Song Yi laughed at Bao Jing's thoughts, her heart was furious, but her face remained calm and composed. She said: "Taking the blame means admitting guilt, after all, it is being led by the nose, this is the worst strategy! Bao Jing, you are loyal to your master, but unfortunately, you are not smart enough!"

  "Does Miss Song mean that you can prove our innocence, without leaving any handle for slander?" Bao Jing heard this and didn't get angry, raised an eyebrow and retorted, "I'm stupid, please Miss Song have mercy and enlighten me!"

  You're really demanding! Not only must you prove your innocence, but also that there's no rumor - even if an imperial edict is issued, it can't guarantee that someone won't whisper a few words behind your back!

  Song Yi laughed extremely and said: "Bao Jing, you'd better understand one thing, I owe the Jiang family a favor, but it's not to the point where I need to be a cow or a horse to repay it!"

  She may not have any backing, but that doesn't mean she's without backbone. Just because she's from the Jiang family, does she think she can just bully her?! Dream on!

  No matter how coldly the King of Hengshan spoke, he had supported her for six years with fine clothes and food. She was not willing to be controlled by the Queen Mother of Hengshan, let alone being led around by Jiang Muxian who only hosted half a banquet! Could it be that Baojing was still asleep or did she have "easy to bully" written on her face?!

  "After all, although I'm living under someone else's roof, just by looking at what I'm wearing now, people should know that the King of Hengshan has treated me well! Song Yi smiled and ignored Bao Jing's ugly expression, continuing to say coldly, 'What makes you think I would repay kindness with enmity?!'"

  She was raised in the Hengshan Royal Palace, if she ruins her reputation, can't it affect Lu Qinger and the others?!

  Can the King of Hengshan afford to ignore his adopted daughter, but can't he also ignore his own biological daughter?

  The Jiang family may have power and influence, and the palace may have virtuous imperial consorts, but if they want to frame someone in front of their relatives, they should think twice!

  Bao Jing thought that after what just happened, even Jiang Muqin, who was spoiled, would be greatly disturbed, let alone Song Yixiao. She came up and pressed him aggressively with her momentum - thinking that Song Yixiao, a 14-year-old girl, had no reliable elders to protect her, and intimidating her would make her surrender.

  But unexpectedly, Song Yi's determination was unwavering, and no matter how she threatened or tempted her, she refused to back down or speak out. Instead, she preemptively said that she didn't want to implicate the Hengshan Wang Fu, making it impossible for Bao Jing to even begin to scold her for betraying Jiang Muqin's kindness.

  "Miss Song, you're being too serious. I've also considered that even if my mistress acknowledges the matter, Miss Song was present at the time and can't escape her relationship with it, nor can she help my mistress." Bao Jing suppressed his anger and calmly said, "If we exhaust all means to plot against each other, won't those who are dear to us suffer while our enemies rejoice?"

  The conversation took a sudden turn, "Miss Song has a clever plan, why not tell us? After all, when Cui Jianliu wakes up, we will go to confront him. At that time, if our statements are inconsistent, I'm afraid it will lead to more trouble!"

  She still dominated the scene at this meeting - Song Yi smiled and swept her hair, with a mocking tone: "If it wasn't for the first time I saw Sister Jiang, it was Yuan sister who introduced me in person. I thought you were Miss Jiang of the Jiang family!"

  Bao Jing's face stiffened: "The slave indeed overstepped, but in these extraordinary times..."

  Jiang Muxiu, who had been silent all along, finally made up his mind and interrupted, "Baojing, that's enough! I know Mother specifically sent you to serve me because she wanted the best for me. But this matter from start to finish, Yixiao has been advising me, it was my own stubbornness that refused to listen, not only did I get myself into trouble, but also implicated her. Now you still want to force her to take the blame for me? This is something I will never do, if you say another word about letting her take the blame, I'll immediately go find Qingjiang Junzhu and confess that I pushed Cui Xianlian!"

  Bao Jing's face turned pale with rage: "Young lady!!!!"

  "I've had enough, I'm not afraid of her! So what if I pushed Cui Jianli?!" Jiang Mochen gritted his teeth and said, "Her maid broke the jade pendant my grandmother left me, it's only right that I beat her up! She got into trouble because she was born unlucky and had a bad fate! Your Majesty is still here, her aunt can speak for her in front of you, can't my aunt speak for me too?!"

  She coldly sneered, "Furthermore, Your Majesty has already agreed to my matters. Her aunt is neither her birth mother, nor her adoptive mother, nor her stepmother. Could it be that she still wants to point fingers and criticize?! So why should I, Yishang, take the blame? I'll just push it onto her instead! Later, if the imperial physician diagnoses that her injuries are not severe enough, I might even want to beat her up again, viciously!"

