She didn't even know when she had lost her handkerchief.
Just now, she was so excited while attacking and humiliating Cheng Simian that she didn't take a close look at the pattern on the handkerchief at all.
With a stiff face, she stammered an excuse, "Your Majesty the Queen, I was in a bit of a hurry when I came out today, so I didn't bring a handkerchief..."
The Queen raised an eyebrow and gave her a meaningful look. "What a coincidence."
She didn't expose this clumsy lie.
But her attitude made everyone assume that this handkerchief belonged to Qin Xuanyan.
Someone joked, "Miss Qin misunderstood Miss Cheng. It seems that there's someone else who wants to seduce the Crown Prince."
Unable to bear this veiled criticism, Qin Xuanyan's face flushed red, and she gasped for breath.
Qin Ziqi no longer dared to hope that Cheng Simian's reputation would be damaged. He just wanted to turn the page quickly and escape from here.
"Yan'er, you misunderstood Miss Cheng and spoke rudely. Hurry up and apologize to Miss Cheng!"
If Qin Xuanyan had swallowed her pride a bit at this moment, she might have been able to salvage a little of her image.
But Qin Xuanyan had always been pampered and grew up being flattered. Among her close female friends, none of them had a higher status than her. Which one of them didn't flatter her?
Asking her to apologize to Cheng Simian, the person she hated the most, how could she lower her noble head?
Seeing her standing there motionless, her lips bitten blue, but not saying a single word, Qin Ziqi gritted his teeth in hatred.
He had no choice but to walk up to Cheng Simian, bow, and offer an apologetic smile.
"Miss Cheng, my younger sister has been spoiled and is not sensible. She is just straightforward and has no other intentions. I apologize to you on her behalf. Please be magnanimous and don't take it to heart with my younger sister."
The Crown Prince gave him a cold look, a hint of sharpness hidden in the corner of his eye. His tone was icy, "No need. Neither I nor Mianmian will accept an insincere apology."
Ripples stirred in Cheng Simian's heart.
The Crown Prince had said "I and Mianmian".
The two hadn't gotten married yet, but the Crown Prince already regarded them as one.
When she was slandered and splashed with dirt, it was as if the Crown Prince himself was being slandered.
The weight of this sentence almost choked Qin Ziqi.
He forcefully pulled Qin Xuanyan over and tried to push her head down. "Hurry, hurry up and apologize to His Highness the Crown Prince and Miss Cheng!"
Qin Xuanyan still refused to swallow her pride. Qin Ziqi got anxious and kicked her in the back of the knee, knocking her to the ground.
He himself knelt down too.
"My younger sister is ignorant and stupid. Please calm your anger, Your Highness the Crown Prince. Please calm your anger!"
Cheng Simian's hand was held by the Crown Prince.
She knew that she didn't need to say another word at this moment.
Her part of the script was over.
From now on, the Crown Prince would stand in front of her and get rid of the demons for her.
The Crown Prince didn't even look at the siblings and didn't tell them to get up.
Instead, he took Cheng Simian's hand and walked up to the Queen.
The Queen took Cheng Simian's other hand and patted it lovingly. "Good child, you've really been wronged."
"Mother, although the Chunling Courtyard has been bestowed upon the second younger brother, it is still a royal courtyard after all. If such filthy things happen here and spread out, what will happen to the royal family's reputation? I beg Mother to allow this matter to be thoroughly investigated!"
Qin Xuanyan rolled her eyes and almost fainted.
She was pinched hard by Qin Ziqi a few times before she managed to steady herself.
Concubine Lan on the side seemed to stay out of the matter all the time, but she lowered her head nervously, fiddling with the coral bead bracelet on her hand.
Lu Siming looked ugly, but he had to stand up and express his stance. "Elder brother, it's all my negligence that allowed such promiscuous things to enter the royal courtyard. You can rest assured and leave this matter to me. I will definitely investigate it thoroughly."
First agree to it and muddle through for now.
After a few days when things calmed down, the Crown Prince wouldn't mention this ugly matter again.
This matter would be over.
Although the plan had failed, they couldn't shoot themselves in the foot.
