The concubine was charming and alluring, and the ruthless prince coaxed her day and night.

Chapter 155 Never be able to stand up again

Many people are speculating whether someone deliberately framed Xu Jiaojiao.

Xie Peining, who was sitting upright, also frowned, clearly not expecting this to happen again.

Hu Gao shifted uncomfortably, as if she wanted to say something.

Xie Peining, who was standing to the side, gave her a reassuring yet warning look, and she immediately became obedient, sitting still in her seat.

On the throne, the emperor frowned slightly, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the hall again before finally settling on Xu Jiaojiao: "Miss Xu, do you have anything to say?"

Xu Jiaojiao bowed slightly and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, I truly do not know why the jade pendant appeared in the Imperial Garden. If Your Majesty permits, I am willing to assist in the investigation to prove my innocence."

Xie Peining, who was sitting in the seat, immediately turned her head to look at Hu Gaoshi.

The emperor hesitated for a moment, about to speak, when Hu Gaoshi, who had received instructions from Xie Peining, chuckled and interrupted him: "Assist? More like using this as an excuse to destroy evidence..."

Xu Jiaojiao was not angry. Instead, she calmly looked at Hu Gaoshi and said in an orderly manner, "Madam's words are truly absurd. If I intended to destroy evidence, why would I have offered to assist in the investigation? Isn't that a contradiction? Besides..."

Xu Jiaojiao paused briefly, looked at the emperor with reverence, and bowed respectfully: "Your Majesty is wise. In this great hall, under Your Majesty's very nose, how could I dare to do such a bold and reckless thing as destroying evidence?"

The emperor was already displeased that Hu Gaoshi had interrupted him, and seeing Xu Jiaojiao's submissive manner naturally tipped the scales in his heart.

He nodded slightly, finding Xu Jiaojiao's words reasonable, and his gaze toward Hu Gaoshi grew increasingly disgusted: "And who are you? Without concrete evidence, don't make wild guesses and shout nonsense here!"

In front of everyone, being reprimanded so mercilessly by the emperor, Hu Gaoshi's face immediately turned red, but she dared not say anything more and could only lower her head, secretly angry.

At this moment, Jia Rong, who had been silent all along, saw that the time was right and immediately spoke up: "Father, there are many suspicious points in this matter. It is indeed difficult to determine that Miss Xu is the one who pushed the maid into the water based on just a jade pendant. Why not order people to continue to investigate carefully? I believe the truth will come out."

Prince Chen chimed in at the opportune moment: "Father, I think Jia Rong is absolutely right. The Xu family is a family of upright officials, and Xu Guanghe is even more dedicated to his duties and works tirelessly for the court. I believe his daughter would not do such a vicious thing. Why don't you give Miss Xu a chance to prove her innocence?"

When Prince Chen spoke, many of the ministers who served him also echoed his sentiments.

In an instant, many voices emerged in support of Xu Jiaojiao.

The emperor pondered for a moment, finding that everyone's words made sense, and nodded slightly: "In that case, let this matter continue to be investigated. If it is indeed Xu Jiaojiao's doing, I will never let it go. But if it is someone deliberately framing her, I will certainly not let it go lightly either!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Jiaojiao breathed a sigh of relief and immediately knelt down to express her gratitude: "Your Majesty is wise!"

The emperor nodded slightly, signaling Xu Jiaojiao to stand up.

When Xu Qingran returned to her seat, her hands, which were placed in front of her, were still trembling slightly.

Her eyes reddened, tears welled up, and she felt both moved and scared, knowing how much danger Xu Jiaojiao had taken for her.

She looked at Xu Jiaojiao, and the tears she had been holding back for so long finally streamed down her face: "Sister, thank you..."

She paused, then murmured, "I'm sorry, it's all my fault for being careless and getting you involved..."

Xu Jiaojiao felt a pang of heartache and couldn't help but pat Xu Qingran's hand: "Qingran, we're sisters, we're bound by blood, there's no question of being implicated or not, let alone thanking you..."

This silly girl has no idea that this wasn't an accident on her part, but rather a deliberate setup. If anyone was implicated, it was her who dragged Qingran down with her...

Xie Peining, on the other side, saw the deep sisterly affection between the two and couldn't help but twitch her brow.

Xu Jiaojiao was a lowly servant girl. Prince Chen only gave her a fake identity, but Xu Qingran, that stupid thing, actually took Xu Jiaojiao seriously.

She picked up her glass with a hint of annoyance, took a sip, and then slammed it down.

Originally, he thought he could kill Xu Jiaojiao with this jade pendant, but things took an unexpected turn.

In that instant, Xie Peining's hatred intensified; she wished she could cast Xu Jiaojiao into a living hell right now, so she could never rise again...

Hearing the commotion, Hu Gaoshi, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but look over.

Upon seeing the resentment and hatred in Xie Peining's eyes, she couldn't help but shudder and instinctively shrank back, fearing that she would be implicated innocently.

The delightful banquet turned into a tragedy, and everyone lost their appetite for eating and drinking.

While the investigation team was still not back, the singing and dancing continued, but the mood among the crowd was low. Many people were secretly speculating about how the matter would unfold, and the atmosphere was somewhat subtle and tense.

Amidst the singing and dancing, the eunuch who had previously slipped out of the main hall hurriedly returned from an inconspicuous corner and whispered a few words in Zhao Yunzheng's ear.

Zhao Yunzheng nodded slightly, a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips.

Despite the occasional glances from the crowd, Xu Jiaojiao remained calm and composed, sitting quietly in her seat, pondering whether Xie Peining had any backup plans and how she should resolve her predicament.

As time passed and the New Year approached, the atmosphere in the main hall grew increasingly heavy, as if a storm was about to break, and everyone awaited the next unknown variable…

Just then, a man dressed as a guard rushed into the main hall.

Upon his arrival, the music ceased abruptly, the dancers retreated, and all eyes turned to him once more. The hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

The man lowered his head, ran straight into the hall, knelt on one knee, and loudly reported: "Your Majesty, I have just found a package behind a rockery in the Imperial Garden, which may be related to the maid who fell into the water!"

The emperor's eyes sharpened: "Bring it here."

The man hurriedly presented the package with both hands, and the eunuch immediately stepped forward to take it, carefully presenting it to the emperor and opening it.

As the package was unwrapped layer by layer, a maid's dress stained with blood and a letter appeared before everyone's eyes.

The maid's skirt was the same as the one worn by ordinary maids, exactly the same as the one worn by the maid who fell into the water, and had nothing special about it.

That letter, however, is quite intriguing.

The letter read: "Meet me at the Lotus Pond in the Imperial Garden at 3:45 PM on New Year's Eve. I will make sure you get what I want. I will give you the reward I promised you at that time. — Xu Jiaojiao"

As the eunuch read the contents of the letter aloud, the crowd in the hall erupted in an uproar.

It was three quarters past Xu hour, wasn't that the time for the two Xu family daughters to go to the side hall to change their clothes?

Xu Jiaojiao's pupils dilated, and she raised her eyelids to look at Xie Peining. She hadn't expected that the other party would dare to use such a treacherous trick in the Imperial Palace...