Chapter 525: Unique
She immediately turned to the Eldest Princess. "Your Highness, you must see the truth! I have never done such a thing!"
Never in her wildest dreams did Xiao Lansi expect Zhou Kangxue to just come out and say it!
The Eldest Princess’s expression was grave, and she said nothing.
Xiao Lansi furrowed her brow and turned back to stare at Zhou Kangxue in disbelief.
"Doctor Zhou, I barely know you. We have no quarrel. Why would you slander me like this!?"
Zhou Kangxue’s eyes widened. "How is this slander? You said all this yourself, Third Princess! You said Prince Lie was afflicted with a poison from Guanling, that only Guanling had the antidote, and that besides you, no one could save him. How can you deny everything now!? If you hadn’t assured me again and again that you could cure Prince Lie, why would I have ever agreed to do all this?"
Xiao Lansi’s mind went blank. Her breath hitched.
"When did I ever say such things to you!?"
She fought to calm herself, her brow knitted tightly. Her face was a mask of confusion and rage at being so wrongly accused.
"I’ve never done anything to you. Why are you trying to destroy me?"
"Me, destroy you?" Zhou Kangxue let out a laugh of pure fury, as if he’d heard the world’s greatest joke. "If you hadn’t persuaded, threatened, and bribed me, how would I have ended up in this mess?"
A buzzing filled Xiao Lansi’s ears.
Only the last shred of her composure kept her on her feet.
She pressed her lips together, then suddenly spun around and knelt before the Eldest Princess.
"I beg Your Highness to see the truth! If I have truly done such things, may I die without a grave!"
Her eyes were red and brimming with tears, the very picture of someone who had been wronged and pushed to their absolute limit.
With that, she knocked her forehead hard against the floor.
"I beg Your Highness to clear my name!"
The hall fell deathly silent. Everyone exchanged furtive, deeply uncomfortable glances.
No one had expected Ye Chutang’s casual question to dredge up such a scandal.
Zhou Kangxue was usually arrogant, but he was spineless at his core. After just a few questions, he had confessed everything.
But no one could have predicted that the name he would give up was Xiao Lansi’s.
Most people’s initial reaction was disbelief. Seeing Xiao Lansi’s tearful state, they were even more convinced that Zhou Kangxue was spouting nonsense.
Fan Chengzhuo clasped his hands. "Your Highness, the Third Princess is gentle and courteous. She only recently returned to the capital, so how could she have the means to do something like this? Besides, she and His Highness Prince Lie are blood relatives. Surely, there must be some misunderstanding."
Tang Zhongli stroked his beard. "Ah, Mr. Fan, I’m afraid you’re mistaken. Even common folk will fight over a scrap of land, to say nothing of the Royal Family. Whether it’s true or false will depend on hard evidence."
"You—"
Fan Chengzhuo was at a loss for words. He hadn’t expected Tang Zhongli to be so blunt and unpleasant, but he couldn’t argue with the point.
—In the Royal Family, blood ties were the most worthless thing of all!
His own previous statement now seemed utterly laughable.
Chen Songshi nodded in agreement. "That’s right. Everything comes down to evidence. Zhou Kangxue, since you accuse the Third Princess of ordering all this, do you have any proof?"
Zhou Kangxue froze.
’Proof?’
"Of course I do! After Prince Lie’s incident at the hunting grounds, the Third Princess sent someone to my estate with three thousand taels in silver notes! She told me I had to find a way to get rid of Zhao Xuanping and take his place in caring for Prince Lie. Those silver notes are still—"
Suddenly, realizing something, he snapped his mouth shut.
Xiao Lansi looked back, her eyes red with a mixture of anger and indignation. She retorted, "Is that all? Doctor Zhou, if you want to frame me, you should have prepared better. Do you truly take everyone here for a fool? Do you think they would convict me based on a few silver notes?"
’This is bad,’ Zhou Kangxue thought.
