Chapter 429: Chapter 432: Furious but Dare Not Speak
Hua Manman voluntarily stepped forward.
"I was there at the time. I saw with my own eyes that Hua Zhaorong only touched Wen Zhaorong. There wasn’t nearly enough force to push her over."
The Emperor narrowed his eyes. "Are you implying that Wen Zhaorong fell on her own?"
Even if Hua Manman was a fool, she knew she couldn’t say something like that outright.
Especially not with the Emperor’s suspicious nature.
The more she voiced her suspicions about Wen Zhaorong, the more she would antagonize the Emperor.
So she lowered her head and answered obediently.
"I do not know."
Afraid his wife would be wronged, Li Ji immediately stepped forward, shielding her behind him as he spoke.
"My Princess Consort hasn’t seen much of the world. She’s timid and doesn’t know how to lie. I ask Your Majesty to be lenient and not make things difficult for her."
The Emperor was speechless. "I am merely asking her a few questions. You call that making things difficult?"
Li Ji couldn’t care less.
He stood before Hua Manman like a door guardian; no one was getting past him.
The Emperor took a deep breath. ’If this weren’t my own son, I’d have him dragged out and beaten.’
’He has no manners whatsoever!’
Hua Qingqing spoke up at the right moment.
"Your Majesty, why would you think that I was the one who pushed Wen Zhaorong?
In your heart, do you truly see me as that kind of vicious, cruel woman?"
As she spoke the last sentence, her eyes filled with deep sorrow and resentment.
The Emperor’s heart softened slightly.
But this concerned an imperial heir. There had to be a reasonable explanation.
"I don’t want to suspect you, but Wen Zhaorong said you pushed her."
Hua Qingqing lifted her chin slightly, like a defiant swan.
"Since Wen Zhaorong suspects me, then let me confront her face to face. I have done nothing wrong and am not afraid of a confrontation."
The Emperor hesitated. "Wen Zhaorong is still inside receiving treatment..."
Hua Qingqing replied, "I can wait. As long as I can clear my name, I will wait as long as it takes."
She was actually eager to stall for more time.
After all, finding Doctor Liu and bringing him here would take a considerable amount of time.
Ever since she learned that Wen Zhaorong had Doctor Liu check her pulse daily, she had suspected some secret dealings between the two.
That was why, before leaving today, she had specifically ordered someone to lure Doctor Liu to the Moon Viewing Pavilion.
It was all to create a time delay.
As long as she had this buffer, Hua Qingqing would have time to react, no matter what tricks Wen Zhaorong tried to pull.
And indeed, things were unfolding just as she had predicted.
Wen Zhaorong crying and screaming for Doctor Liu to treat her was definitely suspicious.
So, Hua Qingqing had sent Xi Xiang back on an errand.
The words Xi Xiang had spoken to Doctor Liu were all taught to her by Hua Qingqing.
Those words were half-truths, a mix of fact and fiction that made them hard to distinguish. Unless Doctor Liu had a chance to speak with Wen Zhaorong alone and clarify things, the words would likely lodge in his mind and cause him to panic.
Now, the only thing Hua Qingqing had to do was stall for as long as possible.
Others didn’t know what Hua Qingqing was planning, but Li Ji heard her thoughts as clear as day.
’This woman is no longer the sheltered young lady of the Zhong’an Bo Mansion. She doesn’t need anyone’s concern at all.’
’My poor Princess Consort,’ he thought. ’She’s still foolishly thinking that Hua Qingqing is being framed and insists on staying to testify for her.’
After a while, Doctor Wang came out of the room carrying his medical kit.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, I have already performed acupuncture on Wen Zhaorong. I will send over the prescription shortly.
From now on, Wen Zhaorong just needs to take her medicine on time and rest well for a period."
The Emperor nodded slightly to show he understood.
He led Hua Qingqing toward the inner chamber.
Hua Manman quickly followed.
The moment she moved, Li Ji naturally moved to follow.
The palace maid guarding the door had a strange expression and couldn’t help but speak up.
"Prince, perhaps it’s best if you don’t go in. Wen Zhaorong is unwell and it is inappropriate for her to receive a male visitor."
The Emperor also stopped and turned back to say to Li Ji,
"You wait outside. Don’t come in."
Even though Li Ji was his son, he couldn’t just enter the bedroom of a palace concubine. The rules couldn’t be broken.
Li Ji was stopped at the door.
But he didn’t leave. Instead, he just leaned lazily against the doorframe, arms crossed, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the room before finally settling on Hua Manman.
’If I wasn’t worried about Manman’s safety, I couldn’t be bothered to waste my time here!’ he thought.
Seeing this, the palace maid at the door was furious but didn’t dare to say a word.
The Emperor couldn’t be bothered to argue with Li Ji over such a small matter. He walked to the bedside, looked at the pale-faced Wen Zhaorong, and asked in a soft, gentle voice,
"How are you feeling?"
Wen Zhaorong said weakly, "Your Majesty, I feel awful."
The Emperor caressed her cheek. "It’s all right. This will pass."
Wen Zhaorong started crying again, tears streaming down her pale face, making her look especially fragile and pitiful.
She nestled in the Emperor’s arms, secretly glancing at Hua Qingqing out of the corner of her eye as numerous schemes flashed through her mind.
’Although Doctor Liu’s whereabouts are still unknown, I still have the upper hand in the current situation.’
’I can absolutely use this opportunity to get rid of Hua Qingqing.’
So, Wen Zhaorong lifted her head and looked at the Emperor with teary eyes.
"Your Majesty, why did you bring Ms. Hua over?"
The Emperor replied, "I promised to give you an explanation, so I had her come to clarify things with you in person."
Wen Zhaorong said through her tears,
"There’s nothing left to say. It’s all my fault.
I was the one who lost my footing and fell. It has nothing to do with Ms. Hua at all.
Your Majesty, please don’t let this create a rift between you and Ms. Hua because of me."
Although she claimed it had nothing to do with Hua Zhaorong, her aggrieved expression and streaming tears only made it seem more certain that Hua Zhaorong was the culprit.
Why else would she look so wronged?!
Hua Manman couldn’t stand her cloying, manipulative act any longer and couldn’t help but retort.
"Since Wen Zhaorong herself has said so, that proves this matter really has nothing to do with Hua Zhaorong."
Wen Zhaorong was momentarily speechless.
’I was feigning retreat to advance!’
’A normal person, after hearing what I said, should be desperately trying to defend themselves.’
’Of course, the result of that defense would be digging themselves into a deeper hole, until they couldn’t argue their way out of it.’
’Why doesn’t Hua Manman play by the rules?!’
Prince Zhao, who had been leaning against the door enjoying the show, also spoke up.
"Since everything’s been cleared up, it’s settled then. Can we go home now?"
Wen Zhaorong secretly ground her teeth.
’What is wrong with this couple? Don’t they have any sense at all?!’
Hua Manman patted her chest and let out a breath. "Oh my, I was worried for nothing. It seems Wen Zhaorong is quite magnanimous. We didn’t even have to say anything, and she cleared it all up herself. What a good person she is."
Li Ji straightened up and said lazily, "If there’s nothing else, we’ll be leaving."
Hua Manman grabbed Hua Qingqing’s arm.
"Let’s go, let’s go. We shouldn’t keep Wen Zhaorong from her rest."
Wen Zhaorong: "..."
’AHHH! This couple is absolutely doing this on purpose to piss me off!!’
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