These words were rather overbearing. Many young masters present couldn't help but change their expressions.
There was even a pampered scion of a noble family who retorted defiantly, "You say we can't leave and we can't? Prince Yu'an, you're being a bit too arrogant. There are other royal relatives here. You're not the emperor. Why should we all listen to you?"
"Right," someone immediately chimed in, "What does your business have to do with us? Not everyone wants to get involved in your love affairs. We're just here for the fun."
"Yeah, yeah..." Agreeing voices rose one after another. The scene of Yi Yuan breaking that man's finger as easily as breaking a tree branch was still fresh in everyone's minds. They were all afraid of being implicated.
Not far away, Shen Liangji, who was quietly standing in the shadows with Emperor Zhaohuan, observing the farce, let out a soft laugh and whispered, "Prince Yu'an truly lives up to the emperor's high regard. His imposing manner and dignity are truly just like the emperor's."
Su Zhongjie subtly defended Yi Yuan against Shen Liangji's sarcasm. "He's acting out of passion for his beloved. Prince Yu'an is at least true to his feelings. That's better than those who are two - faced."
"You're right, Lord Su," Shen Liangji shifted the blame to the side nonchalantly. "But after all, Cao Sheng was brought up by Lord Cao himself. Prince Yu'an was a bit too harsh. He should have considered Lord Cao's face."
"Those who make mistakes should be punished, and those who are guilty should be chastised." When he had annulled Ye Xi's engagement back then, Grand Tutor Cao had already been somewhat heart - broken by his grandson. Now seeing him act like this again, he was extremely disappointed and said firmly, "He's just not up to the mark. He came here under the pretext of gaining experience but did such a disgraceful thing. It's good that Prince Yu'an gave him a lesson. Otherwise, I'd be too soft - hearted to do it myself."
While the old ministers were engaging in their veiled verbal battles, Emperor Zhaohuan remained silent. He just stared at Yi Yuan in the distance with a solemn look in his eyes, his expression unfathomable.
"Everyone, please calm down," Shen Zhou said with a smile, though his smile didn't reach his eyes. He was unaware of the hidden barbs among the ministers behind him. "On the surface, today's incident seems like a small matter. But if you think about it, the Qionglin Banquet is prepared by the palace. Yet someone was able to secretly tamper with it. Their methods must be extraordinary."
"Currently, this scheme was targeted at Miss Ye. Naturally, you all think it's just a love - related matter. But," Shen Zhou paused slightly, and his smile faded. "What if these methods were modified and used against the emperor?"
That would be the crime of regicide!
The crowd fell silent immediately. They looked at each other and didn't dare to say more.
"Azhou, don't scare people," Yun Qianying said with a pale face, avoiding everyone's eyes stubbornly. "It's not that serious."
"Miss Yun, don't worry," Ye Xi gave a gentle smile and looked straight into Yun Qianying's eyes. "After all, as long as this has nothing to do with you, it's naturally not serious. But if it does..."
"Of course it has nothing to do with me!" Yun Qianying interrupted Ye Xi impatiently. Her expression and eyes, however, only made people suspect her of being guilty.
"Xiaoying," Yun Qi also noticed Yun Qianying's odd behavior. His face darkened, and he said sternly, "Have you done anything wrong?"
"Really not!" Yun Qianying bit her lips tightly. "Brother, I'm your own sister. Why don't you believe me?"
Qiao Yan scoffed and said, "Then why do you look so guilty? Your brother is more reasonable than you. He judges things objectively and won't blindly favor his own family members."
"You..." Yun Qianying was so angry that she was speechless. Then she saw her brother blushing under Qiao Yan's praise. She became even angrier. Pointing at Qiao Yan arrogantly, she said, "What business do you have in our siblings' conversation? Don't think that just because you flatter my brother and make him happy, you can marry into our Yun family. Let me tell you, as long as I don't agree, neither my father nor my mother will agree!"
"Are you crazy?!" Qiao Yan never expected Yun Qianying to drag her into the topic of Yun Qi again. Her face flushed with anger as she said, "We're talking about the person who framed Xiaoxi. What are you talking nonsense about? And which eye of yours saw that I'm interested in your brother? How dare you jump to conclusions."
Yun Qi's eyes darkened. He felt a pang of disappointment in his heart. He reached out and grabbed Yun Qianying's shoulder to smooth things over for Qiao Yan. "Xiaoying, don't talk nonsense. Miss Qiao..."
"How did I not?" Yun Qianying ignored him. She shook off Yun Qi's hand forcefully and pointed at Qiao Yan, shouting, "Isn't the flower in your hair the hibiscus that my brother put on for you?"
"What?" Qiao Yan touched her head and indeed took out a withered hibiscus from her sideburns.
It was the same kind as the one on Yun Qi's hat.
Not only Qiao Yan but even the young lady from the Wei family, who had started this, was stunned.
It turned out she had remembered the flower wrong!
Just as Ye Xi was about to defend Qiao Yan, Lin An came back. He was accompanied by several people, both men and women.
"My lord, miss. Your subordinate has investigated. There were a lot of writing materials prepared for today's Qionglin Banquet. But the paper used for that note was specially provided for the female guests to paint with."
As he spoke, he pointed at a bearded, gentle - looking man in a long robe beside him. "This Mr. Hong is in charge of the writing materials for today's banquet. He's most familiar with all the writing materials and can testify."
"And this," Lin An then pointed at an older palace maid beside the man. "This is the aunt in charge of the painting area today. She said that there weren't many young ladies painting today. Only one of them tore up the paper and left, saying she wasn't satisfied with her painting. That was - Miss Yun the Second."
The crowd erupted in an uproar. Accusing looks were cast on the trembling Yun Qianying, and people began to mock her in whispers.
Qiao Yan immediately perked up and said contemptuously, "So it was really you who did it! It's really laughable. You had the nerve to look down on me. Look at what you are! With a vicious woman like you as a sister - in - law, who would dare to marry into your family?"
"No, it wasn't me..." Yun Qianying's face was deathly pale. She reached out one hand to grab Yun Qi and the other to pull Shen Zhou. "Brother, Azhou, you have to believe me. It really wasn't me. I didn't do it..."
But both Yun Qi and Shen Zhou avoided her simultaneously. Both of them were filled with disappointment, especially Yun Qi.
He said painfully, "Xiaoying, are you still not going to admit it at this point?"
"It doesn't matter if Miss Yun the Second doesn't admit it," Yi Yuan stared coldly at Yun Qianying. "This prince has many ways. You can try them if you like."
"I..." Yun Qianying's face turned even paler. She instinctively shrank towards Yun Qi. Having witnessed Yi Yuan's treatment of Cao Sheng earlier, she had no doubt that Yi Yuan would do the same to her.
She had originally planned to drug Ye Xi and find someone to ruin her innocence while Ye Xi was changing clothes. But then she remembered that Lingyan beside Ye Xi was very capable and would surely notice something was wrong, so she gave up the idea. She came up with the plan of luring the tiger out of the mountain and specifically chose Cao Sheng because, after all, they had had a relationship before. As long as they were caught in the act of adultery, Ye Xi would never be able to clear her name.
Who would have thought that this Prince Yu'an was so infatuated with Ye Xi that even after her clothes were torn, he didn't suspect or get angry at all. He didn't act like a normal man at all.
If she had known that Yi Yuan trusted Ye Xi so much, she should have just ruined that bitch and made the matter a done deal!