Bai Zheng squatted down, her dark, shiny eyes fixed on Li Xiaoming. "Why is it impossible? Since you went to the teahouse, isn't it quite normal to run into Zhu Ling?"
"But this servant... this servant clearly remembers not meeting anyone on the way..."
Li Xiaoming said so, but he felt extremely guilty inside.
Why did she mention Zhu Ling? How could he have met Zhu Ling?
He simply couldn't figure out the intention of this always unfathomable Marquise in front of him when asking these questions.
Hearing this, Bai Zheng slightly raised her eyebrows and sneered. "Didn't you just say you couldn't remember those details? How come you're so certain now that you didn't meet Zhu Ling?"
"I... this servant..." Beads of sweat were already oozing from Li Xiaoming's forehead.
How could he explain? Should he say he hadn't gone there at all? That was out of the question!
Li Xiaoming was in a complete mess.
Watching Li Xiaoming in such a state of panic, Bai Zheng's lips curled into a cold smile.
Although Li Xiaoming was a bit clever, he was far inferior to the old fox Bai Sheng. Back then, she had chosen him only because he was sensitive to numbers, not because he was good at acting!
Today, asking him to act innocent in front of the Emperor and the Empress to frame someone, based on Bai Zheng's understanding of him, this guy simply didn't have such ability!
Of course, Bai Zheng also knew very well that since Li Xiaoming could be brought to the palace by Bai Sheng to testify, he must have prepared his lines. But no matter how well he performed those prepared scripts, falsehood was falsehood after all.
The simplest way to test if a person is lying is to keep questioning the details repeatedly.
Force the other person to make up one lie after another to cover the loopholes, until he himself realizes that he can't continue making up, that the logic is inconsistent and even self - contradictory. Then his psychological defense will naturally collapse.
Bai Sheng noticed Li Xiaoming's situation, and the doubts in everyone's eyes became more and more obvious as Li Xiaoming stammered. In a fit of rage, she rushed in front of Bai Zheng and shouted.
"Now what we're investigating is the matter of His Highness the Crown Prince bribing you with ten thousand taels of silver. Why are you bringing up these trivial details? Do you think you can clear your name with these irrelevant things?
Oh, stop making excuses!
Anyway, that ten thousand taels was given to you by His Highness the Crown Prince. You yourself admitted it!"
"Yes." Bai Zheng stood up, flicking her long sleeves. Her voice was clear and crisp. "That ten thousand taels of silver was given to me by His Highness the Crown Prince. But I also said that it was just His Highness compensating me for my losses, not bribing me.
Elder sister, I just want to ask you one thing. If you wanted to bribe me, would you go to such great lengths to smash my shop first?"
Bai Sheng was taken aback. She lowered her eyes, looking a bit flustered. "It can only be said that His Highness the Crown Prince would do anything to cover his tracks..."
"To cover his tracks, he would come and smash my shop? Elder sister, if you don't understand my character so well, you can try smashing my things and see how much silver it would take to appease my anger!"
Bai Zheng sneered, her voice full of mockery.
Although these words sounded extremely arrogant, she somehow managed to sound domineering.
Bai Zheng stood proudly in the light and shadow. The sun cast a golden glow on her. Her eyebrows were cold and aloof, and she exuded an aura that made people not dare to look directly at her, yet they somehow felt a sense of submission.
Bai Sheng was so angry that her chest heaved, but she couldn't come up with a reply.
Feng Jingye had been determined to destroy Bai Zheng's shop at that time. This was something that Feng Linche could easily find out with a bit of investigation.
Given Bai Zheng's greedy nature, ten thousand taels of silver could only barely appease her anger over the loss of her shop.
But Bai Sheng had thought that Bai Zheng wouldn't openly admit her greed.
No young lady of good family would consider her greed a good thing. Especially a woman like Bai Sheng, who had been carefully brought up since childhood, regarded money as dirt.
If it were Bai Sheng in this situation, she would definitely try to cover up her greedy nature, even if it meant swallowing all the blame today.
However, Bai Zheng was different.
She not only openly admitted it but also did so with full justification!
"I've been working from dawn till dusk for that dessert shop. How many people know how much effort I've put into it?
Just now, I also calculated the accounts with Young Master Zhuo. The shop was destroyed, and His Highness the Crown Prince only compensated me ten thousand taels because I gave him a discount out of respect for his status.
If it were someone else who smashed my shop and then tried to bribe me? Oh! Ten thousand taels wouldn't even be enough to satisfy me!"
At this moment, Feng Jingye also came to his senses and continued Bai Zheng's words. "I wonder if you think this Crown Prince is too stupid or too smart. To bribe the Marquis of Dingyuan's Mansion, but first go and smash their shop? How on earth did you come up with such a preposterous idea!"
"You!"
Bai Sheng was extremely angry. The boiling magma in her heart seemed to be about to burst out of her eyes.
Feng Linyuan seemed completely unaffected by the tense atmosphere at the scene. He leisurely stepped forward, gently putting his arm around Bai Zheng's slender waist and said in a soft voice.
"Zheng'er, don't be angry. Zhu Ling and the others are helping to renovate the dessert shop. It will reopen soon. You've just escaped death, and your body hasn't fully recovered yet. Don't hurt yourself with anger."
Bai Zheng lowered her eyes, and when she looked up again, she had a pitiful look on her face. She said with a hint of grievance, "I'm clearly the victim. I almost died with His Highness the Third Prince. Just because I didn't die, I'm being falsely accused by elder sister and the traitor..."
"It's all my fault. I didn't discipline them well." Feng Linyuan said apologetically.
Then he turned his cold gaze to Li Xiaoming, who was kneeling on the ground, and his tone completely changed. "If this marquis remembers correctly, since the shop was smashed, the ledger has been temporarily stored in the teahouse next door. The Marquise also told you all to go back and rest for a few days. How did the ledger end up in your hands again?"
Li Xiaoming wiped the sweat off his forehead and lowered his head. "It's... it's because this servant thought the Marquise's trip was inappropriate. If something really happened to His Highness the Third Prince, this servant would feel guilty. This servant wanted to tell His Highness the Third Prince, but was afraid that this servant's words wouldn't carry much weight and he wouldn't believe me, so this servant had to steal, steal, steal the ledger out..."
Hearing this, Feng Linyuan sneered. "Steal? There are secret guards from this marquis's mansion all over the teahouse. Even if the door is wide open during the day, it's extremely difficult for outsiders to get in. You're quite capable of stealing the ledger out. You look so gentle and weak, but this marquis underestimated you!"
Although Feng Linyuan said this, his tone was full of mockery.
His words were so clear that anyone with a brain present could understand.