Chapter 12: “Take a good look—is this fabric something Xing Chen could afford to wear?”

“Do you think a dozen lashes is enough to pardon a criminal slave like you?” Su Yingxue took out the torn fabric she had clenched in her fist that day and threw it before Eunuch Shen of the Inner Eunuch Directorate, the criminal slave, and the guards.

“Take a good look—is this fabric something the Hostage Prince of Chu could afford to wear?”

“Qiushuang, bring out the Hostage Prince’s garments for This Palace. Place them before Eunuch Shen of the Inner Service Directorate and before this criminal maid. This Palace demands her to bow and confess her crime!”

Su Yingxue spoke coldly as she returned to her seat in the Main Hall. With a clap of Qiushuang’s hands, palace attendants filed in like a school of fish, carrying wooden trays laden with a few shabby, worn-out garments.

The attendants placed the trays on the floor. Among them was the black robe Chu Xingchen had worn that day.

Indeed, anyone with a discerning eye could see at a glance that the torn fabric differed from the material of Chu Xingchen’s clothing in both texture and color.

After witnessing the torn fabric, those involved in the case trembled and knelt, kowtowing and pleading for mercy.

Especially Eunuch Shen, who had initially thought that by helping Su Yingxue punish Chu Xingchen, he could curry favor with the Eldest Princess. But now, the Eldest Princess seemed like a different person—as if she had suddenly transformed from a spoiled, incompetent fool into someone remarkably intelligent.

Eunuch Shen recalled how she had skillfully set a trap, luring the palace maid into her scheme, and then pinned the maid’s crime with the grave accusation of “severely injuring the Hostage Prince of Qi and undermining the friendly alliance between the two nations.” Such meticulous planning and clear logic—was this still the arrogant and domineering Eldest Princess they knew?

A chill ran down Shen Ruhai’s spine.

Eunuch Shen knelt, kowtowing and pleading in a mournful voice, “This old servant is guilty! This old servant failed in overseeing the Inner Service Directorate and did not detect this palace maid’s rebellious intentions. Deceived by her false testimony, I subjected the Hostage Prince of Chu to punishment. This old servant is guilty and has failed Your Majesty’s wisdom and the Eldest Princess’s peace!”

Seeing this, the palace maid knew she could no longer conceal the truth. Ignoring the pain from her wounds, she knelt and kowtowed, pleading desperately, “Your Highness the Eldest Princess, spare my life! This servant was bewitched and led astray! Your Highness the Eldest Princess, have mercy!”

When the maid saw that Su Yingxue remained unmoved, she turned and pointed at Eunuch Shen, screaming hoarsely, “Eunuch Shen, you cannot abandon me now! Was it not you who sent a young eunuch to instruct me to pin everything on the Hostage Prince of Chu?”

“You said the Inner Service Directorate could thus account to His Majesty and Her Highness the Eldest Princess! You even had that young eunuch assure me that if I complied, you would protect me until I was safely assigned elsewhere! Now that the truth is exposed, how dare you push all the blame onto me!”

“Your Highness the Eldest Princess, I beg for your mercy! I was only momentarily deceived and bewitched into falsely accusing the Hostage Prince of Chu!” The maid scrambled up, kowtowing repeatedly until a red mark formed on her forehead, and blood even trickled from the center.

Upon hearing this, Eunuch Shen’s face changed. He kicked her fiercely, sending her flying until she lay unconscious, blood streaming from her mouth. Shen Ruhai, enraged, shouted at the fallen maid, “Audacious criminal slave! At death’s door, you still dare to spout nonsense and falsely accuse me!”

“Your Highness the Eldest Princess, please believe in this humble servant’s sincere loyalty towards His Majesty and Your Highness! I beg Your Highness to see this clearly!” Eunuch Shen now understood the situation. He knelt before Su Yingxue, kowtowing to beg for forgiveness. The several guards witnessing this also knelt and kowtowed in apology.

