Could a single “never seen them” really settle the matter?

Never mind Emperor Tianhui and Lord Huang—even the crowd in the gallery seats scoffed in open disdain!

Did Han Ziqing think everyone present was a fool?

“So you’re saying these two arrows belong to someone else entirely?” Emperor Tianhui snorted coldly.

“That, Ziqing wouldn’t know. Does Father Emperor have any other questions?” Ziqing remained perfectly composed.

“I do. Many,” Emperor Tianhui said without any courtesy, immediately declaring, “Summon Han Xi’er!”

Ziqing felt a faint unease stirring within her. She hadn’t expected Emperor Tianhui to have prepared so thoroughly. But what could summoning Han Xi’er possibly accomplish? The Han prime minister’s household was one of his greatest sources of support at present!

So many factions at court were already wavering, leaning toward Jun Beiyue’s side. Only Prime Minister Han remained devotedly loyal, working tirelessly to rally support for Emperor Tianhui. Surely he wasn’t foolish enough to move against Han Xi’er?

Soon Han Xi’er was brought forward. She shot a disdainful glance at Ziqing before bowing respectfully. “This humble woman, Han Xi’er, greets Your Majesty.”

“Tell me truthfully exactly how you brought Han Ziqing to the House of National Beauty that day. If there’s a single lie, you won’t be forgiven!”

“This humble woman took the princess consort along to help check the accounts for my father that day, and we sat for a while. The princess consort said she wanted to take a short nap, so this humble woman specially arranged a room on the top floor… The account books were tediously complicated, and this humble woman worked busily until the next day, only learning of the incident when I heard the commotion outside.”

Han Xi’er’s testimony remained exactly as it had been before, shifting all responsibility cleanly away from herself.

“So you’re saying Han Ziqing simply fell asleep?” Emperor Tianhui asked, raising an eyebrow.

“This humble woman personally led the princess consort up to the top floor, and only left after seeing her fall asleep!” Han Xi’er explained hastily.

What exactly were the two of them trying to emphasize by echoing each other like this? Ziqing remembered clearly—she had clearly been drugged that day; otherwise the incident would never have happened at all!

And that man had been drugged as well!

Thinking of this, she cast a cold glance toward Jun Beiyao—what exactly had caused this fellow to be affected by an aphrodisiac that night?

“Ha, if that long arrow hadn’t been found in the private room, the House of National Beauty incident might never have drawn anyone’s attention at all. I just went with the Prime Minister to inspect that room, sealed off for months now. What was the state of it, Prime Minister? Please, tell everyone,” Emperor Tianhui said coldly.

Ziqing grew increasingly uneasy. Emperor Tianhui was right—everyone’s attention had been entirely fixed on the Chen family murder case; no one had ever treated the House of National Beauty incident as a case in its own right, and no one had ever gone to inspect the scene!

Prime Minister Han avoided Ziqing’s gaze and rose timidly. “At the scene, there were signs of a struggle. Young master Chen was frail and sickly, without the strength to overpower a chicken—he was absolutely no match for Ziqing.”

The moment these words left his mouth, the entire hall erupted. The implication couldn’t have been clearer. Situ Haonan, startled, spoke up hastily, “How could he not be a match for her? Sister-in-law only started training with Prince Yao after she arrived here!”

“Young Master Situ may not be aware,” Consort Yi said with composed ease, “but that very morning, the princess consort abducted Madam Han and single-handedly overpowered dozens of guards!”

She was closest to Emperor Tianhui, yet even she didn’t know exactly what scheme he was playing at with this case. But she knew one thing—Han Ziqing wasn’t going to walk out of the Court of Judicial Review easily.

Consort Yi’s words immediately stirred up discussion among the crowd. Situ Haonan’s brow furrowed tightly. He had no idea how to help, nor any idea what Ziqing was thinking, and could only keep silent and watch how things unfolded.

“Han Ziqing, how do you explain this?” Emperor Tianhui said coldly.

Anger surged in Ziqing’s heart. She shot him a cold glare. Emperor Tianhui, secretly delighted, gave Lord Huang a look. Lord Huang immediately stepped forward and said earnestly, “Princess Yao, it is now suspected that another person was present at the House of National Beauty incident, connecting it to the Chen family murder case, with the charge being established as rape. Please describe in detail what happened that night.”

The moment these words left his mouth, Ziqing’s face instantly turned pale, and the entire hall fell into terrifying silence!

The word “rape” was not something to be spoken lightly, and a rape charge was certainly not something to be established carelessly!

Originally, since young master Chen had publicly intended to marry Ziqing, there had at least been some way to salvage things. But now it had come out that the man wasn’t young master Chen at all, and that Ziqing had mistakenly believed him to be—this could now be established as rape!

