The concubine, a former cannon fodder, becomes pregnant, and the childless prince spoils her rotten.

Xi Ying seemed to only then realize what was happening, "Your Highness, please save me! I didn't!"

However, such arguments are pale and powerless at this moment.

Lin Zhizhi spoke up at the opportune moment: "If Xi Ying truly resented Zhou Shi, why would she risk her life to rescue the two from the flooded boat? If such a good deed is slandered and used to plot against people, then who in this world dares to have a pure and kind heart? As for the scuffle between this servant and Aunt Dou..."

Having said that, she looked around and saw the women's evasive eyes; not one of them was willing to speak up for her.

She had thought long ago that Dou Xiuchan would choose her as a scapegoat, but she was the one among these people who was least afraid of offending her.

She then said again, "The scene was chaotic at the time, and all the concubines were pulling and tugging at each other. It's impossible that only I had contact with them. If that's considered me pushing Concubine Dou, then wouldn't all the other concubines have pushed her?"

"That's not how it works. We clearly saw you struggling with them..."

Lin Zhizhi looked at the person who spoke, "This servant also saw you pulling and tugging at them."

"You're talking nonsense, there's no proof..." She shut her mouth sheepishly after saying that. In fact, they didn't have any evidence to accuse Lin Zhizhi. It was just that there were many of them and they all wanted to find someone to take the blame.

Lin Zhizhi nodded slightly, not daring to look directly at her master, and bowed respectfully.

Seeing that the situation had eased somewhat, Xi Ying looked at Lin Zhizhi with a delighted expression and whispered in her ear, "I've changed my opinion of you. You're not as bad as I thought."

The Fifth Prince looked displeased. "The maids in Seventh Brother's residence are all incredibly audacious."

He had been curious about Lin Zhizhi before, and seeing her performance now, he felt that she was a stubborn and eloquent person.

His mind started working, "Lift your head up."

His words made Li Dan nervous, and she subconsciously looked at Cen Jingyi, praying in her heart that the Fifth Prince would not be blinded by lust in front of everyone.

If they do anything that makes them a laughingstock, they will inevitably be scolded by their wives when they return home.

Aunt Zhou, who had just lost her child, glared fiercely at Lin Zhizhi. She had long suspected that this maid was up to no good because she was close to Li Dan.

She clearly knew the Fifth Prince's fetish, so she deliberately dressed like this, even trying to imitate Dou Xiuchan's simple elegance, without even looking at that foxy face.

That Li Dan was foolish to actually give her the chance.

"This servant is ugly and would frighten the Fifth Prince, so I dare not overstep my bounds." Lin Zhizhi had no good impression of the Fifth Prince at all, and at this moment she did not want to get involved in any unnecessary trouble.

The Crown Prince coughed lightly, interrupting the Fifth Prince's desire to investigate further.

His gaze swept over Dou Xiuchan, who could barely stand, and he felt that she was useless, that she had been implicated and could not even save her child.

With a grim expression, she said, "I am a useless concubine, unaware that I was pregnant. I only wanted to protect Aunt Zhou's child. It is rare to see who Your Highness cares about. Since Your Highness is so protective, I do not intend to ask for an explanation. However, I am too heartbroken to accept the loss of my child."

As if understanding the meaning behind Dou Xiuchan's words, Madam Zhou immediately wailed, "My poor child is still a baby boy! How have I offended the Prince's Mansion? They've damaged the ship's rudder and shoved me and Aunt Dou. Do they wish the Fifth Prince and the Crown Prince's Mansion would all be extinct along with the Prince's Mansion?"

All eyes turned to Cen Jingyi, who remained unfazed, seemingly oblivious to the nonsense.

Lin Zhizhi pondered that Aunt Zhou's purpose in coming here was to get rid of the child in her womb, but was Dou Xiuchan's visit today out of helplessness in getting involved, or did she have other purposes?

Why did Xi Ying board the ship? Was she the princess's person, or was she acting on behalf of the fifth prince or someone in the crown prince's residence?

"Is this maid named Xiying?" Cen Jingyi looked at her. "Since you boarded the ship without invitation, and they all say you sabotaged the rudder, then you should be punished. I wonder how your two brothers think it would be appropriate to punish her?"

His voice was low, and his words were less sarcastic than before, as if he genuinely wanted to resolve this farce.

Lin Zhizhi's previous words had an effect; if she continued to make a scene, she would definitely implicate everyone.

However, Cen Jingyi was unwilling to compromise easily, so he threw the question to the Crown Prince and the Fifth Prince to see what they really wanted to do.

After all, so many lives were involved, and the women were all frightened. It was only natural that some money would be given to appease them upon their return.

These matters were originally handled by the concubine, but now that she is under house arrest, they will fall to the princess.

Lin Zhizhi thought that when she returned this time, perhaps half of the power over the management of the household would fall back to the princess.

In her previous life, the princess was not so proactive. Now it seems that Lin Zhizhi's failure to hand over the account book has already aroused the princess's dissatisfaction.

happy Ying, for some reason, either didn't understand or was deliberately pretending to be stupid, and didn't wait for the Fifth Prince and the Crown Prince to speak.

She shouted impetuously, "She was the one who let me in. How could I have trespassed? Why should I be punished?"

She even dared to point at Li Dan, looking completely self-righteous, showing no remorse what a rude act it was to interrupt her masters' conversation.

Cen Jingyi's previously calm expression turned somewhat unpleasant. "Shut up."

The Fifth Prince seized the opportunity to kick him while he was down, saying, "Seventh Brother is so lenient with his servants. You can't even punish a maid. Why don't you let her stand on your head and shit? That way, everyone can see how good-tempered Your Highness is."

The Crown Prince shook his head, quite disagreeing, "Fifth Brother's words are really unpleasant."

"Your Majesty, I have always been this way. After all these years, have you not yet adapted?"

happy Ying looked bewildered, then tugged at Lin Zhizhi beside her and asked, "Why is Your Highness angry with me?"

happy Ying just felt a little resentful because Li Dan had criticized her before.

That's why I brought this up; I didn't want to be punished easily.

Lin Zhizhi began to have some doubts. Xi Ying had deliberately caused a conflict with Aunt Zhou beforehand, and then wholeheartedly went to save her.

Judging from the whole incident, she did indeed help Aunt Zhou, and Li Dan will likely be disliked by the Fifth Prince after returning home.

Unless Li Dan can obtain more valuable information, her status will likely be no better than that of Aunt Zhou.

Could it be that there is more than one person in the mansion who has connections with the Fifth Prince's inner quarters?

Li Dan blushed with anger. She bowed and looked at the Fifth Prince, her eyes filled with tears. She felt truly wronged.

The Fifth Prince nodded. "Speak your mind. Others don't care about rules, so why should you?"

His words were full of dissatisfaction with Xi Ying. She was implicating Li Dan, trying to drag him into the mess and make him unable to escape responsibility.

"I only felt sorry for her being slapped. Sister Zhizhi was also there at the time. I only let her on the boat out of kindness. How could I have known that the boat would have an accident?"

At this moment, she felt extremely annoyed. She had been eager to distance herself from the ill-intentioned Aunt Zhou, but she never expected to be outmaneuvered by a mere maid.

This makes it seem like she deliberately let Xiying board the ship to harm Aunt Zhou's unborn child.