Just as Su Qingyu reached out to the Crown Prince for help, one of the big black dogs that had been attacking her just now turned around and charged straight at the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince had no intention of saving her in the first place. Seeing the big black dog charging towards him, he couldn't help but curse under his breath and immediately shouted, "Protect the Crown Prince! Protect the Crown Prince!"
Although the guards were holding knives in their hands, they were also intimidated by such a fierce black dog. Moreover, this black dog was extremely agile. It easily dodged the guards' lunges, slipped through the gaps, and pounced directly in front of the Crown Prince, biting hard on his calf.
Seeing this, the Prince of Xuan and the Prince of Jin, who were originally standing on both sides of the Crown Prince, silently took a few steps back to avoid being affected.
Feeling the sharp dog teeth pierce through his boots and socks and bite into his ankle, the excruciating pain shot up from his foot. The Crown Prince's cries became even more miserable than before. He kept shouting,
"You useless fools! What are you standing there for! Hurry up and kill this dog!"
The guards immediately rushed forward, but the black dog suddenly let go of the Crown Prince, evaded the guards' attacks, and ran back to Su Qingyu.
The Crown Prince was struggling to save himself, let alone rescuing an insignificant Su Qingyu.
Right in front of everyone, the three big black dogs tore Su Qingyu's clothes to shreds. Su Qingyu's body was instantly scratched and bleeding by the dogs' sharp teeth.
Su Qingyu had already been so frightened that she fainted. She lay limply there, looking as if she had been killed by the big dogs. Where was the arrogance she had shown before?
This scene made everyone tremble in fear. Su Yuanyuan watched all this coldly, and one after another, the voices of the beasts rang in her ears:
【This useless Crown Prince deliberately starved us these days and didn't give us any meat. Bite him to death!】
【This bad woman even whipped us. She's the most vicious human I've ever seen!】
【This bad woman has a heart as vicious as a snake. She even wanted us to bite Yuanbao. We must teach her a lesson today!】
When the three big black dogs found that Su Qingyu had gone silent, they let go and turned back to run to Su Yuanyuan. As they passed by the others, everyone was so frightened that they took a step back.
To everyone's surprise, after the three big black dogs returned to Su Yuanyuan's side, instead of opening their mouths to bite her, they wagged their tails vigorously and stuck out their tongues, showing an extraordinary closeness to her.
Seeing the three big black dogs nuzzle Su Yuanyuan's palm with their blood - stained noses, Su Huaichen and the other three, along with Bai Jun and Zhang Yingxue, all changed their expressions. Su Huaichen even couldn't help shouting, "Yuanbao, come to big brother!"
Su Yuanyuan gave a reassuring look to her elder brother and sister - in - law. Then she raised her hand and stroked the head of the big black dog beside her, and said with a smile, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, it seems that both you and your concubine are afraid of dogs. It turns out that the two of you are the real evil spirits."
Just because of Cang Xuan's words, everyone had been suspecting whether the people around them were evil spirits. Seeing that the Crown Prince and Su Qingyu were even more afraid of the three big black dogs than Su Yuanyuan, people began to whisper among themselves again:
"Just now they were saying that others were evil spirits. It turns out that the Crown Prince and Su Qingyu are the real evil spirits!"
"I heard that the evil spirits possessed the Queen, and the Crown Prince often went to pay respects to the Queen. Maybe he was also contaminated by the aura of the evil spirits."
"Fortunately, Lord Cang came in time. Otherwise, Miss Su the Fourth would have been harmed by these two people."
Although everyone lowered their voices, the space on the scene was not very large. And with so many voices gathered together, it still made quite a commotion.
Only Jiang Lanyi stepped forward, pointing at Su Yuanyuan and angrily shouting, "Your Highness the Crown Prince and Qingyu are not evil spirits. It must be you, this evil woman, who used some kind of sorcery to make these three dogs listen to you and turn against them. It must be so!"
Su Yuanyuan's eyes turned cold, and she shouted, "Shut up! The Crown Prince hasn't even spoken yet. Where do you get the right to talk here?"
Just as Su Yuanyuan shouted angrily, one of the black dogs bared its teeth and pretended to pounce on Jiang Lanyi. As soon as Jiang Lanyi saw the black dog's fangs, she was so frightened that she dodged backward and let out a sharp scream.
Su Yuanyuan said with a smile, "Sister Jiang, you're also afraid of this dog. Could it be that you're also an evil spirit?"
Jiang Lanyi was so frightened that she cried. She quickly waved her hand at the Crown Prince and said, "Your Highness, Your Highness, I'm not an evil spirit! I'm not an evil spirit!"
After scaring Jiang Lanyi, the black dog pretended to pounce on the other noble ladies who had attended today's piano - viewing banquet. The garden instantly fell into greater chaos. Remembering the scene of the dog biting Su Qingyu just now, the girls were all so frightened that they huddled together and let out shrill screams.
Su Yuanyuan showed two small dimples as she smiled and said to the Crown Prince, "Your Highness, look. There are so many people here who are afraid of Your Highness's dogs. I suppose they are all evil spirits. According to Your Highness's statement, should they all be arrested and executed?"
Hearing what Su Yuanyuan said, everyone on the scene immediately knelt down. The noble ladies trembled and kowtowed to the Crown Prince, begging for mercy:
"Your Highness, I'm not an evil spirit. Please be merciful, Your Highness, and spare us!"
"I'm not an evil spirit either. I've been afraid of dogs since I was a child. Please investigate clearly, Your Highness!"
"Your Highness..."
The Crown Prince was injured in both ears and one ankle. Seeing the situation on the scene reverse instantly, he knew that his plan today had completely failed. His face was extremely ugly. Without Cang Xuan's further pressure, the Crown Prince closed his eyes tightly, took a deep breath, and when he opened his eyes again, he gritted his teeth and said,
"It seems that I made a mistake. Miss Yuanbao of the Duke Yong's Mansion is not an evil spirit. Naturally, I'm not an evil spirit either! Using dogs to judge who is an evil spirit... is inappropriate."
Su Yuanyuan then asked with a smile, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, now that it has been proven that I'm not an evil spirit, are the words you said at the piano - viewing banquet still valid?"
Hearing the three big black dogs let out "whining" sounds and still clearly remembering the experience of being pounced on and bitten by the black dogs just now, the Crown Prince gritted his teeth and said word by word, "I keep my word. Miss Su the Fourth won the first place at today's piano - viewing banquet. I will recommend Miss Su the Fourth to be the chief pianist and play music at the grand sacrifice ceremony."
Su Yuanyuan curtsied and said, "I thank Your Highness the Crown Prince for your appreciation."
Having lost so much face in the Prince of Xuan's Mansion, the Crown Prince didn't want to stay any longer. He immediately called out to the guards, "Let's return to the palace!"
Some of the guards protected the injured Crown Prince, and some stepped forward to carry the unconscious Su Qingyu. Then they hurriedly left the Prince of Xuan's Mansion, looking rather like they were fleeing in a hurry.
The three black dogs were brought by the Crown Prince and should have left with him. But since they had bitten the Crown Prince and Su Qingyu, they would only have a dead end if they went back. So they still stayed by Su Yuanyuan's side.
However, after completing the task assigned by Su Yuanyuan, the three black dogs ignored the people around them. They retreated to a short distance behind Su Yuanyuan and lay down, leaving the space around Su Yuanyuan empty, which made Su Huaichen and the others heave a sigh of relief.