With those words spoken, everyone around could clearly understand what had truly happened.
It was the Yun family’s eldest daughter who had pushed the princess into the pond, driven by jealousy over the princess living by His Highness’s side.
“You!” Yun Wanshuang was furious, wishing she could tear the other’s mouth apart. She gritted her teeth and said, “It was clearly you who framed me! You jumped in yourself!”
Fuling, standing nearby, immediately retorted, “What nonsense is the Yun family’s eldest daughter speaking? It was clearly you who pushed my lady into the pond.”
“My lady cannot swim, and after using the Blood Talisman these past two days, she has been extremely weak. Falling into the pond could easily have cost her life. Are you suggesting that my lady would risk her life just to frame you? You think far too highly of yourself!”
Meanwhile, Xiao Jingchen had been carefully examining the bleeding scrape on Wen Shuyu’s ankle. After using a hemostatic talisman to stop the bleeding, he ordered the eunuch behind him to summon the imperial physician, not even lifting an eyelid at the sharp-tongued argument between Yun Wanshuang and Fuling.
Those around pointed and whispered at Yun Wanshuang.
Yun Wanshuang’s nails dug into her flesh, drawing blood. Tears welled in the corners of her eyes as she looked pleadingly at Xiao Jingchen. “Your Highness, we grew up together in the Immortal Alliance since childhood. You know my character well. How could I possibly push her? Please investigate this fairly, Your Highness.”
“As for Wen Shuyu, her vicious and domineering nature is known throughout the capital. Today, she must have schemed against me. I am truly wronged, Your Highness…”
Wen Shuyu, nestled in Xiao Jingchen’s arms, coughed weakly a few times. Her lips pale, she lifted her head and said, “Yes… it was my scheme…”
“I calculated that you would leave the banquet midway, that you would appear in the backyard, that you would come to the lotus pond to find me, that you would push me, and even that I wouldn’t die after being pushed into the water by you… It was all my scheme… Are you satisfied now, Sister Wanshuang?”
As if suffering an immense injustice, her tears flowed silently. She buried her face in Xiao Jingchen’s chest, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably as she sobbed, unable to speak coherently.
“Brother Crown Prince, my arm hurts too… Is it bleeding? It hurts so much…”
“Sister Wanshuang called me a useless waste who can’t even build a foundation… She said I shamelessly insisted on living in the Eastern Palace, that she would definitely become the Crown Princess in the future… She even scratched my arm…”
“You know… I have no spiritual power… Sister Wanshuang insisted on taking me alone to speak privately… If Fuling hadn’t noticed from the bamboo pavilion in time, I would already be dead…”
Fuling immediately chimed in, “That’s right. The Yun family’s eldest daughter suddenly came to the backyard and insisted on taking my lady to a secluded spot to talk. It’s as if she planned this all along.”
“If I hadn’t discovered it in time, who knows what would have happened to my lady? The Yun family’s eldest daughter truly has a vicious heart!”
Yun Wanshuang was so furious she felt like vomiting blood. If she couldn’t strike Wen Shuyu, could she not strike this lowly servant?
Suddenly—
She gathered spiritual power in her palm, far surpassing Fuling’s cultivation level, and swung it toward Fuling’s face.
If this strike landed, Fuling would likely be left half-dead, if not dead outright.
With a “bang,” the sound of spiritual power colliding in mid-air echoed. An immense pressure swept through the area, shaking the grass and trees. Petals from nearby flowers shattered, and leaves from the trees were sent flying, rustling as they fell.
Accompanied by a loud “splash,” a massive amount of pond water erupted. Yun Wanshuang was sent flying backward by the force of the strike and landed precisely in the lotus pond.
She struggled to break free, but the invisible barrier above the pool pressed down on her, rendering her immobile. Unable to withstand the pressure of the spiritual power, she coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Everyone saw that the source of the spiritual power was a slight lift of the Crown Prince’s hand.
In the pool, Yun Wan Shuang could not accept what was happening. Her voice cracked as she stared at Xiao Jingchen:
“Your Highness, after all the years we shared in the Immortal Alliance, how could you treat me like this? Has that wretched woman bewitched you?”
“Your Highness, we’ve known each other since we were five. How can over a decade of affection compare to Wen Shuyu’s three years of shameless pestering?”
Xiao Jingchen did not look up, his attention focused on carefully examining whether Wen Shuyu’s arm had truly been scratched until it bled.
He spoke softly, yet his words fell clearly into the ears of Yun Wan Shuang and everyone present: “I do not recall any affection between us. In fact, I don’t even know your name.”
The pressure of the spiritual power above forced Yun Wan Shuang to cough up another mouthful of blood. Severely injured, overwhelmed with rage, and unable to accept reality, she fainted and sank into the pool.
Xiao Jingchen carried Wen Shuyu to the nearest Plum Garden, summoning the imperial physician to carefully examine her for any other injuries.
The eunuchs and palace maids nearby stood frozen, unsure whether they should rescue Yun Wan Shuang. Unconscious and sinking to the bottom of the pool, she would likely drown.
But without an order from the Crown Prince, no one dared to move.
Just then, the Emperor, the Empress, and several ministers arrived, catching only a glimpse of Xiao Jingchen’s retreating figure.
Emperor Chongguang ordered someone to retrieve Yun Wan Shuang. After learning the full story, he harshly reprimanded General Yun, her father, for failing to discipline his daughter properly.
Everyone knew that the Crown Prince’s strike, combined with the pressure of his spiritual power, had severely damaged Yun Wan Shuang’s internal organs. It was likely she had lost much of her cultivation, and whether she would awaken within a month remained uncertain.
Emperor Chongguang considered further punishment, but since she was unlikely to regain consciousness anytime soon, he simply waved his hand and let the matter rest.
General Yun, deeply humiliated, could only have his servants carry the unconscious Yun Wan Shuang away.
The Crown Prince’s birthday banquet was cut short. With the Emperor’s permission, the guests left their gifts and departed one by one. As for the matter of selecting a Crown Princess, it was completely derailed by the incident of the young lady falling into the pool. Many daughters of court officials remained unwilling to give up, but there was nothing they could do.
Before returning to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Empress Gu asked Emperor Chongguang:
“Something is off. In all these years, have you ever seen Jingchen so anxious over anything else?”