For a woman, this kind of exposure meant utter, irrecoverable ruin!

Situ Haonan drew in a sharp breath, suddenly filled with a belated dread.

As for Ziqing, her jaw clenched tight, her lips visibly trembling, yet her clear eyes remained fiercely stubborn. Though rimmed with red, no tears fell, as she stared fixedly at Jun Beiyao.

“Princess Yao, please cooperate with the investigation and describe in detail what happened that night, or you too cannot escape suspicion of complicity,” Lord Huang reminded her earnestly.

No one in the hall dared speak, all waiting to see how Ziqing would respond.

Jun Beiyao and Emperor Tianhui exchanged a glance, thoroughly pleased with themselves. No one else knew exactly what scheme they were truly plotting.

Describe in detail? Describe what, exactly—describe how she’d been violated?

A surge of fury lodged in Ziqing’s chest. She wanted desperately to point straight at Jun Beiyao, but she couldn’t!

The moment she pointed him out, the only one who would suffer for it would be Jun Beiyue!

He would be viciously humiliated by Jun Beiyao, and worse, under the ethical customs of the Da Zhou imperial house, she might even be taken from Jun Beiyue and remarried to Jun Beiyao instead, condemned to live out her life as his wife in name only! For Jun Beiyue, that would be an even greater, more unbearable disgrace!

That man was thoroughly wicked—he had domineeringly brought her back to be Prince Yao’s consort in front of everyone, domineeringly warned everyone that he and she would share honor and disgrace alike, domineeringly demanded she follow the household rules, domineeringly insisted she hold firm in her position as his princess consort.

All of it had been for his own purposes—so wicked, so calculating. And yet, at the very least, he wasn’t worse than anyone else in this room!

Suddenly, Ziqing found herself desperately wanting to ask, “Jun Beiyue, where are you right now?”

At this moment, how badly she needed his domineering presence—needed him to burst in and simply drag her away.

“Han Ziqing, if you won’t speak, we’ll take your silence as an admission!” Lord Huang urged.

Finally, Ziqing’s venomous gaze shifted away from Jun Beiyao’s face, turning coldly to Lord Huang instead. “I’ll speak!”

There were only two paths left. Either admit that someone else had been involved, formally establish the rape charge, and continue the investigation from there.

Or, admit that she had not been defiled at all—that she had threatened young master Chen, and afterward killed him to silence him.

Finally, Ziqing slowly spoke. “That night, young master Chen forced his way into my room, drunk and intent on wrongdoing. I threatened him with a sharp arrow, having learned he’d been bribed by Han Xi’er. I turned the tables and falsely accused Han Xi’er instead, then went to the Chen residence afterward and killed young master Chen to silence him…”

Her voice was quiet, recounting the events in the silent hall. Everyone present held their breath, listening in silence.

Suddenly Han Xi’er cried out furiously, “You’re lying!”

“That is exactly what happened,” Ziqing said flatly, thinking to herself—no matter how bad Jun Beiyue was in a thousand different ways, he had at least given her a status, a certain honor. She had never liked owing anyone a debt of gratitude, so let this be her repayment.

Let her take the sentence, the imprisonment—at least it would restore the clean name of the Princess Yao, at least it would take on this humiliation from Jun Beiyao in his place.

She was leaving anyway. From now on, they’d owe each other nothing.

“You’re lying!” Han Xi’er shrieked as if gone mad. How could she possibly allow herself to be dragged down with her? She immediately appealed to Emperor Tianhui. “Your Majesty, this humble woman requests that Han Ziqing’s chastity be verified!”

Everyone was stunned. Situ Haonan slammed his hand on the table and stood at once. “What do you mean by that!”

“Everyone, think about it—Prince Yao clearly knew she was a woman already ruined. Would a man of his temperament ever touch her?” Han Xi’er asked coldly.

At once, Consort Yi chimed in agreement. “Ha, that’s certainly true. I’m sure the princess consort values her chastity too, and wouldn’t behave carelessly. If the House of National Beauty incident really happened as she says, then she must still be a maiden—we might as well verify it.”

Strange looks, murmured agreement—all of it surged toward Ziqing at once. A wave of humiliation and helplessness crashed over her. Her hands clenched so tightly her nails dug straight into her palms.

The true culprit stood right before her—it was Jun Beiyao. If she simply pointed him out, if she exposed his private archers, this would all be over!

Her clenched, trembling hands slowly began to rise. Jun Beiyao watched coldly—this was the very moment he had been waiting for!

He was willing to risk everything, come what may. What he truly wanted was for Jun Beiyue’s reputation to be utterly ruined, for Han Ziqing to be remarried to him, and to live out her life a widow in all but name!