Chapter 30 Slapping the Scumbag Father and Stepmother’s Faces
Wen Xueling feigned fear, crying and shaking her head, “……It wasn’t me.”
She had indeed guessed correctly; her scumbag father was so eager to demolish Folding Willow Courtyard’s wall precisely to shift the blame of the “evil omen” onto her.
The Emperor’s voice, deep and full of majesty, asked her, “You say it wasn’t you, but do you have proof?”
“Yes!” Wen Xueling looked impatient.
Wen Jin’an secretly curled her lips into a mocking smile, thinking about how she would soon debunk Wen Xueling’s words. Her eyes were filled with eager anticipation.
She would let Wen Xueling know who was truly the pearl cherished in Father’s palm!
When Wen Xueling pointed out that the wall of Folding Willow Courtyard was smashed by guards, and there was still evidence of burnt plum trees in her stepsister’s courtyard, she heard the Emperor slam the table.
“Wen Xueling, do you know that the crime of deceiving the monarch……is punishable by death.”
Wen Jin’an hid her triumphant smile, lowering her head and looking wronged, “Sister, it was clearly a fire in your courtyard. To frame and implicate me, you set fire to the plum trees in my courtyard. All the maids and servants in the Prime Minister’s Estate can testify to this.”
“You!” Wen Xueling feigned a sense of panic, as if she couldn’t argue.
The crime of deceiving the monarch is punishable by death……
That’s exactly what she wanted the Emperor to say.
Wen Xueling turned to meet her scumbag father’s icy eyes, who clearly did not take her fear to heart.
Just then, the eunuch who had returned from the Prime Minister’s Estate also brought back news.
“Reporting to Your Majesty, this old servant went to the Prime Minister’s Estate to see, and the burning courtyard was indeed Folding Willow Courtyard, not Mingzhu Courtyard.”
Wen Xueling’s face instantly darkened. She hadn't expected her scumbag father to be so shameless.
This morning, the wall fragments sent to the palace were personally delivered to the palace gate by the Prime Minister’s Estate guards, instead of palace guards entering the Prime Minister’s Estate to retrieve them. Thus, it was unknown which courtyard was actually on fire.
And her scumbag father, upon hearing the thundering anomalies in the capital and seeing the incident at Mingzhu Courtyard, had already made his choice.
This incident did indeed cause Wen Xueling to panic for a moment, but she quickly calmed down and swiftly cleared her thoughts.
Her scumbag father deliberately ordered someone to move the charred plum trees from Mingzhu Courtyard to Folding Willow Courtyard after she left the Prime Minister’s Estate, simply to catch her off guard.
When a person is flustered, they easily lose the ability to think.
Her scumbag father’s trick of substitution was to firmly establish that she was the evil spirit.
After all, the Emperor was able to ascend the throne during the battle for the Crown Prince by relying on the auspicious signs that appeared at his birth, earning him the reputation of “Heavenly Dragon Reincarnated.”
After ascending the throne, the Emperor was extremely wary of evil spirits, believing they would affect the nation’s fortune.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so devoted to the Imperial Advisor.
Wen Jingshu bowed to the Emperor, righteously stating, “Your Majesty, if this daughter is an evil spirit, this subject is willing to uphold righteousness and personally eliminate her!”
The Emperor looked at the silent Wen Xueling, her demeanor cool and possessing a certain imposing aura of a general’s daughter.
This made him momentarily dazed, thinking he saw that radiant young girl from years ago.
“Wen Xueling, raise your head. Do you have anything else to say?”
She raised her head to meet the Emperor’s eyes, neither humble nor arrogant, and nodded, “This subject’s daughter has been wronged. I request Your Majesty to be the judge.”
The Emperor said with his golden tongue, “You may speak.”
Wen Xueling turned to look at her scumbag father, who knelt beside Wen Jin’an, guarding her in a protective stance. Her eyes were filled with hatred.
She spoke each word with bitter resentment, “This subject’s daughter wishes to accuse the current Prime Minister of disregarding the law, employing despicable means, and falsely accusing this subject’s daughter.”
“He is unrighteous as a father, disloyal as a subject, and shameful as a person!”
After speaking, her gaze subtly swept past the screen in the Imperial Study, hearing a faint chuckle.
