"Ah Li, why are you here?" Mo Xiu Yao asked softly.
Ye Li looked at him helplessly: "Just ran into it."
Mo Xiu Yao smiled slightly. He didn"t ask any more questions and let her sit by his side.
Besides Ye Ying who kept weeping and Mo Xiu Yao who was perfectly calm and collected and had half of his face covered, probably the rest of those in the hall were awkward. After all, what they were going to talk about was unconventional, and what made it so was those who got involved: one of them was the blood brother of His Majesty, the other the future consort of His Majesty. Though the royal family had seen worse, at least those royals knew how to hush up a scandal. What happened today in broad daylight, spread among all the n.o.ble ladies in the capital in no time, was rare.
"Shut up! What are you crying for?" Tired of the ghost-like cry, the elder prince clapped his hand on the table and scolded.
Ye Ying was startled by him and stopped crying at once. She looked at the elder prince with tears and a dull look in her eyes and didn"t dare to speak.
The elder prince snorted slightly before he turned to Consort Xian Zhao: "My Lady, how on earth did that happen? With what has happened, how about His Majesty..." How would they account for it to His Majesty? The elder prince knew well why Consort Xian Zhao had invited them over. His Majesty would definitely flare up over what happened. Death penalty would be a kind act to Mo Jing Li since he had committed adultery with the woman who was made His Majesty"s consort by imperial order. But... Consort Xian Zhao definitely didn"t want Prince Li dead, nor did Empress dowager, probably... nor did His Majesty. Besides, His Majesty probably didn"t want to offend Nan Zhao at the moment. Then, they had to plead for Prince Li and give His Majesty an out.
Consort Xian Zhao sighed: "I don"t know what happened exactly. I"ve heard that something went wrong here so I came hurriedly over and saw..."
Ye Ying snorted and screamed: "What else? That b.i.t.c.h seduced His Highness was exactly what happened..."
"Ye Ying!" Consort Xian Zhao glared at Ye Ying with a frown and said: "Mind who you are. Don"t act like a poorly-educated shrew! If you don"t want to remain here, get back to your room."
Ye Ying bit her lips. She turned away and didn"t speak any more.
The elder prince asked Mo Jing Li, who was standing in the middle of the main hall with a frown: "Jing Li, you were supposed to receive guests at the front yard, why were you at the place that was for the female guests? Have you forgotten all about etiquette after you got married?"
Mo Jing Li had always been cold and arrogant. He might not have run into another occasion that was more embarra.s.sing than this one. Besides, it was in front of Mo Xiu Yao, who he considered his rival since he was little and Ye Li, who he had abandoned which made him more awkward. His face was written with raging anger: "Someone pa.s.sed on a message and invited me there."
"So? After you were there, you started to make love to His Majesty"s consort?" A young prince who was sitting by the side sneered, ridicule clear in his eyes.
Ye Li had met all those princes. The one that was speaking was Prince Yi, Mo Jing Yi, Mo Jing Li"s half brother.
Mo Jing Li threw him a sharp glare.
Mo Jing Yi didn"t mind that. He laughed scornfully and simply started to measure up the roof.
"Who pa.s.sed you the message? Who were you there to meet? You are not allowed to enter where the female guests are without permission, didn"t you know that?" The other royal uncle of his launched all those questions with a frown.
n.o.body was in a good mood since they b.u.mped into such an incident at a wedding. It would be easier if it was an ordinary girl. Mo Jing Li might well take her as a concubine. But it was a princess who had been made a consort by imperial order. They had to get involved in this trouble since Consort Xian Zhao brought them in. By now, those present looked at Princess Qi Xia in almost the same way they would look at a s.l.u.t.
Princess Qi Xia knew well what they mean by their looks. She hurriedly shook her head and said: "No... no, it wasn"t me. I"ve never left a message to His Highness."
The elder prince snorted slightly. He stroked his white beard and cast her a sidelong glance: "You haven"t? Then why was Prince Li in your room? During that time, female guests were either having tea and chatting or playing in the garden. Why were you in the room, princess? More importantly... Princess Zhao Yang wasn"t here for the ceremony. Why were you here?" The elder prince threw her one question after another aggressively. But n.o.body was in a good enough mood to feel sorry for a foreign princess.
Princess Qi Xia hurriedly shook her head, her usual arrogance and willfulness gone. Panic-stricken, she looked at the expressionless crowd in the hall and her eyes suddenly lighted up and she pointed at a direction while saying: "It was her! It must have been her who had set up His Highness and me!"
Ye Li, who would get unjustly attacked even if she had done nothing was more certain about her previous speculation that foreign princesses were wrong in the head.
"Put down your hand or I don"t care if you"ll be able to use it for the rest of your life." Mo Xiu Yao looked at the agitated Princess Qi Xia calmly and said indifferently.
Princess Qi Xia couldn"t help but shivering. She instinctively got closer to Mo Jing Li, not noticing the hatred in Ye Ying"s eyes.
"I have only one enemy in Great Chu, which is her." Princess Qi Xia bit her lips and said: "Besides, Prince Li, she is also Prince Li"s enemy. Everyone knows that." Princess Qi Xia wasn"t a real fool. She knew well that if she was considered seducing and setting up Prince Li herself, Nan Zhao wouldn"t stand by her side even if she was executed as a future consort so she must prove herself innocent. However, she couldn"t come up with a suspect who would want to set her up. Since among those present, only Ye Li was her enemy, so accusing Ye Li of setting her up was her best choice.
