“You didn’t deceive me?” Xiuzhu said hatefully, “The physician has already told me everything – light bamboo leaves have an extremely cold nature, and if a pregnant woman takes them, she will surely miscarry. But from your mouth, it became merely disturbing the fetal qi a little. Ding Yang, you’ve deceived me so bitterly!”

This is terrible – Xiuzhu actually knows about this! Ding Yang suppressed his inner shock and said, “This is impossible. That physician must be talking nonsense!”

Xiuzhu laughed bitterly in her extreme anger, “The physician doesn’t even know me – what reason would he have to deceive me? You’re the one who has been using lies to deceive me all along! Tell me, why did you do this? Why?”

Ding Yang felt flustered by her questioning and turned his head away, “I don’t know why the physician lied to you. In any case, everything I told you was the truth, without a single word of deception.”

“If that’s the case, why don’t you dare look at me?” Without waiting for Ding Yang to speak, Xiuzhu continued, “Actually, after hearing your words yesterday, I already felt something was strange. Yang Consort could have acted early or late – how could it be such a coincidence that she chose the same day as me to act? But I trusted you too much, so even though I found it strange, I didn’t think much about it. But what was the result? You told such a big lie to deceive me, tricking me into personally killing the child in Miss’s womb!” By the end, Xiuzhu had become hysterical.

Though she was dissatisfied with Zhangsun Shi’s closeness to Yunyi, she had never… never thought of harming Zhangsun Shi. Even when she initially agreed to Ding Yang’s plan, at its root, it was for Zhangsun Shi’s good.

As it turned out, the one who hurt Zhangsun Shi most deeply was not Yunyi, not anyone else, but precisely herself. How could she accept this?!

Seeing her cry so miserably, Ding Yang felt uncomfortable too. He wasn’t a bad person by nature, but for his own selfish interests, he had followed Jirong’s instructions to deceive Xiuzhu.

“I’m sorry, I…” Ding Yang had only said a few words when Xiuzhu suddenly pounced on him like a madwoman, gripping his neck tightly and gritting her teeth as she said, “You killed the Little Prince – I’m going to kill you to avenge him!”

Caught off guard, Ding Yang was choked by her until he couldn’t breathe. Fortunately, his strength was considerable, and he managed to pry open Xiuzhu’s hands. After catching his breath, he looked at the still-struggling Xiuzhu and said angrily, “Get this straight – the person who put light bamboo leaves in the pregnancy-stabilizing medicine and caused the Little Prince’s death was you, not me. If you really want revenge, you should kill yourself!”

Xiuzhu was stunned, then said furiously, “If you hadn’t deceived me, how could I have done such a thing? You’re the real culprit!”

“If you hadn’t harbored ill intentions, how could I have deceived you!” Having reached this point, Ding Yang had nothing left to hide.

Xiuzhu trembled as she said, “So you’re admitting it?”

Ding Yang took a deep breath and said coldly, “That’s right. The reason the Princess Consort miscarried at six months wasn’t because Yang Consort put medicine in the pastries, but because of the light bamboo leaves.”

Though she had already known, when she actually heard Ding Yang say it out loud, Xiuzhu still felt darkness before her eyes. She staggered back a few steps, and after barely managing to stand steady, she said painfully, “I trusted you so much, loved you so much – why did you deceive me?”

“Because… I don’t love you!” Though it was difficult to say, lies couldn’t last a lifetime. What needed to be said would eventually have to be said.

When those words entered her ears, Xiuzhu’s body became completely rigid. She stared blankly at the guilt-ridden Ding Yang, and after a long time, she said with difficulty, “Don’t love me… what does that mean?”

Ding Yang sighed and met her gaze, “From the beginning, I never liked you, much less loved you. Accepting you, pretending to love you, even saying I would marry you – it was all to make you listen to me and put light bamboo leaves in the Princess Consort of Qin’s pregnancy-stabilizing medicine.”

Every word Ding Yang spoke was like a small blade stabbing fiercely into Xiuzhu’s chest, making it so painful that even breathing became difficult. She struggled to endure the pain and said hoarsely, “What… what did you say?”

Ding Yang said helplessly, “I’m sorry. I had no choice either!”

“Had no choice…” Xiuzhu murmured, repeating these four words. The next moment, she said coldly, “Why?!”

Ding Yang was silent for a moment, then said quietly, “I can only tell you that someone, like you, doesn’t want Yang Consort to live!”

Xiuzhu hadn’t expected to hear such words. She tried to calm herself down, thinking while saying, “Someone wants Yang Consort dead but finds it inconvenient to act personally. After learning of my dissatisfaction with Yang Consort, they used you to approach me and incited me to use the child in Miss’s womb to deal with Yang Consort?”

After Ding Yang tacitly agreed, Xiuzhu shouted fiercely, “Who is this person?”

Ding Yang didn’t answer her question but said, “You don’t need to ask too many questions. The only thing to do now is to continue cooperating according to the original plan and eliminate Yang Consort. This would be good for both you and her…”

Xiuzhu interrupted harshly, “I have no cooperation with you people. Tell me, who is he?”

“I’m sorry.” Ding Yang’s answer made Xiuzhu’s face darken like iron. She gritted her teeth and said, “Won’t say? Fine, come with me to see the Princess Consort!” After saying this, she tried to drag Ding Yang to the Prince of Qin’s mansion. He didn’t struggle, but after walking a few steps, he suddenly said, “Have you really thought this through?”

His words made Xiuzhu’s steps pause as hesitation arose in her heart. Over the past month, Ding Yang had shown her tender care, allowing her to experience for the first time in her life what it felt like to be loved. But if she went through with this, given Ding Yang’s crimes, he would surely die. However, Ding Yang had deceived her and caused the Little Prince’s death – this account absolutely could not be settled.

Thinking of this, she turned back and said sarcastically, “Afraid now? Unfortunately, it’s too late!”

“I should be afraid, but it’s not just me alone – it’s us.” Under Xiuzhu’s puzzled gaze, he said, “Do you think the Princess Consort will spare you after learning the truth?”

These words were like a giant hammer, striking hard against Xiuzhu’s chest and making her dizzy. Yes, though she had been deceived by Ding Yang, the Little Prince had indeed died by her hand. If Zhangsun Shi knew all this…

Xiuzhu didn’t dare think further, but Ding Yang wasn’t prepared to let her off so easily. “Even if the Princess Consort is kind-hearted and spares your life, you’ll definitely be driven out of the Prince of Qin’s mansion to live a wandering, precarious existence. And there’s Yang Consort – after you harmed her like this, do you think she’ll let you go?”

Xiuzhu’s body trembled with fear. In her momentary anger, she had actually forgotten that once this matter reached Miss’s attention, Ding Yang would certainly die, but she wouldn’t fare much better either.

What should she do? What could she do?

Ding Yang walked up to Xiuzhu, who was caught in a dilemma, and said slowly, “You and I are now in the same boat. If I capsize, you’ll fall into the river just the same – there’s no way to escape!”

Xiuzhu clenched her hands tightly and gritted her teeth, “Are you threatening me?”