Spring Courtyard Forbidden Pet

Liuxia's face turned pale as paper. She was just an insignificant servant, and the Minister's wife didn't need a reason to kill her.

At this time, Ye Zhen stood in front of Liuxia, "Miss Fang said that Liuxia stole your pendant, do you have any evidence?"

Fang Jing took advantage of her mother's momentum and raised her voice. "She was the only one passing by the rockery. Let's see if she tells the truth after being beaten with a few sticks!"

"She's just a servant, why are you protecting her like this? Did you order me to do this?"

Upon hearing this, before Ye Zhen could say anything, Dong Yuan rolled up his sleeves again, "Shut up!"

Fang Jing hid behind her mother, and the Minister's wife immediately felt aggrieved, "The virtuous concubine is kind, even His Majesty said that she deserves the title of virtuous, why did Miss Dong hit someone without knowing the right or wrong?"

"Why involve my sister in the matter between me and her!" Dong Yuan felt a little nervous when she heard that her sister was involved.

Ye Zhen's heart tightened, as expected of the wife of the Minister of Revenue, she held Dong Yuan's lifeblood as soon as she showed up. Today's incident was just a fight between two girls, but it was a big deal that the virtuous concubine taught her sister badly, and it was afraid that it would alarm the palace.

She gently held Dong Yuan, fearing that the other party would catch her in the act of impulse.

"Mrs. Fang, you are too serious. Miss Fang insisted that Liuxia stole the pendant, but she couldn't produce any evidence. If it gets out, people will talk about whether the Fang family is good at forcing people to confess under torture."

The man from the Minister's Mansion looked at him sternly, "What do you mean by forced confession? Be careful what you say."

Ye Zhen smiled, "Miss Dong was kind enough to advise Miss Fang to be more cautious. She didn't want to upset Miss Fang. If the Concubine knew that her younger sister's words of advice were misunderstood, she would probably be very sad."

"You..." This time it was the assistant minister's wife who was anxious.

Fang Jing gritted her teeth, "What do you mean by persuading me? She just started beating and scolding me!"

The maid next to Fang Jing also tried to testify for her master, "It was Miss Dong who started it first!"

Ye Zhen said calmly, "Since when can a maid criticize a nobleman?"

The assistant minister's wife frowned and glared at her maid. Just as she was about to retort, Cui, who had received the news, came over.

She looked into the eyes of the Minister's wife calmly and without losing the slightest bit of her edge. "Although there are few black jades, there are some."

"I will have someone send two complete pieces to the Minister's residence some other day, so you don't have to spoil the fun here with the prince today."

Complete black jade? Two pieces at once!

The onlookers also realized that this was the territory of Prince Yu, and if they angered the real owner, they would probably suffer. Soon, a lady came forward to persuade the wife of the Minister.

The wife of the Minister also had her own ideas in mind. Since Cui had given her a way out, she would naturally take it.

But Fang Jing was confused and kept insisting, "That was given to me by my grandmother. How can other black jade replace it!"

Cui chuckled, "I recognize the craftsman Cao that the old lady liked in the past. Make two pieces exactly like this. One piece is for the young lady to keep, and the other piece can be used as a memorial for the old lady."

Having said that, it would be inappropriate for Fang Jing to make any more trouble.

However, Fang Jing's purpose was not this at all. She stamped her feet in anger and said, "I don't care. I want the original pendant!"

The wife of the Minister frowned slightly. She could not openly persuade her daughter to be quiet, as it would appear that the Fang family coveted Cui's two pieces of black jade. But if she let her daughter continue to make trouble, Prince Yu would have to intervene.

It will be even more troublesome then.

"Jing'er, don't be angry, this matter..."

Before she finished, Fang Jing shook off her hand and glared at Liuxia, "I don't believe it! Even if I report it to the prince today, I will not let this slave girl off!"

Cui was at a loss, and a look of helplessness appeared on her face. However, Ye Zhen saw through her thoughts. If she could not stop it, Cui would probably hand over Liuxia to keep the peace.

She stepped forward and said, "I'll find it for Miss Fang myself."

Fang Jing naturally wanted to see her make a fool of herself, so she agreed immediately.

The other women also went to the corridor to avoid the sun, drinking tea and watching her laugh.

Dong Yuan insisted on looking for her with Ye Zhen, but she dissuaded him with the reputation of the Dong family, and asked the palace maid who came with her to take her to change clothes and drink ginger soup.

Before Dong Yuan left, he said to her, "I'll come and help you later."

Cui's face was not much better in the corridor. Originally, Ruan's attitude towards her was quite intimate, but after seeing Ye Zhen, she became obviously cold. She waited for a long time, but Ruan did not mention the matter of adopting a goddaughter, so she guessed that Ye Zhen refused.

Princess Pingyang also deliberately hinted to Cui, apparently asking her to discipline Ye Zhen and not embarrass the two families. When Ye Rong was alive, Cui was praised wherever she went. This was the first time she suffered so much.

She had come early just now, and she was eager to see Ye Zhen being bullied by the Fang family, so that she would realize that she was nothing without her support!

I wanted the Fang family to deal with Liuxia. Ye Zhen would cry only when she saw the coffin. I didn't expect that she would find a jade pendant for Fang Jing! In public, the Ye family lost face.

"Madam, how about I go and hold an umbrella for the Second Miss?" Aunt Wang was considering the Ye family's reputation.

