After her mind was read, the spoiled brat became the darling of the whole group.

"Jiaojiao?" Xie Mingzhu looked at Xie Jiaojiao.

Xie Jiaojiao covered her lips, coughed lightly, and waved her hand, saying, "It's nothing, I just choked accidentally."

real or fake?

really?

How could someone be so bold?

Leaving aside what Xie Jiaojiao was thinking, Xie Yuhe and the others were also extremely shocked.

what?

How could Dad do such a thing?

That's impossible, isn't it? If Xie Ansheng and the Crown Prince really did such a thing, how could they not let them know?

Jun Lanjin, who was the only one who knew about this, raised an eyebrow slightly, his fingertips gently brushing against the glass in front of him, and the corners of his lips turned up slightly.

This so-called system is truly omniscient.

How could it know about something that wasn't in the story?

"How could that be? How did you know?" Xie Xing was stunned.

The system said: [The plot will be automatically corrected. After the correction, some plot points will appear different on my end. You can think of it as a butterfly effect.]

Xie Xing took a sip of tea to hide the surprise on his face.

When was it discovered?

Here we go!

As soon as the system finished speaking, a palace concubine, dressed in disheveled clothes and wearing only a red undergarment, stumbled and staggered over.

The concubine, her eyes filled with tears, immediately knelt in the center of the Imperial Garden, sobbing uncontrollably, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! You must do justice for me!"

In an instant, the banquet was thrown into chaos.

Many ministers' eyes were drawn to the woman's snow-white skin.

The Emperor of Chu flew into a rage, slamming his fist on the table and shouting, "Shameless!"

"Someone is coming!"

"Your Majesty!" The concubine, oblivious to the danger, raised her voice, "The Fourth Prince, Luo Mian, made advances on me. I refused, but he tried to force himself on me!"

"Your Majesty, please grant me justice!"

The concubine's head banged against the ground with a loud thud.

Seeing this, the envoy from the Southern Kingdom tactfully stepped aside, tucking his hands into his sleeves, looking every bit like a spectator watching a show.

This was a palace banquet representing diplomatic relations with foreign countries. For the palace concubine to say such a thing was tantamount to trampling on the Chu Emperor's dignity.

The son took a fancy to his father's concubine and, on such an important occasion, utterly disgraced the emperor.

The Chu Emperor's chest heaved, he was about to explode with rage.

His breathing was heavy, his nostrils flared, and after a long while he gritted his teeth and said, "Do you know what you're saying?"

"If I find out that you have uttered even half a lie, I will exterminate your entire family!"

Exterminating nine generations of a family is even more hateful than wiping out nine generations of a family.

"Chao jiu zu" means that all members of a clan listed in the family genealogy will have their property confiscated and beheaded. However, "yi jiu zu" means that as long as there is a connection, regardless of whether you are related by blood, everyone will die.

The concubine trembled with fright, her face turning deathly pale. She kowtowed to the ground, and soon her head was bleeding profusely. "Your Majesty, please calm your anger! Everything I said is true!"

"Your Majesty, please grant me justice!"

When the emperor is angry, blood will flow three feet deep.

The once lively palace banquet suddenly fell silent, and Luo Mian's mother, who had been sitting above watching the show, seemed to only realize what was happening now.

His face immediately turned ashen, and he knelt tremblingly on the ground, saying, "Your Majesty, please investigate! The Fourth Prince would never do such a thing that violates ethics and moral principles!"

The Chu emperor remained silent.

A heavy sense of oppression enveloped everyone, and the ministers, realizing what was happening, all knelt down.

Xie Xing ate some melon seeds while also kneeling on the ground.

She felt goosebumps all over her body; even though it was afternoon, she felt incredibly cold.

[Regardless of whether she was forced by the emperor's son or it was a scheme, that concubine wouldn't survive doing something like this, would she?]

Xie Xing muttered to herself, she had also watched palace dramas.

The emperor could kill someone with a single word, especially when a concubine did something so suicidal, causing the emperor to lose face. There was no way she could live.

"She was just a pawn to begin with; her life or death is irrelevant to them." The system's mechanical voice sounded so cold at this moment.

This is an ancient society with a strict hierarchy, where a superior can kill an inferior with a single word.

Those who are too foolish will naturally not live long.

Speaking of this, the system felt a little relieved.

Its host wasn't particularly intelligent, but it was certainly not one to court death.

Xie Xing sighed deeply.

No wonder Xie Mingzhu is the protagonist; just because he wanted her to marry the crown prince, his casual scheming resulted in the utter disgrace of his own country and his emperor.

System: [There's nothing we can do; if it weren't for such an important occasion, we'd probably just handle it with care.]

After all, Luo Mian's family had a strong enough backing; at most, if the concubine got into trouble, it wouldn't change Xie Mingzhu's engagement.

That was a huge sum of money.

Xie Yuhe's fingertips trembled as he held the teacup.

Those who could hear Xie Xing's thoughts were all present. Prince Jin leaned back lazily in his chair, his expression unreadable.

But this unspoken sentiment is deadly enough!

Made by the Xie family.

If Prince Jin had any intention of bringing down the Xie family, based on what he knew and a little more evidence, the Xie family could have been completely brought down.

Xie Yuhe's hands began to tremble.

A father who courts death, an unreliable brother, and a sister who reveals his true feelings.

Don't do it.

Really will die.

After a long silence, the Chu Emperor finally spoke, "And what about that rebellious son?"

"Your Majesty, Luo Mian is fast asleep in my palace," the concubine said in a trembling voice.

"Bang!" Before the words were even finished, the Emperor of Chu smashed the wine cup in his hand heavily on the ground. The shards of glass scraped against the concubine's pale arm, instantly drawing a line of red blood.

"what!"

The concubine cried out in alarm and collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down her face.

The crown prince stood beside the Chu emperor, head bowed, hands clasped, and said respectfully, "Father, allow me to bring my fourth brother here."

The Emperor of Chu waved his hand.

Luo Cheng'an immediately led a group of palace guards to arrest the person in a menacing manner.

Xie Xing glanced at Luo Cheng'an's departing figure, inwardly grumbling:

[They're leaving so fast, as if they're afraid we won't know it was all your doing.]

The Empress sat beside the Emperor, gracefully and gently finishing her sentence, and said with a smile, "It was just a minor incident, it won't affect anything."

"I've heard that the princess of the Southern Kingdom is incomparably beautiful. Surely that veiled beauty must be the princess?"

The empress's words drew everyone's attention to a beautiful woman with exotic attire, a white veil, and a graceful figure standing behind the envoy from the Southern Kingdom.

Unlike all the other well-dressed young ladies from noble families present, this princess from the Southern Kingdom dressed daringly, revealing a slender waist, standing barefoot, with jingling bells hanging from her waist.

A pair of captivatingly beautiful eyes peeked out, their gaze sweeping across the field, almost stealing everyone's heart.

She gently moved her jade-like feet, performed a perfect curtsy, and said softly, "Greetings, Your Majesty and Empress."

"Aruo is the most beloved little princess of our Southern Kingdom's Emperor and Empress. To show our Southern Kingdom's sincerity, we have specially invited Princess Aruo to come here for a marriage alliance."

“Princess, let His Majesty and the Empress see your abilities.”

Aruo lowered her eyes and smiled gently. She stretched out her slender fingers, lifted her veil, and then spun around, the bell at her waist drawing a beautiful arc in the air.

It's so good it makes your eyes pop out.

Xie Xing blinked: [Is this going to be a performance of the Fragrant Concubine dancing?]