"Your Highness, please spare my life. I will tell the truth now. It was Lu Lu who ordered me to do it. I had no idea that the other party was the young lady of the General's Mansion. If I had known, even if you gave me a hundred times the courage, I wouldn't have dared. Lu Lu said that a maid always bullied her and asked me to teach her a lesson. She promised to give me a hundred taels of silver if I succeeded."
"It's all my fault for being greedy and wanting to take advantage of the situation. I thought I could sleep with a beauty and earn some money, so I took the risk. But I swear on my entire family's lives, I never touched Miss Shangguan. I didn't even get a good look at her."
"When Lu Lu called me to the door of the side room, Miss Shangguan had already been acupunctured. I had to carry her into the room. Just as I was about to undress her, someone sneaked in from behind, knocked me out, and then stuffed me under the bed. When I woke up, you all rushed in, so I never touched her. She is innocent, and I am innocent. Please spare my life, Your Highness, for the sake of me not touching the Crown Princess."
As Wang Er Mazzi poured out the truth like water, the Crown Prince was furious. This fool, how dare he confess?
Lu Lu was shocked to hear herself being accused. Her trembling legs knelt on the ground, and she immediately pointed at Wang Er Mazzi, making a final resistance, "You're talking nonsense, you're slandering me. This has nothing to do with me. You're responsible for your own actions. You're a criminal. Confess now to avoid bringing disaster to your family."
Wang Er Mazzi was taken aback by Lu Lu's threat to his family. He knew the capabilities of Mu Yandan. Her father was the Minister of Justice, and it would be easy for her to frame someone and throw them into prison. He didn't dare to offend her, let alone accuse her.
He was so scared that he felt like wetting his pants, but he couldn't even do that.
When Liu Yue heard Wang Er Mazzi say that someone had knocked him out, she felt a pang of fear, afraid that someone might find out about her encounter with the masked man. However, Wang Er Mazzi and Lu Lu were accusing and arguing with each other, and everyone temporarily forgot about Wang Er Mazzi being knocked out. All attention was drawn to their dispute.
Wang Er Mazzi, even in the midst of the argument, looked terrified. Liu Yue sneered coldly at him and said, "Can't you have some backbone? You attempted indecency, but you didn't harm me. Why are you so afraid? Is someone threatening your family from behind? As long as you confess the mastermind, I can overlook your responsibility. If you don't speak up, dare to hide it from the Crown Prince, he can immediately wipe out your family."
Liu Yue used both kindness and severity, once again using the Crown Prince as a weapon.
Didn't the Crown Prince want to ruin her? She would let him taste the pain of his own making, trap him in her own scheme, and leave him speechless.
Upon hearing this, Wang Er Mazzi felt as if he had been granted a reprieve. The Crown Princess was willing to overlook his actions. If he didn't confess now, the Crown Princess would punish him, and Mu Yandan wouldn't let him off either. It was a matter of life and death for him.
With this in mind, he pointed angrily at Lu Lu, "Lu Lu, even if you threaten my entire family, I will tell the truth. Even if you ordered me to bully Miss Shangguan, I was afraid you would turn the tables on me, so I kept some evidence."
After speaking, he took out a bag of silver from his pocket and respectfully handed it and the handkerchief to Liu Yue, "Miss Shangguan, please take a look. This is the fifty taels of silver Lu Lu gave me as a down payment. She promised to give me another fifty taels after the job was done. I kept both the silver and the handkerchief. The handkerchief is embroidered with the surname of their mansion—Mu Mansion."
With this revelation, the crowd was in an uproar. Now everyone understood that the mastermind was Mu Yandan. There was both witness and physical evidence, and she couldn't escape.
Mu Yandan's face turned pale when she saw the handkerchief with the Mu Mansion's name. Lu Lu had either been foolish or was in cahoots with Shangguan Liuyue, setting her up with a counterplot.
Lu Lu was already trembling with fear, collapsing on the ground.
Mu Yandan couldn't resist any longer, her defenses crumbling. She looked at Lu Lu with a mix of sorrow and resentment, then knelt down and began to kowtow, "Please forgive me, Your Highness. This was my doing, and it has nothing to do with my mistress. I was jealous of Shangguan Liuyue because she had bullied my mistress before, beating and humiliating her. I couldn't bear to see it and wanted to take revenge. Shangguan Liuyue's actions were despicable, and I couldn't stand by and watch her."
After speaking, she looked at Mu Yandan with anticipation, tears of sorrow and indignation in her eyes. "Miss, you are not aware of this matter. It is the fault of this servant alone. I confess and accept the punishment. I beg you to take care of my family after my death, as I have served you. Then I can die without regret."
Now, everyone looked at Mu Yandan with utter contempt. They had never expected her to be such a malicious woman, using such dirty means to frame Liu Yue.
No one believed a word the maid said. It was clear that Mu Yandan bullied Liu Yue every day, tormenting her to the point of near death. Liu Yue, who was so timid and fearful, how could she possibly have the courage to strike Mu Yandan? She didn't even dare to look Mu Yandan in the eye.
This maid was distorting the truth, and labeling Liu Yue as unforgivable and deserving of her fate.
She had become the righteous maid who resisted violence, while Mu Yandan and her servant were a pair of cunning and treacherous individuals.
Hearing the discussions, Shangguan Yuqing tightly clenched her fingers, leaving bloody marks on her fair palms.
She hadn't expected Liu Yue to fight back. She was different from before. If she continued to interrogate her, she might even be able to provoke her to frame her elder sister. Once such a bad reputation spread, her reputation as a medical genius would be ruined, and she could forget about finding a good marriage.
She calmly pushed Mu Yandan, and the once innocent and kind look in her eyes suddenly overflowed with a sinister glare from hell, frightening Mu Yandan to the core.