The entire Princess’s Main Hall fell into silence, with only the loud thuds of foreheads hitting the floor echoing through the space. Just then, a voice announcing “His Majesty has arrived!” interrupted Eunuch Shen and the others’ kowtowing.

“Yingxue, what has angered you so?” Su Qinhuai had been reviewing memorials in the imperial study when he received Su Yingxue’s summons. Caring deeply for this imperial younger sister, he immediately set aside the documents and rushed over.

Initially thinking Su Yingxue might have caused some trouble, he had paused outside the hall to listen for a while. By now, he had roughly grasped the situation.

“Imperial Brother, your humble sister boldly requests that you uphold justice for me and Prince Chu!” Upon seeing the Dasheng Monarch Su Qinhuai arrive, Su Yingxue instantly transformed into a delicate, sickly, pitiable figure that evoked compassion.

Having read the entire Original Work, Zhang Susu knew this elder brother was the person in the entire Great Sheng Dynasty who cherished and cared most for Eldest Princess Su Yingxue, and also her only living relative in this lifetime.

For some reason, watching their kneeling figures arguing and quibbling, Zhang Susu suddenly recalled the Su Yingxue from the Original Work.

Truth be told, the original Su Yingxue was also a pitiable soul. Orphaned since childhood, only her elder brother genuinely cared for her. Busy with state affairs, Su Qinhuai had entrusted her upbringing to his principal wife, the Empress, during their youth.

The Empress, wary of the Eldest Princess’s status and jealous of Emperor Su Qinhuai’s favor toward Su Yingxue, had employed a “spoil-to-destroy” method—indulging and pampering her excessively. This resulted in Su Yingxue growing up willful and arrogant, accumulating countless enemies.

Whether palace insiders or court officials, all spoke of the Eldest Princess with utter detestation.

In the Original Work, one year before Chu Xingchen conquered the kingdom, after Su Qinhuai passed away from illness, the inner palace of the Great Sheng Dynasty fell under the Empress’s control. Following public sentiment, the Empress placed Su Yingxue under house arrest in the Cold Palace, neglecting her completely.

All the palace maids and concubines she had previously flogged and punished now took turns giving her a hard time, humiliating and bullying her.

It wasn’t until later when Chu Xingchen subjected her to Flaying and Grass-Stuffing that her absurd and pitiful lonely life finally ended.

This was the Su Yingxue of the Original Work, and precisely the plotline she needed to defy fate and change destiny. Within the Dasheng Royal Palace, the only person who treated her well was Su Qinhuai.

Therefore, her summoning Su Qinhuai this time was not only because he was her backing, but also because she distrusted Eunuch Shen.

Eunuch Shen’s hasty case resolution might not merely be due to lax supervision as he claimed. Having witnessed Eunuch Shen and the palace maid turning against each other like dogs fighting, Su Yingxue felt this eunuch wasn’t as simple as he appeared.

The Great Sheng Dynasty’s waters ran deep. Now that Zhang Susu wanted to use Eunuch Shen and this palace maid as a breakthrough to uncover the mastermind trying to harm Su Yingxue, she needed to find someone trustworthy, someone upright and impartial, with authority surpassing the person behind the scenes, to ensure her falling into the lake wouldn’t be in vain.

Su Qinhuai had always granted every request of his youngest sister. Now, believing she had suffered injustice, his heart ached even more for her. The Imperial Physician had informed him that had she not received timely medical treatment, she might have already departed this world, separated from him by the boundary between life and death.

Therefore, the one who both favored Su Yingxue and held a high position of power was Su Qinhuai. With Su Qinhuai intervening to investigate this case, Su Yingxue had essentially won half the battle.

By leveraging Su Qinhuai’s affection for his younger sister, she could also seize the opportunity to request a few favors from him on behalf of Chu Xingchen. This would serve as a protective talisman for Chu Xingchen under Su Qinhuai’s authority. At the very least, those who still intended to bully Chu Xingchen would now have to think twice before taking action!