The seductive princess is no longer being pursued; the aloof prime minister is facing a crematorium.

Chapter 126: Pressing Closer Step by Step.

Xia Yurong choked for a moment, her eyes widening as she looked at Pei Du in disbelief: "What assassin? Brother Pei... what are you talking about?"

Jiang Jinshuang pointed to the several burly men behind her: "These men just tried to kill me in the water."

As if she had never heard such words before, Xia Yurong was so frightened that tears streamed down her face.

Upon hearing this, the men knelt down before the Empress Dowager with a thud, filled with fear and trepidation.

"Your Majesty, please see the truth! My brothers and I are fishermen from the seaside. When we heard the cries for help in the water, we wanted to go down and save people!"

"After jumping into the water, we saw the princess grabbing the girl named Hongyao by the neck and trying to drown her. We grabbed fishing knives to save her and started fighting with the princess!"

As they spoke, the men kowtowed repeatedly on the ground, saying, "We did not know that this was Princess Zhaoming at first, but we were too eager to save her. Your Majesty, please forgive us! Your Majesty, please forgive us!"

Ha, that's a really good excuse; it almost makes it seem like she's guilty of murder.

"Zhaoming, now that things have come to this, what do you have to say in your defense!" The Empress Dowager looked at her coldly, her authority evident.

A crowd of people surrounded them.

Not only were there monks from Huguo Temple, but also pilgrims who came to pray for blessings. When they learned that the person in front of them was the wicked Princess Zhaoming, they began to discuss among themselves.

Upon hearing that the Empress Dowager intended to punish her, they all looked on with amusement.

Jiang Jinshuang's gauze dress was soaked.

Pei Du then draped his outer robe over her shoulders, his tall figure shielding her from view.

Jiang Jinshuang smelled the blood on him.

Even in such a pressing situation, Pei Du did not seem particularly anxious; his face was cold and his expression was obscure.

He glanced at Jiang Jinshuang, trying to soften his tone: "Does Your Highness have any other questions?"

That's a strange statement.

At least in this context, the question is quite strange.

In this situation, shouldn't anyone else ask: "Does Your Highness have anything else to explain?"

He asked her if there was anything else she wanted to ask.

—Just like those situations just now, it was nothing more than a one-man show that was dispensable.

When I got tired of seeing it, I asked for her opinion.

Jiang Jinshuang's gaze slowly shifted to Xia Yurong.

She knelt before the Empress Dowager, tears streaming down her face, looking frail and helpless, as if a gust of wind could blow her over.

Jiang Jinshuang fluttered her eyelashes. Although she was clearly soaked, she still looked down at her from a high position.

"Xia Yurong, I'll ask you one last time," Jiang Jinshuang said, her tone cold and calm, "I pushed you into the water and then drowned Hongyao, didn't I?"

Xia Yurong bit her cherry lips lightly, meeting her gaze directly with a strength that was both strong and delicate: "Your Highness, there is no need to threaten Yurong anymore. This time, even for the sake of Hongyao, Yurong will never back down even a step!"

The sound was so powerful and resonant that even unsuspecting pilgrims nearby would shed a few tears upon hearing it.

Jiang Jinshuang took a deep breath and closed her eyes slightly.

"Pei Du."

"The minister is here."

"There's nothing else to ask, you can come now."

She just gave Xia Yurong one last chance.

Since she's unwilling to turn back, then let it be.

"it is good."

As soon as he finished speaking, for some reason, the murmurs of the crowd stopped.

Everyone looked at the man.

Pei Du first glanced at the man kneeling in one place and said coldly, "The fishermen of Wan Jin live off the water and go out to sea to fish all day long. Their hands are wrapped in coarse cloth, so there are water wrinkles left from years of being soaked in water." "You say you are fishermen, but I see that not only are there no water wrinkles on your fingertips, but you also have thick calluses on your tiger's mouth and short, thick thumbs. These are clearly the hands of people who have been wielding knives for many years."

His voice was too cold and too calm.