  "It's not that simple!" Bao Jing raised his hand to his forehead, feeling dizzy, and didn't even notice Song Yi Xiao was also there, blurting out, "You've forgotten what happened last time in the Imperial Garden, when Princess Nan Xiang and Prince Wei..."

  "Miss, this is a lifelong matter, His Majesty has been very tolerant of the Crown Princess. You are not unaware! On this occasion, we absolutely cannot afford to leave any handle for gossip!"

  Jiang Muxin bit her lip, but still shook her head slowly: "I believe in Brother Biao!"

  Song Yi smiled and looked at her with a complex gaze - Jiang Muqin called Wei Wang "older cousin" instead of Your Highness, it's clear that there is indeed a deep affection between her and Wei Wang.

  Nor did they know that in their previous life, these two people were unable to tie the knot. Was it King Wei who wronged Jiang Muxue or was it the Princess of Nanzheng who cut off their love with a knife?

  Or both?

  She paused, opening her mouth lightly: "Sister Jiang is the niece of Xian Fei and also the fiancée of Wei Wang. That Cui Jianliang is the niece of Cui Guifei, but I don't know if she has also been secretly arranged for marriage today."

  She remembered that the youngest son of Empress Cui, Prince Liang, who was also the younger brother of Taizi by birth, should be at the age of marriage discussion as well.

  "Everyone thought she should be the future Princess Liang, but with this reckless behavior today, I'm not so sure anymore." Jiang Muxi brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and sneered, "To dare to jump from such a high place - most likely she's been cornered and has no choice but to risk everything."

  "In fact, I also dare to do that kind of tumbling just now." Song Yi smiled faintly and said, "It's nothing more than first lowering your waist and then rolling up a dozen or so stone steps. As long as the stone steps are clean and you pay attention not to bump into either side, even if it's dozens of levels, rolling down is just that!"

  Jiang Muxun and Bao Jing were both stunned: "Really?"

  "Our young lady has practiced dance for six years, and all the ladies praise her for being diligent and talented." Jin Xun's crisp voice corroborated, "If she says it's nothing, then she definitely won't fall!"

  It's not that Jiang Muxiang and Baojing had no experience, first because the matter was sudden and they didn't have time to pay attention; secondly, practicing dance is extremely hard work, and delicate young ladies from good families all gave up after a brief try, Jiang Muxiang being an example, while Baojing, although clever, was a proper maid and wouldn't possibly go learn music and dance.

  Not skilled in martial arts and having no interest in it myself, how would I understand the intricacies of Cui Jianyun's fall?

  It was Song Yi who smiled, with a life of drifting, for the sake of her future she couldn't help but strive harder, when learning things she wasn't afraid of hardship, there's nothing in girls' school that she isn't good at.

  She took a sip of tea and added, "When I saw Cui Jianliang on top, just by looking at her light footsteps, I knew she couldn't have practiced dance for less years than me!"

  Song Yi Xiao still had a sentence that hadn't been spoken: being the Princess of Liang didn't require her to be good at singing and dancing, unless it was Cui Jian Lian's personal preference. If not, the purpose of the Cui family was probably not to make her the princess, but to aim for the East Palace - after all, there were many imperial concubines who had captivated the city with one dance throughout history!

  "But she's lying there uncomfortably, we can't just go up to her and say she's faking it." Bao Jing sighed again after a moment of contemplation.

  "Choi Jianlian's status is no less than that of Jiang sister, she personally smeared you, and it's absolutely impossible to let things go!" Song Yi smiled lazily and didn't bother to respond to her, only saying to Jiang Muxiang, "So the injury she suffered this time won't heal in a short period of time, otherwise how can we make a big deal out of this?"

  Jiang Muxun said with hatred: "I don't want to bear this name in vain! I'll go apologize to the Qingjiang County Master first, and then beat..."

  After talking for a while, what she remembered was still to beat someone up - Bao Jing, who had been ordered by the mistress and came to escort her own young lady, had already wanted to hit the wall. Song Yi Xiao nodded: "Sister Jiang should find an opportunity to make trouble with Cui Jianliang later!"

  On the mountain waist upwards, a fan-shaped pavilion was built on the cliff, wrapped tightly by peach blossoms in full bloom this season.

  Yet from amidst the dense blossoms and thick branches, one can still clearly see the square below where a banquet is being set up.

  The blue skirt and white sleeves fluttering in the wind, she held a jade cup, gently swaying the amber-colored wine, leaning against the railing, listening to Ji Su's introduction of the ladies attending the banquet - suddenly saw a maid walking up the mountain path, whispering a few words into Qingjiang Junzhu's ear, Qingjiang Junzhu immediately pulled Nanxiang Junzhu aside and instructed her for a moment, then got up from her seat without hesitation.

  He was about to bring the jade cup to his lips when his hand paused: "What's going on, that sister has to personally deal with it?"