"Princess Ding?" The crowd was stunned.
Ye Li had no choice but to sigh. She said in a small voice: "Princess, His Highness and I arrived around two in the afternoon. After I"ve arrived, I went to greet My Ladies and left them with forth sister around three o"clock. We"ve chatted for about 15 minutes then I went to meet three misses of Hua Family, Qin Family and Murong Family. After that, we"ve been talking in the garden. I believe a lot of misses who were in the garden could testify for me. Besides, when we found you two... it wasn"t even half past three and I was in Prince Li"s Manor for less than two hours. In fact, the only time that I could be considered suspicious was when I was with forth sister which was between three and a quarter past three. Princess Qi Xia didn"t seem to have received an invitation, besides, she was here before His Highness and me. Princess, let me ask you this. How would I know that you were here and learn about your exact location while sending someone to take a message for Prince Li in merely 15 minutes? Well?"
What Ye Li had said not only told everyone her whereabouts but also proved Ye Ying innocent.
"Well, you"ve missed something, princess... You didn"t deduct the time my brother, Prince Li and Princess Qi Xia... so there wasn"t even a 15-minute slot for us to suspect you, Princess Ding." Mo Jing Yi laughed, waving a fan.
After hearing what he said, the crowd looked even more annoyed at Princess Qi Xia who did what she did without any sense of shame and accused the innocent Princess Ding.
Princess Qi Xia found it hard to breathe. She didn"t expect to convince everyone that Ye Li was guilty by her words and only wanted to win herself some time. However, to her surprise, Ye Li had lay bare her lies calmly right away. For the moment, Princess Qi Xia was at a loss. She had no choice but to cry bitterly: "Well... it wasn"t me..."
"Enough!" Mo Jing Li who had been staring at Ye Li without a word for a good while finally said in a deep voice: "Don"t push her any more. I"ll take the responsibility."
"Bang!" The elder prince was so angry that he clapped on the table, who looked gloomy and pale at the same time. He stared at Mo Jing Li, his finger pointing at him while shaking: "b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Take the responsibility? What responsibility? What do you think you are doing? Accepting the consequences of your actions like a real man?"
Mo Jing Yi walked over and supported the elder prince with smiles: "Uncle, calm down. Prince Li probably forgets that Princess Qi Xia is made Consort Xia by His Majesty, that she"s his sister-in-law. Calm down, calm down..."
If Mo Jing Li had not spoken of responsibility, the elder prince would not have been so angry. After hearing what he said, the elder prince became more furious: "You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Have you forgotten all about propriety, righteousness, honesty, and sense of shame? Well... I won"t take part in this any more. I can"t in fact. Do as you like." In a burst of fury, the elder prince quit.
Consort Xian Zhao hurriedly comforted him: "Your Highness, please quell your anger. Jing Li was not sensible when he said that. Please forgive him as his uncle. His Majesty... about His Majesty..."
The elder prince glanced at her and snorted slightly: "Not sensible? He wasn"t indeed. Didn"t that happen because you spoiled him? Look what he has done so far this year? Which one of those things was sensible? In my opinion, he can prod through the heaven one day." As early as the time when Mo Jing Li insisted on breaking off his engagement with Ye Li, this elder prince started to be unhappy about this nephew of his. That engagement was made by the late emperor when he was still alive and the bride was the granddaughter of Xu Family. He thought that Mo Jing Li should have borne it as long as that Miss Ye didn"t do anything extremely wrong. It turned out that third miss was good enough while that forth miss he wanted to marry anyway wasn"t presentable.
Consort Xian Zhao hid her displeasure and tried her best to manage a smile. She need those princes" help in front of His Majesty. If Mo Jing Li went in front of His Majesty by himself, he would only be half alive if not dead once His Majesty was angry.
When the elder prince"s anger was finally quelled, he continued to ask: "Where was the one that left you the message. You must remember the look. Besides, who took Princess Qi Xia into the manor?"
In the past few days, there had been gossips about Prince Li and Princess Qi Xia. Princess Zhao Yang was most severe when it came to etiquette so she had kept Prince Qi Xia home since His Majesty made the order. Princess Zhao Yang didn"t even attend Mo Jing Li"s wedding this time so how did Princess Qi Xia end up here?
"I... I..." Princess Qi Xia said with grievance: "n.o.body stopped me at the gate." She was here early. Since she had been here for several times, many servants of the manor knew her. Therefore, even though she didn"t have an invitation, n.o.body stopped her at the gate.
A steward of Prince Li"s Manor came in and reported that some stimulant spice that was usually used at some obscene places was found in that room. The hall was left speechless. Princess Qi Xia came to Prince Li"s Manor while none of the servants of the manor told their master who was left in the dark. On top of that, getting a message, Mo Jing Li came to the place for female guests disregarding etiquette when he didn"t know exactly what would happen. Then...
It wasn"t a coincidence. It was melodramatic. Ye Li thought to herself. This time, His Majesty let slip a beauty before he even had her.
"Well. Let"s deal with this after Empress dowager is here. Besides, send someone for Princess Zhao Yang to take Princess Qi Xia back!" The elder prince said impatiently. Then he turned around at Mo Xiu Yao and added: "Xiu Yao, what do you think about it?"
Mo Xiu Yao smiled gently and politely: "Your Highness, you are the senior here. I"ll follow your decision." Those others promptly agreed as well.