Chapter 483: I’m Blind, Not Dead
The young maid shivered all over, quickly turned, and knelt down.
The Empress Dowager, however, had no time to bother with her; she instructed Mrs. Hong to help Yun Ran up while she hurriedly walked forward.
"Yue, what’s wrong? Did you fall and hurt yourself somewhere?"
"Grandmother, walk slowly and watch your step! I’m fine, don’t worry."
Yun Ran smiled to reassure the Empress Dowager and, with the help of Hong Gu, managed to stand up, but almost slipped and fell again.
"Princess Qin!" Hong Gu immediately supported her nervously and asked, "Did you sprain your foot?"
Judging by the situation, it was surely a sprained ankle, and the slightly furrowed brows clearly showed she was enduring pain.
The Empress Dowager immediately sent someone to summon the Imperial Physician, but Yun Ran smiled as if nothing was wrong, "Grandmother, I really am fine. My leg was just numb for a moment and I lost my balance, so there’s no need to summon the physician."
The Empress Dowager obviously didn’t believe her; she thought Yun Ran was just too gentle, considerate, and didn’t want to worry others.
She gave a quick glance at Nangong Ning, who was still glaring viciously at Yun Ran in the snow, and with a displeased frown, she asked in a deep voice:
"Did you bump into Yue, causing her to sprain her ankle?"
Upon seeing this, Yun Ran couldn’t help but softly say, "Grandmother, I accidentally fell by myself, it has nothing to do with the Princess..."
"You needn’t defend her, I will stand up for you."
The Empress Dowager gazed at Yun Ran with affection, thinking ever strongly that this girl had everything good, but was just too kind-hearted and too soft in nature, which had led to her being bullied before.
Nangong Ning looked on with wide eyes, unable to restrain herself from loudly protesting her innocence:
"How could it possibly be me who knocked her over?! Clearly, she plotted to trip me! Grandmother, you mustn’t confuse right and wrong and unjustly accuse a good person!!"
"How dare you! Is this how you talk to me?"
Scolded harshly by the Empress Dowager, Nangong Ning’s momentum weakened a bit, and, in a much quieter voice than before, she said stubbornly:
"It was indeed she who tripped me, she’s a deceitful, vicious, heartless, despicable person! Grandmother, you as the Empress Dowager should uphold justice and be discerning; you should stand up for me!"
"Stand up for you?"
The Empress Dowager, staring coldly at Nangong Ning, exuded an aura of authority.
"I heard from afar you were spouting nonsense, even boasting you’d kill Yue! Are you still claiming to be wrongly accused?"
"This, I... Although, but..."
"No more buts!"
The Empress Dowager directly interrupted the stammering Nangong Ning and said sternly:
"You’ve always been arrogant and domineering, cultivating this coarse and rude temperament—where’s the slightest resemblance to a princess?"
"You show no respect for your sister-in-law and even utter such wild words! I will punish you with confinement for half a month and have you copy a hundred volumes of sutras to reflect on your actions."
Upon hearing this, Nangong Ning couldn’t help but shout, "What? You’re going to confine me? And make me copy those boring sutras?! I don’t accept this!"
"Grandmother, how can you accuse a good person without distinguishing between good and evil! You’re too biased towards her! I’m your real granddaughter!"
Nangong Ning glared fiercely at Yun Ran; if looks could kill, Yun Ran would have already been burned to ashes, with nothing left!
Unseen by others, Yun Ran raised her eyebrows slightly at her, with a bright and smug smile on her lips.
Nangong Ning was startled at first, then seemed to realize something, her expression exploded instantly, and she climbed up from the ground, lunging at Yun Ran like an angry dog pouncing on food.
"You sinister, venomous woman! You’re pretending! You did it on purpose! You just want to harm this princess!"
Unfortunately, although she had great momentum, she was blocked by two maids by the Empress Dowager, held by her arms on either side, unable to break free no matter how much she struggled.
Nangong Ning was irate, her face red with anger, "You insolent slaves! How dare you! Let go of this princess!"
The Empress Dowager glanced at her and directly instructed the two maids, "Send the Princess back to her palace, confine her for a month, and without my decree, she is not to step out of the palace doors."
Hearing this, Nangong Ning was dumbfounded, "What? A month? Didn’t you just say half a month? How can you, a dignified Empress Dowager, go back on your word?"
Yun Ran looked at her tenderly and said earnestly, "Princess, actually a month will pass quickly. You should speak less and not further anger Grandmother."
If I speak a bit more... maybe turn one month into two~~
"Quickly?! Then why don’t you go? You vicious woman! Causing such harm to this princess! I won’t let you get away! Ahhh!"
