The concubine was charming and alluring, and the ruthless prince coaxed her day and night.

Chapter 60: The acting was a little over the top.

Compared to Hetian Chunhua and Zheng Antong, the princess seemed calm and composed.

Although she was surprised, her face remained expressionless, revealing no inner turmoil whatsoever.

The princess's narrow eyes swept over Xu Jiaojiao indifferently, a hint of interest appearing in them.

interesting…

Let's see what tricks Xu Jiaojiao is up to this time...

Xu Jiaojiao's answer surprised Zhao Yunzheng: "Then this witch doctor..."

Before she could finish speaking, Xu Jiaojiao shook her head repeatedly: "I wrote the talisman, but I didn't carve this little figure. I would never dare to be disrespectful to Your Highness!"

Seeing that Xu Jiaojiao had already confessed, Zheng Antong was impatient and wanted to solidify Xu Jiaojiao's guilt as soon as possible.

Thinking of the maidservant who had been sent to Yuhua Courtyard to store the remaining timber, Zheng Antong immediately chimed in, "Whether it is true or not is not up to you to decide."

Everyone looked over.

Zheng Antong tossed her hair, tilted her chin slightly, and looked at Prince Chen, hoping that he would take a few more glances at her beautiful face.

She spoke softly, "Your Highness, why not send someone to search Yuhua Courtyard? Perhaps there are still unused pieces of wood for carving figurines there. Then it will be clear whether Xu Jiaojiao's words are true or false."

Zhao Yunzheng didn't even glance at Zheng Antong.

He lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment before looking at Yingyi: "Search Yuhua Courtyard."

Xu Jiaojiao opened her beautiful eyes slightly, looking at Zhao Yunzheng in astonishment, her eyes beginning to redden: "Your Highness, you don't believe me?"

Born into the royal family, Zhao Yunzheng was naturally suspicious and lacked parental love from a young age. Sometimes, the little affection he had for his father and mother was mixed with various conflicts of interest.

Therefore, Zhao Yunzheng lacks love, longs to receive love, and is also afraid of losing love.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Xu Jiaojiao; he knew that Xu Jiaojiao loved him deeply, but he would still try to confirm that tiny possibility again and again.

Only through repeated confirmations can he feel that this love is real.

Seeing Xu Jiaojiao's aggrieved eyes, Zhao Yunzheng felt a pang of pain in his heart.

He looked at Xu Jiaojiao, as if to comfort her and also to soothe his own uneasy heart: "Let anyone investigate if they want to. Let them see how innocent my Jiaojiao is."

Even so, Xu Jiaojiao was still sad.

She lowered her eyes in disappointment, sitting quietly and no longer looking at Zhao Yunzheng with longing and joy.

Zheng Antong, who had just sat down, sneered inwardly.

Xu Jiaojiao, just keep pretending!

Once the shadow guards find the remaining wood, let's see how you'll deny it then!

The thought that Xu Jiaojiao would die a terrible death made Zheng Antong very happy.

Soon, Yingyi returned from Yuhua Courtyard.

When they returned, Shadow One was carrying someone in his arms.

The man's face was ashen, his eyes were sunken, and he looked extremely weak, as if he might die at any moment.

The moment Yingyi led this person into the house, Zheng Antong was so frightened that his face turned pale.

She clutched the handkerchief in her hand, and the sweat on her palms quickly soaked it.

Zhao Yunzheng, seated at the head of the table, hesitated and narrowed his eyes slightly: "What is this?"

Yingyi succinctly stated: "Found in the woodpile in the small kitchen of Yuhua Courtyard."

Before Zhao Yunzheng could ask any questions, Lianye, with her keen sense of observation, stepped forward and knelt down to reply: "On the night the witchcraft incident was discovered, this person secretly climbed into Yuhua Courtyard. We don't know what she intended to do. Fortunately, Lu Hai spotted this thief, otherwise we don't know what she would have done."

Lianye paused, then scratched her head sheepishly: "After Lu Hai captured her, he tied her up and threw her into the small kitchen. These past few days, our master has been unconscious, and we servants panicked and forgot about her."

She turned to look at the person and exclaimed in surprise, "Oh dear, they've starved to this extent, what a sin..."

Xu Jiaojiao lowered her head, her lips twitched, and she almost couldn't hold back her tears.

That's over the top...

This acting is a little over the top...

Zhao Yunzheng laughed without any politeness: "It's alright, as long as he's not dead, we can still interrogate him..."

The maid was dressed in the clothes of a low-ranking servant, and had an ordinary appearance with nothing memorable about her; almost no one present recognized her.

Zhao Yunzheng asked calmly, "Who are you, and what are you doing breaking into Yuhua Courtyard in the middle of the night?"

The maid on the ground struggled to her feet: "This servant is Qingguo, a laundry maid from the Sixth Courtyard of the West..."

After revealing her identity, Qingguo stopped talking.

Zhao Yunzheng tapped the table lightly with his fingers. When he tapped it for the third time, his patience ran out: "Delay it, cut off one finger a day, until he confesses."

Qingguo was terrified; in her panic, even her sallow complexion regained some color.

She immediately knelt down and kowtowed: "This servant confesses! This servant will confess everything!"

Qingguo took out a cloth bag from her bosom and pointed at Zheng Antong: "The nanny next to Consort Zheng gave me fifty taels of silver and told me to put this under Consort Xu's pillow and hide it!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Zheng Antong immediately became agitated: "You're talking nonsense! My nanny has always served me, when has she ever gone to look for you!"

Before Qingguo could argue further, Zhao Yunzheng clicked his tongue lightly.

The room fell silent instantly.

Zheng Antong and Qingguo both looked up at Prince Chen.

The latter looked impatiently at Zheng Antong, whose face was pale with anxiety.

After a moment, he glanced at the servant, who understood and took the cloth bag from Qingguo's hand.

Upon opening it, it was indeed found to contain leftover wood.

Everyone in the room gasped in shock.

"It seems that Concubine Xu has truly been wronged."

"This blatant framing is outrageous."

"Consort Zheng really knows no bounds."

"Yes, it was one thing to play around in the past, but now they actually dare to use witchcraft to harm Concubine Xu. They're simply courting death..."

"..."

Zheng Antong shook her head repeatedly, stammering, "No, it's not like that..."

Before she could continue, Zhao Yunzheng coldly ordered, "Drag this insubordinate wretch away and beat her to death."

He paused, then looked up at Zheng Antong: "Consort Zheng, do you have anything to say?"

Zheng Antong trembled and hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down: "Your Highness, I'm not a concubine, I'm really not a concubine!"

Seeing that Zhao Yunzheng was just frowning impatiently without saying a word, Zheng Antong became even more flustered.

She kowtowed repeatedly until her head turned bright red before she heard Zhao Yunzheng's clear voice: "Consort Zheng, did I say this matter had anything to do with you? Why are you in such a hurry?"

Zheng Antong, who was kowtowing, paused, looked up in a daze, and stared blankly.

The wet nurse had said not to act rashly, and even less to speak carelessly.

So she was tricked by Prince Chen because she spoke recklessly in a panic?

Realizing this, Zheng Antong's heart skipped a beat, but it was too late.

In a flash, her eyes reddened and tears fell: "I was just afraid Your Highness would misunderstand. I love Your Highness deeply and don't want to be misunderstood..."

It has to be said that her pitiful appearance is quite genuine.

Unfortunately, Zhao Yunzheng has always been hard-hearted towards people he doesn't like.

He smiled faintly, "Don't worry, I won't misunderstand anyone innocent. Yingyi, go and bring Consort Zheng's wet nurse here."