Chapter 124

Chapter 124

Dan Tao snatched the things out of Chunxing's hands.

She picked up the handkerchief, gave it a look, spat in disgust, then wadded it up and chucked it at Chunxing's face.

"You black-hearted wretch!"

"You've waited on the mistress for this long—you can't even recognize her stitching?"

"If you're gonna set someone up, at least be smart about it. Where'd you scrounge up this dirty rag, and you've got the nerve to say it's my mistress's?!"

With that, Dan Tao presented the letter with proper respect and bowed to Prince Jing.

"Your Highness, this girl's got bad intentions. You'll need to grill her good before she tells the truth."

The Princess Consort had first wanted to have the handkerchief brought up to take a look.

But hearing Dan Tao's words, she changed her mind on the spot. "Nanny, go check if that handkerchief is Shufei Xie's workmanship."

As a concubine or secondary consort, you were expected to show proper respect to the Princess Consort by making things for her yourself.

Xie Run had always handled these things by the book.

So a lot of folks in the Green Pine Courtyard knew Shufei Xie's needlework... was a real disaster.

Nanny Li took one glance at the handkerchief and shot it down right away.

"Your Highness, Princess Consort, this stitching is way too fine—there's no way Shufei Xie made this!"

Nanny Li silently cursed Chunxing and whoever was pulling her strings for being so dumb.

If you're gonna frame somebody, at least pick something believable.

Chunxing immediately hollered in protest: "But this is what Second Miss gave Young Master Fang!"

"It's just that Second Miss's sewing was so bad, she bought handkerchiefs from outside and passed them off as her own work to give to Young Master Fang."

"Even Young Master Fang thought Second Miss stitched these herself! If you don't believe me... if you don't believe me, call Young Master Fang in to face me!"

Dan Tao sneered: "If this was something my mistress gave Young Master Fang, how'd it end up in the hands of a maid who's already been sold off?"

Chunxing's mind went blank, and half her carefully rehearsed lines flew out the window: "I... I..."

She stammered for ages, unable to come up with a way to talk her way out of it.

Dan Tao went on: "You keep swearing my mistress had a thing with Young Master Fang, but she didn't even stitch the handkerchief she gave him herself... Does that even sound believable to you?"

Back then, there was a custom of using a personally embroidered handkerchief as a love token.

But a love token that wasn't stitched by your own hand, just bought from a shop—that was just plain ridiculous.

So who was the pledge of love with, anyway? The one who gave the handkerchief, or the seamstress who stitched it?

Neither Prince Jing nor the Princess Consort bought that Xie Run would do something that dumb.

Chunxing, frantic and about to cry, could only say: "Fine, say the handkerchief's a fake—but the letters have to be real, right?"

"Just read what's inside, and you'll see if Second Miss was messing around with Young Master Fang!"

Dan Tao didn't back down an inch, pressing harder: "It either is or it isn't!"

"What do you mean, 'say it's fake'?"

"If I said you were sleeping with some servant boy in the mansion, and you swore up and down it wasn't true, then I just shrugged and said 'say it's fake'—would you take that?"

"Does that sound like something a person would say?!"

If Chunxing weren't in decent health, she might've coughed up blood from pure rage.

The Princess Consort smiled too. "Dan Tao's usually so steady—I never knew she had such a sharp tongue."

Prince Jing said coolly from the side: "Like mistress, like maid."

The Princess Consort glanced at Dan Tao, then thought of how Xie Run usually carried herself, and something shifted inside her.

Quarrel aside, Dan Tao still didn't dare hold up Prince Jing from reading the letters.

She was nervous too, to be honest.

She hadn't been serving at Xie Run's side back then, so she didn't really know what had gone down.

Her mistress was so sure of herself—but what if something unexpected went wrong?

Just as Dan Tao was fretting, Prince Jing frowned hard at the letters. "What is all this?"

Chunxing thought she saw a sliver of hope and snapped her head up. "Your Highness, am I right?"

"Second Miss clearly had history with Young Master Fang—and not just that, they've been trading letters the whole time she's been in the prince's mansion."

"The words in these letters have to be proof of their secret affair!"

Prince Jing set the letters down, his eyes cold and sharp on Chunxing. "You that eager to see your Second Miss dead?"

Chunxing flinched under Prince Jing's gaze and dropped her head.

But there was a flicker of secret glee in her eyes.

For Prince Jing to say that meant he really had his doubts about Second Miss.

Chunxing tried to defend herself: "It's not like I wanted to spread this around!"

"It's just that back then, I was the one running messages between my mistress and Young Master Fang. But when it all came out, my mistress walked away clean, and the Xie family sold me off to some farm family, where I got beat and pushed around whenever they felt like it."

"I just wanted to beg Second Miss to remember our old bond and save my life..."

The Princess Consort had also read the letters and gave a sly, amused smile. "What you did—does that look like begging for your life?"

"To me, it looks like you're dead set on dragging Shufei Xie down."

Chunxing wailed with hammy acting: "I beg Your Highness and the Princess Consort to see the truth. Everything I've said is real..."

"How can the truth come out of a mouth attached to a crooked heart?"

Prince Jing tossed the letters aside, scattering them across the table.

He said coolly: "Jing Wu, first ask her how she got from Chen Commandery to the capital. Then take my token and hand her over to the authorities."

After a pause, he added, "Don't let her run her mouth and ruin the prince's reputation."

With that, he left, Eunuch Shi'an in tow.

Chunxing had no idea what was going on.

When she saw two sword-wielding men heading her way, clearly coming to grab her, she was terrified.

"What are you doing?!"

"I'm not lying! The Second Miss really is sleeping with Young Master Fang..."

The princess held her teacup, took a slow sip, then asked, "You can't read, right?"

Chunxing stood there, frozen: "No..."

"These letters only ask for advice on poetry and songwriting. You want to use these to accuse Shufei Xie of having an affair... I'm afraid that won't fly."

Just plain stupid.

She didn't even know what was in the letters, yet she had the nerve to swear up and down that Xie Run was cheating.

She really didn't give a damn about her own life.

Whoever was pulling this girl's strings was just as dumb, not even bothering to check the facts first.

They cooked up this scheme—sloppy as hell, but clearly vicious.

Chunxing stared at the princess, eyes wide in disbelief. "How is that possible..."

Back then, she'd clearly seen the Second Miss reading those letters every single day.

Sometimes giggling like an idiot, sometimes moping around—classic signs of a girl with a crush.

She'd even curiously asked the Second Miss what was in the letters.

At the time, the Second Miss had shyly avoided the question.

Who the hell would've guessed there was nothing romantic in them, just requests for poetry advice?!

Unfortunately, before she could finish speaking, two guards stepped forward, covered her mouth, and dragged her away.