The daughter of the Marquis is too delicate, the abstinent prince pinches her waist and loves her

Chapter 154 Who Else Is There?
When Sheng Yunqing broke through the last barrier, all she saw was a calm surface of water.

Under the moonlight, Bai Muling's body lay quietly at the bottom of the pool, her open eyes still filled with terror.

The night wind swirled up blood-stained fallen leaves, and the distant sound of the Imperial Guards' hurried footsteps drifted in.

Zhi Xing staggered into the bamboo forest, the sound of Bai Muling's last bubbles sinking to the bottom of the water still echoing in her ears.

Her fingertips were still trembling, and water droplets from her cuffs dripped to the ground, gleaming eerily in the moonlight.

Suddenly, hurried footsteps came from outside the bamboo forest.

"Gardenia Star!"

Ye Jingnian's deep, cold, and angry voice suddenly rang out. He strode over, his black robes fluttering in the night wind.

His eyes burned with rage. Just now, Yan Chuan reported that Bai Muling dared to make Zhi Xing climb the artificial hill to retrieve a handkerchief?!

That wretched woman!

Zhi Xing froze, and before she could react, a tall figure bumped into her head.

"boom!"

She slumped to the ground, her eyes meeting Ye Jingnian's icy, deep-sea-like gaze.

His dark robes reeked of alcohol, and his handsome face appeared particularly fierce with anger.

"Your Highness," Zhi Xing's voice trembled.

Ye Jingnian grabbed her wrist and pulled her up. He looked at the scratches on her hand and asked in an icy voice, "Where is the Crown Princess?"

Zhi Xing's heartbeat almost stopped, and her hair clung messily to her pale cheeks.

She looked up at him, her lips bleeding from being bitten, her eyes brimming with tears, and she looked bewildered and dazed, like a child who had done something wrong.

“In…in the pool…” Zhi Xing’s trembling voice was filled with fear.

His pupils constricted, and he grabbed Zhi Xing, "You killed the Crown Princess?!"

Zhi Xing trembled all over, and tears finally rolled down her cheeks: "Your Highness... I... I didn't mean to... Waaah..."

Ye Jingnian grabbed her chin tightly, his voice low but sharp as a knife: "Didn't I tell you that you can do whatever you want with all the women in the Crown Prince's residence, except for the Crown Princess... you can't lay a finger on her!"

Zhi Xing clenched her teeth and sobbed.

The sound of hurried footsteps could be heard in the distance, and the light of the palace lanterns was moving in this direction.

Ye Jingnian pulled her up and walked to the depths of the artificial hill outside the bamboo forest. His hand on her shoulder trembled with anger: "Zhixing, do you really want to anger me to death?!"

Zhi Xing dared not breathe and shook her head frantically.

Ye Jingnian gritted his teeth, glaring angrily at the girl in front of him, and said in a low voice, "The Crown Princess is dead. How do you expect me to protect you?"

In the dim light, Zhi Xing couldn't see his slightly reddened eyes, but his hoarse voice held a tender affection.

Was her reason for not letting herself touch Bai Muling to protect her?
Thinking of this, Zhixing's heart skipped a beat, and more tears welled up in her eyes. Her face was full of regret. She raised her hand to grab his robe, sobbing uncontrollably, "Zhixing was wrong... Your Highness... Zhixing was wrong..."

Ye Jingnian raised his hand to wipe away the tears welling up in her eyes, cupped the back of her head, pressed his forehead against hers, closed his eyes, and calmed himself down.

As he opened his eyes, he saw Zhi Xing's glistening tears sliding down her cheeks, and he turned his head to kiss her lips.

His eyes darkened, and he suddenly reached out and grabbed Zhixing's collar.

"Thorn-"

The sound of tearing silk startled a nightingale from the bamboo shoots.

Zhi Xing felt a chill on her shoulder; her plain white undergarment had been torn open, revealing a large expanse of snow-white skin.

She looked up in alarm, only to see that Ye Jingnian's eyes were bloodshot.

"Your Highness?"

"Say it," he whispered in her ear, his hot breath reeking of alcohol. "Louder."

