Bai Zheng tried hard to recall before answering, "It's true."
"You were cold, hungry and penniless. It was an old man who took pity on you and gave you half a bun.
But you had only taken one bite when you saw a little boy who looked even more pitiful than you staring longingly at the half - bun in your hand."
Bai Zheng lowered her head and let out a soft laugh, "I remember now. That kid kept staring at the bun in my hand. I felt so pressured that I finally had to give the bun to him."
"That's Chu Feng," Princess Yun Xi said word by word.
"What?" Bai Zheng was stunned, "He's Chu Feng?"
Princess Yun Xi nodded, "At that time, young Master Chu was naughty. He escaped from the prime minister's mansion, planning to make his fortune in the world. He took a lot of gold, silver and jewels as travel expenses, but he was robbed of everything soon after he left home. Even his fine clothes were stripped off.
He was also beaten up by some passing street urchins.
He was dirty and smelly, and passers - by all avoided him.
But only you, Third Miss, gave him half a bun."
Hearing this, Bai Zheng smiled slightly.
If Princess Yun Xi hadn't mentioned it, she would have long since buried this past in the long river of time without even a ripple.
She never expected that her fate with Chu Feng actually began here.
"I don't know if your second elder sister was jealous or for some other reason. After she heard about your engagement, she sent people to find out about this past."
"So my second elder sister took my place and claimed that it was she who gave the bun to the little boy?" Bai Zheng naturally continued.
Isn't that how it's usually shown on TV? Most misunderstandings between the male and female leads arise from this, right?
"Clap, clap!" Princess Yun Xi couldn't help but clap her hands, "Third Miss is really good at predicting things."
Bai Zheng waved her hand, "The person who's already missed is not worth mentioning. Even if it wasn't me who gave him the bun, his later attitude was really chilling. Moreover, he was so one - sided and credulous. It's obvious that he's not a good person."
"Third Miss is right," Princess Yun Xi said as she picked up a stack of papers and handed them to Bai Zheng, "These are all the people who were responsible for ruining Third Miss's reputation in front of Master Chu."
Bai Zheng flipped through them roughly and couldn't help but sigh at Bai Di's meticulous planning.
The people responsible for spreading rumors included servants from the prime minister's mansion, Master Chu's close friends, and even the personal servants of his friends. It could be said that they formed a complete public opinion offensive circle around Chu Feng from all directions.
It was impossible for Chu Feng not to believe them.
Seeing that Bai Zheng had finished reading, Princess Yun Xi continued, "That's why there was the incident of Miss Bai falling off the cliff last time."
"Falling off the cliff?" Seeing that Princess Yun Xi had finally got to the point after a long - winded talk, Bai Zheng immediately pricked up her ears and looked at the princess intently.
"That day was the first time you went to a banquet outside the city. You were humiliated by Master Chu and your second elder sister at the banquet. Unable to bear the humiliation, you left alone and returned early. But unexpectedly, when you passed by the bandit mountain, you were intercepted by bandits and ended up falling off the cliff to preserve your innocence."
Bai Zheng was a little surprised that Princess Yun Xi could investigate the matter so thoroughly, but she didn't show it on her face. She just nodded and said, "I was young and didn't understand how dangerous the world was."
Princess Yun Xi nodded, "The world is indeed much more dangerous than we thought, but isn't the human heart even more treacherous than the world?"
"What does the princess mean by that?" Bai Zheng pretended to listen attentively.
Princess Yun Xi walked up to a maid and tapped her slender fingers on the thick stack of papers in front of her.
"The coachman disappeared without a trace after the day you fell off the cliff. If I hadn't sent my personal secret guards, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to catch this key witness."
"Coachman?"
Only then did Bai Zheng remember that that day, it was rare for Bai Di to invite her warmly after growing up. She took the general's mansion's carriage to the banquet outside the city and didn't use the Bai family's own carriage.
So when she returned, she just casually hailed a carriage outside the door and didn't know who the coachman was at all.
Princess Yun Xi nodded, "I've detained the coachman. You can summon him at any time. This is his testimony.
He can prove that the banquet venue was not far from Yongding's main city. When returning that night, there was no need to pass by the bandit mountain. But someone told him that he must take a detour through the bandit mountain and abandon the carriage and flee when the bandits appeared."
No wonder!
Bai Zheng suddenly had an epiphany.
Her memory of that day was always a bit hazy. It was only now that she finally woke up completely.
Yes, although she still couldn't remember which family hosted the banquet that day, no matter what, the venue couldn't have been set very far away.
If they hadn't taken a detour on the way back, how could they have ended up on the bandit mountain more than a hundred kilometers away from the city?
"As for these bandits..." Princess Yun Xi gave Bai Zheng a strange look, "It seems that they were wiped out by the Marquis of Dingyuan's mansion?"
Bai Zheng didn't hide it and nodded, "They're just a bunch of ungrateful outlaws. It's not unjust for them to fall into the hands of the marquis."
"Since the marquis took them away, I can't interfere. However, according to the information I've found, the second in command of the bandit den had some dealings with your second elder sister."
This information coincided with what Bai Zheng already knew.
Bai Zheng nodded, "I didn't expect that my second elder sister wanted my life from that time on."
"Not only that," a strange smile suddenly appeared on Princess Yun Xi's face, which made Bai Zheng shiver.
"From your uncle, General Bai Yizhang, to your second elder sister Bai Di, it seems that they all want the lives of your family."
"Oh?" Bai Zheng raised her eyebrows.
"Don't you know, Third Miss? On the day you came back, you proudly annulled your engagement with Chu Feng at your own doorstep. On the same day, evidence of your father's embezzlement of 200,000 taels of silver for disaster relief was found in the study of the Bai family.
You went to beg General Bai at that time, didn't you? But he didn't agree to help you."
Bai Zheng nodded.
In fact, under her coercion, Bai Yizhang did help. But this was a private deal between her and Bai Yizhang. Princess Yun Xi certainly couldn't reach this far.
Seeing Bai Zheng nod, Princess Yun Xi said indifferently, "General Bai would never help you, because the 200,000 taels - it was actually embezzled by him."
"What!" Bai Zheng covered up her sneer and put on a surprised expression to play along, "Uncle embezzled 200,000 taels?"
Princess Yun Xi nodded, "200,000 taels is not a small amount. Once it's exposed, the death penalty is inevitable. He anticipated this and simply made your father, his own younger brother, the scapegoat."