Unexpectedly, the Crown Prince was relentless. "This courtyard isn't very big. There are only about two or thirty maids and eunuchs in total. To find out whose it is by investigating one by one will only take an hour or two. Both I and Mother have this much time."
These words put Lu Siming on the spot.
It was he who said he would investigate thoroughly.
Lu Siming lowered his eyes, and a flash of venomousness quickly passed through his eyes.
His tone was humble and gentle. "Okay, I'll go and investigate right away."
An hour later, Lu Siming came back, followed by a maid.
The maid had upturned outer corners of her eyes, and her fox-like eyes were very charming. She knelt down in front of the Queen and the Crown Prince nervously.
"Your Majesty the Queen, Your Highness the Crown Prince, it's all because this lowly maid is shameless. I thought I was a bit good-looking and foolishly tried to use filthy things to seduce the Second Prince. That handkerchief was accidentally left behind by me, and Miss Cheng almost took the blame for me. I'm willing to accept the punishment."
With her looks, it was quite convincing for her to admit to the filthy things.
Qin Ziqi and Qin Xuanyan were still kneeling, but they heaved a sigh of relief.
It was good that someone was taking the blame.
Cheng Simian and the Crown Prince glanced at each other and understood each other without words.
This was what they had expected.
Cheng Simian looked at the maid. "You said the handkerchief is yours. Then tell me, what kind of embroidery stitch was used for the pattern on this handkerchief?"
The maid was stunned and stammered.
She nervously glanced at Lu Siming.
The Second Prince had only told her to come out and take the blame and promised her many benefits. She was tempted by the gold and silver and didn't know anything about embroidery stitches.
A flash of panic quickly passed through Lu Siming's eyes.
By this point, he finally understood that on the surface, it was he and the Qin family who had set up a trap to ruin Cheng Simian's reputation. In fact, it was Cheng Simian and the Crown Prince who had set a trap for them.
Cheng Simian looked at the maid in confusion. "Since the handkerchief is yours, why can't you even name the embroidery stitch?"
Lu Siming knew that he couldn't cover it up anymore with his ability.
Today, either he would get hurt or the Qin family would.
He lifted his robe and knelt on the ground. "Mother, elder brother, I'm here to plead guilty. It's because I was afraid that if this matter was investigated openly, it would spread out and damage the royal family's reputation. So I was being smart and found a scapegoat to try to calm things down. The mistake is mine. Please punish me, Mother!"
Concubine Lan got anxious. "What mistake have you made? Your Majesty the Queen, Ming'er did it for the sake of the royal family's reputation..."
"Since it involves the royal family's reputation, it can't be muddled through. If we just let it go today, aren't we just helping the evildoers?"
The Crown Prince's aura was imposing. His hawk-like eyes swept over the kneeling Qin siblings.
The air pressure around suddenly dropped, and everyone was shocked.
Qin Ziqi and Qin Xuanyan's legs went weak. They trembled all over and felt cold all over.
The Queen seemed to be deep in thought. As if by accident, her eyes swept over the Qin siblings.
"Since it didn't come from the courtyard, it must be from outside."
The noble ladies present quickly took out their handkerchiefs to prove their innocence.
Only Qin Xuanyan looked around with a pale face, falling into despair.
Today, she could hardly wash off this stench.
Qi Luo's testimony, her anger, and the Queen's faint suspicion had almost proven that the handkerchief was hers.
Whether she admitted it or not, the seeds of doubt had taken root in everyone's hearts.
This was an unsolvable dead end.
Cheng Simian was calm and composed, with a cold look in her eyes.
This kind of dirty and despicable means was not the first time she had seen it.
Whether it was Yu Qiao'er and Cheng Siyi back then or the Qin family and Lu Siming now, they all forgot one thing when they set up traps to harm her.
Using dirty means to harm others would eventually backfire.
The Queen didn't seem to want to investigate further.
This made Qin Xuanyan even more devastated.
Wasn't the Queen's attitude like tacitly admitting that she was the one who had tried to do something promiscuous?
Everyone thought that the Queen didn't expose it in public in the end to give the Rongxiang Duke's Mansion some face.
But Qin Xuanyan's reputation was already on the verge of collapse.
The next day, Lady Yang put on her official robe and rushed into the palace in a hurry.