sit down and rest. What medicine do you need?"
Baili Chen shook his head slightly, leaned his head on Ouyang Yue's shoulder, and said weakly, "Yes, quickly help me sit down, I have medicine in my arms."
"Quickly, help the Prince to sit down," Ouyang Yue said to the palace maid. Immediately, a palace maid came over to help Baili Chen, and the two sat down in their seats in the Prince Chen's residence.
Baili Cheng's face turned even more ashen with anger. The Crown Princess's earlier collision with Ouyang Yue, whether intentional or not, would have been one thing if it had just been a simple fall. But the fact that blood was drawn was a bad omen, and there were certainly many taboos associated with it. It was understandable that Baili Chen was angry. At most, he would have just reprimanded her a few times. But Baili Chen was so audacious as to cough up blood on the table! Who was he trying to disgust?! Baili Cheng roared, "Baili Chen, you did this on purpose!"
On the other side, Ouyang Yue was busy taking care of Baili Chen, fetching medicine and feeding him pills, completely ignoring Baili Cheng. Baili Cheng felt extremely embarrassed. Normally, he would have punished Baili Chen and Ouyang Yue for their disrespect, but today, not only was his Crown Prince's residence at fault, but Baili Chen had also vomited blood. It wouldn't be very legitimate for him to pursue the matter. However, Baili Cheng looked at Baili Chen and sneered, "Seventh Prince, your injury seems quite serious. You've vomited so much blood. We should quickly call the imperial physician to take a look."
With a wave of his hand, he signaled for a palace servant to fetch the imperial physician.
Emperor Mingxian sat on the dragon throne, watching the events unfold in the hall with a grim expression. The Empress Dowager's face also darkened, and the Empress carefully observed their expressions, her gaze turning cold as she looked at Ning Xihe.
No matter how fierce their usual rivalries were, today was Baili Chen's wedding day. For such an incident to occur while he was offering a toast was a huge loss of face for Baili Chen. Naturally, he had to get revenge; otherwise, if he remained silent after suffering such humiliation, he would never be able to hold his head high in front of the royal family again. But Baili Chen's behavior was excessive—spitting blood on the table in the Crown Prince's residence was an insult to the entire residence, and even to her. Baili Chen clearly didn't respect her, the Empress. He truly was that vile woman's son; he was utterly detestable.
The Empress coldly stared at Ning Xihe. Ning Xihe, stiff with fear, cautiously looked at the Empress, her heart skipping a beat when she saw the latter's icy gaze. Although she hadn't interacted with this Empress much, she had more experience with her than most people; she was far from being as magnanimous and kind as she appeared!
Soon, the imperial physician arrived and examined Baili Chen's pulse. The diagnosis was indeed a sudden attack of anger and blood stasis. The medicine Baili Chen had taken earlier was a blood-stopping and blood-stasis-reducing agent. This caused the court officials in the hall to murmur amongst themselves, wondering if the Seventh Prince's health was truly frail, that he had actually vomited blood from anger. Although the Crown Prince's residence seemed to have gone too far in this matter, many people also looked towards Ouyang Yue. It seemed that Princess Mingyue's marriage was going to cause some trouble. Some even thought of Princess Shuangxia, who had been widowed early in life. Could these two, grandmother and granddaughter, suffer the same fate? Of course, there were also quite a few people who were secretly gloating.
Emperor Mingxian looked at Baili Chen with a cold expression: "Since Seventh Brother is not feeling well, he should go back first."
"Yes, Father Emperor." Baili Chen responded weakly in a low voice, and then left with the help of Ouyang Yue and the servants.
Today's wedding banquet was arranged by the Chuanmen for Baili Chen. The main person involved has just left. What's the point of all of them staying? After Emperor Mingxian left, everyone here also left.
Baili Cheng coldly stared at Ning Xihe, whose face was pale: "You're incredibly stupid! Couldn't you have discussed this another day? What do you think today is, a game of make-believe? This is the Imperial Palace, this is the main hall, this is a momentous day with Father and Mother present, and you actually did something like this! You're utterly stupid!" Baili Cheng was furious. Ever since the selection of concubines, Ning Xihe had never been easy to deal with, and now she had actually committed such a breach of etiquette in the main hall—it was simply outrageous.
Ning Xihe said, "Your Highness, I really didn't mean to. Someone actually pushed me just now, which is why I lost my balance."
Baili Cheng sneered: "Do you think I'm that easy to fool? You dare to put a child's trick in front of me?"
"Your Highness, please believe me, I am truly innocent," Ning Xihe hurriedly said. She had a good understanding of Baili Chen's thoughts. She had just won Baili Chen's favor, and it would be a great loss if she were to be treated coldly because of it.
"Hmph, fine, tell me who pushed you just now."
