Chapter 50

She wanted to see how many tricks they could play out against her.

"Princess, you can't say such nonsense." The empress was too flabbergasted and too worried at the moment. Besides, it was obvious that something was amiss.

(Empress' POV)

When Xin'er left just now, she was just about to have someone bring Liu Ruyue away when a palace maid reported that the princess was injured.

Someone had injured the princess in the palace. This was a huge matter, and this was directly reported to the emperor. At that time, the emperor just so happened to be in the main hall, thus the matter was destined to be settled in the main hall.

But, why would the princess claim that Xin'er hurt her?

Even if Xin'er had been a troublesome girl in the past, she hadn't try to hurt anyone. And although the current Xin'er was still a little perky at times, she felt that she had now a sense of propriety and sense of control when doing things.

Besides, why would Xin'er steal a secret book? Also, it was impossible for Xin'er to know that the princess had a secret book with her. They had no interaction with each other in the past.

It was obvious that someone was trying to frame Xin'er. Of course, she was clear that the matter of stealing this secret book was to implicate the Prime Minister and herself.

Moreover, she had always felt that the princess was a good child, so why would she falsely incriminate Xin'er? The matter was also made worst because of the fact that the princess was so young, not even twelve years old, making her least likely to lie.

Thus, this situation was extremely disadvantageous to Xin'er.

"Esteemed Empress, Ying'er didn't speak carelessly, and everything she said was the truth. She really did steal my secret book which was my father had been searching for. This secret book was very special because it was about the Imperial's bloodline. Uncle Wu found it a few days ago and brought it back with him yesterday and handed it over to this daughter." The princess explained once more. Her tone was firm with determination.

Princess Yi — Ye Lanying wasn't the emperor's daughter, but rather the emperor's full-blooded younger brother, Prince Rong's, who was known to be the most loyal towards the emperor. When the emperor had just ascended the throne, the internal affairs of the imperial court were unstable, and the foreign enemies were even more concerning. Prince Rong was the one who directly assisted the emperor in stabilising his authority within and outside the court.

It was a pity though that Prince Rong had died on the battlefield five years ago. He had left this girl behind who was conferred the title Princess Yi by the emperor himself.

Seeing how determined the princess was, the empress' body stiffened, her breath in ragged gasps. Even the Emperor's face had sank, the disappointment was too vivid on his face.

Tang Kexin had detected that the princess was not lying. What the princess said was what she saw with her own eyes, but what the princess saw at the time could not be the real deal. Tang Kexin guessed that someone must have had disguised herself as her, then injured the princess while robbing her. It was all to frame her.

Tang Kexin saw that the princess had a wound at her arm, but it wasn't too deep that the bleeding had already stopped.

"Your Majesty, this humble commoner has something to report. This commoner's matter might have something to do with the princess' injury." Liu Ruyue, who had been hidden in the crowd, suddenly stood up.

The Empress' eyes quickly narrowed. She had clearly ordered someone to bring Liu Ruyue out, why was she still here?!

"Speak." Although the emperor was slightly dissatisfied with Liu Ruyue's sudden appearance, but saying that this matter might be related to the princess, the emperor could only ignore her transgression and allowed her to talk.

Tang Kexin's lips curved up in a cold smile. It was everything as she had expected. Now, she wanted to see what kind of character this woman would be playing out.

"This humble one noticed Miss Tang's flustered expression earlier, like something must had happened. Out of concern, I stepped forward and asked her, but I didn't expect Miss Tang to suddenly stab this commoner with a dagger in her hand. Many people saw this just now, but the empress was afraid of disturbing the banquet, so she instructed the people around not to reveal it. Her esteemed Empress then asked some people to bring this commoner to the hospital." Liu Ruyue had a terrified expression, but her words were very clear. The meaning could not be clearer.

The empress slightly furrowed her eyebrows as she stared intently at Liu Ruyue.

"At that time, this commoner only thought that Miss Tang did that thing due to her anger over Young Master Mu's affection towards me. But now that I think about it, it seemed a little strange. Because around the time when Miss Tang stabbed this commoner, it was also at the same time range where the assailant ran after stabbing and stealing from the Princess..." Liu Ruyue frowned. Her face appeared to be slightly surprised, but also with a hint of terror as she tried to analyse the situation.

When Mu Shaoyi, who was sitting below them heard this, his body moved as if he want to stand up. However, he was suppressed by Old Man Mu beside him.

"It was Imperial Physician Song who treated this commoner's injuries and also the one who helped her pull out the dagger." As Liu Ruyue spoke to here, she took out the dagger, "This is the dagger."

"This dagger is very similar to the one that was used to stab me. It really is similar. It could be the same one." said the Princess eagerly after seeing the dagger.

The empress' and Prime Minister's expressions changed visibly.

Ye Lanchen was so anxious that he started to sweat. As for the Crown Prince, he continuously to stare at Tang Kexin, his eyes lightly flashed.

Tang Kexin sneered inwardly. At this moment, she had somehow understood what was going on and what would likely to happen.

"Reporting to the emperor, let the imperial physician Liu examine the wounds of the princess and Miss Liu. We should determine if they're indeed, the same." Lord Qin of the Ministry of Justice suddenly spoke. The emperor's eyes slightly narrowed as he grimly issued the order.

After Imperial Physician Liu finished his careful examination, he replied in a low voice. "From the appearance of the wound, it could be seen that it was caused by the same dagger, You Majesty."

