Chapter 48: “You… You’re Slandering Me!”
Wen Xueling had already been knocked into a ditch, tumbling several times, and her calf was still throbbing with pain—she was already having an extremely unlucky day.
She had no idea why the horse, which had been walking steadily, suddenly panicked. Her maid, Liuli, had whispered in her ear that Princess Duanrong’s carriage had been ahead of them, and after inspecting their horse, they found a nail embedded in the hoof of the injured horse.
Given Princess Duanrong’s long history of persecution, this time might also have been a deliberate attempt to harm her.
Wen Xueling had come with a fierce momentum to pick a fight, but before she could even speak, she was first interrogated by Gan Qiongying.
It was a complete reversal of blame!
“The road is wide enough for everyone to travel safely. Why were you wandering around recklessly on the road?”
Gan Qiongying said, “Just now, the collision caused my husband’s head to bleed. Tell me, what were you really trying to do?”
Wen Xueling stared with wide, fish-like eyes, as if trying to comprehend how someone could be so shameless in this world.
She opened her mouth to defend herself but couldn’t utter a single word before Gan Qiongying pinned another heavy accusation on her.
“You… Could it be that you’re still holding a grudge over that day after the banquet, when my horse panicked and accidentally knocked you into the river?”
“That was truly an accident!” Gan Qiongying said. “I sincerely apologized at the time and even offered you dry clothes. It was you who refused and left in anger. I thought you were magnanimous, but I never expected you to be waiting here to harm me!”
“You… You’re slandering me!”
Wen Xueling’s face flushed crimson. Limping forward a step, her originally elegant and dignified face twisted with anger. She had already believed her maid’s words wholeheartedly—after all, Princess Duanrong had harmed her more than once or twice. However, she hadn’t come to directly accuse her, only to test the waters. Provoked by Gan Qiongying, she immediately spoke without thinking.
“Your carriage was ahead of mine. We were traveling just fine when the horse suddenly panicked because it stepped on a nail. How do we know you didn’t have someone place it there?”
Upon hearing this, Manyue was about to step forward. She was most skilled in verbal sparring—Gan Qiongying had never met anyone better at turning black into white.
If she stepped in, even if Duanrong had actually thrown some damned nail, she could twist the truth.
But it wasn’t yet her time to appear.
In a small scene like this, as long as Gan Qiongying didn’t have to worry about maintaining any persona, she could easily take them down herself.
So, she grabbed Manyue by the back of her collar, pulling her back, and stepped forward to ask Wen Xueling:
“Did you see me throw it?”
“Which eye of yours saw it? How did I throw it? And so coincidentally, it landed right under your horse’s hoof?”
“Your carriage panicked and crashed into mine, injuring my Consort. Instead of apologizing, you’re now blaming my carriage for being ahead and causing you harm.”
“Princess Xue’e, with just that statement of yours, I can charge you with the serious crime of slandering a member of the royal family!”
Gan Qiongying directly twisted Xue’e’s “you had someone throw it” into “you threw it,” turning the accusation back on her and pinning the blame for slander.
After bombarding Wen Xueling into confusion, she asked again, “And as for me throwing nails? Who told you that?”
Wen Xueling instinctively glanced at Liuli beside her. Liuli had been by Wen Xueling’s side for many years, having grown up with her. The two were as close as sisters, and in the remote, lawless lands of Jingxi, they had developed a wild temperament, fiercely protective of their mistress.
Seeing her own princess unable to defend herself, Liuli immediately stepped forward and said, “Princess Duanrong, you are mistaken. Your carriage was indeed ahead—”
“What kind of unruly pheasant is this, making such a racket!” Gan Qiongying pointed at Wen Xueling’s maid. “Manyue, teach her some manners.”
Manyue charged forward like a Tibetan mastiff unleashed by its owner, delivering four sharp slaps—”smack, smack, smack, smack”—that sent Wen Xueling’s maid tumbling to the ground.
“How dare you, insolent servant! How dare you interrupt when your betters are speaking!”
Manyue had swung her arm with full force, and Liuli’s cheeks immediately swelled red. Clutching her face in shock, tears streamed uncontrollably from her eyes. Meeting Manyue’s lingering, menacing gaze, she kicked her legs in terror and cried out, “Princess!”
Seeing this, Wen Xueling immediately forgot all about maintaining her composure and shrieked, “Princess Duanrong, don’t push your luck too far!”
Gan Qiongying watched as Wen Xueling rushed forward, only to be blocked by her own maids. Wen Xueling’s attendants also stepped up, and for a moment, the two sides stood in tense confrontation.
Gan Qiongying pushed through the crowd and looked at Wen Xueling, her voice suddenly softening, even carrying a hint of amusement. “How have I bullied anyone?”
“Princess Xue’e, let’s be reasonable.”
“Your own horse spooked, crashed into my carriage, and injured my people. Yet, you listened to this insolent servant’s instigation and rushed forward to slander my innocence without even hearing the full story.”
“I haven’t even held you accountable yet. I was merely defending myself.”
Gan Qiongying continued, “And then this insolent servant rushed forward to offend me. What, as a princess of the realm, am I not allowed to discipline a mere servant?”
“Manyue, how are servants who offend a princess usually dealt with?” Gan Qiongying asked softly.
From the very beginning, Gan Qiongying had no intention of treading the path of caution and restraint.
She was Princess Duanrong, the arrogant, unrestrained, and notoriously malicious supporting character. If she suddenly turned pious and virtuous, who would believe it?
The plot clearly wouldn’t allow it either.
Otherwise, why would the plot twist and turn to dump the blame back on her, even when she hadn’t gone out of her way to provoke anyone?
But she would never be like the real Duanrong—unyielding and straightforward, allowing others to control her and lose the initiative.
She would actively embrace madness, refusing to internalize any struggles. After all, no matter what happened, it could never be her fault.
“Your Highness,” Manyue, having been thoroughly indoctrinated and trained by Gan Qiongying, replied in a shrill voice, playing along in a way that sent chills down the spine, “Offending a member of the imperial family naturally warrants death by beating!”
Manyue stared intently at the maid as she spoke, and the maid, provoked by her malice, trembled all over and cried even harder.
In the plot, it was this very maid—the one who “bravely pleaded that Princess Xue’e had suffered repeated persecution”—who caused Duanrong to be reprimanded by Princess Hui’an. Gan Qiongying guessed this was her.
Since that was the case, she had no choice but to give the master and servant a good scare, ensuring this maid wouldn’t be able to speak a word in front of the Grand Princess.
So Gan Qiongying said lightly, “There’s no suitable iron-cored, sand-filled rod here. Beating her to death would be too much effort. Drag her away and strangle her instead.”
Seeing Wen Xueling’s face grow increasingly pale, she immediately reached out to grab Liuli’s arm, only to be forcibly dragged away by the maidservant at Gan Qiongying’s side.
Liuli, with her arms pinned and lifted, let out a terrified, heart-wrenching shriek like a pig being slaughtered: “Save me, Princess! Save me—”
“Ah—have mercy!”
Gan Qiongying thought, serves you right! I’ll scare the two of you little troublemakers half to death!
Of course, she had no intention of actually strangling the maidservant—she wasn’t some kind of monster.
But authority could crush people like a mountain.
She was merely getting a taste of the perks that came with her status.
After all, she was a Princess. With this position, there was so much she could maneuver.