It's all ruined, who cares about the chastity arch

The slap was like a bolt from the blue, catching the concubine off guard. She immediately covered her swollen cheeks with her delicate fingers. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, revealing endless fear and helplessness. She was like a frightened deer, her eyes full of confusion and seeking for help.

Cuifang strode forward, her sharp eyes like a sharp sword, sweeping across everyone present.

She pointed her finger directly at the concubines kneeling on the ground, and her voice was stern and full of majesty, like icicles in the cold wind: "You are so bold that you dare to talk about the faults of the imperial concubine in broad daylight!"

The concubines turned pale with fear and fell to their knees. Only the concubine who was beaten had a look of disobedience in her eyes. She stood firm on her feet stubbornly. Although her voice was trembling slightly, it was still sharp: "The Concubine Dowager? Who said the Concubine Dowager? If she was really just a lowly servant, the slap just now should have landed on her face!"

Upon hearing this, Concubine Pei frowned, the expression on her face froze instantly, and her look became increasingly uglier.

She opened her red lips slightly, and with an unquestionable command in her tone, she said to Cuifang: "Teach this ignorant thing a lesson!"

"Yes, ma'am."

Cuifang responded, rolled up her sleeves, a hint of ruthlessness flashed in her eyes, and she turned around and was about to walk towards the unyielding concubine, as if she was going to use thundering means to let her know how powerful she was.

However, just as Cuifang's hand was about to fall, a voice with supreme majesty and anger sounded from behind, shocking everyone present: "Stop it!"

Cuifang paused, hurriedly withdrew her hand, and respectfully stepped aside.

Concubine Pei turned her head slightly in surprise and looked at the person who came. Seeing that it was Emperor Xuan, who was wearing a dragon robe and looked very majestic, she quickly knelt down and saluted, with a bit of panic in her voice: "Your Majesty."

Emperor Xuan's face was calm, like an unchanging mountain, but his eyes were burning with anger. He rebuked loudly: "Empress Dowager, why do I need you to discipline my concubines? Do you really need to interfere in my harem?"

Concubine Pei was reprimanded, and she felt mixed emotions, but she tried to remain calm on the surface, and her tone was calm but firm: "Your Majesty, she was the first to speak rudely to me, and I was just giving her a small punishment to show her the rules."

However, Emperor Xuan did not accept such an explanation. His cold words were like the cold wind in winter, piercing people's hearts: "My concubine, if there is really a punishment, it should be carried out by me. You must always remember that although you are the concubine, you are not the queen, let alone the queen mother, in my harem. Do not interfere in other people's affairs."

Faced with the emperor's lingering anger, Concubine Pei wisely chose to remain silent and no longer make any further excuses.

But Emperor Xuan obviously did not intend to let her go. His voice was low and powerful, and every word seemed to strike at people's hearts.

"My Lady Concubine, I heard that you are not from the famous Pei family, but are an ordinary servant. Do you have anything to say to me about this?"

Every word and sentence carries with it an unavoidable pressure.

Concubine Pei tried to maintain her composure, with a bitter smile on her lips, and tried to explain: "Those are just nonsense from street talk. Your Majesty, I have been in the palace for many years, how could my identity be false?"

Emperor Xuan fixed his gaze on her with a deep gaze, and a cold smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "If I want to verify your authenticity, what's the difficulty?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he called out behind him: "Someone come!"

Qingya, who was standing aside, quickly leaned forward and waited respectfully for instructions.

Emperor Xuan then gave the order: "Take people and throw Concubine Pei into the pond!"

When Concubine Pei heard this, her face suddenly changed and she was shocked: "Your Majesty, what do you mean?"

Emperor Xuan had a meaningful smile on his face. "I have heard that Master Pei mentioned that his sister accidentally fell into the water many times when she was young. Later, she lived with her grandmother in her hometown. She not only learned to swim, but also became a master at swimming. Even the old lady of the Pei family mentioned this repeatedly in her letters. Now, we only need to test the concubine's swimming skills, and the truth will be revealed."

In fact, Emperor Xuan had no idea whether the real Pei Jingliu was good at water.

However, Concubine Pei has always been afraid of water and has a very poor swimming ability.

This move was undoubtedly a public humiliation and warning to her.

Upon hearing the order, the guards stepped forward quickly and took Concubine Pei to the pond without any explanation.

The only glimmer of hope left in Concubine Pei's heart made her beg Emperor Xuan for mercy, but before she could finish her words, she was rudely thrown into the pond by the guards.

With a splash, the water in the pool splashed everywhere because of the sudden intruder. Concubine Pei struggled desperately in the water, waving her arms, causing ripples one after another: "Your Majesty, I haven't been in the water for many years, and I have long forgotten how to swim!"

Emperor Xuan looked down from above, watching with cold eyes, a hint of irony on his lips: "My dear Concubine, you look like a swimming expert at all!"

Hearing this, Concubine Pei hurriedly leaned forward, her voice filled with tears: "Your Majesty, please save me, please save me. I just haven't swum for a long time, so I feel rusty."

However, Emperor Xuan not only did not help, but instead helped the concubine who had been wronged before to stand up and gently comforted her: "If someone bullies you again in the future, just come to me and I will take care of it for you."

The concubine was filled with gratitude and quickly knelt down to salute, with an unconcealable joy in her voice: "Thank you, Your Majesty."

At this time, in the pond on the other side, Concubine Pei was still struggling in despair. Her former pride and majesty had been replaced by bruises and panic on her face.

She opened her eyes wide, with nothing in them except the desire to survive. She slapped the water with her hands and cried out for help: "Help! Help! Your Majesty, save me!"

The pond was filled with ripples and splashes of water due to Concubine Pei's struggle.

The palace maids and eunuchs who knelt down all around were all anxious, and they all pleaded with the high and mighty Emperor Xuan: "Your Majesty, if this continues, the Concubine Dowager may be in danger of her life!"

Emperor Xuan looked on coldly at the helpless figure in the water and said coldly: "It seems that the concubine is really not good at swimming. This fake thing is probably true."

As soon as these words were spoken, the looks that the concubines around looked at Concubine Pei became more complicated, with sympathy, gloating, and even a bit of grief for the loss of the rabbit.

Emperor Xuan felt that the time was ripe, and immediately ordered the guards to pull Concubine Pei out of the pond.

At this moment, her whole body was wet, her arms were tightly wrapped around her chest, her body was shaking constantly, and there was both unwillingness and fear in her eyes.

"Your Majesty, how can you believe all the rumors? How can you easily impersonate the daughter of the Pei family? There must be someone behind this who has ulterior motives and wants to frame me."

"Framed? Who would frame you? In this deep palace, who has an irreconcilable hatred with you? Concubine, in view of your diligence over the years, I am willing to give you a chance to prove your innocence. As long as you can prove that you are the real Pei Jingliu, I will naturally not make things difficult for you."