"Your majesty, this matter concerns the princess' safety and the secret book's confidentiality. We should immediately have someone to search for it. If we drag this matter too long, that thief would bring the secret book out of the palace…" Old General Li suggested.

"Men, search." The emperor looked at the empress, sighed, and gave out the order.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the entire hall became extremely tense. The pressure was so heavy that no one dare to breathe.

Everyone's expression was grave and serious.

Only Tang Kexin's appearance was extremely relaxed and unaffected. She appeared as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

After sometime, guards re-entered the hall, one guard holding onto a book wrapped in a black cloth.

Almost at the same time, everyone's eyes were at the book.

"Reporting to Your Majesty. I've found this book among the piled clothings of Miss Tang." The guard walked forward, bowed his head, and respectfully reported.

"That's right! That is the secret book this princess had planned to present to the Uncle Emperor today. Fortunately, we found it." The Princess was genuinely relieved to see the secret book.

At the princess' words, everyone sucked in a deep breath. Even though the current Tang Kexin was filled with great skill, the evidence and witnesses were all there.

Seeing this, a corner of Tang Kexin's lips curled up. Good, really good. What a great play, what a brilliant scheme.

She knew that Liu Ruyue wasn't the brain of this scheme because she definitely did not have this kind of ability. Thus, this scheme which was just right, indisputable, and impressive, was planned by someone sinister yet meticulous person. It was almost perfect that she couldn't help but admire the person.

Indeed, at this moment, all the evidences were pointing at her. It would be hard for her to refute them.

However, would she, Tang Kexin, let others trampled her without a fight? In the entirety of her life as far as she could remember, Tang Kexin had never allowed anyone to bully her.

Therefore, this show had only just begun. The most exciting part was yet to come.

"Tang Kexin, what do you say?" At this moment, the Emperor's face was solemn and his voice was cold. Even the way he addressed her had became cold and distant.

Suddenly, the Emperor's words and tone had caused the entire hall erupted into hushed murmurings.

It was clear that in this situation, the Emperor had already made it known to the public of his opinion against Tang Kexin.

This was the most dangerous thing to happen, to be prejudiced by the emperor, because the moment he did, it was almost like the sentence had already been decided.

The empress was no longer as calm as she usually portrayed. Her whole body at the moment was so rigid, it was obvious she was in a great panic.

How could she not be?

Right now, all the evidences were pointing to Xin'er. How was she going to save her?

She had originally held a glim of hope for the emperor to believed in the innocence of Xin'er, but that hope had shattered after the emperor's last words.

The Prime Minister's face had turned pale.

Ye Lanchen had became so anxious that he wanted to rush toward Tang Kexin. If it wasn't for the people around him holding him up, he would have done so a long time ago.

Ye Lanjue had not showed any obvious reaction but his usually calmed eyes darkened.

When Liu Ruyue's pupils constricted, there was a hint of pride in them. 'Tang Kexin, you're dead today.'

At this moment, Tang Kexin was just quietly standing in the midst of the crowd. Her face was tranquil and indifferent, as if nothing was happening. She was like a cloud floating high up in the sky, arrogantly overseeing all the farce that were playing out. Right now, this facade of hers was impossible for the people in the main hall to not notice.

Upon seeing this, everyone was shocked. Injuring a princess, stealing from her, then knocking her out afterwards, each of these crimes would guarantee a capital punishment, enough to cause a whole clan to suffer for eternity. And yet, this girl had the audacity to act like this?! There even seemed to be a faint smile on her lips. How could this girl be so fearless!

However, she was a fool to begin with. Her illness had only just recovered, and in a situation like this, she must had been scared silly. Even the empress could not do anything to protect her today, more so with her father despite of him being the Prime Minister of the kingdom.

Under these circumstances, if no one could do anything about it, what could a fool like her do? Would this be the end for Tang Kexin then?

To the majority of the crowd, this situation was already at its conclusion. If the people who cared for Tang Kexin wanted to find an evidence to disprove the evidences presented to the emperor in a short period of time, it would be very difficult, because this matter, one after another, was perfectly planned out beforehand.

The person who designed all of this was extremely brilliant, leaving not a single flaw.

Right now, Liu Ruyue's matter was of no importance. Even if it proved that she did not injure Liu Ruyue, it would be of no use. This was all about hurting the princess, a member of the imperial family. She may not be an immediate descendant, but she was still a member, and to steal something of great importance from her, was truly a crime.

If it wasn't for the secret book, the Emperor wouldn't have gotten this angry.

However, to Tang Kexin, this situation was not something that would cause her to panic in the slightest. Instead, she seemed to have a plan already in mind.

This confidence didn't escape the emperor's gaze, which had astonished him. A sudden trace of anticipation appeared in his deep eyes. 'Hmm...'

"Your majesty, my daughter would never do such a thing. "

"Your majesty, it can't be Xin'er."

"Father, this son believes in Xin Xin."

Almost at the same time, the prime minister, the empress, and the fourth prince opened their mouth to plead for Tang Kexin.

Tang Kexin was moved. In this kind of situation, those who were willing to do anything for her sake were the ones who truly cared about her.

Although her father might be the Prime Minister of the land, it would still take a great amount of courage and sacrifice for him to step forward at this time.

There was no need to even justify the Empress' action. She was her most favourite, and it was a fact.