Chapter 377: The Niece Consort Yuan Praised to the Skies
"How dare you talk back? You, go teach her a lesson for me," Yuan Xinyou snapped.
"Miss Yuan... let’s... let’s just forget it."
"Useless thing." Yuan Xinyou shoved her aside and strode toward Ye Qianning, raising her hand to slap her across the face.
Ye Qianning knew she had to take this hit, but not to the face. She twisted her body to the side, and the slap landed on her shoulder instead.
"You dare to dodge?" Yuan Xinyou’s temper flared when she saw Ye Qianning evade the blow.
"You hit me! How dare you hit me..." Ye Qianning let go of White Spirit, lunged forward, grabbed a handful of Yuan Xinyou’s hair, and yanked it down, smashing her head forward in a headbutt.
"AHH—!"
The impact was far from light. Yuan Xinyou’s head spun, her nose instantly started bleeding, and she felt dizzy as stars burst in her vision.
It took Yuan Xinyou a long moment to recover. Then, she lunged, her hands closing around Ye Qianning’s throat. "You dare to hurt me? I’ll kill you!"
"Miss Yuan, stop!"
"I’m going to kill her!" Though Yuan Xinyou was physically frail, she had studied martial arts.
As Yuan Xinyou squeezed, Ye Qianning’s face turned crimson from lack of air, but the grip of her own small hands didn’t lessen.
The more pain Yuan Xinyou felt from her hair being pulled, the tighter she squeezed.
"Stop this at once!" a deep, authoritative voice boomed. The Beili Emperor approached, his face dark.
The maidservant, terrified at the sight of the Emperor, immediately dropped to her knees. "Greetings, Your Majesty."
Yuan Xinyou froze, her hand instantly going slack.
The moment Yuan Xinyou’s grip loosened, Ye Qianning let go as well. Her face was flushed, and she collapsed backward, the whites of her eyes showing.
"Qian Ning!" Dean Chen cried out, rushing to catch her as he crouched down.
Ye Qianning gasped for breath. "Master... *sob*... I thought I’d never see you again."
"Don’t cry, it’s alright now. It’s all my fault," Dean Chen soothed, his heart aching for her. He looked up at the Beili Emperor. "Your Majesty, you saw all of it. I will leave it to Your Majesty to decide how to proceed."
"WAAAH! Your Majesty, I never want to come to the palace again! I don’t want to marry the Crown Prince! I just want to live!" Ye Qianning wailed, tears streaming down her face.
It was almost a perfect reenactment of what had happened the day before.
The Beili Emperor had seen the entire thing, clear as day. He might have been able to dismiss yesterday’s events since he hadn’t witnessed them, but this had unfolded right before his very eyes.
"Your Majesty, it was her. She struck first," Yuan Xinyou said coldly, kneeling with an air of perfect composure.
"I didn’t! You started it!"
"Your Majesty, I would not lie." Her expression was placid, without the slightest hint of panic.
If the Beili Emperor hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he truly would have been fooled by her act.
Sang Qi felt he had truly seen something today. He had thought this girl, a few months his junior, was magnanimous and dignified. He never imagined her skill at lying was so refined it was practically an art form.
"And *my* little disciple is even less likely to lie," Dean Chen retorted, displeased.
"Are you implying that I am lying, Dean Chen?" Yuan Xinyou said.
"You know the truth better than anyone." If he hadn’t witnessed it himself, Dean Chen would never have believed an eight-year-old child could be so calculating.
"Dean Chen is merely protecting his own disciple. I have nothing more to say. I can only ask Your Majesty to pass judgment." Though Yuan Xinyou’s face was pale, her imperious aura didn’t waver.
Dean Chen laughed in exasperation. "Heh. Just as expected of Consort Yuan’s niece. Excellent. Truly excellent."
"What does my aunt have to do with this? Dean Chen, you shouldn’t..."
"Silence!" the Beili Emperor snapped.
Yuan Xinyou was stunned by the rebuke.
"We had thought you magnanimous and dignified. We never expected your character to be so vile." ’And this is the niece Consort Yuan praised to the heavens?’
’What an absolute disgrace!’
’Yuan Xinyou was shocked. The Emperor hadn’t reprimanded Ye Qianning at all; instead, he was reprimanding her. It seemed her aunt was right—the Emperor placed great trust in the dean of Lou Mountain Academy.’
"We saw you strike her with Our own eyes and heard your insolent words. And still, you try to argue?"
