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Several imperial experts who had originally rushed towards Princess Xinyang were almost instantly repelled by a terrifying internal force.
No one saw how this man, who had appeared out of the blue, made his move. By the time everyone reacted, they had all fallen beside Princess Ning"an.
These were all skilled martial experts brought from the borderlands. Although not as formidable as the Dragon Shadow Guards, they were by no means ordinary, yet they were easily defeated by the other party.
Princess Ning"an was so astonished that she couldn"t speak.
In an instant, she recognized the Dragon Shadow Guard mask on the man"s face.
But wasn"t this strange?
She had seen all four Dragon Shadow Guards of the Emperor, but none of them were as tall and swift, not to mention one of them was already dead while the other three were still recovering from severe injuries, so it was impossible for them to be mobilized at this time.
That being the case, where did this Dragon Shadow Guard come from?
Very few court officials had truly seen these so-called Dragon Shadow Guards, so for a moment, no one recognized this man as the terrifying Dragon Shadow Guard from rumors. They simply thought he was a dark guard by Princess Xinyang"s side.
Court officials like them didn"t have much understanding of the strength of these martial experts, but seeing him effortlessly defeat four opponents, they couldn"t help but think he was formidable.
"So powerful. He must be one of Marquis Xuanping"s dark guards, right?"
"Should be."
Some officials whispered to each other.
Out of fear of Long Yi, no one dared to step forward to help the injured Princess Ning"an up.
Princess Xinyang slowly descended the steps, her face covered in red rashes, but her aura remained undiminished.
Stopping on a step in front of Princess Ning"an, she looked down at her, "You say I"m fake? Open your eyes wide and take a look, am I fake?"
Princess Ning"an"s gaze fixed firmly on Princess Xinyang"s face, then shifted to the face of that servant girl after a while.
Princess Xinyang raised her hand and beckoned.
The servant girl understood and quietly came to Princess Xinyang"s side.
Princess Xinyang said lightly, "You suspect that my servant girl is wearing a human skin mask, then I"ll have someone reveal it to you." With that, she looked towards a nearby eunuch. "You, come here."
The eunuch briskly walked over.
"Go ahead."
"Yes." The eunuch approached the servant girl and politely said, "Pardon me."
He reached out to touch the servant girl"s facial contours and behind her ears. After careful examination, he turned to Princess Xinyang and Princess Ning"an, saying, "In response to both princesses, it"s her own face."
Princess Ning"an"s face changed color, "Impossible!"
Yesterday it was this servant girl who was with the fake Princess Xinyang. The actions of this servant girl were filled with strangeness everywhere; she even checked the Emperor’s pulse.
Clearly, it was Gu Jiao!
Princess Xinyang ordered, "Yu’er, come over here yourself and let Princess Ning"an see your face."
"Yes." The servant girl called Yu’er walked up to Princess Ning"an, crouching down to bring her face close to Princess Ning"an"s.
Princess Ning"an raised her hand to touch her face.
It was indeed her own face.
Princess Ning’an widened her eyes in disbelief.
Princess Xinyang asked coldly, "Ning"an, why did you do this?"
Princess Ning"an glanced at the officials with complicated expressions, explaining, "Someone saw Princess Xinyang causing trouble with this servant girl in the street, exposing that she wasn"t the real Princess Xinyang, so I..."
Princess Xinyang snorted coldly, "That’s why you didn’t go to the Kunning Palace to report to the Empress nor did you go to the East Palace to inform the Crown Prince, let alone come to my Princess Mansion to verify with my servants?! You just proceeded on publicly accusing me like this?! Have you gone crazy about trying to gain merit? Or are you deliberately trying to obstruct me from acting as regent?"
Princess Ning"an gritted her teeth, avoiding the words that hit all the nails, and tried to steer the focus back, "If I wasn"t sure you were fake, would I come to expose you? This is obviously you setting me up."
Princess Xinyang remained unfazed, "Even if I’m setting you up, it"s still up to you whether you"re willing to fall into it. With the Empress and the Crown Prince both present, how can it be your turn to expose the fake princess in the imperial audience hall?"
That was because Empress Xiao defended Xiao Liulang. If she knew one of the impostors was Xiao Liulang"s wife, Gu Jiao, she simply might have suppressed this matter.
On the other hand, once things escalated to the imperial audience hall, there would be no turning back.
"What happened?" Empress Xiao and the Crown Prince rushed over, with Empress Xiao being the one to inquire.
Princess Xinyang recounted what had just happened to the Empress, "...The Empress saw my face yesterday and knows the severity of my condition. If my face hadn"t improved so quickly, I’m afraid no one would recognize me today. She might say, "If you are innocent, wait until your rash clears up in a few days, and the truth will be revealed then." The problem is, during the days I wait for the rash to fade in the prison, wouldn"t I be susceptible to someone"s scheme?"
Her words were flawless, even Empress Xiao felt that this method of scheming was plausible.
If Princess Ning"an"s goal was to harm Xinyang in prison, then her actions today in the imperial audience hall made sense.
Princess Ning"an was infuriated, never expecting someone could weave lies so flawlessly.
"But have you forgotten something? I have no reason to harm you!"
Indeed, she had no reason to frame Xinyang.
She wanted to see how Xinyang would counter this.
Princess Xinyang hooked up the corner of her lips mockingly, "Do you really think His Majesty hasn"t told me anything?"
Princess Ning"an frowned, not understanding Xinyang"s words, but instinctively feeling something ominous.
"There are some things His Majesty has concealed out of consideration for your dignity. I had no intention of exposing them, but you refuse to shed tears until you see the coffin. Since that’s the case, don"t blame me for exposing the crimes of you and your mother to the world!"
Princess Ning"an"s temples throbbed!
She knew what Princess Xinyang was about to say, but unfortunately, she reacted too late to silence Princess Xinyang.
Princess Xinyang glared angrily at Princess Ning"an, saying loudly, "When my son was five years old, he was poisoned near Renshou Palace, and the mastermind was none other than your mother, Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing! Not only did she poison my son and shift the blame to Empress Dowager Zhuang, she also drugged His Majesty, instigating discord between His Majesty and Empress Dowager Zhuang! She even hired someone to a.s.sa.s.sinate His Majesty and kidnap Empress Dowager Zhuang! Her crimes are numerous and each of them are heinous! Such a wicked and evil person should be executed immediately. It"s ridiculous that you actually think we colluded to force her to her death!"
Princess Ning’an: "You!"
Princess Xinyang said coldly, "What about me? What did I say wrong? Or is it that none of my words are wrong, and you"re so guilty that you can only stare at me blankly?
Princess Ning"an remained silent for a good while, unable to muster a single word.
It was at this moment that she truly realized she had been completely crushed.
No matter if it was truth or lies, she was thoroughly crushed by Princess Xinyang.
"You"re talking nonsense! I didn"t do it! Sister-in-law! Please believe me!" Princess Ning"an couldn"t retort against Xinyang"s accusations and could only turn to Empress Xiao for hope.
Empress Xiao and Princess Xinyang had never gotten along.
If you asked Empress Xiao which princess she disliked the most, it would be Princess Xinyang.
However, most people only saw Empress Xiao showing displeasure to Princess Xinyang, not knowing that all those were just from trivial matters. Empress Xiao wouldn"t show her emotions when she truly planned to scheme against someone.
Empress Xiao said solemnly, "I will investigate this matter thoroughly. Take Princess Ning"an away for now. Without my orders, she"s not to leave Bixia Palace."
It meant that Princess Ning"an was to be confined.Raz P."s Thoughts
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