If you were cold and aloof in your past life, why are you crying in this one?

Madam Yu was terrified by her daughter's sudden loss of control. Despite being in another household, she immediately requested Empress Yu to summon the imperial physician to examine Xi Yao.

Empress Yu brought imperial physicians with her in case of emergency.

Upon hearing of this, Lady Wang and Madam Xie specially ordered their maids to prepare a side room for the group to rest temporarily.

Even a daughter of a prominent family seeking medical advice cannot do so in public.

Madam Yu helped her daughter sit on the long couch, and Physician Liu stepped forward to take her pulse.

"Imperial Physician, how is my daughter today?"

Physician Liu bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Madam Xi, your daughter has likely taken some kind of drug to disturb her peace of mind."

Yu's brow furrowed.

Just as I suspected, Xi Lingxian!

"Can the imperial physician diagnose what kind of medicine it is?"

Physician Liu shook his head. "The second young lady didn't take much, and her pulse already shows very faint signs. If we want to investigate further, we need to examine everything she has eaten or ingested since yesterday."

Empress Yu gave Lady Yu a deep look.

Yu closed her eyes briefly.

"Thank you for your help, Imperial Physician."

"Madam, you must investigate this carefully. The second young lady is still young. If she is forced to take such medicine for a long time, it will easily damage her mind and spirit and harm her fundamental health."

Empress Yu raised her hand, and Imperial Physician Liu acknowledged the order and withdrew.

The veins on the back of Yu's hand suddenly bulged.

Empress Yu said disappointedly, "What can I say about you? Your own daughter has been poisoned by a drug you developed yourself. Aren't you afraid people will laugh their heads off if word gets out?"

Having no other rebuttal, Yu admitted, "It was my carelessness."

"You're not just careless, you're seriously underestimating that girl, Xi Lingxian."

Madam Yu was completely baffled. "Your Majesty, to be honest, this girl used to be easy to fool, but lately, I don't know what's wrong with her, she's suddenly..."

"You can pretend to be weak and incompetent with them for over a decade, but you won't allow them to play dumb in front of you?"

A cold sweat instantly broke out on Madam Yu's back, and her lips turned completely bloodless. After a pause, she shook her head. "No, it's impossible. Xi Lingxian was only three or four years old when I married into the family. How could a child that age have such cunning thoughts?"

"Impossible," she kept muttering, her expression somewhat dazed.

Empress Yu was exasperated. "I told you before that we should have taken advantage of her young age and eliminated her completely. You were too soft-hearted for a moment, and now look what happened. You've only brought trouble upon yourself."

Madam Yu felt that her elder sister was talking without understanding the situation, while Xi Jian regarded Xi Lingxian as his own precious daughter.

If anything happens to Xi Lingxian, and Xi Jian investigates thoroughly, then not only will she be at risk, but even her elder sister, the Empress, might not be able to keep her position.

Madam Yu gritted her teeth and swallowed her words, "Your Majesty is right. Rest assured, I understand. I will never be soft-hearted again."

……

Xi Lingxian and Shen Qingdai returned to the garden, and Xie Wanting waved to them.

"Miss Xi, Miss Shen, shall we play pitch-pot together?"

Shen Qingdai was eager to try, while Xi Lingxian was a little tired from her confrontation with Wang Jue.

"Then I'll go. You sit here for a while, I'll play a couple of games and then come find you."

The noble ladies at the banquet all went off to play in small groups, while Xi Lingxian sat alone behind the table, propping her chin up in her hand, lost in thought.

"lady?"

Taozhi's exclamation brought her back to her senses; Yu Shi had appeared in front of her without her noticing.

His face was gloomy, and his eyes were sharp.

"Did you poison Yao'er?"

Xi Lingxian chuckled, "I don't understand what you're saying, Madam."

"Don't play dumb. I asked Yao'er's maid, and last night the kitchen suddenly sent a bowl of sweet soup to Nuanshanju. Isn't that your doing?"

"Madam really thinks highly of me. You are the mistress of the Xi family. Every servant in the backyard follows your lead. How could I possibly have the ability to order the kitchen staff to poison my sister?"

Madam Yu gritted her teeth and said in a low voice, "You're so cunning! You've been playing dumb all these years, fooling us all. So young, yet so unfathomable. I really underestimated you!"

Xi Lingxian smiled, her eyes crinkling, and whispered in her ear, "When it comes to pretending, who can pretend as well as you? Cailing, Granny Zhou, do I need to remind you when you started weaving your web around me?"

Yu's pupils contracted sharply. "You, you..."

"How should I know? Yu, I'm just returning the favor to you, the same methods you used against me. Why are you so afraid?"

Yu's face was ashen, and she staggered back a few steps.

"How did you find out? You were so stupid before!"

Lingxian smiled enigmatically, "Guess?"

Madam Yu's expression darkened, and she suddenly screamed, "Help! Help! The young lady has been possessed by something filthy!"

Empress Yu and other female relatives walked over gracefully upon hearing the sound.

The young men and women from the neighborhood also came out of curiosity to see what was going on.

Madam Yu rushed forward and grabbed Empress Yu's sleeve, her face full of terror. "Your Majesty, please forgive me, my eldest daughter just said she wanted to kill me. She has been acting very strangely lately. I'm worried that she might have been possessed by something unclean the day she fell into the water."