Ning Xihe was taken aback and couldn't help but look at the people from the Crown Prince's residence, especially glancing at Lin Yingying and Mu Cuihuan. Both of them were startled, and Mu Cuihuan couldn't help but say, "Your Highness, what do you mean by looking at me like that? Are you trying to say that I did it? Your Highness, not everyone is like you, unable to see the situation and doing foolish things. If Your Highness dares to do something, you should dare to take responsibility. Now that you have displeased the Crown Prince, you can't just pin the blame on others. That's even more unacceptable."
Lin Yingying spoke softly and charmingly, "Your Highness, I am innocent. Please investigate thoroughly." Compared to Mu Cuihuan's rebuttal, Lin Yingying seemed even more vulnerable and helpless. The Crown Prince pulled Lin Yingying close, saying, "I know it wasn't you. Don't worry."
Mu Cuihuan and Ning Xihe's expressions both changed. Mu Cuiwei looked at Ning Xihe with an even colder expression: "Your Highness, although my status is not as noble as yours, I hope you will heed my advice. Although the people of the Chen Prince's Mansion are indeed annoying, they still need to be treated with respect. After all, one of them is a prince, and the other is a princess and a princess consort. They are of lower rank than you, but not by much. Respect is mutual. No one can do something shameful and expect others to still treat them with respect. Do you agree, Your Highness?" Mu Cuihuan was furious. Lin Yingying had stolen their favor as soon as she entered the mansion. The Crown Prince doted on her the most, but her seductive methods were indeed remarkable.
Look, she's already nestled in the prince's arms seeking comfort; it's absolutely disgusting.
Ning Xihe coldly retorted, "What I, the Crown Princess, do is none of Consort Mu's business!"
"Enough! You made a mistake and now you want to blame others. You can't even accept other people's well-intentioned advice. Do you even deserve to be my Crown Princess? I should have tried harder back then. If I had known you would only bring me shame, what use would I have kept you? Humph!" Baili Cheng angrily flicked his sleeve and turned to leave.
"Your Highness...this humble servant..." Ning Xihe sensed something was wrong and immediately tried to chase after him, but at that moment a palace maid came over and respectfully said, "Your Highness, the Empress requests your presence."
Ning Xihe's face turned even paler, while Lin Yingying and Mu Cuihuan watched her leave with cold eyes. Mu Cuihuan sneered, "The Empress is very particular about rules. I think she'll be reprimanding me this time."
Lin Yingying's eyes flickered, and finally a faint smile appeared on her face.
The Empress summoned Ning Xihe for a reprimand before releasing her. Ning Xihe was furious; she had never felt so aggrieved. First, she had inexplicably tripped and fallen in the main hall, drawing blood from her hand. Not only did no one care, but everyone blamed her for being petty and doing something so shameful in front of everyone. She was completely innocent; she had clearly done nothing wrong. And to make matters worse, the Crown Prince brought up her position as Crown Princess. Ning Xihe felt a strong sense of crisis. Would the Crown Prince really try to strip her of her title this time? Although the Crown Princess held a high position and no one could easily demote her, the Empress clearly had a grudge against her. If this happened, who could guarantee what the Crown Prince might do?
Ning Xihe felt a wave of fear. It seemed that she would have to be very careful when she returned this time. She would have to be humble and submissive to dissuade the Crown Prince from this idea.
Because the Empress had summoned Ning Xihe alone, she hadn't brought any servants with her. After leaving the Empress's palace, she was preoccupied with her thoughts and hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings. As a result, Ning Xihe unknowingly wandered into a secluded garden within the palace grounds. This garden was near the Cold Palace and was planted with only common varieties of flowers and plants, so few people wanted to come here. When Ning Xihe realized this, she was startled. Although she had visited the palace several times before, she wasn't particularly favored by the Empress and didn't have many opportunities to go. She wasn't very familiar with the palace environment, and she had never seen this place before; she was clearly lost.
Ning Xihe was startled and hurriedly tried to walk away, but at that moment, a gentle voice rang out: "Crown Princess, so you're here."
Ning Xihe glanced over and saw Lin Yingying, dressed in a green floral dress, walking gracefully like a swaying willow branch. Ning Xihe's eyes turned cold: "So it's Consort Lin. What a coincidence. I, the Crown Princess, only wanted to stroll around the palace, but I didn't expect to wander so far. But Consort Lin's arrival here can't just be a coincidence, can it?"
Lin Yingying smiled faintly at Ning Xihe: "What the Crown Princess says is true. This humble concubine did not come here just to see the scenery, but to find you."
