Chapter 12：The Villain Accuses Others First

Pan Yingqian sat elegantly in her seat, smiling as she listened to the high - born young ladies discussing the currently popular plays. It was only when her personal maid nodded to her that she deliberately rubbed the cat's belly. With the cat's lazy meow, she interrupted everyone's conversation.

"Come to think of it, the soil - cultivated clivia in my backyard has bloomed. Considering that you are all refined ladies, why don't we go and take a look together?" Pan Yingqian's smile remained unchanged as she sincerely made a suggestion to the young ladies from good families.

At this moment, Pan Yueqing should have been so muddled by drugs that she was having an affair with Liu Yang. Although the idea from the Liu family wasn't a good one, as long as Pan Yueqing, the legitimate daughter, was out of the way, her dear younger sister could marry into an aristocratic family with the background of the Prime Minister's Mansion.

All the noble ladies stood up and, in groups of three or five, followed Pan Yingqian towards the secluded courtyard. Just in front of the small bridge, they happened to meet Yao Zhen, the Earl of Pingnan, leading a group of men in their direction. Jiang Liu, who was in the group, suddenly felt a sense of unease. She always felt that this earl and his wife had deliberately gathered everyone here on purpose. But now she couldn't find Pan Yueqing or Li Shuran anywhere.

When they gently pushed open the door of the simple courtyard, Princess Pingning was the first to cover her nose and said with great dissatisfaction, "You keep such an excellent variety of clivia in this kind of place. It shows that you are also vulgar people!"

Pan Yingqian smiled apologetically, as if implying something, and said, "Strangely enough, the clivia in my house doesn't grow well even with careful care. But it thrives in a rough environment..." As soon as she finished speaking, a woman's scream came from the side room. Everyone in the courtyard fell silent and looked at Pan Yingqian and her husband in surprise.

"Big cousin, why does that voice sound like my second cousin?" Liu Ya had long known that Pan Yingqian planned to ruin Pan Yueqing's reputation today. Immediately, she put away the joyful smile on her face, frowned at Pan Yingqian, and then covered her face with her hand, saying in shock, "Could it be..."

Pan Yingqian glared at Liu Ya harshly and rebuked, "Nonsense! Although my second sister is young and ignorant, she wouldn't do such a thing!"

Upon hearing this, Princess Pingning was secretly pleased. She crossed her arms and said haughtily, "Madam Pingnan, Pan Yueqing is your sister, so of course you'll take her side. But you shouldn't be too hasty in your words. If it really is your second young lady from the Pan Mansion, she'll become famous all over the capital." She couldn't easily let go of the fact that Pan Yueqing had embarrassed her in front of everyone earlier.

Jiang Liu stepped forward angrily and pointed at Liu Ya and Princess Pingning, not being polite in her tone, "You claim to be young ladies from good families, but your thoughts are so dirty! Without seeing the person, just hearing the sound, you dare to smear a girl's most precious reputation!"

"Why are you in such a hurry? I only said it sounded like my second cousin. I didn't say it was definitely her. Of course, I believe she's not that kind of person. But with so many people here, why don't we go in and take a look? Otherwise, as Princess Pingning said, it'll seem like we're favoring our own sister!" Liu Ya spoke seriously and lowered her head to hide the joy in her eyes.

Immediately, everyone started talking noisily. The daughters of civil officials insisted on finding out the person who had violated moral principles. The commotion made Pan Yingqian seem helpless. She could only watch as Princess Pingning led the people and pushed open the door of the side room.

In the dimly - lit side room, in front of the bed, embroidered shoes and boots were casually left on the floor. On the bed, a quilt covered the bodies of a man and a woman, and some men's voices came from under the quilt.

Hearing this, all the ladies blushed instantly. Princess Pingning was the first to turn around and cover her hot cheeks with her hands, "What a shameless couple! Madam Pingnan! Drag them out quickly!"

Liu Ya, standing at the door, suddenly turned pale. How could she not recognize that it was her brother Liu Yang's voice!

Before she could stop them, several servants pulled the people out of the bed. Liu Yang was dragged on the ground like a dead dog. His face was flushed. He looked dazedly at the people in the room and was so scared that he immediately got up to tidy his clothes. Before he could call Pan Yingqian "cousin", he saw Liu Ya covering her face and running out crying.

She knew that Pan Yingqian was going to set a trap for Pan Yueqing today, but Pan Yingqian had said, "Just pair her with an ordinary servant." But she had actually plotted against her brother behind her back!

Princess Pingning didn't care at all whether the embarrassed man tidying his clothes in the corner was Liu Yang or someone else. She only cared whether the woman hiding in the bed and not daring to come out was Pan Yueqing!

Pan Yingqian looked up and saw that the figure in the curtain did somewhat resemble Pan Yueqing. She immediately scolded, "You have some nerve! How dare you do such a thing here!" She motioned for her maid Muchun to go forward. Muchun reached out and grabbed the other person's hand, then gave a hard tug. The person on the bed immediately rolled down, wrapped in a quilt, and cowered with her head down.

"Look up!" Muchun pulled the quilt aside and grabbed the person's chin. But in the next instant, she was so shocked that she forgot what to do. It was only when Pan Yingqian lazily asked that she knelt on the ground in fear and lowered her head, "It's Changcao from the Old Madam's courtyard."

Changcao, with sweat on her forehead, kowtowed to Pan Yingqian until her forehead was bleeding. She was crying pitifully, "Madam! I don't know why I ended up here. I didn't do anything..."

Pan Yingqian almost kicked Changcao away with gritted teeth. She had asked Changcao to pretend to be from the Old Madam and deceive Pan Yueqing here. She originally thought that this plan could achieve three goals at once: first, to arrange the marriage between Liu Yang and Pan Yueqing; second, to shift the blame to the Old Countess; and third, to make Liu Ya give up the idea of seducing the Earl of Pingnan through her brother. What a great three - in - one plan, but unexpectedly, it was Changcao lying here!

"Wow - so lively here?"

A sweet laugh came from the door. Everyone turned around and saw that it was Pan Yueqing, the First Prince Qi Simeng, and Li Shuran standing at the door. The gold - inlaid and silver - collared necklace on Pan Yueqing sparkled in the warm sun, making her eyes as bright as twinkling stars.

"Second... second sister?" Pan Yingqian forced a smile when she saw Pan Yueqing's smiling face. But before she could speak, Changcao pointed at Pan Yueqing like a drowning person grabbing a life - saving straw and accused, "It's her! Madam! She knocked me out!"

"Oh? You're the one who's accusing others first! I was just about to ask my big sister to judge for me," Pan Yueqing still had a smile on her face. She walked through the group of noble ladies and gentlemen with her hands behind her back and stopped in front of Changcao, "You said I knocked you out. Do you have any evidence?"

"Miss Yue told me she wanted to see the Old Madam, but then she hit the back of my head with a silver candlestick! If you don't believe me, ask the doctor in the mansion to check the back of my head. You not only knocked me out but also the two servants in charge of this courtyard! Just let those two servants come out to testify. Do you still want to deny it?!" Changcao's face turned red as she pointed at Pan Yueqing, trying to portray herself as a victim. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to survive! "Miss Yue is trying to harm me!"