C24

The next day, I went to the empress dowager's palace to pay my respects, but as soon as I entered the main hall, I felt that the atmosphere wasn't right. After I greeted her, the empress's cold tone made me flinch, and I trembled with fear.

"Greetings, Crown Princess Consort." I bowed slightly.

"If Imperial Mother doesn't believe me, why don't you ask her and she will know? He didn't need to say that his daughter-in-law was causing trouble here. "Besides, it would be best for you to clarify the matter so that the talkative little person wouldn't spread rumors outside. This will ruin your reputation as a princess." The Crown Princess laughed, but the sharp ridicule in her words made my spine turn cold. I quickly went through everything that had happened in the past few days as if I hadn't done anything wrong. Why does it feel like she was referring to me?

I calmly raised my head, trying to read something from the empress's expression. However, what I saw was her tightly pursing her lips. She looked at me with both distrust and anger.

I was at a loss of what to do, but the calmness of the training made me relax very quickly. Smiling, I said:

"But has little girl angered the empress?"

The empress gave a long sigh and said to me with a straight face,

"Bring me your Scholar's Tassel."

I did not dare disobey, and untied the Scholar's Tassel from my waist, my mind raced, and I suddenly understood the princess' intentions. Wasn't the spiritual warm jade that Yang Liang gifted me contained within the Scholar's Tassel?

However, he still presented the Scholar's Tassel openly, but secretly thought, when Ah He gave me the jade, it was in a remote place, and there was no one around, so how could I let the Crown Princess know?

When the empress saw the warm jade, her face turned even gloomier. She suppressed her anger and asked,

"This jade is pretty good, where did you get it from?"

I hesitated, wondering if I should say that if I did, wouldn't it mean that Yang Liang and I had accepted it in private? If it was a normal item, it would be easy to explain, but this piece of jade was priceless. To be able to gift this item, it is definitely not an ordinary friendship. Since I owe my master and servants a favor, how can I bear to implicate them?

Not knowing how to answer, I plopped to my knees and lay there without speaking, thinking about how to deal with it.

"Mother, look, isn't this the feeling of guilt?" It seems like the rumor my daughter-in-law heard was not groundless. In the end, she was still a village and didn't know what to do. " The Crown Princess embellished her words with a sharp tone, and the loathing in her tone confused me.

"Shut up!" The Crown Princess kept quiet.

"Ki Er, tell me the truth. What happened between you and that brat?" The empress's cold tone was tinged with pity.

I looked up blankly. "Which kid?"

The Crown Princess clicked her tongue and said, "Don't you know which guy? King Han's attendant, Yu culture and all that. "

Ever since Yang Guang performed his sword dance, the Crown Princess had always been unkind to me. Even when we met by chance, she would always leave proudly, ignoring me. Even though I was in the imperial harem, I heard that the crown prince Yang Yong was weak and useless, his storage was unstable, while Yang Guang was deeply loved by the empress, and I also received the empress's favor. As such, the rumors increased, and most likely, they were all discussing whether the emperor would become a cripple or not.

"I have no personal relationship with Yu Wen." I heaved a sigh of relief. So she only knew that Ah He gave me the warm jade, she didn't know that Yang Liang had worked hard to find it. It seemed that she didn't know that this jade was valuable, if she knew, how could she believe that a servant could take it out?

She wanted to frame me with A'he, but how innocent is A'he? I can't involve him in this, so how should I explain the origin of this jade?

The empress, seeing that I was calm and unperturbed, yet unable to say the origin of the warm jade, hesitated and sent a young eunuch to deliver it. Yang Liang and A'he, who had been staying in the Cool Breeze House the night before, came over quickly. I knelt on the ground, my legs numb. I was extremely nervous, afraid that Ah He would say something inappropriate.

"Kid, I ask you, on the night when the cult wreaked havoc, where were you?" the Empress asked sternly.

When she asked, I was even more surprised. [Did the Crown Princess know that I fell off the cliff with Ah He?] I felt a chill in my heart, a chill that made my heart flutter. I clenched my hands as my nails dug into the flesh of my palms. I wanted to use the pain to ease my panic.

I am the future Princess Jin. Although I am the future Princess, I have spent the night alone with a man in the valley. No matter how hard I tried to defend myself, it only got worse.

"I've always been by His Majesty's side." I was impressed by his calmness, and slowly let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh? Do you recognize this? " The Queen took out the communication jade and handed it to Yingxiu, who brought it to him.

"This —" Ah Zhi looked at me hesitantly, not knowing how to answer.

"No need for mother to ask, this item was gifted to the princess by me." His voice was clear and calm, and as if Yang Liang had made up his mind, he strode in.

"This son greets mother! "It's been a while since we've seen each other. It's no wonder that if it wasn't for the fact that she had some ulterior motives, she wouldn't have thought to come to the palace to pay her respects." Yang Liang looked at the Crown Princess with a mocking expression.

The Crown Princess's face instantly turned pale. She didn't expect Yang Liang to admit to her, and Yang Liang's taunt made her feel embarrassed. However, what he said was true. The Crown Princess rarely thought of inviting him over in the past month.

As Yang Liang arrived, the chilling atmosphere in the room eased slightly. The empress glanced at the crown prince's consort unhappily and said,

"You mustn't be rude! Since you said this jade is yours, then where did you get it from? I don't recall having such a rare object in the palace. "

Yang Liang was dressed in a light green robe, and there was a jade tree in the middle of spring. A trace of gentleness appeared in his jade-like eyes as he looked fixedly at me, who was kneeling on the ground, and replied,

"My mother told me that after I heard that the princess had been severely ill, the cold energy in my body couldn't be dispelled because I heard that there was a batch of spiritual warm jade on Moyang Mountain that could dispel the cold, so I begged for it and was only willing to relieve the cold energy in the princess's body."

"The King of Han is rather concerned about Princess Jin." When the Crown Princess heard him, she said it out loud. It seemed like she had failed her plan and was trying to stir up Yang Guang and Yang Liang's relationship again.

The empress's eyes were still suspicious, but the Crown Princess's words were too harsh. After all, Yang Liang was the empress's own son, and the Crown Princess was her daughter-in-law. They were separated by a level.

"This jade is probably priceless. Then, how could Taoist Vast Sky be willing to give it to you?"

As if he had come prepared, Yang Liang slowly said,

This matter is a long story. Two years ago, your son was out on a trip and saved Daoist Chang Kong's life, so in his heart, I gave him a large sum of money as a gift. He forced himself to lend this jade to your son, but if the princess is fine, then you can return it.

The empress nodded slightly. Moyang Mountain was a land of the emperor, so his words made sense.

Yang Liang looked at me and then looked at the Queen. After hesitating for a moment, he mustered up his courage and said,

"This son dares. May the Queen and the Princess move to a cool residence. This son has something to offer."

The empress was surprised, her eyebrows raised slightly as she asked.

"What can't I bring? Do you need me to go personally? "

"This … mother will know when she goes." I noticed Yang Liang's expression. There was a trace of nervousness and unease on his face, but he seemed very determined.

The empress thought for a moment and said:

"Alright, since I have nothing better to do, I'll go and see what treasure you've brought out for me."