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

Chapter 191 The Fall of the Duke of Bai
"Crown Princess, is it true that you colluded with the Princess of Western Shu to poison the Empress Dowager?" Ye Jinfeng's face was terribly gloomy.

The letter was placed in front of Zhixing by her father-in-law. Zhixing glanced down at it, a glint of light flashing in her eyes. This letter was indeed written by Mu Jiyue.

She frowned, looking at Ye Jinfeng with a wronged expression, and said, "I have no connection with Mu Jiyue and I know nothing about this matter."

Ye Jingnian snatched the letter, and after reading its contents, his eyes seemed to blaze with furious fire, burning the Duke of Bai to ashes.

Duke Bai then seized the opportunity to say, "Several months ago, Prince Xian posted a notice outside his residence stating that a young woman had lost a jade pendant. I heard that the design on that jade pendant is exactly the same as the one that Miss Sheng used to remove the curse from Prince Ye at the flower viewing banquet a few days ago. Didn't Princess Mingyao say that this thing is a royal treasure of Western Shu? This old minister would like to ask, why did this jade pendant end up in the hands of the Crown Princess?"

Duke Bai had clearly come prepared; as soon as he finished speaking, a notice was placed in front of the dragon's desk.

"Bai Zhenfang!" Ye Jingnian roared, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

As Zhi Xing watched Jin Feng intently studying the notice on the dragon's desk the night before, a sudden panic gripped her. Her eyes gradually reddened, and her hands, gripping the hem of her skirt, trembled involuntarily.

In that case, does that mean Your Highness... can't protect her anymore?

Ye Jingnian's face was cold and aloof. He gently pressed a mechanism on his sleeve, and a dagger slowly slid down.

"Guards! Strip the Crown Princess of her title! Throw the Imperial Censor into the Imperial Prison! Drag this woman away immediately..."

"Your Majesty, Prince Ye and Miss Sheng have arrived. They say the source of the Empress Dowager's hysteria has been found."

"What?" Ye Jinfeng narrowed his eyes slightly and glanced at Zhi Xing kneeling on the ground.

"Your Majesty! The evidence is conclusive! Zhi Xing is the one who poisoned the Empress Dowager!" Duke Bai suddenly became radical.

Ye Jingnian frowned and said, "Duke Bai, there's no need to be so aggressive. In my opinion, someone else is the one who harmed the Empress Dowager."

Ye Jinfeng's voice was devoid of emotion: "Summon them in."

"Yes."

Sheng Yunqing and Ye Jinchen came side by side and bowed to Ye Jinfeng.

Sheng Yunqing presented the account book, the formula for the beauty pill, and the blood beads she was holding, saying, "Your Majesty, there is a secret underground palace hidden in the Duke's mansion. Your subject and Prince Ye found favorable evidence in the underground palace."

As Duke Bai looked at the familiar account books and boxes, his face grew paler and paler.

How could this be... He had just found a scapegoat and escaped safely, how could his house be raided at this time...?

Ye Jinchen glanced at the Duke of Bai and said, "Your Majesty, the Duke of Bai and Princess Mingyao had been colluding for nine years."

"Western Shu regularly sends the secret recipe for beauty pills as tribute. The Duke's Mansion then manufactures the pills and presents them to the Empress Dowager. In order to cultivate the Empress Dowager into a Gu King so that she can control the entire dynasty, the two have been conspiring for more than eight years. They have committed treason and collusion with the enemy. The evidence is conclusive!"

Duke Bai visibly panicked. In his confusion, he pointed at Zhi Xing and said, "Your Majesty! Zhi Xing carries items from Western Shu with her. She is the spy from Western Shu. This old minister is innocent!"

Suddenly, a flash of cold light appeared. The moment the Duke of Bai finished speaking, a chilling dagger was pressed against his throat. Ye Jingnian glared at him fiercely and said, "Dare to utter another word against her, and I'll slit your throat!"

