Chapter 2

3

One was a dissolute rake. The other was a noble young man with a brilliant future.

Put the two together, and the looks directed at them immediately became strange.

Some of the bolder guests kept glancing between Pei Lang and Hong Jingxing, clicking their tongues in wonder.

Shocked and furious, Pei Lang stood so abruptly that he knocked over his chair. Ignoring it, he clasped his hands.

"I spent that day waiting for Miss Xie at the estate. The servants there can testify!"

"Please investigate fairly, Your Majesty!"

Hong Jingxing stared for a moment, then sprang up.

"Pei Lang? At the brothel? It was him that night?"

"Impossible! I'm not interested in men. Besides, even if I couldn't see clearly, I can still tell a man from a woman!"

"Eldest Miss Xie, don't slander people! Why drag Young Master Pei into something you did yourself?"

I spoke without hesitation.

"I saw Pei Lang enter Young Master Hong's residence with my own eyes that day!"

"I don't know what passed between them to make Young Master Hong accuse me today."

"Pei Lang is still my future husband. Faced with something like this, I'm heartbroken and distraught too!"

As I finished, I dabbed at the corners of my entirely dry eyes, looking as wronged as I possibly could.

Pei Lang's face was scarlet. Probably with rage.

Even the young man beside him quietly edged farther away.

The comments kept scrolling.

[Did the supporting girl suddenly get a brain? She didn't stupidly say she'd gone to see the male lead!]

[He already gave her a way out, and she insists on making a scene. So ungrateful.]

[Still won't admit it? Wait until he produces more evidence. Let's see her cry then!]

[Our poor male lead. Stuck with a fiancée of equal standing, unable to have freedom or love.]

[Die, supporting girl, die! Can't she just obediently marry the supporting man and let him torment her to death?]

[Actually… I don't think she's said or done anything wrong. She didn't do it. If the male lead can frame her for the heroine's sake, of course she'd fight back!]

[Hahaha, I'm dying. That bastard tried to frame her, and she turned around and did the same to him. Look at his face!]

Pei Wanzhi couldn't bear it any longer.

"How dare you slander my brother's reputation! You're the one who has no sense of decency…"

Pei Lang stopped her and sneered.

"Xie Xiao, you keep talking about how we grew up together. But ask yourself: do you truly want to marry me?"

"If you do, why did your personal maid Chuntao tell me you complain that I'm less considerate than Young Master Hong?"

"You've had feelings for him for a long time. Our engagement merely kept you from saying so. Now you've been exposed, you turn around and accuse me of meeting him."

"Two birds with one stone, Xie Xiao. Very clever."

This was bad.

4

The next instant, Chuntao—the maid who'd been with me since childhood—dropped to her knees with a thud.

Head lowered, she stammered,

"I… I'm afraid."

The Empress frowned.

"Tell the truth."

Chuntao trembled.

"Although my young lady is betrothed to Young Master Pei, she often complains about him in private. I couldn't bear to hear it anymore, so I secretly told him."

"The other day, she took only me out with her. As soon as we left, she went straight to the brothel. I couldn't stop her!"

"I'm her maid, but before Your Majesty, I… I wouldn't dare lie…"

By the end, her voice was choked with tears, as though I'd really done it.

I stared at her in astonishment.

She couldn't meet my eyes. Turning her head aside, she bit her lip.

"My lady, please admit it!"

A smile appeared in Pei Lang's eyes.

"Now we have both witness and evidence. What else can you say?"

Hong Jingxing lifted his chin too.

"Exactly. Admit it now, and I can still marry you as my principal wife. Keep being stubborn, and I'm afraid you'll only get to be a concubine!"

"I haven't forgotten how you looked beneath me that night. Once you're in my household, we can revisit it at leisure!"

Chuntao's words sent whispers through the crowd.

"Who'd have thought it? Miss Xie looks so proper, yet she's so wanton in private!"

"How desperate must she be to choose Hong Jingxing?"