Ning Xihe sneered, "What do you want from me? You think you can mock me? Lin Yingying, you may be favored by the Crown Prince and I can't touch you, but don't forget my status. I am the Crown Princess, and you are just a concubine. No matter what, I will always be superior to you. Stop pretending in front of me. Anyway, it's already like this. You can go and complain to the Crown Prince. But I also advise you, the more a woman complains, the less credible she becomes. The Crown Prince may not be like this now because he favors you, but one day he will lose interest in you. Then everything you did before will be considered a mistake. If you keep a low profile now, you can still gain favor for a few more years. Otherwise, I, the Crown Princess, will definitely let you taste the bitterness of losing favor."
Lin Yingying's usually gentle face flashed with a cold light as she looked at Ning Xihe and sneered, "Oh, Crown Princess, you're quite capable. So you're so skilled that you can even influence the Crown Prince's thoughts? Then why has he always been so indifferent to you?" Lin Yingying laughed, "Ning Xihe, you don't seem very bright at all. Do you know why I didn't participate in the beauty pageant? It's because those who are constantly praised become tiresome and are eventually forgotten. But those who bide their time and accumulate strength are often the ones who remain undefeated. You're just a Crown Princess; I, Lin Yingying, truly disdain such a position. Yet you act as if you have a trivial matter to command. Do you even deserve it?"
"Fine, Lin Yingying! Your feigned weakness and pitifulness in the Crown Prince's residence were all an act! How dare you, a mere concubine, speak to me, the Crown Prince's principal wife, like that? You have no respect for me, the Crown Princess! Today, I, the Crown Princess, will teach you a lesson and show you what true respect is!" Ning Xihe was furious. Today, she had been suppressed at every turn. As for Xuan Yuan Yue and Bai Li Chen, that was one thing, but today was their wedding day. Lin Yingying was not as noble as her, yet she dared to call her presumptuous. If Ning Xihe didn't punish Lin Yingying today, she would be furious.
Lin Yingying mocked, "Your Highness, do you look closely? Everyone here is one of my people now."
Ning Xihe sneered, "So what if they're your people? They're also from the Crown Prince's residence. Listen up, all of you! Seize Lin Yingying immediately! This is my order, Crown Princess. Give Lin Yingying fifty slaps. Whoever does the best will be richly rewarded." These were all people around Lin Yingying. Ning Xihe had openly bribed them with a hefty sum, and she naturally knew the chances were slim. But if she could make Lin Yingying angry and reprimand those servants, causing internal strife within her ranks, then her goal would be achieved.
However, to Ning Xihe's surprise, these servants didn't even change their expressions, let alone let them kill each other.
Lin Yingying sneered and waved her hand: "Make your move." As soon as she finished speaking, the servants behind her moved. There were six of them in total, all of whom had started as maids and had done manual labor. How could Ning Xihe, a young lady who had never lifted a finger, possibly escape?
Ning Xihe was furious: "Lin Yingying, what do you want to do? You should know that no matter how much the Crown Prince dotes on you, I am still the Crown Princess. How dare you touch me? That's a slap in the face to the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince is the heir apparent and he is the most particular about rules. Don't think that he will forgive you for everything!"
Lin Yingying gave a cold smile: "You're right, but that's on the condition that you tell him everything that happened today."
Ning Xihe's heart suddenly skipped a beat: "What do you mean!"
Lin Yingying slowly walked towards Ning Xihe, smiling gently: "Speaking of which, we are actually quite similar, except I'm much smarter than you. You, on the other hand, are just the daughter of a merchant's family. Although you've studied poetry and literature since childhood and have shown some refinement, you're still a lowly merchant's daughter. With your mother and your useless father around, what can you possibly be? You can learn so many things to disguise yourself, but deep down you're nothing but a hypocritical and vain woman. Heh, ever since you became the Crown Princess, your vanity has made you forget how to pretend. Oh, but I have to thank you for that. If you weren't so pathetic, how could I seem so understanding? The Crown Prince would naturally like someone like me."
Ning Xihe's face turned deathly pale: "What did you say?!"
Lin Yingying laughed disdainfully, "I'm telling you, you're the daughter of a lowly merchant's daughter, just as short-sighted as she is. Now you're going to pay the price for your vanity and ambition."
Ning Xihe's heart suddenly trembled: "You... what are you going to do! The Crown Prince will not let you get away with this, you can't hurt me!"
"How do you know the Crown Prince wouldn't? How do you know this wasn't ordered by the Crown Prince? Ning Xihe, you stole my things, and not only do you not know how to restrain yourself, but you also dare to flaunt your power in front of me! You're not worthy! Guards, take action!"
"No!" Ning Xihe was so frightened that she was about to scream when a rough rag was shoved into her mouth. Then she was forced to the ground. She tried to lift her head, but servants held it down tightly, making it impossible for her to move.
Then Ning Xihe suddenly felt something soft touch her neck. Ning Xihe was terrified and struggled to get up. However, the servants were quite strong. Four of them held her down, and no matter how much she struggled, she couldn't break free.