As soon as she finished speaking, a deep tooth mark appeared on Zhixing's shoulder. "It hurts!"

The palace lanterns in the distance are getting closer and closer.

Ye Jingnian suddenly shoved Zhixing onto the artificial rock, and amidst her cry of pain, deliberately raised his voice: "You ungrateful wretch, I have feelings for you, and you dare to be ungrateful!"

"Snapped!"

The crisp sound of a slap shattered the night.

Zhi Xing tilted her head, her cheeks burning with pain, and stared at him, bewildered.

The footsteps were already three zhang away.

"Yan Chuan!" Ye Jingnian turned around with a flick of his sleeve, his black cloak sweeping across Zhi Xing's tear-streaked face. "Drag this boring thing back to the Crown Prince's residence and give her thirty lashes!"

When the palace maid reached the artificial hill, she saw the prince's robe half-open, with a disheveled maid kneeling at his feet and an ambiguous red mark on her shoulder.

"Yes." Yan Chuan understood and responded. As he approached Zhi Xing, the girl subconsciously pulled her torn clothes tighter and buried her head, sobbing.

"Go!" Yan Chuan shouted sharply, the night wind swirling up bamboo leaves as it brushed past the mottled bloodstains on Zhi Xing's neck.

Clutching her tattered clothes, she hurried along with her head down as Yan Chuan "escorted" her.

The two or three palace maids who had stopped were so shocked that they blushed and hurriedly knelt down, kowtowing repeatedly and saying, "Your Highness, spare us! We didn't see anything!"

"What bad luck!" Ye Jingnian kicked over the wine jar by the bamboo and quickly left.

After Zhi Xing left, the exclamations of palace maids could be heard in the distance: "There's someone in the pond! Quick, get them out!"

Half an hour later.

"Ling'er!"

The Empress Dowager staggered to Bai Muling's body, which was covered by a white cloth, and the tassels of the Nine Phoenix Pearl Crown swayed violently.

She pushed away the maid who was supporting her, slowly squatted down, lifted the white cloth, stroked her granddaughter-in-law's pale face, and then touched her already showing belly. Instantly, tears streamed down her face: "My sweet granddaughter-in-law who just toasted me, how could she..."

Her throat tightened, and she could no longer speak.

Ye Jinfeng slammed his palm on the dragon-patterned table, startling all the civil and military officials into kneeling down.

"Where is the commander of the Imperial Guards?! Dig up the Imperial Garden three feet deep! Not a single suspicious person should be let go!"

Ye Jingnian stood with his hands behind his back in the hall, his black python robe remaining perfectly still.

He watched coldly as the Duke of Bai held his daughter's body and wept bitterly, crying out, "My daughter! My daughter!"

"Who else saw the winding corridor besides the Crown Princess?" Ye Jingnian asked in a low voice, feigning anger.

"This servant saw Miss Sheng standing by the lotus pond..." a palace maid said timidly.

As soon as the words were spoken, the eyes of those who had discovered Bai Muling's body immediately fell on Sheng Yunqing.

Sheng Yunqing's eyes darkened as she looked at the weeping Duke Bai, a growing sense of unease creeping into her heart.

Bai Muling is currently favored by the emperor and is pregnant with his child. The Duke of Bai naturally cherishes her dearly. It would be a great loss to sacrifice his own daughter in order to drag her down with him.

So, who else?

Her gaze fixed on Ye Jingnian, and she said coldly, "When I arrived at the Nine-Bend Corridor, the Crown Princess had already drowned."

Ye Jingnian snorted coldly and said, "Who can prove it?"

"Bang!" Ye Jinchen stood up and slammed his hand on the table, glaring at Ye Jingnian and saying, "Ye Jingnian, stop talking nonsense!"

"Yunqing, come here." The Empress Dowager had gradually regained her composure, her hoarse voice carrying a chilling tone, her face extremely pale.

Sheng Yunqing pursed her lips and respectfully walked up to the Empress Dowager.

"Kneel down!" the Empress Dowager suddenly shouted, slamming her phoenix cane hard onto the ground.