Wang Shuhui was the first to chime in: "Seriously, Miss Xi seems to have started acting strangely after the Dragon Boat Festival. Could she really be bewitched by something?"

"The Master did not speak of strange phenomena, physical prowess, disorder, or spirits; what dirty things could there be?"

"How do you explain such a sudden change in a person's temperament? She was infatuated with Young Master Wang before, but today she hasn't even opened her eyes. Isn't that too strange?"

Empress Yu's gaze was deep as she scrutinized Xi Lingxian for a moment. "As for ghosts and spirits, it's better to believe in their existence than not. Since everyone says that Miss Xi's temperament and behavior are unusual, I will ask a master from the Celestial Masters Sect to perform a ritual to exorcise the evil spirits for you."

Xi Lingxian's heart tightened.

She had never believed in ghosts before, but after being reborn, she realized that some things in this world are truly mysterious and unpredictable.

If the Taoist priest of the Celestial Masters sect truly saw something, wouldn't she become a monster in the eyes of the world?

No.

She remained calm and sneered coldly, "Absurd! Today, it was clearly Xi Yao who spoke arrogantly and disrespectfully to me first. Instead of punishing Xi Yao, you're blaming me for being possessed by evil spirits."

"You want to tie me up and exorcise evil spirits? Fine, first write a letter to Jingkou and ask my father and brother if they agree?"

Empress Yu angrily retorted, "How dare you! Do you even respect me?"

"As the Empress of this nation, how could I not be able to do anything to you? Guards!"

"Your Majesty, please wait!"

Madam Wang's face was solemn. "While I am here today, I will not allow anyone to cause trouble in the mansion. Miss Xi is a distinguished guest of our mansion. If anything happens to her, I will not be able to explain it to her."

Xi Lingxian's eyes suddenly reddened, and she wiped away her tears, saying, "I sincerely wanted to add to the old lady's birthday celebration with Sister Qingdai through a sword dance, but who would have thought that my sister would humiliate me in public? Madam didn't speak up for me, and now she even says that I'm possessed by a ghost. It seems that everyone is bullying me because I'm a motherless child."

As she spoke, two lines of tears streamed down her face like pearls from a broken string, glistening with moisture, and her eyes reddened at the corners.

She was so confident in her looks that she knew exactly how to evoke pity.

Madam Cui, the second wife of Xie, was the first to be unable to stand it any longer. "Madam Xi, no matter how you look at it, today's events are all your daughter's fault. Your counterattack shows your favoritism. If you treat her like this in front of us, who knows how you mistreat Miss Xi at home?"

Madam Yu said urgently, "Second Madam Xie, please stop talking nonsense. When have you ever seen me mistreat her?"

"Mother!"

The Crown Prince stepped forward from the group of young men, walked to Empress Yu's side, and cupped his hands: "Mother, it was clearly my cousin Xi Yao who spoke rudely and disrespectfully to my elder sister during the banquet. Why did you and my aunt punish Miss Xi without distinguishing right from wrong? She is an innocent young woman, and you say she is possessed by evil spirits. It is really unreasonable."

Empress Yu looked at her son in disbelief.

He questioned himself, the mother, because of Xi Lingxian?

The Crown Prince thought his mother was really foolish. With Xi Gong's return to court imminent, offending Xi Lingxian at this juncture would bring nothing but harm.

Although Xi Yao also shares the surname Xi, they are completely different.

Moreover, with Xi Lingxian being so beautiful, he wanted to try his best to have both.

It's one thing for his mother not to help him win over the people, but she actually sabotages him.

Lingxian pursed her lips, wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and bowed gracefully, saying, "Thank you, Your Highness, for speaking up for justice. I am deeply grateful."

The beauty thanked him with tears in her eyes, and the prince felt a surge of warmth and excitement in his chest.

"Don't worry, Miss Xi, with me here today, I will make sure no one bullies you."

Shen Qingdai helped Lingxian up, her gaze fixed on Madam Yu. "Two years ago, when Fanfan returned to Jingkou, everyone said that she had a big fight with Madam and was throwing a tantrum. But she was only twelve years old at the time, a half-grown child. If Madam couldn't tolerate her, then today's events are definitely not accidental."

Xi Yao couldn't bear to see her mother being bullied, and said angrily, "She was the one who disrespected my mother first. My mother was just disciplining her according to the family rules. Who knew she would have such a bad temper?"

Ji Ruchuan: "I can't say for sure about other things, but a mother would never let a young woman travel far away alone. How is that any different from kicking someone out of the house?"

The sudden mention of this past event caught Yu somewhat off guard, but she didn't lose her composure.

He said slowly and deliberately, "Miss Shen and Young Master Ji's words really chill me to the bone. Back then, the eldest daughter relied on her father's favor and acted recklessly and arrogantly, not taking me seriously at all. I was only afraid that she would ruin her reputation and make it difficult for her to find a husband in the future, so I had no choice but to restrain and discipline her. How did it become heartless and cruel in your mouths?"

Several ladies who were on good terms with Madam Yu also chimed in.

"Being a stepmother is difficult. Who can truly treat their stepchildren as their own? Madam Xi has done a really good job."

"That's right, Miss Xi. When you and your siblings were sick as children, your stepmother took care of you day and night. People have to have a conscience. You can't just forget about the kindness you received when you've grown up and become independent."