So calmly, the group of men were momentarily stunned upon hearing this, a flicker of panic crossing their eyes.

Then, Pei Du turned to the women who claimed to have been passing by: "From the beginning, you all said that you were just passing by, and after hearing the argument, you rushed over and saw His Highness push Xia Yurong into the water, is that right?"

The women stammered, "Yes...that's how it is."

Pei Du then asked, "Did any of you see clearly how this Miss Hongyao fell into the water?"

After thinking for a moment, the woman in the lead said, "She was also pushed into the lotus pond by Princess Zhaoming, who grabbed her by the neck and forced her into the water!"

Pei Du lowered his eyes and looked at her calmly.

"wrong."

He spoke in a calm voice, his tone chillingly composed: "The order is wrong."

"Xia Yurong just said that when she fell into the water, she grabbed His Highness in her haste and they both fell in. If that's the case, how could His Highness have pushed Hongyao into the water?"

According to Xia Yurong, Jiang Jinshuang should have already fallen into the water when Hongyao was on the shore.

"This...this...this woman remembered it wrong,it should be..."

She stammered "It should be" for a long time, her voice growing softer and softer, and then she lowered her head, not daring to speak again.

The fact that Hongyao fell into the water was not part of their plan, so they had no idea how to "testify".

"And there's something that I find very strange."

After a pause, Pei Du's gaze turned cold: "Have you gentlemen met Miss Xia and Princess Zhaoming before?"

"No, no! I have never seen either of you before!"

“That’s interesting,” Pei Du said calmly. “None of you have seen the two of them. How did you come to the conclusion that ‘Princess Zhaoming pushed Miss Xia into the water’ just as the two of them fell in?”

Inside Huguo Temple, Jiang Jinshuang was not dressed in gold and silver or adorned with princess regalia. If someone who didn't know her glanced at the water from afar, it would be impossible for them to so easily distinguish who was the daughter of the Xia family and who was Princess Zhaoming.

Finally, Pei Du's cold and aloof gaze fell upon Xia Yurong.

Xia Yurong was looking at him timidly, her clear, watery eyes filled with a pitiful sight.

"Xia Yurong, you said that His Highness pushed you into the water, and you struggled and cried for help, almost dying," Pei Du paused, his tone cold and indifferent, "but if I remember correctly, you clearly learned to swim back in the Princess's residence."

"That's not how it is, Brother Pei!" Xia Yurong lowered her eyes, her pupils moved, and she hurriedly explained, "Yurong does know how to swim, but I was too anxious at the time and couldn't take care of myself, so I forgot everything!"

"Too busy to take care of yourself?" Pei Du narrowed his eyes. "Your Highness is quite far from where these women are in the water."

"You mean that although you were too busy taking care of yourself to see those women and didn't call for help from them immediately, you did see His Highness trying to drown Hongyao in the distance, and you really did that?"

Every sentence was pressing.

Show no mercy.

Xia Yurong trembled, her neck shrinking back, her voice trembling, tears streaming down her face: "Brother Pei, do you really not want to believe Yurong, but believe Her Highness the Princess instead?"

As she spoke, she bit her lip slightly, a resolute look in her eyes: "Since that's the case, then Yu Rong has no choice but to prove her innocence with her death!"

As she spoke, she reached out and drew the sword from the waist of the Empress Dowager's guard, making a gesture as if to commit suicide on the spot!
Seeing this, Eunuch Sun stepped forward and used his whisk to slap Xia Yurong's hand away!

With a loud clang, the longsword fell heavily to the ground.

Upon seeing this, the Empress Dowager frowned and said coldly, "Yu Rong, what are you doing!"

As she spoke, she gestured to Grandpa Sun standing to the side.

Eunuch Sun understood and stepped forward to help Xia Yurong up.

The Empress Dowager sighed and said helplessly, "Look at the state you all are in, your clothes are still soaked! Go and change your clothes, we can talk about this later!"

It has the connotation of downplaying a major issue.