’It all happened so fast. I was so focused on clearing my own name that I forgot I don’t actually have any conclusive proof!’
’What could a few silver notes possibly prove? Anyone here could produce that much money.’
’There’s no name written on them!’
But—
"But I’m telling the truth!"
Zhou Kangxue was getting frantic.
"If the Third Princess hadn’t promised me a huge reward, why would I have taken such a risk?! And—and the recent rumors about Ye Chutang! She told me to spread those too!"
Zhou Kangxue scrambled to look at Ye Chutang, patting his chest for emphasis. "Otherwise, I have no connection whatsoever to Ye Chutang! What would I have to gain by doing all this!?"
Xiao Lansi gave a helpless, bitter smile. "Doctor Zhou, I truly don’t understand why you’re doing this to me. You and Second Miss Ye are total strangers, but do you think she and I have some deep-seated grudge against each other?"
Everyone looked at one another, nonplussed.
That... also seemed to be true.
After all, neither Zhou Kangxue nor Xiao Lansi was particularly close to Ye Chutang.
It stood to reason that since they had little contact with her, there was no cause for such a grudge.
Xiao Lansi said, "I know many people have looked down on me since my return to the capital, but I have always followed the rules and have never done anything out of line. Doctor Zhou, why must you persecute me so?"
"You! I... I—"
Zhou Kangxue was practically bursting with indignation.
"Didn’t you say it was because she harmed the Second Prince, and you wanted to get even for him!? How can you turn around and deny everything now!?"
Xiao Chengxuan had been in a stupor this entire time.
Hearing his name suddenly mentioned, he finally showed a sluggish reaction.
He slowly turned his stiff neck to look at Xiao Lansi.
Of course, he knew nothing about any of this.
The truth, the lies—he was completely in the dark.
Large teardrops streamed down Xiao Lansi’s face.
"I was heartbroken when something happened to my second brother, but I never did the things you claim! If my brother has done wrong, our Father, the Emperor, will be the one to judge. What right would I have to pass judgment?"
Hearing this, many people in the hall nodded.
It was true.
An out-of-favor princess who had only been back in the capital for a short while would be lucky just to get by. Where would she find the power to do such things?
Xiao Lansi raised a hand to wipe her tears, her voice choked with sobs.
"I don’t know why Doctor Zhou is targeting me like this. After my mother and my second brother ran into trouble, I’ve been worried sick day and night, unable to sleep. I wanted to help them, but I know better than anyone that one cannot defy an imperial decree. If my mother and brother were in the wrong, then they must admit their mistakes. I would have no objection."
Her cheeks and the tip of her nose were red from crying, making her look all the more pitiful and helpless.
"At this point, I can only beg the Eldest Princess to discern right from wrong and grant me justice!"
Zhou Kangxue’s heart seethed with hatred and regret.
’Why didn’t I think to keep something as leverage! If I had just saved some piece of evidence, I wouldn’t be stuck here squabbling with her!’
"What a silver-tongued liar!"
Zhou Kangxue trembled with rage.
"I did so much for you, and in the end, you deny everything! Then let me ask you: who else could have been so certain they could cure Prince Lie’s poison? The antidote is unique to Guanling! You came back from Guanling—you’re the one most familiar with it! How dare you say it wasn’t you!"
Xiao Lansi suddenly stared at him intently. "Are you saying, Doctor Zhou, that no one in the world could cure Prince Lie’s poison? Have you forgotten? Prince Lie woke up yesterday!"
Zhou Kangxue choked on his words.
Just then, a cool, clear voice spoke up from the side.
"The Third Princess is quite right. Prince Lie’s poison is difficult to cure, but not impossible. Besides, if she promised you on the very day Prince Lie was attacked that she could provide the cure, doesn’t that imply she already had the antidote in her possession then?"
A faint smile touched Ye Chutang’s lips.
"The poison was administered by those Nanhu assassins. So the antidote... where exactly would the Third Princess have found it?"