Glancing at Ye Xi, Qiao Yan pouted and said,
"I just wanted to secretly pluck a bit of the feathers from others' arrows to make them shoot less accurately. Going to the stable was just to secretly tamper with the horseshoes so the horses wouldn't run so fast."
Emperor Zhaohuan rubbed his temples with a headache and said,
"Just listen to what you're saying. Is it believable?"
"Who doesn't know that you're excellent at both horse - riding and archery? Which young lady from a noble family can match you? Why would you stoop to such despicable acts?"
Qiao He quickly tugged at Qiao Yan's sleeve and said,
"A Yan, you must tell the truth in front of His Majesty. What on earth were you doing there? Big brother knows your character so well. You've always scorned calculating others or using such underhanded methods."
Everyone stared intently at Qiao Yan with burning gazes.
Only Ye Xi had a bad premonition: Could this be the gift Qiao Yan had prepared for her?
Sure enough, Qiao Yan snorted and said,
"Of course it wasn't for myself. This was a gift I prepared for someone else."
"But this gift was given rather poorly. She's already so powerful that she didn't need me to do these unnecessary things. And even if she won in the end because of my despicable acts, it wouldn't be glorious at all. I was so stupid..."
Qiao Yan slapped her own head and said angrily,
"I'm really brainless!"
Even though Qiao Yan didn't name names, everyone instantly understood she was talking about Ye Xi. For a moment, their looks at Ye Xi changed.
Ye Xi: … Seriously, Qiao Yan was like her nemesis.
Cao Wei couldn't help but let out a sneer and said,
"No wonder. She suddenly became as powerful as a celestial being. It turns out there was someone behind helping her."
The Luo family members who had been watching from the side also came up to add fuel to the fire.
"But the distribution of the horses was random,"
Zhou Zhanlan pretended to think deeply and said,
"How did Qiao Yan know which horse would be given to Miss Ye? Could it be that..."
Zhou Zhanlan stopped in time and deliberately didn't continue. However, the meaning was obvious:
Qiao Yan was the niece of Qiao Yiting, the main judge, and Su Zhongjie was Qiao Yiting's husband. With these relationships, what couldn't Qiao Yan do?
Both Su Zhongjie and Qiao Yiting's faces changed. Just as they were about to refute, they heard Qiao Yan spit out angrily and say,
"What nonsense are you spouting? Hasn't your whole family done enough harm to my cousin and Lian Yi!?"
"I'm telling you, it was precisely because I remembered the random distribution of horses after sneaking in that I didn't actually tamper with them. Otherwise, would Father Zhang, who is so meticulous in his work, not have detected it? It was only the arrows. I did pluck a few feathers by estimating the approximate positions, but only one feather from each of just three or four arrow - cases."
"Given the situation of the competition just now, even if I hadn't plucked the feathers, could you have beaten her? She also missed her last shot and still did better than your feather - plucked arrows. She still won first place. Don't try to console yourselves just because of this. If you can't win, just admit it openly. It's less embarrassing that way."
Being publicly shamed by a junior, Zhou Zhanlan's face turned red and then pale. But she didn't dare to pursue this matter further. After all, Qiao Yan had just said that Father Zhang's inspection had found no problems. If she said more, she would only offend people.
She could only say coldly with a flushed face,
"What a vulgar and rude girl! You don't even know how to make up a better lie. Everyone knows you don't get along with Miss Ye and even issued a challenge to her in person. Why would you suddenly help her?"
"Madam of the Minister,"
Qiao He was unhappy. He gave her a cold look and said,
"A Yan is a daughter of the Qiao family. She's always straightforward and does things according to her heart. Whether she hates someone today or likes someone tomorrow, it changes every day. You don't need to worry about such private matters, Madam."
The conversation gradually veered off track.
Emperor Zhaohuan was extremely angry. He slapped the low table in front of him heavily and said,
"Enough! We're discussing important matters, but you're arguing among yourselves. Prince Yu'an..."
Emperor Zhaohuan waved his sleeve and said,
"This concerns your future wife. What do you two think?"
"Your Majesty,"
Yi Yuan bowed slightly and said,
"I think Miss Qiao is probably telling the truth. Judging from her character, she couldn't have come up with such a well - thought - out and devious plan."
Ye Xi also nodded and said,
"Indeed, I also think Miss Qiao can't be the real mastermind."
"If it's not this one and not that one,"
Concubine Shen spoke up,
"Then who else could it be? Do you have many grudges with Miss Ye?"
Everyone's gazes instinctively turned to Cao Wei and Cao Sheng.
Cao Wei's face changed and she quickly said,
"Why are you all looking at me? It has nothing to do with me."
But Ye Xi instinctively looked at Yun Qianying.
But if it was Yun Qianying who did it, she had just returned to the capital. How could she have known about the feud between Qiao Yan and her in such a short time? And how could she have accurately found Chunyin's weakness and forced Chunyin to do things for her? Also, this Xiangheng Palace was the imperial territory. Not just anyone could arrange people here at will.
The person who could arrange all this almost flawlessly was very likely someone from the palace!
Shocked by this thought, Ye Xi was startled. She discreetly glanced at Cao Shu and Shen Cijin, but there was no trace of unease on her face.
What she didn't understand was that if it was one of these two, what had she done wrong to make them go to such extreme lengths to take her life? Could it be that... they weren't actually targeting her but Yi Yuan through her?
Ye Xi's mind raced. She knew that if they continued to investigate this matter today, there would surely be no result. It would be better to first shift the blame to Chunyin, relax the vigilance of the mastermind, and then start investigating from Chunyin.
Thinking of this, Ye Xi gave Yi Yuan a look. Then she curtsied gracefully and said,
"Your Majesty, Your Ladyship. Since Miss Qiao was wrongly suspected, the person who did it must be Chunyin. Didn't she admit it just now? It was just that someone happened to see what Miss Qiao did earlier, which happened to coincide with the means of harm designed by Chunyin. That's why we all suspected Miss Qiao."
"Since the matter is now clear and Chunyin has already committed suicide to atone for her sins. The Qingyun Competition was originally set up for everyone to relax and have fun. It's not worth spoiling the mood because of a maid."
Receiving Ye Xi's look, Yi Yuan gave a doting smile and followed up,
"Xiaoxi is right. The Qingyun Competition is a good thing. Let's not let everyone worry along with us..." Glancing at Shen Zhou in the crowd not far away, Yi Yuan continued, "the young couple about to get married. But regarding the body of this maid,"
He bowed to Emperor Zhaohuan and said,
"Please allow me to take it back, Your Majesty. Someone who calculated against my Xiaoxi like this, I must get some revenge."
Emperor Zhaohuan squinted slightly. A deep look flashed in his eyes. But he didn't refuse. He just said,
"Allowed."
Then he pointed at the two servants who said they had seen Qiao Yan and said,
"These two, shall be beaten with thirty strokes of the rod and expelled from Xiangheng Palace. Su Zhongjie failed to inspect properly. He shall be fined half a year's salary. Qiao Yan was willful and disrupted the competition. But since you're a noble young lady in the boudoir, your elder brother shall take your punishment. He shall be beaten with twenty strokes of the rod and fined one year's salary."
"The Qingyun Competition was unfair. The Bodhi Treasure Beads shall be recovered."