RPAGF Chapter 157 The Most Important Man Has Returned
Chapter 157 The Most Important Man Has Returned
At this point, she looked at the Emperor.
"Your Majesty, I am innocent. It was Miss Lan who made me do this. Look, here is the jade bracelet she gave me. She said it was hush money for me."
As Xiang'er spoke, she rolled up her sleeves, revealing a delicate purple jade bracelet on her wrist.
This was bought for her by Wei Jianning when he was at home. She had never worn it before. How did it end up in this girl's hands?
Just as she was wondering, the Empress spoke disdainfully.
"Lan Zhi, you are the Crown Prince's woman, even if Consort Liang doesn't acknowledge you as her daughter-in-law, you shouldn't have harmed her, especially on her birthday! What you did is truly appalling!"
Consort Zhen also mocked with schadenfreude:
"That's right. Sister Liang suffered for five years outside, and it was only with great difficulty that she returned to the palace to enjoy a few good days. Why are you cursing her?"
Seeing that everyone was pointing the finger at Lan Zhi, Yu Jie, unconvinced, put her hands on her hips and looked at Xiang'er.
"Alright, you say that Lan Zhi asked you to take this puppet to Consort Liang's room, what evidence do you have? Empty words won't do."
Xiang'er swallowed hard, nervously clenched the handkerchief in her hand, and secretly glanced at Xiaoman, the maid beside Lin Yuwei, before loudly replying:
"Yes, I have evidence. I saw with my own eyes that Miss Lan made more than one cloth doll, right under her bed. You can go and see for yourselves if you don't believe me."
Upon hearing this, everyone gasped in surprise. The Emperor immediately turned cold and stood up from his seat.
"Guards, arrest Lan Zhi and search her room. If what this girl says is true, we will not let her off easily."
Just as the two maids were about to grab Lan Zhi, a deep and powerful voice descended from the sky.
"Let's see who dares to touch her."
The Emperor looked in the direction of the sound and saw Wei Jianning, dressed in military uniform, striding towards Lan Zhi with a gloomy face.
Lan Zhi was somewhat dazed when she saw Wei Jianning.
She should be on the battlefield right now, so why is she here?
"you?"
Before she could ask, Wei Jianning stepped forward, pulled her into his arms, and angrily spoke...
"Father, I am fighting on the frontier to protect our country, while you are abusing my wife at home. You have truly broken my heart."
When the Emperor saw Wei Jianning, he was taken aback at first, then asked:
"Ning'er, you... why are you back?"
"If I don't go back, how can I witness you bullying my woman? Father, before you left you promised me that you would take good care of Lan Zhi and not let her suffer the slightest grievance. But what happened? So many of you are bullying her. Don't you think you've gone too far?"
His voice suddenly became hysterical, and everyone held their breath, waiting for the emperor to speak.
Seeing this, Consort Liang frowned and stepped forward to explain.
"Ning'er, you've misunderstood. No one bullied her. She ordered people to make rag dolls to curse your mother..."
"She won't."
Wei Jianning turned to look at Consort Liang and repeated, word by word:
“Lan Zhi wouldn’t do such a thing.”
No matter when or where, Wei Jianning chose to believe her unconditionally. At this moment, Lan Zhi suddenly felt a warmth in her heart. All the grievances she had suffered during this time vanished in an instant, and all the sacrifices she had made were worthwhile.
The Emperor was already displeased with Wei Jianning's sudden return, and seeing his unconditional tolerance of Lan Zhi's wrongdoing, he immediately turned cold.
"You can choose to believe her, but only if she hasn't done such a thing. Men, search her room."
"Father, you can't frame her for no reason, and you can't let others search our rooms."
Clearly, Wei Jianning was quite dissatisfied with the emperor's actions, and his tone was filled with anger.
Consort Liang frowned and reminded her.
"Ning'er, the person she cursed is your mother, and today is your mother's birthday. Is she more important to you than your own mother?"
Wei Jianning looked at Lan Zhi with tender eyes, and said righteously:
“My mother gave me my first life, and Lan Zhi gave me my second life. I would not say that she is more important than my birth mother, but she is also the most important woman in my life, and I cannot live without her. I believe that she would not do such a despicable thing as cursing anyone, not only to you, my mother.”
"Since you trust her, why don't you dare let us search her?"
Consort Liang's loud questioning plunged the atmosphere into a freezing point once again.
Lan Zhi looked at Wei Jianning and gave him a gentle smile.
“Husband, since they want to search, let them search. I have done nothing wrong, so I have nothing to fear.”
Wei Jianning clenched his fists around her waist tightly, gritted his teeth, and nodded.
"Fine, go ahead and search. If you can't find what you're looking for, I want you to apologize to Lan Zhi."
At this point, he lowered his gaze to Lan Zhi, speaking softly with heartache.
"You must have suffered a lot while I was away from home, right?"
Lan Zhi hurriedly shook her head with a smile.
"No, why did you suddenly come back?"
I'll tell you more about it later.
He took her hand and followed the others towards their room.
The Emperor led his entourage out of the main hall, through the passageway, and into the main courtyard where they resided. The Emperor waved to Huang Bao and said:
"Send more people in to search..."
Wei Jianning held Lan Zhi's hand tightly, repeatedly comforting her in her ear:
"Don't be afraid, no matter what the outcome, I will protect you."
"Do you believe me?"
"I trust you, but I don't trust anyone else."
It turned out that he had guessed from the moment he left home that he hadn't given Lan Zhi a legitimate identity, and that her life in the Crown Prince's residence might be difficult.
Therefore, upon arriving at Jiangcheng, which borders Tianwu Kingdom, he won a battle against the enemy as quickly as possible, and then ordered Wu Tianxiong to lead troops to garrison the city. He then traveled day and night, riding at full speed to return.
From the moment she stepped into the Crown Prince's residence, Nie Yuan told him about her experiences there. He listened with trepidation and dread.
He was glad he came back; otherwise, the woman he planned to cherish for the rest of his life would have been bullied away by these people.
In no time, Huang Bao and the others actually found two small rag dolls in Lan Zhi's room.
When he came out of the house holding a cloth doll, the emperor immediately turned cold.
"Hmph! Lan Zhi, what else do you have to say?"
Consort Liang also glared at her with a face full of anger.
"I never expected you would use such despicable means to curse me, Lan Zhi. You are a vicious woman."
At this point, she looked at Wei Jianning.
"Ning'er, the facts are right here. Do you still want to protect her?"
Without a second thought, Wei Jianning shook his head.
"Impossible. Someone must have framed her. Please give me time to investigate this matter, Father."
Seeing that the evidence was irrefutable, and that Wei Jianning was still protecting Lan Zhi, Consort Liang was immediately enraged.
"Ning'er, stop being so stubborn and bewitched by this woman. She's all show and no substance."
The Empress also chimed in,
“Ning’er, Consort Liang is still your birth mother. Lan Zhi cursed her on her birthday. As her son, you should stand up for your birth mother instead of blindly protecting those who want to harm her.”