Princess Yunxi bit her lower lip tightly, her face full of fear and hesitation. Her eyes darted from side to side before finally fixing on Bai Sheng. She asked in a low voice, "Can you guarantee that once she wakes up, she won't try to assassinate me again?"
Bai Sheng knelt down and kowtowed firmly. "Your Highness, please rest assured. I, Bai Sheng, swear on the entire General's Mansion that Di'er will never do anything stupid again to harm Your Highness in the slightest."
"Alright, there's no need to swear," Zhuo Lingxiao said coolly.
Bai Sheng was slightly stunned. "What does Your Highness the Heir Apparent mean?"
Zhuo Lingxiao sneered contemptuously at Bai Sheng. "No matter how many oaths you, Miss Bai, swear, this Heir Apparent won't joke about the princess's safety. How can I trust your General's Mansion to watch over Miss Second?"
"Then what does Your Highness the Heir Apparent intend to do?" Bai Sheng asked.
But Zhuo Lingxiao ignored her and looked directly at Feng Linche, bowing. "Your Majesty, in your Great Zhou, what is the punishment for assassinating a royal family member?"
Feng Linche frowned tightly. "Death without pardon."
Bai Sheng's face turned pale. Just as she was about to speak, she heard Zhuo Lingxiao sneer. "The laws of Great Zhou are so lenient? In our Great Liang, if someone dares to assassinate a royal family member, even exterminating the nine clans would not be too much!"
"Your Highness! Di'er was just impulsive for a moment, not a long - premeditated act. The nature of the two is completely different. How can the nine clans be implicated? Moreover, Di'er ultimately failed in the assassination and didn't harm the princess at all. Her crime is not punishable by death..." Bai Sheng said hurriedly.
Exterminating the nine clans would even involve the Bai Mansion. Bai Zheng slightly raised her eyebrows and coldly watched Zhuo Lingxiao.
Zhuo Lingxiao said coldly, "Then how does Your Majesty plan to deal with this Miss Second Bai? Are you just going to let her go after giving her thirty slaps? She didn't hurt our princess, but she gave our princess quite a scare. As you can see, our princess is still obviously quite frightened!"
Feng Linche half - squinted his narrow eyes. His gaze was steady but there was a hint of chilling ferocity. "What does Your Highness the Heir Apparent mean..."
Zhuo Lingxiao glanced at Princess Yunxi lovingly and said loudly, "Now that our princess is worried about this Miss Second, this matter is actually quite simple. As long as Your Majesty can reassure our princess and ensure that Miss Second will never harm our princess again, this matter will be over."
Feng Linche nodded. "If that's the case, it's really simple."
"Your Majesty!" Bai Sheng said anxiously.
Feng Linche glanced at her emotionlessly, forcing her to be silent, and then continued, "Guards! Lock Bai Di up in the dungeon."
"Your Majesty!" Bai Sheng widened her eyes in disbelief.
The dungeon of Great Zhou was dark, damp, and airless. Even a healthy person would fall ill within three days after entering, not to mention Bai Di, who had been spitting blood and was seriously injured.
Locking her up in the dungeon was like wanting her life, wasn't it?
"Your Majesty, with Di'er's current physical condition, she absolutely cannot go to the dungeon!" Concubine Zhao was also extremely frightened. She quickly crawled on her knees in front of Feng Linche, grabbed the corner of his robe, and pleaded, "She is delicate and can't endure the hardships of the dungeon..."
Empress Chu said coolly, interrupting her. "Concubine Zhao, there are only criminals who should or should not go to the dungeon, not physical conditions that allow or disallow one to go to the dungeon. In our Great Zhou, even the Son of Heaven is equal to the common people when breaking the law."
Regarding the matter of Chu Feng back then, her Grand Tutor's Mansion had been quite active. Now that the situation had changed, Empress Chu naturally wouldn't miss the opportunity to take advantage of Bai Di's misfortune.
Concubine Zhao was rendered speechless by her words. For a moment, she didn't know how to plead for mercy and could only lower her head and sob.
The eunuchs beside Feng Linche quickly and neatly dragged Bai Di up and escorted her to the dungeon.
Bai Di had already lost consciousness. When she was dragged up, her whole head hung down, her hands drooped limply, and blood was still flowing continuously, leaving a trail of blood on the ground she was dragged across.
"Di'er..." Bai Sheng murmured.
After all, Bai Di was her own younger sister, and the incident happened right under her nose. Bai Sheng clenched her fists so tightly that her fingernails dug into her flesh.
Suddenly, she raised her head and looked at Bai Zheng with a cold and venomous gaze.
That gaze was full of hatred and a hint of indescribable strangeness, making people feel creepy.
Bai Zheng was puzzled and looked back at Bai Sheng with a pair of clear black - and - white eyes.
But soon, she understood.
Bai Sheng was blaming all these things on her.
She didn't believe that Su Muxiao had the ability to frame Bai Di on her own, nor did she believe that there was no one else connecting Princess Yunxi and Su Muxiao.
In any case, all these things must have something to do with Bai Zheng!
Thinking of this, Bai Zheng smiled sweetly indifferently.
She had actually participated in today's incident. No matter what Bai Sheng thought, it wasn't unfair. Moreover, since the death of Zheng Yan, she and Bai Sheng had been sworn enemies. Whether there was one more or one less crime didn't matter.
Su Muxiao coldly watched Bai Di being dragged away. It was as if she saw herself back then.
She felt a moment of pleasure in her heart. Pretending to wipe away her tears, she said loudly to Bai Di's receding back, "Di'er, you must take good care of yourself and pay attention to your health in the prison." - Don't die too early. Suffer more and live a life worse than death.
From beginning to end, Feng Jingxuan didn't even look at Bai Di once. It was as if just one look would soil his eyes.
With the end of the matter regarding Bai Di, the palace fell into silence for a moment, only the sobbing sound of Concubine Zhao could be faintly heard.
Feng Jingxuan was in a turmoil. He lowered his head and didn't say a word.
It was Feng Jingye who suddenly let out a soft laugh, breaking the silence in the palace. "Third brother, that woman has lost her innocence. Now that she's in the dungeon, there's nothing to miss. You don't have to be sad for her. Now that you have Princess Yunxi, and the princess is deeply in love with you, you shouldn't let her down."
Feng Jingxuan suddenly raised his head. "What deep love? Second brother, don't talk nonsense!"
There was a hint of hurt in Princess Yunxi's eyes. She half - opened her mouth but didn't say a word.
Empress Chu frowned and said dissatisfiedly, "Third, just now Princess Yunxi summoned up the courage to confess her feelings to you in person. Girls are shy. Your attitude might hurt the princess's heart."
Hearing this, Princess Yunxi's big eyes became even more moist, making everyone present feel pity for her.
Feng Jingxuan stared at Princess Yunxi coldly. "Hurt the princess's heart, huh? I've been wondering. Although I drank a bit too much wine today, I've never been fond of women. When I'm drunk, I just fall asleep. How could I suddenly do something improper to the princess for no reason?"
"What does Your Highness the Third Prince mean? Are you suspecting that our princess staged this herself just to get Your Highness the Third Prince and sacrificed her own innocence and reputation?" Zhuo Lingxiao raised his voice.
"Who knows?" Feng Jingxuan sneered. "I originally thought that the princess was in love with the Marquis of Dingyuan. After this incident, I naturally thought she was the victim. Only today did I know that the princess is actually in love with me..."