Bai Xiangxiu was soon held down by Noble Consort Su's men. She wasn't actually feeling much pain, but her weak and sickly act made her seem extremely pitiful. Saying that she was innocent really helped her case as well.
Xiaoshi had already been coached to act in this situation. She immediately jumped to her mistress' aid while crying, "Don't injure our madame! Her old wounds from the enemy soldiers have yet to fully heal!"
Old wounds? Her wounds hadn't been all that serious and had fully healed a long time ago. However, Bai Xiangxiu was making it seem like she'd once received mortal injuries and they were causing her so much pain that she couldn't get her breath back.
"Why keep on acting? Everything today has been meticulously planned by you..."
"It hurts! Please stop! My arm is about to break!" Bai Xiangxiu was a very talented actor. She'd managed to trick countless people throughout her life so far. And because of that, a lot of people could no longer stand by and watch when they saw how much pain Bai Xiangxiu seemed to be in.
"Hey! What are you castrated men trying to do! Who in the world would treat two helpless ladies this way? Moreover, she's Princess Consort Li! The female Zhuge Liang who helped Prince Li defeat the enemy troops!" That one sentence was like a single stone that birthed a tsunami. No one dared be the first to speak out, even though they were angry. However, their mouths could no longer stay shut once somebody got them started.
Some people began to riot as their resentment grew. There was even some friction between the palace soldiers and the citizens that wanted to protect Bai Xiangxiu and the doctor's wife. The scene became quite chaotic once the people were riled up. Su Yun had always been the type to stop violence with more violence. Without much thought, she quickly yelled, "Subdue these misbehaving citizens! They are all intending to revolt! Spare no one!"
Yu Kuang sucked in a quick breath of air. This was finally his time to shine. He leaned forward, diving from atop a nearby tavern, but Luo Yunzheng's men had beaten him to the punch. They mixed into the rioting crowd, acting as poor folks from the wulin as they joined the fight. It didn't take them long to subdue all of the palace soldiers with careful blows. They even scurried left, right and center to keep the citizens safe.
Noticing the situation quickly turning sour, Su Yun immediately ordered the servants to lift her away. She headed for the magistrate instead of the palace to order the palace officials to capture the rebels. The officials didn't dare tarry when they realized that this was the emperor's most favored concubine. They quickly dispatched more palace soldiers to the scene.
Su Yun believed that nobody in the capital would ever dare to challenge imperial authority. Therefore, in her mind, Bai Xiangxiu and Prince Li must've arranged these citizens to be there beforehand. Things would all be under control once those people were subdued. Unfortunately, she hadn't realized that so many people were already very dissatisfied with the current state of affairs, even though the capital had been relatively peaceful all this time. Because everyone had kept their dissatisfaction repressed, things quickly got out of hand when the first of the riots started, blowing up like an explosion.
The reinforcements were then naturally embroiled in a full blown conflict with the citizens of the capital. Even Bai Xiangxiu had never imagined that things would get out of hand so quickly. Many of the citizens protected her as she made her way back to the manor. This is strange. These men may be courageous, but I never imagined they'd do such a thing. Come to think of it, their faces do seem a little familiar. However, I can't seem to remember where I've seen them before.
She slumped to the ground immediately after she arrived at the Prince Li Manor. Long Heng quickly came to pick her up and prepared to enter the palace together to plead for mercy. Bai Xiangxiu suddenly grabbed onto Long Heng and whispered. "You don't blame me for taking things too far? There doesn't seem to be a quiet corner in the capital anymore."