Nangong Ning, infuriated by Yun Ran, kicked her legs; if not for the two maids restraining her, she would have already lunged at Yun Ran.
At this moment, the Crown Prince walked over, accompanied by Nangong Siyu and others.
Nangong Jue’s gaze swept over Yun Ran, who was being supported by Mrs. Hong, and Nangong Mo, who was sitting nearby as if about to ascend to immortality, finally landing on Nangong Ning, who was being held up by two palace maids, his brow imperceptibly furrowed.
"Grandson greets the Empress Dowager and wishes the Empress Dowager boundless longevity and eternal happiness."
"I wonder what mistake Ning’er made to anger the Empress Dowager so much?"
Upon seeing her savior, Nangong Ning instantly regained some confidence and quickly clarified for herself, "Brother, Crown Prince brother, Ning’er did nothing wrong! I didn’t push her, she fell on her own!"
"Moreover, she used underhanded means to trip me!!! Causing me to fall and hurt all over! Yet the Empress Dowager insists on siding with her without distinguishing right from wrong, and wants to punish me because of her!!"
"Crown Prince brother, you must stand up for Ning’er!"
The Empress Dowager gave Nangong Ning a sharp glance, causing her to quickly shrink her head and turn her face away.
Nangong Jue seemed to casually step forward, but just happened to block the Empress Dowager’s line of sight toward Nangong Ning.
"Empress Dowager, perhaps there is some misunderstanding here? Would it not be better to give Ning’er a chance to explain? Or let her and Wanyue clarify the misunderstanding face to face?"
Meeting Nangong Jue’s gaze, Yun Ran smiled on the surface, but was rolling her eyes internally:
[Misunderstanding? What nonsense! Didn’t she just intend to harm but ended up being outmaneuvered due to her own lack of skill? Tsk~ So weak and pretentious, who else would be unlucky but you?]
The Empress Dowager, possibly worried that Yun Ran might be intimidated by Nangong Jue’s aura, immediately frowned and looked at Nangong Jue, "I heard it with my own ears, she threatened to kill Yue, could there possibly be any mistake about that?"
Only then did Nangong Jue shift his gaze from Yun Ran to the Empress Dowager, speaking humbly:
"Empress Dowager, although Ning’er is indeed a bit willful and spoiled, she doesn’t have a malicious nature and would never do something to harm someone’s life."
"In my opinion, those words were merely playful banter. Today, the snow is falling beautifully, and girls enjoy frolicking. Inevitably, in their excitement, they might say some nonsense, but surely it was without malice."
"Wanyue and Ning’er both fell, so it seems they just accidentally slipped while playing in the snow. There’s no evidence anyone pushed anyone else."
Yun Ran: "..."
Well said, just don’t say it again next time!
Nangong Ning was equally displeased, "Crown Prince brother! It was clearly her who pushed me! How can you..."
"Ning’er!"
The Crown Prince frowned and gave Nangong Ning a look, his eyes carrying a hidden authority, successfully making Nangong Ning swallow back her words.
"Empress Dowager, since the matter has been clarified, and the misunderstanding is also..."
Before the Crown Prince could finish, a cold, lazy voice floated over on the wind.
"Is the Crown Prince having a fit, coming here to perform a drama?"
Nangong Jue’s words paused, his face momentarily stiffening, but he quickly resumed his gentle, jade-like demeanor.
Turning towards the man standing like a perfect statue in the snowstorm, he asked with a gentle smile, "Ninth Prince, what do you mean by that?"
The ’statue’ snorted coldly, his eyes fixed ahead, "Singing such a pretty song, which eye did the Crown Prince use to see?"
Nangong Jue: "..."
"Hey! How can you say that about my Crown Prince brother?!"
Nangong Ning couldn’t help but stand up for the Crown Prince, but Nangong Mo didn’t even spare her a glance, coldly replying:
"I can testify that she had ulterior motives and was plotting to harm my princess."
"What?! You testify? On what basis..."
"Ning’er."
With just a look from the Crown Prince, Nangong Ning sensibly shut her mouth, while he turned to Nangong Mo, "Ninth Prince, I think..."
Nangong Mo once again interrupted him unceremoniously.
"I’m blind, not deaf. I was right there when it happened. Who could possibly know better than me what transpired?"
Nangong Jue: "..."
The Empress Dowager immediately stepped forward to support him, "Jiulang is right, he was present from start to finish, who could be more knowledgeable about what happened than he, the person involved?"
Nangong Ning: "..."
What could a blind man possibly know clearly! Besides, he’s in cahoots with that malicious, sinister woman! How can his words be trusted?
