When Ye Li and Mo Xiu Yao came out, the crowd that were whispering a second ago went silent immediately. Apparently, what happened in the imperial garden had shocked many people. Not only Her Majesty but His Majesty also came. With them were envoys from all countries except Bei Rong.
Seeing the two are out, Mo Jing Qi looked at Ye Li first for a while before he asked: "Prince Ding, how is Princess Ding?"
Mo Xiu Yao said indifferently: "Your Majesty, thank you for your concern. Ah Li is all well now."
The empress nodded happily and said: "Thank goodness you are unharmed, Princess Ding. Have a seat."
The two of them thanked the empress. Ye Li took a seat after that. The eldest son of Prince Zhenan who was opposite them stood up and said loudly: "Princess Ding, Ling Yun was frightened just now and accidentally startled you. Please forgive her for that."
Before he even finished his sentence, Princess Ling Yun who was next to him already stood up abruptly and shouted: "Brother! I"ve told you that she had pushed me into the lake!"
Princess Zhao Yang looked at Princess Ling Yun with a frown and said: "Princess, those present all saw that Princess Ding wanted to save you while you pushed her into the lake when she was exhausted which led her to pa.s.s out."
Princess Ling Yun was red with anger: "I have witnesses."
Princess Zhao Yang said indifferently with a frown: "I know. You"ve said that your maids saw that Princess Ding pushed you into the water. But... considering how you treated Princess Ding in Fengde Palace and how you behaved in the water, I"m afraid what your maids are going to say won"t be very convincing."
Princess Ling Yun screamed: "Are you saying that I lied?"
Princess Zhao Yang glanced at her with indifference. Though she didn"t answer but her expression explained everything.
"Ling Yun, stop the nonsense!" Lei Teng Feng scolded her with a deep voice.
Princess Ling Yun was so angry that she wept loudly and said with hatred: "Well! Since you don"t believe me, I will prove it with my death." After she had said that, she took a gold hairpin from her head and was about to stab it into her chest.
"Princess, stop it!"
"Ling Yun!" Lei Teng Feng, with his sharp eyes and deft hands grabbed Princess Ling Yun"s arms and took the hairpin from her. He looked at this willful cousin of his who really gave him a headache and glanced at Ye Li who was sitting at his opposite with suspicion. Though this cousin of his always made trouble but she hadn"t reacted so violently.
Could it be that she was truly innocent?
"Princess Ding, could you please tell us what happened?" Lei Teng Feng asked, looking straight into Ye Li"s eyes.
Ye Li looked back at him calmly and said in a soft voice: "I don"t know either. One second Princess Ling Yun was talking to me and another second she was in the lake. Immediately after that, I fell into the lake as well."
Lei Teng Feng"s frown deepened. He gazed at Ye Li with caution and said: "So you fell into the lake as well? Do you know how you fell into it?"
Ye Li shook her head: "Princess Ling Yun went down all of a sudden. I was so shocked that before I realized I was already in the lake."
"It seemed that you knew how to swim, didn"t you, Princess Ding?" Lei Teng Feng said.
Ye Li smiled slightly and said: "Not really. Only that I"ve learned how to swim since I had fallen into the water when I was little. But I don"t have much experience therefore..."
It seemed that Ye Li had said nothing but to those present, she had said everything. They even started to reconstruct what had happened in their minds. Everybody had seen with their own eyes that Princess Ling Yun forcefully asked Princess Ding for a chat. It must have been something unpleasant the two of them were talking about which made Princess Ling Yun"s blood boil and without much caution she fell into the lake while bringing Princess Ding down with her. If that was so, the whole thing could pa.s.s as an accident. However, Princess Ling Yun was clearly saved by Princess Ding while she returned kindness with enmity, pushing Princess Ding into the water which made her unconscious. Besides, while the victim was unconscious, Princess Ling Yun told the world that she was pushed into the lake. All of a sudden, the view on Princess Ling Yun and envoys of Xi Ling changed in the chamber. n.o.bles of Great Chu didn"t have much favorable opinions of Xi Ling to begin with, now they had more reasons to dislike it. What kind of moral conduct did those from Xi Ling hold?