"Shh. Perhaps that's what she likes."

Fine.

Very good.

I'd never imagined that in one day, both my fiancé and my closest maid would betray me.

My fault.

I'd failed to judge their characters.

I felt as though I stood swaying at a cliff's edge. One more step, and I would fall.

Pain stabbed through my heart.

My thoughts raced. I bowed.

"That day, I left in the Xie household's carriage. Both the driver and gatekeeper can testify."

"Question them, and you'll know where I went."

Pei Lang sneered.

"Who knows whether your servants would lie because your household holds their bond contracts?"

I answered at once.

"Then Chuntao's contract is also in our hands. Why should her words be true, while every other servant's must be false?"

I looked at her.

"You must know that after what you've said, our household cannot keep you."

"If I remember correctly, your parents work in the residence too."

"Think carefully."

Her lips trembled, but she stiffened her neck.

"You needn't threaten me, my lady. Today, I must tell the truth!"

She shook as she knelt, making even the pin in her hair quiver.

I'd given her that hairpin.

I'd felt sorry for her difficult circumstances and often found excuses to reward her with money.

Now it seemed I'd given everything to an ingrate.

The comments continued.

[After all, the male lead promised the maid he'd marry her as a coequal wife if she gave false testimony.]

[She'll throw away her parents and even the heroine for a man.]

[Our precious boy is so irresistible. Of course he can enchant a maid.]

[Exactly. His jade pendant is in the sachet at her waist. She takes it out to stroke it sometimes. She's completely obsessed with our boy~]

So that was it.

While everyone's attention was elsewhere, I stepped forward and snatched the sachet from Chuntao's waist.

Caught off guard, she cried out.

"My lady, what are you doing?"

I drew out a jade pendant.

The character for "Pei" was plainly carved into it.

After showing it to everyone, I said,

"My maid is bold indeed, carrying Young Master Pei's pendant on her person."

"This is valuable jade, hardly something easily forged."

"Could she have designs on him? Is that why she's lying?"

Chuntao looked toward him with hope.

His face darkened.

"Perhaps I dropped it somewhere without knowing, and a maid picked it up. What does that prove?"

She went white, tears shimmering in her eyes.

"I… I was greedy, so…"

I didn't know what spell he'd cast on her. She really was infatuated.

I solemnly kowtowed.

"First Young Master Hong falsely accuses me. Then my own fiancé rushes to make the accusation stick."

"But I will not admit to something I haven't done."

"I would sooner enter a temple, shave my head, and become a nun than marry Hong Jingxing!"

"If he insists on marrying me today, I'll dash my head against this pillar and die!"

My words were so fierce that even the Empress was alarmed.

This was her banquet, after all. She didn't want to see me die before her eyes.

She hurried to dissuade me.

"Miss Xie, don't think of doing such a thing!"

I remained firm.

"Young Master Hong, Pei Lang, and I each have a different account."

"Then let us refer this to the Court of Judicial Review and question everyone involved. I will cooperate throughout. I ask only to clear my name!"

Weary after listening to us argue for so long, the Empress nodded.

"Very well…"

"No!"

Pei Lang interrupted her in agitation.

"Family disgrace shouldn't be aired outside. Xie Xiao, it pains me to see you like this. If it goes to the Court of Judicial Review, won't it make us a laughingstock?"

I looked at him coldly.

"I'm not afraid. If even I, a woman, am willing to be questioned by the court, what are you so guilty about?"

"Keep forcing me today, and I won't hesitate to dash my head against your family's gates. Let the whole world see what the Peis have said!"

"You… you…"

He pointed at me, unable to speak.

His eyes trembled, as though he were seeing me for the first time.

Before, I'd always been gentle and proper in front of him.

Today, he meant to drive me to my death. I could only be more ruthless than he was.

The Empress was also irritated by his constant interruptions.

"A woman's reputation is at stake," she said, nodding. "We'll do as Miss Xie asks."