As Bai Zheng stepped through the door, she saw Bai Yinan and Mrs. Lin looking worriedly at her injured foot. She gave them a sweet smile and then turned to Su Muxiao, looking her up and down in feigned surprise. "Cousin... What's going on? Why aren't you dressed properly? What on earth were you doing looking so disheveled?"
As soon as she said this, everyone burst into laughter.
Bai Zheng's question seemed innocent, but upon closer inspection, it was full of sarcasm. After all, what could a woman be doing to end up so disheveled?
Su Muxiao was furious. "You're still pretending! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be lying here looking like this!"
"May I ask what zodiac sign Miss Su is?" Feng Linyuan suddenly interjected.
Su Muxiao was puzzled. "Why do you ask?"
A gentle smile curled up on Feng Linyuan's lips. "I thought Miss Su was a dog, which is why she has the habit of biting anyone she can catch."
"You!" Looking at the onlookers laughing even more loudly, Su Muxiao pointed at Bai Zheng angrily. "You vixen are really crafty! All these stinky men are on your side! It's obvious that you've had an affair with the Fourth Prince. Now, for your sake, the Fourth Prince is bent on framing me. What kind of love potion did you give the Fourth Prince?"
At this time, Zhuling had whispered in Bai Zheng's ear, briefly telling her what had happened when Zheng Yan caught the so - called adulterers.
A fleeting sneer crossed Bai Zheng's face. "I see. Cousin, if you and the Fourth Prince truly love each other, what's there to hide? The Fourth Prince is even willing to go against the entire Marquis Gaochang's Mansion for the one he loves, but you're so concerned about your own reputation that you're slandering the Fourth Prince. Aren't you afraid of breaking the Fourth Prince's heart?"
As soon as she said this, Princess Pingyang and Marquis Gaochang both looked displeased. Zheng Yan's murderous intent was even more obvious. Remembering how Feng Jingyang had hugged Su Muxiao and vowed to take responsibility for her, Zheng Yan wished she could chop Su Muxiao into pieces and feed her to the dogs.
The looks from the crowd towards Su Muxiao were even more contemptuous.
Feng Jingye coolly interjected, "Yes, Miss Su is really heartless. Fourth Brother, you've truly placed your trust in the wrong person."
Bai Di tightly clenched her fist in her sleeve. "But Zheng'er, how did you happen to run out at that exact moment?"
As the mastermind behind this, Bai Di naturally knew that things were not as simple as Bai Zheng had said, but she couldn't figure out why the plan had failed.
Moreover, she had already shifted all the blame onto Su Muxiao. Now that Bai Zheng had returned with Feng Linyuan as a witness, Bai Di was completely helpless against her.
Bai Zheng looked at Bai Di and smiled. Her clear and cold eyes sparkled like water waves. "Thank you for your concern, Second Sister. I don't know either. At that time, I wonder why, coincidentally, cousin wasn't in the side room."
As if answering Bai Di's question, Bai Zheng deliberately emphasized the words "coincidentally". Seeing everyone nodding in understanding, she continued.
"I was worried that cousin and Zhuling were lost. I was going to ask Miss Zheng to send someone to look for them. Who would have thought that I sprained my foot before I could find them."
Su Muxiao bit her lip, and her long nails dug deeply into the palm of her hand. She tried hard to calm herself down.
She couldn't just shout and scream aimlessly like before. No one here would believe her, and no one would stand up for her. If she let the charge of seducing Feng Jingyang stand, she would be completely ruined!
Not only would her reputation be destroyed, but the Marquis Gaochang's Mansion would never let her go.
No, she had to think of a way. She couldn't just sit and wait for death!
"You're lying! The maid who led the way can testify. It was you who entered this guest room at that time, and I was always in the side room. If I really wanted to have a tryst with the Fourth Prince, why wasn't I caught in the side room but in this guest room!" Su Muxiao tried to organize her thoughts and retorted.
Bai Zheng smiled sweetly. "I have to say, cousin is really meticulous. Since it was the maid sent by the princess who led the way, cousin naturally wouldn't dare to have a tryst with her lover openly in the side room. But if you pulled a fast one and deliberately led me away, leaving this guest room for you two, the result would be completely different. I dare say that if the Fourth Prince hadn't accidentally been seen by a maid of the marquis's mansion when he came, and if Miss Zheng hadn't insisted on breaking into the room, I'm afraid everyone would think that it was me having a tryst with some wild man here!"
"You're lying! If it was me having a tryst with the Fourth Prince, and the Fourth Prince is familiar with the layout here, how could he have been seen by a maid on the way? It was clearly you who knocked me out, carried me to the guest room, and asked the Fourth Prince to frame me together!" Su Muxiao's eyes were constantly rolling, and she shouted harshly.
Bai Zheng sneered. "Cousin says you've been in the side room all the time, and it was me and the maid who carried you from the side room to the guest room. Then I'd like to ask, there's a certain distance between the guest room and the side room. How could two weak women carry you all the way without being seen by anyone? Are the guards of the marquis's mansion just for show, or do I have such extraordinary abilities that I can bribe the guards I've never met before without leaving the mansion?"
Marquis Gaochang snorted. "I'm also very curious about how Miss Su got such great courage to do such a despicable thing in my mansion. It seems that the guards of my mansion are really useless."
Hearing this, a group of guards in blue clothes following the marquis immediately knelt down in unison. The leading man was the "Captain Mo" that Bai Zheng had seen through the bookshelf in the marquis's study. Only to hear him say in a deep voice, "It's my incompetence. Please punish me, my lord."
"Take forty big boards yourself." Marquis Gaochang clearly took out his anger on him.
Su Muxiao's rational defense line was gradually collapsing. She was on the verge of a breakdown. She took a deep breath and tried to suppress the panic in her heart. "Even if you didn't carry me, you sent someone to do it, or the Fourth Prince. You asked the Fourth Prince to send someone to carry me!"
Bai Zheng looked coldly at the almost - collapsed Su Muxiao and said calmly, "There are only four of us from the Bai Mansion. Father and Mother have been staying in the front yard. That leaves only me and Zhuling. Who else can I send? As for the Fourth Prince, cousin, to be honest, my relationship with the Fourth Prince is not as close as yours. Why would the Fourth Prince slander you for my sake?"
"Because Miss Zheng is arrogant and domineering. The Fourth Prince doesn't want to marry her at all! But this marriage is not something the Fourth Prince can cancel as he wishes. So he took advantage of the emperor's personal marriage decree for you to get rid of Miss Zheng!" Su Muxiao's face was as white as a sheet, and her fingers were trembling constantly.
All she could think about was saving herself and had no time to consider other things. So, as long as it was beneficial to her, she blurted it out without thinking.
She didn't care who she would offend after saying these words.
Hearing this, a look of extreme coldness flashed in Feng Jingyang's eyes.
"Cousin!" Bai Di knew something was wrong. Her face darkened, and she said sharply, "You should be responsible for what you've done with cousin - brother. When you seduced cousin - brother back then, I advised you to think twice. You said you were deeply in love with cousin - brother and didn't care about your status. Now that things have been exposed, why do you slander cousin - brother and Miss Zheng for your own self - interest?"
"You're lying!" Su Muxiao didn't expect that Bai Di would still step on her at this moment, completely ruining her reputation. "It was clearly you! It was clearly you all conspiring against me!"