"Duke Bai." Sheng Yunqing turned her head to look at his panicked expression, let out a cold snort, and her eyes gleamed with a sharp light.

"The blood of the Sheng family's virgins and the soul of the Sheng family's daughters in this formula are my own siblings! Only the witchcraft of Western Shu can use their souls to refine them into Gu, and then irrigate them with the blood of our closest relatives."

"Nine years ago, you conspired with Mu Xiyang to slaughter my entire family, refine the soul of my second sister, Sheng Jinhua, so that she could not rest in peace for more than nine years! You took away my third brother, Sheng Xiao, and drained his blood every month! The evidence is right in front of you, and you still dare to say that you are innocent?"

She glanced at a piece of paper on the ground, picked it up, and after reading its contents, she knew about the Duke of Bai's scheme.

How many scapegoats has he found to take the fall again and again...

Her fingertips touched the writing, and she said, "It's true that Princess Qinxue wrote this, but..."

She snorted coldly, glared at Duke Bai, and said, "This was hastily written an hour ago!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Jinfeng glared angrily at Duke Bai and said, "Bai Zhenfang! I have treated you well, yet you dare to poison the Empress Dowager and commit treason... Guards! Strip him of his official robes! Demote him to commoner status, and immediately drag him to the Meridian Gate to be beheaded. Bai Muling murdered the Crown Princess and was removed from the Imperial Mausoleum! The Bai family, along with nine generations of relatives, will be exterminated!"

Duke Bai staggered back, his legs buckling, and a look of deep regret crossed his face. He knelt down and kowtowed to Ye Jinfeng, pleading, "Your Majesty, spare my life! Your Majesty, spare my life!"

After the guards dragged him away, the wailing gradually faded into the distance.

Sheng Yunqing took a deep breath, and a tear rolled down her cheek.

She raised her hand to wipe away her tears, then bowed to Ye Jinfeng: "Your Majesty, since that is the case, please give me some time to treat the Empress Dowager and draw out the Gu worms from her body."

Upon hearing this, Ye Jinfeng's gaze shifted to Zhixing. He narrowed his eyes slightly, a hint of suspicion in them, and said in a low voice, "Didn't Bai Zhenfang just say that the Crown Princess has a Western Shu jade pendant? Yunqing, you used the jade pendant to cure the Gu poison last time, but it was taken away by Princess Mingyao. Then try this one."

Sheng Yunqing nodded. Ye Jingnian clenched his fist, his dark eyes revealing neither joy nor anger. After a long pause, he slowly took out the jade pendant from his pocket and handed it over.

Sheng Yunqing accepted the jade pendant, gave Ye Jingnian a polite smile, and said, "Thank you, Your Highness. Once the curse is lifted, Yunqing will return it to you."

After saying this, she and Ye Jinchen took their leave.

A moment of silence fell over the Golden Palace; the air was so cold it was suffocating.

“Father, Bai Muling deserved to die. Could you please be lenient with Zhixing?” Ye Jingnian spoke up at the opportune moment.

Ye Jinfeng tapped his fingers lightly on the dragon table and said, "Although Bai Zhenfang wants to take the blame for her, she is indeed suspicious because she possesses the Western Shu jade pendant. It's hard to guarantee that she isn't a spy from Western Shu. She is truly unqualified to be the Crown Princess. I think it's better to..."

“Father is right.” Ye Jingnian walked up to Zhixing, raised his hand to lift her chin, and his contemptuous eyes held a hint of unfathomable darkness. “But Zhixing has done a lot for me. Whether she is a spy from a foreign country is still uncertain. Since Father has already ordered that she be stripped of her title as Crown Princess, if you are not at ease, why not demote her to a concubine and confine her to the backyard? I will investigate her slowly.”

Zhi Xing looked at him with reddened eyes, her delicate almond-shaped eyes glistening with tears.

Upon hearing this, Ye Jinfeng let out a soft breath, raised his hand to rub his temples, and said, "Very well, since you're just a concubine, so be it."