Feng Jingyang jumped to his feet. "The jade pendant has been found?"
Ming Qi shook his head repeatedly. Just as he was about to reply, Concubine Zhao said coldly, "Look at you, so flustered! Aren't you afraid of offending His Majesty?"
Only then did Ming Qi come to his senses. Frightened, he quickly knelt on the ground. "Your Majesty, please forgive me. Your Highness the Concubine, please forgive me."
Feng Linche waved his hand impatiently. "What's the matter that has you so panicked?"
Ming Qi lowered his head. "Just now, this humble servant went to fetch the jade pendant. When I got to the door of the Fourth Prince's dressing room, I saw a maid acting furtively, trying to get in. When I stepped forward to question her, she couldn't answer a thing."
"What maid? Have you found out which palace she's from?" Concubine Zhao arched her delicate eyebrows slightly.
"She's not from the palace. Judging from her clothes and appearance, she seems to be..." Ming Qi paused and then raised his voice slightly. "She seems to be a maid brought by one of the young ladies."
Hearing this, Bai Zheng's eyelids twitched.
"This is quite interesting. Just now, Your Majesty clearly ordered all those attending the banquet to return to the hall. Why didn't this maid stay by her mistress's side and instead act furtively outside the Fourth Prince's dressing room?" Princess Yunxi said leisurely.
Zhuo Lingxiao continued with a smile, "If one didn't know better, they'd think that maid was going to steal the Fourth Prince's jade pendant."
"Whose maid is she?" Marquis Gaochang asked anxiously upon hearing this.
Concubine Zhao took the opportunity to ask Feng Linche, "Your Majesty, what do you think..."
Feng Linche nodded. Concubine Zhao immediately waved her hand, and a slender eunuch shouted in a high - pitched voice, "Bring her in!"
Soon, a green - dressed maid with her hands tied and her mouth gagged was dragged in between two imperial guards.
"Qing Shao!"
Seeing the person, Lady Lin couldn't help but let out a surprised gasp.
Bai Zheng frowned. She saw that Qing Shao was in a sorry state. There was a bloody gash on her right arm. Although it had been simply bandaged, the blood seeped through her clothes again because of the rough handling of the two imperial guards.
"Isn't this the new maid beside Zheng'er?" Bai Di said in surprise.
"Yes, I remember this maid was always by the Third Young Lady's side today." Someone else said.
For a moment, everyone looked at Bai Zheng again.
Marquis Gaochang glared at Bai Zheng fiercely. "Third Young Lady, what's going on here!"
Bai Zheng watched as Qing Shao was kicked to the ground. Qing Shao's eyes were red as she shook her head at Bai Zheng repeatedly. Bai Zheng was filled with suspicion.
She had sent Qing Shao to keep an eye on Feng Jingyang, but now she was in such a state. Obviously, after being detected by Feng Jingyang, she had been captured preemptively.
Marquis Gaochang stepped closer to her, his eyes sly and cold. "What on earth is going on? Can't the Third Young Lady give an explanation?"
"I..." Bai Zheng took a step back involuntarily under his stare.
"How can one explain something they don't know? Who knows if the Fourth Prince is just putting on a one - man show?" Suddenly, a hand reached out and supported Bai Zheng's back.
Bai Zheng suddenly felt like she had found support.
She couldn't help but turn her head and look along the arm that was holding her. In the cold room, Feng Linyuan was looking at her with a smile, his eyes gentle and firm.
In an instant, a warm current welled up in her heart.
Bai Zheng gave Feng Linyuan a smile.
There would always be someone standing firmly by her side - there was no need to be afraid.
She pursed her lips, walked up to Qing Shao whose mouth was stuffed with a cloth strip, squatted down, and gently stroked Qing Shao's still - bleeding arm with her fingers. Her eyes were full of pity. "You're injured."
"Hehe." Feng Jingyang sneered. "Is the Third Young Lady blaming us for being too heavy - handed? Should we have just let your maid steal the jade pendant?"
"Third Young Lady, the knife wound on this maid's arm wasn't made by this humble servant!" Ming Qi suddenly shouted.
Bai Zheng frowned slightly. She saw Qing Shao's eyes turn red when she heard this. Qing Shao stared intently at Bai Zheng and shook her head imperceptibly.
Seeing Qing Shao's expression, Bai Zheng's heart was in turmoil. She reached out her hand and tightly pressed it against Qing Shao's bound hands.
No one saw that at the same time, Qing Shao stretched out her fingers and wrote something stroke by stroke in Bai Zheng's palm.
Everyone was concentrating on what Ming Qi was going to say next. "When this humble servant found this maid, she already had a knife wound on her hand. During the process of capturing her, the bandage fell off. This humble servant felt sorry for her and re - bandaged it. But when bandaging, I found that the shape of her knife wound was quite strange..."
"What's so strange about it?" Feng Jingyang asked.
"This... This humble servant doesn't dare to make a hasty conclusion. It's better to let the internal official in charge of the investigation take a look." Ming Qi said respectfully.
Feng Linyuan let out a cold laugh.
This was almost a clear indication that Qing Shao was related to the case of Zheng Yan's murder.
Sure enough, Marquis Gaochang glared at Bai Zheng with eyes as if he wanted to devour her. Before Feng Linche could say anything, he shouted hysterically, "Investigate! Investigate for me!"
The internal official looked at Feng Linche in embarrassment. He saw Feng Linche narrow his eyes slightly. After a long while, he said in a deep voice, "Investigate."
The internal official got the order and quickly walked up to Qing Shao. After signaling Bai Zheng to get out of the way, he carefully examined Qing Shao's wound.
At this time, Bai Zheng had her head down, and her long hair hung on both sides. No one could see her expression.
Naturally, no one would know that at this moment, her face was full of uncontrollable shock and anger.
"What's wrong?" Feng Linyuan noticed Bai Zheng's strange behavior. He stepped forward and whispered in her ear.
Bai Zheng moved her lips and said hoarsely, "Zheng Yan... was really a silly girl."
Hearing this, Feng Linyuan suddenly looked at Qing Shao.
The internal official in charge of the examination stood up with a solemn expression. He respectfully reported to Feng Linche on the upper seat, "Your Majesty, the wound on this maid's arm seems to have been made by the dagger in Miss Zheng's hand when she was killed."
As soon as these words were spoken, the whole audience was in an uproar -
"So it was really the Third Young Lady who killed the person!"
"Maybe after she killed someone, she found that the jade pendant was lost, so she sent her maid to steal the Fourth Prince's jade pendant?"
"I didn't expect the Third Young Lady to be so vicious. It was clearly she who seduced the Fourth Prince first, and yet she had the nerve to kill someone! This is a human life..."
At this time, Lady Lin had already fainted from fright. Zhu Ling was helping her in a flurry. Bai Yinan also wanted to rush out to speak for his daughter, but was firmly blocked by the guards who appeared out of nowhere and couldn't move.
Marquis Gaochang felt a surge of anger in his chest. His whole body was trembling. He pointed at Bai Zheng and gritted his teeth. "You, it was really you!"
"Bold Bai Zheng, what crime do you deserve!" Feng Linche slapped the dragon throne. All the authority of the emperor was released in this shout.
Everyone was so frightened that they immediately fell silent.
Bai Zheng knelt on the ground with a thud. She withdrew the sneer on her face and regained an expression of astonishment and fear. She stammered, "Your, Your, Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please investigate. It wasn't this subject's daughter. This subject's daughter didn't kill anyone!"
"You didn't kill anyone?" Feng Linche looked down at her. "Then how do you explain the knife wound on your maid's arm?"