Chapter 57 - 56: Compensate You Well Tonight
Shen Yinning choked back her sobs: "Even if I am in the wrong, does Sister Ruizhu bear no fault? I merely mentioned that you admired the Crown Prince, and you got enraged!"
Ruizhu’s eyes widened, her soul almost frightened out of her body!
Previously, there had been other sisters who confessed their love for the Crown Prince, even going so far as to drug him in an attempt to climb into his bed, but the Crown Prince had swiftly sent them off to perform hard labor, where they exhausted themselves to death within years.
Ruizhu’s face turned ghostly pale, and she decisively kowtowed: "Your Highness, please discern the truth. This servant has been loyal to you wholeheartedly, with absolutely no such thoughts! Shen Yinning first harmed Qing Liu, then she slandered this servant with baseless accusations, disrupting the entire Eastern Palace. I implore Your Highness to punish her harshly!"
The trusted guards who knew Qing Liu immediately knelt down in unison.
They shouted together: "Your Highness, please punish Shen Yinning severely!"
"Your Highness!"
Shen Yinning cried until her cheeks turned damp and flushed, resembling pear blossoms drenched in rain and peonies veiled in smoke as she weakly clung to Lu Ying’s knees: "This humble wife swears that I did not report to Prince Shen, nor did I harm Miss Qing Liu! On that day, after leaving Your Highness’s tent, I returned straight to my own tent to bathe and change clothes—how could I have found time to report anything? If Your Highness does not believe me, you may summon Haitang and Wei Yu to the palace and question them. They are Your Highness’s people and would not dare to lie about such matters of grave importance!"
Seeing Lu Ying remain silent, she tearfully raised four fingers to the heavens: "I swear by the honor of my late father and brothers—if I had reported to Prince Shen and caused the death of Miss Qing Liu, then may my family never find peace in the afterlife!"
Lu Ying toyed with the Moyu Ring on his finger.
Like Ruizhu, he believed Shen Yinning to have been the one who reported the secret.