  "Master Gong, you just arrived and may not know, but less than half an hour ago, Miss Jiang and Miss Cui had a dispute on the mountain path below. It's unclear whether Miss Jiang lost her footing or Miss Cui didn't stand firm, but in any case, Miss Cui fell and rolled down for over a dozen steps before stopping. She fainted on the spot." Ji Su, being from a palace background, was skilled at gathering information. Since Qingjiang County Master hadn't intentionally hidden this matter from him, he told Jian Xuebai about it in detail.

  Finally, he said, "Oh, Miss Song - it's the one we met at the Bolinghou Mansion, today she's with Miss Jiang and was also involved. Previously, the county master invited a doctor for Miss Cui, saying that after she woke up, let both parties confront each other on the spot, I think Miss Cui has woken up."

  Jian Yu Bai wasn't really interested in the infighting within the harem, and had planned to just listen and forget about it. But when Ji Su mentioned Song Yi Xiao - who was after all an acquaintance, and someone he remembered as a clever and sensible girl with a lot of bad luck - his heart went out to her, and he couldn't bear to see her fall into trouble, so he hesitated for a moment.

  "Big sister must wait for Cui to wake up and confront her, probably also harboring doubts about Cui's injury." But Jian Xuwu thought again, "Otherwise, so many people saw Jiang and Cui pulling and tugging at each other before Cui fell down, shouldn't they first reprimand Jiang a few times, rather than letting her change places to drink and feast?"

  After all, they were siblings born of the same mother, so Jian Yu Bai was quite familiar with Qing Jiang's ways. "With your methods, it would be easy to get to the bottom of things. My interference would only make things more complicated and might even lead to misunderstandings. It's better for me to just stand by and observe."

  He didn't suspect Song Yixiao's innocence at all. After all, six years ago when they first met, the girl was only eight years old. She was clearly pushed down by him and hurt her ankle, but because of his elegant attire and demeanor, she actually apologized to him instead. If he hadn't discovered it himself, she probably wouldn't have mentioned it at all. A person who could endure and compromise so much at such a young age, how could she possibly cause trouble at the banquet hosted by the Duke of Qingjiang?

  Especially the one who was injured is still the niece of the imperial concubine!

  "After Big Sister finds out the truth, this girl should be fine." Jian Yu Bai thought so and didn't say anything.

  He didn't explicitly express his thoughts, but the previous hesitation fell into Ji Su's eyes, and it was inevitable that he would misunderstand. He quietly picked up the guest book given by Qingjiang Junzhu, found Song Yixiao's name, and secretly marked a stroke.

  Thinking of the empress's private reminder before, Ji Su turned his mind and asked: "The Princess Dagu and Concubine Cui had a grudge against each other in their early years. This time, Concubine Cui's niece was appointed as the Crown Prince's wife by His Majesty, which is equivalent to helping the Princess of Nanzheng. It's really suspicious! I don't know what kind of calculation is being made behind the scenes on both sides."

  Jian Yu Bai was extremely busy during this period, but in fact, he couldn't help but think of the empress's orders and Qing Jiang's temperament, so he had to go to Zhu Chun Guan. Even so, his mind was still preoccupied with government affairs for the most part.

  Song Yi's words, though momentarily heartening, were soon forgotten. But now Ji Su's words struck a chord with his concerns: "In the past, Your Majesty was in poor health and feared that the country would be unstable if you had no heir, so you established the eldest son as crown prince and nurtured him with all your might. However, thanks to Heaven's blessing, Your Majesty has been increasingly healthy in recent years, and the princes of Wei and Liang have also grown up one after another... As a result, the hearts of those in the palace have begun to waver..."

  Especially the Princess of Dai Guo in this dynasty can be said to have enjoyed all the honors, but she didn't put Cui Gui Fei in her eyes early on, greatly offending this future Empress Dowager - how could she not worry about being settled after autumn? With the personality of Princess Dai Guo, between apologizing with a humble heart and staking everything on one throw, she would choose the latter 100%!

  Ji Sucai didn't care about the trivial matters, and with a smile, he said: "How about this, Master? Why don't you go down and enter through the back door to listen behind the screen? You can hear how those three young ladies speak in front of Qingjiang Junzhu. Although Junzhu will tell you what she wants you to know when she turns around, it's still not as accurate as hearing it yourself."

  Jian Xubai felt that coming to Chun Guan was a complete waste of his time, but if he could coincidentally gather some useful information, he wouldn't refuse.

  He lowered his head and saw that there was still a small amount of wine left, with a peach blossom floating in the amber liquid. He couldn't help but curve his lips into a smile, cover his sleeve, raise his head, and drink it all in one gulp. After chewing on the flower petals, he swallowed them down, then turned around and put down the jade cup: "Let's go!"