The Maid’s Confession.

His uncle's eyes were wide with shock as they met his own. He followed their gaze to the three dead men sprawled on the floor of the dimly lit room; the men who had been A'Xue's guards; her loyal protectors, her co-conspirators in the plot to ruin A'fen's life.

"No," his uncle muttered, his voice hoarse with disbelief. "No. It cannot be." He waved a hand at the corpses. "They acted on their own. They must have." He looked at Yi Cheng. "You know Xue'er, nephew. You know she would never do such a thing."

Yi Cheng knew his uncle doted on A'Xue; his only daughter; his precious pearl. He wished it was true too; he wished that A'Xue was blameless; that she had no hand in this wicked plot; that she had not let her jealousy and ambition poison her soul. But he could not blind himself to the proof.

He looked down at A'Xue's maid who cowered on the floor, whimpering and sniveling. She had confessed everything after he had threatened to execute her and all her kin; she had told him how A'Xue had ordered her to send the three guards to attack A'fen, to catch her unawares, to slash her face and leave her scarred and dishonored; to ruin her marriage prospects.

The maid had tried to absolve herself from the guards' attempt to violate A'Fen, saying it was not part of the plan, that the men had acted on their own in that regard, as if that made A'Xue's plot any less heinous; as if that eased the anger and the guilt that gnawed at Yi Cheng's heart.

His uncle glared at the maid. "She is lying," he said, his voice cold and hard. "She is lying, nephew, and you know it. Xue'er is innocent, I tell you. Innocent."

The maid fell to her knees, hitting her forehead on the floor. "It is true, my lord," she wailed. "It is true. Please spare me, Your Highness. Please spare me. I only did what she told me."