……Was it that Imperial Advisor?
The Emperor hadn’t expected her to be so daring. He paused for a moment before speaking.
“Wen Xueling, you must have evidence for such claims.”
“This subject’s daughter has evidence.”
Never before had Wen Xueling’s mind been clearer than at this moment.
She took out two broken stones from her pocket, speaking clearly and methodically, “These two broken stones were taken from the walls of Wen Jin’an’s courtyard and my own courtyard, respectively. The piece from Mingzhu Courtyard is made from a Jiangnan brick kiln, while the piece from Folding Willow Courtyard……”
Once again, Wen Xueling was interrupted by Wen Jin’an before she could finish her sentence.
She widened her eyes, covering her mouth in shock, “Sister, you aren’t going to say that the wall in my courtyard is better than yours, are you?”
Noticing the contemptuous glance from the other party, Wen Xueling pursed her lips, not rushing to continue.
“Sister, you’re going too far! Saying that would really hurt Father’s feelings!”
She indignantly cried out for her scumbag father, pouting with anger, “Don’t you know that Father, fearing that you and your mother would be uncomfortable entering the Prime Minister’s Estate, specifically cleared out Folding Willow Courtyard overnight to be exactly like Mingzhu Courtyard, just to make sure you both lived comfortably?”
“But you? How can you use such twisted words to slander Father’s good intentions towards you both!”
As Wen Jin’an spoke, her eyes began to redden. She turned to look at her scumbag father with a pained expression, saying, “Father, An’an will never be as ungrateful as Sister. I will surely treat you with filial piety.”
“……” Wen Xueling felt like she was about to vomit her breakfast.
At this moment, she again heard a light chuckle and secretly glanced at the exquisitely carved screen.
However, she could see nothing.
Her scumbag father fell for his stepsister’s act, his eyes gently comforting her, but when he looked at Wen Xueling, his gaze was like a blade.
“The walls of all courtyards in the Prime Minister’s Estate are made of blue bricks fired from Jiangnan brick kilns; there is no difference.”
Wen Xueling looked at her scumbag father and stepsister’s eyes, blinking innocently.
Her voice was weak, “Father, Ling’er didn’t say that the blue brick from Folding Willow Courtyard wasn’t fired from a Jiangnan brick kiln.”
Wen Jin’an: “???”
Wen Jingshu: “!!!”
Even the Emperor was confused by her words, watching with interest to see how she would explain herself.
Wen Xueling requested two bowls of clear water from the Emperor.
The Emperor granted it.
Soon, two bowls of clear water were placed before Wen Xueling. She put the two broken brick fragments into them. At first, there was no change.
But soon, a faint trace of black gradually floated to the surface of the water in one of the bowls.
Everyone was puzzled, not knowing what she was up to now.
Wen Xueling explained, “On the wall of Mingzhu Courtyard, there was once an inscription personally written by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.”
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince once obtained an ink, whose original material came from the foot of Tianshan Mountain in the Northern Frontier. Its greatest characteristic, distinguishing it from other pine soot inks, was its long-lasting pine fragrance.
This ink was a congratulatory gift from Wen Jinli to the Crown Prince in the year he became the Crown Prince’s attendant.
And this very ink was made by Wen Xueling.
Recalling those past events, she couldn't help but let out a self-deprecating laugh in her heart.
Because Wen Jinli loved calligraphy, especially various ink works, Wen Xueling followed the uncles and aunts in the village to the foot of Tianshan Mountain to find the pine branches that only grew there.
She spent a long time and used many methods to finally create the most exquisite piece to give him as a birthday gift.
She never expected that this ink, after all these twists and turns, could still save her life.
Only then did the Emperor recall an incident from memory: the Crown Prince once said he competed in calligraphy with Wen Jinli on the wall of the Prime Minister’s Estate.
Wen Xueling continued: “This ink, when it encounters water, will produce a substance that looks like black smoke.”
The Chief Eunuch leaned over to look and, finding that it was indeed as she said, immediately brought the two bowls before the Emperor for him to see personally.
“You’re talking nonsense!” Wen Jin’an panicked upon hearing this.
If it were proven that her Mingzhu Courtyard was truly the one that exploded, wouldn’t she be executed?
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