"Princess Ling Yun, you don"t have to attempt suicide as a threat, to be honest. We are at the palace of Great Chu after all. If something bad happens to you, it would harm the relations between Xi Ling and Great Chu. Though I"m just a woman, I will never do something to harm the peace between our countries." Ye Li looked at Princess Ling Yun and said in a calm and unhurried manner: "But I have some questions. Princess Ling Yun and me came from the imperial garden. We both left our maids behind. Normally, at that location... no matter Princess Ling Yun fell herself or was pushed by me, only if your maids were by the lake or they wouldn"t have seen it. I wonder how they had seen that I had pushed you into the lake? Your Highness, could I summon my maids and Princess Ling Yun maids?"
The emperor turned his head and glanced at Mo Xiu Yao, seeing that he didn"t object, the emperor nodded: "Yes, princess."
Qing Luan and the other girls were there soon, besides, the maids that Princess Ling Yun brought from Xi Ling were also there. Princess Zhao Yang raised the question: "Were you with the princesses at the time?"
Qing Yu took a step forward and said: "Princess, at that time Princess Ling Yun said she wanted to talk to our princess in private and she asked her maids to remain behind first so our princess asked us to leave them."
Princess Royal Zhao Yang raised her eyebrows and continued: "Then, have you seen what happened exactly by the lake?"
Qing Yu shook her head and answered: "There was a rockery between the lake and the imperial garden. We were a little far away and didn"t see anything due to the rockery."
Princess Ling Yun"s maids went forward and said: "We"ve seen that Princess Ding pushed our princess into the lake."
Princess Zhao Yang said: "I know the rockery by the lake. When I was little, I used to play in it. If you were standing behind it, there was no chance that you could see what happened by the lake."
"We weren"t behind the rockery!" The maid said abruptly.
Princess Zhao Yang raised her eyebrows and glanced at Princess Ling Yun with a seeming smile yet not a smile. She asked: "Oh... then where were you at that time?"
"We... we were by the peach woods beside the lake." That maid seemed to think that she had said something inappropriate. She managed an answer while glancing hurriedly at where those from Xi Ling were seated.
Princess Zhao Yang nodded: "If you were there, you could have seen it. But I want to know why you were at the peach woods making a detour of almost half an imperial garden when you were supposed to wait at the place where the princess have left you? I remember that there was a little river between the peach woods and the rockery beside the lake. But the bridge was a little far away."
"Eh..." In front all these people, including the emperor and empress of Great Chu, the maid wouldn"t dare not to answer Princess Royal in a million years. She said: "Yes... our princess asked us to go there... go there..."
Princess Zhao Yang laughed: "And then what? If it was March, it was reasonable that you go there and pick some peach blossoms. But now it"s June, normally n.o.body goes there."
"I... I..." The maid wanted to ask Princess Ling Yun for help in a hurry.
However, at this moment, Princess Ling Yun couldn"t think of anything to justify her statement. She forcefully argued: "No matter where they were, at least they could prove that they"ve seen that I was pushed into the lake."
Princess Royal had grown up in the imperial palace, it was hard to fool her. Her almond-shaped eyes were on that maid all this time and she said: "Since you"ve said that Princess Ding has pushed Princess Ling Yun. Then tell me how she did it. Was Princess Ling Yun facing Princess Ding at that moment or was she not? Did Princess Ding push her with her left or right hand? Did Princess Ling Yun scream when she was pushed into the lake? If she did, what did she say?"
The maid"s expression froze. She said after a good while: "I remember that... Princess wasn"t facing Princess Ding at the moment and Princess Ding... Princess Ding pushed her with left, right hand. Princess screamed for help after she was in the water."
Lei Teng Feng who was by the side turned gloomy and cursed this fool of a maid secretly.
Princess Royal Zhao Yang"s expression changed and said in a stern voice: "How dare you lying in front of His Majesty and Her Majesty? The guards who were there first said they didn"t hear any call for help and they were only there because of your yell. They didn"t know there were people in the lake after seeing the rolling waves on water. Why would you hear Princess Ling Yun"s call for help? Are you a kung fu master who sees and hears better than the guards?"
"I... I..." The maid had already spent all her force making up all those stories. One harsh excoriation from Princess Royal and the maid fell to the ground: "Princess, please forgive me, please forgive me, I, I..."