Chapter 64
Chapter 64
Repaying Karma (1)
The corridor fell into a dead silence.
The only sound was the murmur conversation coming from the main hall; they were either words of praise about Zheng Wan’s “talent and beauty”, or calling her “blessed and fortunate”, for not only had she been able to keep her father from encountering disaster when she was young, but she had now also been able to do this and that…
Zheng Wan thought inwardly that this situation was really ironic.
If having to painstakingly plot and plan every step of the way was considered to be “blessed and fortunate”, she would gladly give this accolade away to someone else. She recovered herself, walked up slowly to the kneeling Third Lady Liu, and stood side by side with Cui Wang.
Only then did Cui Wang glance at her; the two of them looked at each other without saying a word.
On the other hand, the crown prince hesitated, then came over as well. After all, he was the one who had brought Third Lady Liu here. “Third Lady Liu, why have you left the side hall and come here?”
“This, this civilian… has come to let the State Preceptor know the truth.”
Third Lady Liu looked up, and when her gaze landed upon the woman next to Cui Wang, she couldn’t help but shut her eyes—but this unexpected glimpse was enough for her to clearly tell.
She was truly an exceptional beauty, as beautiful as snow and jade. Yet, her expression was proud and arrogant. Unlike people with physical afflictions like herself, this beauty was high and mighty, and… overbearing.
But when she thought about all the hardships she endured when returning to the capital, and the fear she had of being pursued and captured, Third Lady Liu felt anger well up again, and when the anger subsided, she felt unwilling to take what had happened to her lying down.
Who would have thought that such a gorgeous and noble person would do such an underhanded thing?
“The truth of what?”
The crown prince asked again.
“Your Imperial Highness, this, this civilian has lied to you. The person who’s in pursuit of my life is not my second sister, but someone else.” Liu Yi gave the crown prince a ceremonious curtsey, then held the handkerchief properly in her hands and knelt back in front of Cui Wang.
“This is something that this civilian found in the marble boat. If I’m not wrong, it’s the zan that I had pawned to save my mother.”
Cui Wang looked at the fragments of bloodstone; no one could tell what he was thinking at that moment.
Zheng Wan looked at him, and for some reason, the surroundings seemed to have gotten much colder all of a sudden. Although she had just come out of the warm dressing room, she was so cold that a shiver ran through her.
Only after the shiver went down did she feel a little better.
But this Third Lady Liu was shivering beautifully, as if she were a leaf in the wind, or a rootless drifting duckweed. Zheng Wan felt that in terms of acting pitiful, she would be a little inferior. At least, it would be easier to kill her than to get her to adopt this humble attitude of being able to kneel at any time and anywhere.
Her brain was in a jumble, but it didn’t stop Zheng Wan from reaching out to pull the handkerchief out of Third Lady Liu’s hand.
“So, it was with you. I’ve been searching for it for a long time.”
“Cui Wang, do you still remember?”
With a bright smile, she shook the object in her hand and said affectionately, “You were the one who gave me this handkerchief.”
Cui Wang looked at her, silent; there seemed to be dark currents surging in those eyes.
Zheng Wan, however, had already turned back. She said with a smile:
“Third Lady Liu, today is my birthday, and since you’ve returned me what I had lost, I will overlook the issue of you trespassing the Zheng Manor.”
“State Preceptor!”
Third Lady Liu did not pay her any attention; it was as if she was homed in on Cui Wang. She pressed herself to the ground and kowtowed, “This civilian has a grievance, I would like to confront Lady Zheng!”
Cui Wang cast his eyes down. This person was thin and bony; her face covered with a white veil, only revealing a pair of eyes.
Perhaps because her life had not been smooth-going, there was a lot of sorrow in her eyes. Right now, there was also resentment mixed in.
As he looked, another pair of eyes came to his mind; eyes that seemed to be brimming with spring waves, bright and vivid, always filled with brilliant sunrise.
“That’s strange——” the crown prince interjected. “If you have a grievance, the metropolitan governor and the Court of Judicial Review can deal with it, why are you looking to confront Wan’niang?”
“Now that Lady Zheng’s status is noble beyond compare, how would the metropolitan governor and the Court of Judicial Review dare to deal with her?”
Third Lady Liu spoke with a bitter smile.
Zheng Wan knew that if she didn’t come forward, she might really appear to have a guilty conscience.
She let her eyes open wider and look more innocent. “Third Lady Liu, you have something to bring up against me?”
“Of course.”