Reborn as the Regent's Beloved

Xiao Fengyi, however, continued walking at her own pace, unhurriedly.

As she handed the album back to Xuan Hua, she asked softly, "Seventh Prince, let's clarify one thing first. Was Bi Zhu not scraped off the Empress's phoenix crown?"

When Xiao Fengyi asked this question, her long eyelashes were illuminated by the dim light, resembling a rainbow, and the smile on her lips was both playful and mocking.

What's most amazing is that Feng Mingjing couldn't refute it; all he could do was let his eyes shine with resentment.

His sharp eyes fell on the woman in front of him, and he reluctantly smiled and said, "Well, the jade powder was indeed not scraped off from the Empress's phoenix crown."

Xiao Fengyi deliberately moved closer to Madam Shen, raising her hands, "Aunt, are you going to tie me up and take me to the Emperor to complain? Are you going to tell the Empress and the Imperial Concubine that I broke their beloved possessions?"

Madam Shen was somewhat embarrassed by her actions, so she deliberately covered her face with a round fan and whispered, "Since the Jade Pearl Powder wasn't taken from the phoenix crown, then naturally we won't take you to the Emperor, Empress, or Imperial Concubine."

After she finished speaking, she looked at Xiao Qishan beside her, her eyes seeming to say, "Help, help me!"

Even though he was unhappy that Shen had betrayed Fengyi, Xiao Qishan still protected her in his heart.

He stood in front of Shen and said to Xiao Fengyi, "Fengyi, don't be unreasonable."

"Hmph, it's better to be unforgiving than to repay kindness with enmity."

After saying this, Xiao Fengyi withdrew her hands.

Hearing her assessment of her, Madam Shen felt offended by the younger generation. She immediately abandoned her fan, pushed Xiao Qishan away, and pointed her slender finger at her, saying, "You..."

Before she could finish speaking, Xiao Qishan withdrew his slender fingers.

"Stop arguing! Don't you know what kind of occasion this is?"

When Xiao Qishan spoke, he didn't look at Shen Shi at all, but kept staring at the furious Seventh Prince.

When Shen looked at the Seventh Prince, she suddenly came to her senses.

The man kept staring at Xiao Fengyi, probably thinking about how to find her weakness. If he continued to fool around with Xiao Fengyi, he would probably lose focus.

Oops!

Shen suddenly realized that she had been somewhat confused and had almost been taken advantage of by Xiao Fengyi.

She was mentally rehearsing a play, but Xiao Fengyi had no such intention; he was only arguing with her because he was upset about being wronged earlier.

After thinking it over, Feng Mingjing spoke again, "Xiao Fengyi, now that the matter of the phoenix crown has been explained, shouldn't you tell us the source of the jade pearl powder? Although you are the eldest daughter of the Xiao family and are extremely wealthy, you don't have the means to obtain jade pearls, do you? Tell me quickly, where did your jade pearls come from?"

"It was given to me by Her Majesty the Empress!" Xiao Fengyi's voice was soft, but everyone in the room could hear her.

This answer shocked everyone, including Feng Mingjing.

"The Empress gave it to you?" Feng Mingjing's expression and tone clearly showed disbelief. "Her Majesty the Empress only has one jade pearl, which is held in the mouth of the phoenix in the center of her phoenix crown. I saw it just a few days ago. How could it be with you? Xiao Fengyi, I warn you, don't try to exonerate yourself by spouting lies!"

This is really bad!

Xiao Qishan and Shen Shi, who were listening nearby, were both sweating bullets for Fengyi.

Everyone knows that the Empress loved jewelry the most.

Jewelry from various countries had to pass through her hands before being bestowed upon others. Anything she took a liking to was something she greatly admired. Apart from the Empress of Yongguo's phoenix crown, which was an exception, she would never give anything she liked to others, let alone to Xiao Fengyi.

Liu couldn't help but think to herself, "Even if Fengyi is going to lie, she shouldn't make up such a flimsy reason."

Shen then covered her face with her fan again, looking on with an expression of anticipation.

Xiao Fengyi remained calm and composed, saying, "Seventh Prince, please don't speak nonsense. It's a fact that the Empress gave me the jade pearl. Can't I even state the truth?"

Her confident demeanor intimidated Feng Mingjing, making him lose confidence. He stammered, "You... you say so? How can you prove it? The Empress gave you the Jade Pearl, but I'm in the palace every day and I've never heard of it."

"Seventh Prince isn't the Empress's son. Even if he's in the palace, he couldn't possibly know everything that's going on inside the Empress's Xuanji Palace, could he?" Her sarcastic retort left Feng Mingjing speechless.

Hey……

He genuinely didn't know anything about the Xuanji Palace; he wasn't Feng Mingyu, so asking him that was just making conversation.

Next, Xiao Fengyi recounted in detail how she obtained the jade pearl from the Empress.

Xiao Fengyi paced around Dao Fengmingjing, talking as she circled the man.

"Your Highness may not know, but Her Majesty the Empress has not only one large jade bead, but also several smaller ones. Although everyone says that jade beads are extremely rare, those in the know understand that they are referring to the large jade bead, not the small ones. The small jade beads are easy to obtain; the Empress has a whole box of them."

As she said this, she deliberately stopped in front of Feng Mingjing, looked into his eyes, and then said, "Your Highness, the Imperial Concubine, must know about this matter. I heard that the Imperial Concubine also has many Little Jade Beads."

Seeing Feng Mingjing's eyes, Xiao Fengyi agreed, confirming that what she said was correct, and continued: "Her Majesty the Empress cherishes the large jade beads. After making a few pairs of earrings and hairpins with the small jade beads, she lost interest. She felt that it was a waste to keep them in the storeroom, so she liked to give them away, especially noble ladies of my age. After meeting Her Majesty the Empress in the palace, we would basically receive some jade beads."

At this moment, the nanny beside Madam Liu hurriedly responded, "What the young lady said is indeed true, because when this old servant and the old lady returned to the Liu family, the young lady of the Liu family also said that Her Majesty the Empress gave her several pairs of jade earrings."

"You mean the Third and Fourth Sisters? Like Fengyi, they are unmarried, so they often go to the Empress's place to play. Indeed, for a while they always wore very beautiful jewelry, which I had never seen before. I thought it was just something little girls would wear to play with, but now I realize it was actually jade beads." The old woman's words reminded Liu of her childhood.

Hearing the old lady and her servants talking in unison about how the Empress had rewarded the girls, Madam Shen looked at Xiao Qingyin lying there with a mixture of anger and resentment.

Why can other noble ladies have the Empress's favor, but Qingyin can't? Is it just because she is a daughter born to a second wife, or because she has a sister with the destiny of a phoenix?

After hearing what Madam Shen said, Xiao Fengyi asked Xuan Hua to take out the small jade bead jewelry and show it to everyone, especially Feng Mingjing.

She opened the jewelry box and deliberately placed the headdress made of small jade beads in front of Feng Mingjing.

“Look, Seventh Prince, these are all jade beads.”

Upon seeing the pile of jade beads, Feng Mingjing suddenly realized that although the small jade beads were not as priceless as the large jade beads, they could still be used to make jade bead powder.