After the ghost-hunting master descended the mountain, his fame spread throughout the capital.

This sudden accusation is packed with information.

The expressions on Jiang Wanqing and Song Suya's faces at this moment were beyond just unpleasant.

Jiang Wanqing went from initial surprise and doubt to hearing that Chu Yanzhao had an affair with a maid. Her mind was in complete chaos, and she completely forgot that Wang Dazhuang was not a living person.

Her face was deathly pale, and she was swaying precariously.

After her initial shock, Song Suya looked at Wang Dazhuang with suspicion in her eyes.

This maid is clearly not a living person... how could she have an affair with Yanzhao?

Song Suya couldn't help but look sharply at Jiang Dusheng, who had been standing quietly to the side. What exactly did she want to do?

Is releasing something like this really just to completely ruin Yanzhao's reputation, or... is there another motive?

Jiang Dusheng remained calm, as if the farce before her had nothing to do with her, and simply watched Wang Dazhuang perform.

Chu Yanzhao whirled around, glaring at Wang Dazhuang with a mixture of shock and anger, his eyes seeming to spit fire, and said sharply:

"You lowly servant! I don't even know you, yet you dare to spout such nonsense and slander me?! Who ordered you to do this?!"

Wang Dazhuang immediately clutched his chest, feigning heartbreak, his voice filled with sorrow and lamentation, even trembling with a sob:

"You...you have such a cruel heart! How heartless you are! Just a few nights ago, in the quiet of the night, in the back alley of Lan Yue Lou, you...you called me Zhu Zhu so affectionately, saying things like 'my darling,' 'I'll cherish you for the rest of my life,' 'I'll never betray you in this lifetime!' And now you've turned your back on me?"

He used a high-pitched voice to perfectly portray the grief and indignation of being betrayed:

"Didn't you say that as long as I did as you said, found a way to get close to Miss Jiang, gained her trust, and then... and then tried to sow discord between her and Prince Xie, preferably making her resent Prince Xie, you would definitely take me as a concubine, give me a title, and ensure that I would have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of my life?"

"You even gave me a gold hairpin as a token, how could you... how could you forget it so quickly?! You heartless man! You fickle lover!"

While crying, Wang Dazhuang pulled a plain-looking but reasonably well-made gold hairpin from his sleeve with trembling hands and held it high.

"Whoosh!"

These words caused another uproar in the room.

Immediately, some of the women who had long disapproved of Chu Yanzhao's behavior couldn't hold back any longer and pointed at him, cursing:

"Truly despicable! He was engaged to Miss Jiang before, yet he fell in love with her younger sister, which was already morally reprehensible! Now, seeing that Miss Jiang has found such a perfect match as Young Master Xie, he is filled with jealousy and has resorted to such vile means to try and ruin it. He's an absolute beast in human clothing!"

"You can know a person's face but not their heart! They put on such a gentle and refined appearance in public, but behind your back they are so despicable. The Prince Chun's family... what a fine upbringing!" Another noblewoman who had a long-standing feud with the Prince Chun's family also sneered sarcastically.

"Having used the orphaned daughter of the Ruan family, you now want to use this woman of unknown origin to harm Miss Jiang. Prince Chu, what is your heart made of?!"

Accusations arose one after another, and Chu Yanzhao became the target of public criticism.

Chu Yanzhao was speechless, feeling dizzy and his ears ringing. His finger, pointing at Wang Dazhuang, trembled violently.

"You...you're talking nonsense! I've never seen you! This 'Zhu Zhu' and 'relationship ruiner' stuff is completely fabricated!"

He suddenly turned to Jiang Dusheng, who had been standing silently to the side, his eyes wide with fury:

"Jiang Dusheng, it's you! It must be you who's behind this! You've sent some lowly maid from who-knows-where to spread rumors and tarnish my reputation! What are you trying to do?! Are you trying to ruin me, to ruin the Prince Chun's mansion?!"

He tried to direct his anger at Jiang Dusheng.

Seeing this, Wang Dazhuang rolled his eyes and immediately put on a look of panic, grievance, and anger.

He frantically pulled a stack of letters from his sleeve, held them high, and shouted at Chu Yanzhao:

"You dare to deny it! These are all love poems you wrote for me; your handwriting is still on them!"

As he spoke, he pretended to be angry and took a few quick steps toward Chu Yanzhao, as if he wanted to shove the letter in his face.

However, she "accidentally" stumbled, and the letter in her hand flew out, scattering like petals among the surrounding guests.

"Oh my! My letter!" Wang Dazhuang exclaimed in surprise.

At the same time, Jiang Dusheng's fingertips twitched almost imperceptibly.

A wisp of spiritual energy swept over the scattered letters, controlling them to land precisely in front of several ladies of high status, with one or two even floating directly onto Princess Yongning's desk.

Princess Yongning picked up the letter in front of her and glanced at it. The contents made her heart skip a beat.

The censor's wife beside her was even faster; she had already picked up the letter that had floated in front of her and read it aloud in a low voice:

"I've heard that you've been quite troubled by the recent performance evaluations at the Ministry of Personnel? Perhaps there's a chance for a turnaround. I'd like to inquire further."

"This...this signature reads 'Jing Shen bows in reverence'...this uncle refers to...Prince Chun?!"

These words shocked everyone present.

This is hardly a romantic love poem; it's clearly a secret letter concerning official performance evaluations, and possibly even hinting at favoritism and corruption.

Chu Yanzhao's face turned deathly pale, completely bloodless, even more terrifying than before.

His pupils contracted sharply, and his whole body turned ice cold, as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water over his head.

Chu Yanzhao disregarded his composure and lunged forward to snatch the nearest piece of paper that had fallen to the ground.

The moment his fingers touched the paper, he quickly glanced at the contents and felt his blood run cold.

This is one of the private correspondences between him and the Second Prince.

Although the content is obscure, those familiar with the political situation will immediately understand its meaning.

But... but he had hidden these letters extremely well, how did they end up in the hands of this strange maid?!

"No! This is a forgery! It's a frame-up!" Chu Yanzhao shouted hoarsely.

Wang Dazhuang, however, slapped his forehead at the opportune moment, feigning annoyance and embarrassment, and pulled out a pink letter from his pocket, saying hesitantly:

"Oh dear, how clumsy I am! I took the wrong one! Those are...the official documents that Your Highness asked me to keep for you...um...right?"

"Look at my memory! The real love letter is right here! Look, it even has a picture of twin lotus blossoms and the inscription: 'Though we are not a pair of phoenixes to fly together, our hearts are connected by a single thread of understanding…'"

As he spoke, he awkwardly tried to pull the pink letter back, his eyes darting away.

This blatant attempt to conceal something actually seems to confirm the authenticity of the previous secret letters.

Chu Yanzhao watched Wang Dazhuang's performance with wide eyes, listening to the surrounding uproar and accusations that suddenly grew louder.

His last shred of reason completely collapsed.

"I'll kill you, you liar, slanderous wretch!"

Enraged, Chu Yanzhao roared and, in full view of everyone, flashed forward, unleashing a palm strike imbued with fierce internal energy towards Wang Dazhuang's crown.

"Does Prince Chu intend to kill someone in public to silence them?" A cold, low voice rang out.

With a flick of her wrist, Jiang Dusheng sent the Buddhist beads wrapped around her wrist flying out and striking the pulse point on Chu Yanzhao's wrist.

Chu Yanzhao felt a sharp pain and numbness in his wrist, and the internal energy he had gathered instantly dissipated, thus halting his attack.

He grunted, staggered back two steps, clutched his wrist, and looked at Jiang Dusheng with a mixture of shock and anger.