Cui waved her hands, "If she wants to save that girl's life, she must make the Fang family calm down. She has been spoiled by Rong'er and me, and today she should see clearly that she is just a bastard."

"But...are you going to let the Second Miss embarrass you like this?"

Cui chuckled, "She is not my daughter. If she brings honor to the family, others will say that it is because the mistress taught her well. If she brings disgrace, others will say that a concubine's daughter is a concubine's daughter. Even if the mistress teaches her, she cannot change her lowly nature."

Wang Ma suddenly realized, "Madam has thought it through."

Seeing Fang Jing come out after changing her clothes, Cui said softly, "I'll go and plead for her later. We have to do what we should do."

The mistress helped the concubine out of trouble time and time again, and even if the emperor knew about it, he would not say anything bad about the Cui family.

It's such a big garden, and even though we are only looking for the grass in the rockery area, the grass has grown so dense that we need to squat down and turn it over carefully.

Fang Jing saw that Ye Zhen's hair was wet with sweat, and she felt relieved. She told the maid beside her, "We came from the small pavilion. There is nothing here. Let her look for it along the way."

The sun was getting hotter, and the back of Ye Zhen's neck was sunburned red.

Liuxia choked up and said, "Second Miss, it's all my fault."

Ye Zhen felt like her throat was smoking. "Fang Jing came at me. It's me who implicated you."

"Second Miss." Liuxia's nose felt sore again. Seeing Ye Zhen's slender white fingers stained with dirt, she felt so distressed. "Let me turn them over. Your hands and clothes are dirty."

Ye Zhen wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeve, secretly sighing why he didn't ask Li Xuan just now. How could he resolve the quarrel he had caused today?

"You can't find it. Fang Jing set a trap to harm you. She must have hidden the thing. She wants to see me make a fool of myself. Just let her see it."

Ye Zhen felt that it was okay for her to make a fool of herself, the most important thing was to save Liuxia's life.

Moreover, Fang Jing's attitude was very strange. She insisted that it was Liuxia who lost the things. Ye Zhen thought that she wanted to kill Liuxia, but when Ye Zhen offered to help her, she gladly accepted.

It seems that she doesn't really want to kill Liuxia, but... delay time?

Why was there panic in Fang Jing's eyes when I first appeared in the crowd?

Ye Zhen's sleeves were wet from wiping sweat, and the skin on the back of her neck felt hot and painful. She leaned against a stone to rest for a while, and she felt her eyes go dark, and she could no longer hear the tiny mocking sounds from the corridor.

Why hasn’t there been any commotion over in the peach forest yet?

If Liu An touches Qin Yu, it will certainly alarm Prince Yu. When there is chaos in Zhuangzi, who will care about Fang Jing's jade pendant?

Just as she was resting, Fang Jing's maid came over and said, "It's not here. Miss Ye, please help look for it on the way here."

Liuxia almost bit her lower lip, "I'll go."

"Our young lady said that the second young lady would only believe it after she found her."

"Don't go too far!" Liuxia said angrily.

The maid coldly rebuked Liuxia, "If you don't want your master to suffer, just admit that you stole the things. Wouldn't it be better to exchange your life for your master's?"

"I···"

"She didn't steal." Ye Zhen said sternly.

The maid didn't dare to look her in the eye and said timidly, "Only if there is evidence to prove her innocence can it count."

"You also have no evidence to prove that she stole it."

Ye Zhen was furious, she hated that she didn't know where Fang Jing hid the pendant, otherwise she could find it and throw it in their faces to save their reputation.

Seeing that she was angry but helpless, the maid smiled smugly and said, "What evidence do you need to punish a slave girl?"

Ye Zhen got anxious and tried to stand up by holding onto the rockery, but somehow she lost her balance and fell down.

"Second miss!"

A pair of slender and strong arms suddenly held up her falling body, silky satin brushed across her cheeks, and the coolness of sandalwood dispelled the heat all over her body, as if even the sunlight above her head was blocked out.

The skin Ye Zhen was touching was delicate and slightly cool, and she felt inexplicably calmed.

"Second Master! It's the Second Master of the Marquisate!"

"Oh my god! How many good things did she do in her previous life to be able to get close to the Second Master again and again!"

"Humph, blasphemy, she will be punished."

The exclamations from the corridor were even more outrageous than Ye Zhen's stagnant heartbeat. The first moment she stood firm, she quickly pushed people away and put her hands back into her sleeves, for fear of touching Li Xuan'an's golden statue, and also for fear that others would not see how much she respected this living Bodhisattva.

But Li Xuan'an's bony hands were around her wrists, and he was annoyed by her dodging. He pulled her closer, and seeing that the back of her neck was sunburned and peeling, he put his arms around Ye Zhen's shoulders as if no one was around, and pulled the back of her collar.

This posture looks intimate and frank.

Ye Zhen was confused, so she looked well-behaved and obedient, in contrast to the women in the corridor who were scratching their heads.

The one who was most unwilling was naturally Fang Jing. Mrs. Fang was afraid that she would cause trouble, so she stopped her daughter behind her and clasped her hands together in great respect, "Second Master, please have mercy."

"Miss Ye is protecting her maid who stole something, and she is willing to help us find the pendant. I didn't know that Second Master was nearby, and I am sorry for disturbing him."