Mo Shi, the wife of the Duke of Yong, was born into a famous military family and was skilled in martial arts herself. When she said this, she used a bit of strength, so her words clearly reached every corner of the grand hall, instantly attracting everyone's attention.
Su Yuanyuan was tightly held by Mo Shi and was thus subjected to everyone's scrutiny.
The girl's long hair was wet and clung to her cheeks. Although she was wrapped in a crimson-purple outer robe, most of it was soaked, and the hem was still dripping water.
Her slightly round, delicate and beautiful face had turned deathly pale due to the cold and wetness. Her lips were slightly purple, and her eyes were filled with the fear of having survived a disaster. She looked extremely pitiful.
Especially when she saw Su Qingyu in the middle of the hall and then cowered behind the wife of the Duke of Yong in a frightened manner, it instantly made the words that were originally only 30% believable become 70% believable.
Suddenly being accused, Su Qingyu in the middle of the hall showed no sign of panic. A look of slight surprise flashed across her face. She stood up, curtsied to Mo Shi, and said,
"Madam Duke, I am Su Qingyu. Please allow me to apologize to Her Majesty the Queen first, and then I will explain it in detail to you, Madam Duke."
Su Yuanyuan's heart tightened, and she immediately looked at the Queen sitting on the phoenix throne in the front.
Su Yuanyuan had attended many palace banquets in her previous life and was very familiar with this Queen of the Great Chu Kingdom. The Queen was from the direct branch of the prestigious Wang family. Three queens had come from this branch, so the family was extremely prominent and noble, and thus the Queen valued her face very much.
Although Mo Shi took the initiative to expose Su Qingyu's misdeeds, she had interrupted the birthday banquet, which would surely displease the Queen. If Su Qingyu got the chance to speak first, the Duke of Yong's mansion would be at a disadvantage.
Fortunately, Mo Shi was not reckless. Before Su Qingyu could speak, she led Su Yuanyuan forward a few steps, knelt down in front of the Queen, and sobbed,
"Your Majesty! I didn't mean to spoil your mood. It's just that my beloved daughter suffered such injustice for no reason and almost died at the bottom of the lake. I was so angry that I had to do this. Please forgive me, Your Majesty the Queen."
The sudden interruption of the banquet did indeed displease Queen Wang a bit. But seeing Su Yuanyuan still dripping wet all over and Mo Shi having apologized to her, she couldn't say much.
Her eyes lingered on Su Yuanyuan's paper-pale face and then fell on the somewhat familiar outer robe wrapped around her. Finally, the Queen spoke up,
"Alright, get up quickly. Your daughter got lost just now, and I was very worried. Now that she's finally found, but has suffered so much. You love your daughter so much. How could I blame you?"
After Mo Shi got up, the Queen said to the senior maid beside her,
"Chen Fang, go and dry the water off Miss Su the Fourth. Take her to change into clean clothes and invite a royal physician to take a look. It's so cold. What if she catches a cold?"
The Queen's tone seemed very concerned about Su Yuanyuan, and she even took the initiative to arrange everything. But both Su Yuanyuan and Mo Shi knew that the Queen intended to deal with this matter lightly.
They couldn't just let it go like this! Mother and daughter thought the same thing at the same time.
Seeing the maid beside Queen Wang walking towards her, Su Yuanyuan was so scared that she hugged Mo Shi tightly and burst into tears, "Wuwu, Mother... Yuanbao... is scared..."
Mo Shi skillfully dodged to the side with Su Yuanyuan in her arms, patted her slightly trembling back, and coaxed,
"Yuanbao is a good girl. Don't be afraid. Yuanbao doesn't have to go anywhere. Just stay with Mother, okay?"
While coaxing, she also smiled apologetically at Queen Wang, "Your Majesty, please don't blame her. Yuanbao will be like this when she's wronged. She only wants her mother."
Couldn't Queen Wang hear the implication? She had no choice but to follow Mo Shi's wishes and said calmly to Su Qingyu,
"Su Qingyu, the wife of the Duke of Yong accuses you of pushing Miss Su the Fourth into the water. How do you explain this?"
