Chapter Forty-Seven: Justice Over Blood Ties

Luo Yunqiao’s voice rose from behind the crowd, causing many to turn around, their faces filled with curiosity.

But to Luo Yunzhen, those words were like a curse that sealed her fate.

Her hands trembled.

Luo Zefeng furrowed his brow and spoke bluntly, “How are you here? Shouldn’t you be inside the room?”

His words caused a shift in Luo Yunqiao’s gaze; her voice turned cold as she replied, “I don’t quite understand your words, Brother. Why on earth would I be in someone else’s room?”

“You just heard the maid say you—” Luo Zefeng suddenly fell silent.

He had truly believed that Luo Yunqiao would only cause trouble. But now, since they were in the Nan’an Prince’s residence, if Luo Yunqiao disgraced herself, it would bring shame upon the Jing’an Marquis’s household as well.

Luo Yunzhen had regained her composure and smiled, “It’s good that sister isn’t in the room. Earlier, when we couldn’t find you anywhere, some gossiping servant claimed you were secretly meeting a man. We simply couldn’t believe it, so we came to check.”

“I told you, sister could never do such a thing.”

“But I can see you’re clearly disappointed.” Luo Yunqiao sneered, then turned to the elderly Nan’an Dowager Princess with a respectful bow. “Dowager Princess, today is your family’s wedding banquet, yet someone deliberately smeared my name. It’s one thing to ruin my reputation, but if it spoils your celebration, that would be unacceptable.”

“According to that gossiping servant, if there really was a man inside, why not call him out for questioning? Let us see who sent him here and restore my innocence, as well as preserve the purity of the Nan’an residence.”

The maid quivered like a leaf, unable to meet Luo Yunqiao’s gaze.

Luo Yunqiao added, “If someone is deliberately framing me, then their tongue should be cut out, according to proper etiquette.”

Her eyes flicked over to Luo Yunzhen.

Luo Yunzhen forced a smile. “Sister, since you’re not inside the room, that already proves your innocence. This is Nan’an Prince’s residence; there’s no need to make a scene and tarnish our parents’ reputation.”

She reached to pull Luo Yunqiao’s hand. “The ceremony is about to begin. We should hurry ahead.”

“Why is my sister so eager to send me away? I’m demanding the Dowager Princess thoroughly investigate this matter for the sake of our parents’ reputation. Otherwise, outsiders will only say our parents failed to raise me properly.” Luo Yunqiao shrugged off her hand with disdain, then bowed again to the Dowager Princess. “Dowager Princess, do you think what I say is reasonable?”

“Bring out whoever is inside the room! I want to see who dares to cause trouble in my Nan’an residence!”

In an instant, several servants dragged out the unconscious man from inside.

A basin of cold water was poured over him, jolting him awake.

He looked around at the surrounding crowd, panic-stricken and trembling.

The Dowager Princess snorted coldly and demanded, “Who are you? What are you doing in the room?”

“I… I…” The man’s eyes darted about until they met the maid’s. Gaining some courage, he said, “I am the beloved of the Marquis’s eldest daughter. Today, she specially summoned me here to ease her loneliness.”

The crowd gasped, and cold remarks spread among them.

Luo Zefeng shouted without restraint, “I knew you were an immodest and fickle woman! You once tried to climb onto the Third Prince’s bed and failed, and now you’re seducing men shamelessly!”

Such words barely stirred Luo Yunqiao; they passed over her like a breeze.

She ignored the crowd and crouched down to look at the man, asking, “You say you are my beloved. Then tell me, when did we meet, and where did we see each other?”

“Three months ago, you were punished and sent to Zhaojue Temple. We met there and got along immediately. We met every night. After returning to the Marquis’s residence, you couldn’t go out, so we stopped meeting.”

“Today, you said you were lonely and told me to risk coming here.”

The man was resolute and insisted, “Qiao Qiao, even if the Marquis’s daughter’s scandal won’t kill you, you can’t just abandon me.”

Luo Yunqiao snorted coldly. Before she could speak again, Luo Yunzhen’s trembling voice rang out, “How… how do you know my sister’s name?”

Her words were a desperate attempt to silence Luo Yunqiao.

“She told me herself!”

“When we were entangled night after night at Zhaojue Temple, she asked me to call her Qiao Qiao.”

“Shameless woman!”

Luo Zefeng raised his arm to strike Luo Yunqiao.

She stepped back lightly, easily dodging the slap.

“Brother, you’re quick to judge without investigating. Could this man have been brought here by you?” She said, her eyes falling on Luo Yunzhen.

Seeing her gaze flicker nervously, she knew the truth.

Luo Yunqiao took a step forward and tested him, “Since you were so intimate with me every night, you must be very familiar with my body. Tell me, is the birthmark on my left leg or my right leg?”

The man was immediately speechless and instinctively looked at the maid.

“Why are you looking at her when I’m asking you?” Luo Yunqiao fixed him with a cold glare and sneered.

The man, receiving no response from the maid, blurted out, “Left leg… no! Right leg!”

Upon hearing this, Luo Yunqiao laughed scornfully, “Nonsense! I don’t have any birthmark!”

“I… I was mistaken… you don’t have a birthmark.”

Hearing the man retract his words, the Dowager Princess understood the truth.

She barked, “You refuse to tell the truth even at death’s door, and you dare to slander the Marquis’s eldest daughter and ruin the Nan’an residence’s wedding banquet! If you don’t confess, drag him away and beat him to death!”

“I swear everything I said is true!” The man kowtowed.

He had been paid silver and had his entire family’s lives held hostage by the maid, so he dared not change his story now.

“Dowager Princess, you need not doubt his words. My sister has always been unchaste. If she hadn’t used underhanded means, she wouldn’t have become the Marquis’s eldest daughter. I think today she should be thrown into the pig cage with this man!” Luo Zefeng clenched his teeth, condemning his own family.

Luo Zeting frowned, sensing something was wrong. He scolded sharply, “Silence! This is no place for you to speak!”

“Yunqiao, if you truly did this, confess quickly. If you admit it, I will plead with Father to help you after we return home and arrange a match between you two.”

Luo Yunqiao sneered.

This scene was painfully familiar.

Three months ago, she had been caught disheveled on the Third Prince’s bed, unable to defend herself. Now, despite her innocence, they still insisted on condemning her based on hearsay.

“I never did such a thing!” she said coldly.

Luo Zeting shook his head in disappointment. “After three months of kneeling in penance, how can you still be so unrepentant?”

“If you didn’t meet him here, how do you explain your changed clothes? You must have done something shameful and gotten marks on your body, forcing you to change.”

Whispers among the crowd grew louder.

Suddenly, the voice of Princess Shoukang approached from afar.

“I was only gone a moment; why is it so lively here?”

She stood beside Luo Yunqiao, looked her over, and smiled, “I didn’t expect you to fit so well in my clothes. I just made several new sets; I’ll take them back shortly.”