Although her tone was calm, those who knew her well knew that she was angry.
Suddenly, everyone's gazes were once again focused on Su Qingyu in the middle of the hall.
Su Qingyu calmly saluted the Queen and said,
"Your Majesty the Queen, before this, I had never met this younger sister from the Duke's mansion. And just now, I was focusing on preparing for the musical performance and didn't go near the lake. I don't know why the wife of the Duke of Yong is so sure that my younger sister's fall into the water has something to do with me. There must be some misunderstanding."
Mo Shi sized up Su Qingyu with her eyes that had seen battle and killed enemies. She sneered, "A misunderstanding? My Yuanbao said it with her own mouth. Could she be lying?"
She lowered her head, and her tone instantly softened. "Yuanbao, take a good look. Did she push you? Don't be afraid. Mother is here. Just say what's on your mind."
Su Yuanyuan looked at Su Qingyu. The other girl was staring at her from afar, which made her recall the many confrontations like this in the past.
"She pushed Yuanbao, and she also said..."
Su Yuanyuan repeated those extremely vicious words in a childish and innocent voice,
"Where did this lowly servant come from? How dare she ruin my good deed! Die!"
As soon as the words were spoken, there were gasps all around.
Could Su Qingyu really say such vicious words? Not only did she call the young lady from the Duke's mansion a lowly servant, but she also told her to die?!
No wonder everyone couldn't believe it. Everyone in Shengjing knew that Su Qingyu from the Marquis of Pingyang's mansion was a paragon of a well-bred young lady.
She always spoke gently and had never argued with anyone. Even when she was framed and harmed by her own younger sister many times in the past, she still showed infinite tolerance as an elder sister.
How could such a wonderful girl do such a thing?
"Absolutely impossible!" A male voice rang out. Su Zeqian, the heir of the Marquis of Pingyang, retorted sharply. Then he got up and walked to Su Qingyu's side, bowed to the Queen, and said,
"Your Majesty, please investigate clearly. My younger sister has always been kind to others and has never had any disputes with anyone. She has never had any conflicts with the young lady from the Duke's mansion before. How could she harm the young lady from the Duke's mansion? There must be some twists and turns. I dare to ask Your Majesty the Queen to send someone to investigate thoroughly!"
"Yes, Mother." The Prince of Huai also spoke up. "I also think this matter should be investigated thoroughly."
"That person dared to harm the young lady from the Duke's mansion at your birthday banquet. Not only did they ignore the royal dignity, but they also didn't put you, Mother, in their eyes. If this person is not found out, where will the royal face be in the future?"
The imperial concubine beside Queen Wang even sneered softly, "Sister, how can you believe the words of a fool?"
Su Yuanyuan leaned in Mo Shi's arms and watched everyone's expressions. Her heart was cold.
She had seen such scenes too many times in her previous life.
No matter what happened, as long as it was related to Su Qingyu, everyone's first reaction was not to believe but to suspect that someone was targeting Su Qingyu again. Without Su Qingyu saying a word, they would try their best to prove her innocence.
Su Yuanyuan's gaze fell on Su Zeqian, the elder brother she had once respected the most in her previous life.
Among them, her elder brother was the most extreme.
Between her and Su Qingyu, he always chose to stand by Su Qingyu's side and unconditionally believed in her.
Since that was the case, then let him open his eyes and see what kind of person his beloved younger sister really was!
Almost without any hesitation, big teardrops instantly rolled down from Su Yuanyuan's eyes. They were for her previous self and also for Su Yuanyuan in this life!
She took out something from her wet clothes, held it in her hands, took two steps forward, and said clearly,
"Yuanbao doesn't lie."
"Yuanbao has a stone..."
In the girl's fair palm lay a very unique warm jade pendant. It looked like a cat but wasn't exactly a cat.
That was exactly the jade pendant that Su Qingyu always carried with her and claimed to be the only one in the world!
The moment she saw the jade pendant clearly, Su Qingyu's face suddenly changed.