ch 77

9.9K 311 13
                                    

The hairpin was lying on red silk. It was clear that someone had intentionally broken off one of the two butterflies off instead of the butterfly accidentally breaking off.

Zhao Jie's face sunk, then he asked, "Who broke it?"

Wei Luo paused. Soon after, she shook her head and said she didn't know. Originally, she had wanted to mention Li Xiang. But, after she thought about it, it wouldn't be good to rashly accuse her without evidence. What if someone asked her for evidence? Wouldn't it be too careless to say it was only her instinct? She had to find conclusive evidence first so that Li Xiang wouldn't have room to refute.

Zhao Jie entered the hall with her, called all of the palace eunuchs and servant girls that had been serving in the back of hall to come forward, and flung the box at them. With a foreboding face, he asked, "What happened with this?"

None of the palace eunuchs and servant girls knew what happened. They looked at each other in dismay. They thought an error had been made with Princess Tianji's hairpin ceremony. One by one, they threw themselves onto the floor to plead for mercy, "This servant is ignorant.. Your Highness Prince Jing, please investigate..."

His cold face didn't become even slightly milder. Instead, it became even colder. "You can't even properly watch over a hairpin. What's the use in keeping you?"

Hearing this, everyone cried out they were wrongly accused and repeatedly pressed their foreheads against the ground while begging for mercy.

This method of asking wouldn't work. They couldn't all be killed to vent Zhao Jie's anger. If this happened, Zhao Jie wouldn't find the culprit and Li Xiang would be let off from being punished.

After Wei Luo thought for a moment, she called forward the servant girl that had given her box, "During the short time I was gone, did anyone else touch this box or come to the back of the hall?"

Seeing the opportunity to escape death, the servant girl seriously went through her memory and honestly said, "I didn't see anyone touching the box... But Prince Ru Yang's daughter and Duke Zhen's second daughter had come by here."

Li Xiang and Gao Qing Yang... Gao Qing Yang didn't have any enmity with her. She probably wouldn't deliberate harm her. It was different with Li Xiang. Li Xiang would love if it she made a fool of herself and was punished by Empress Chen.

Unfortunately for Li Xiang, she could have never expected that Zhao Jie would give her an almost identical hairpin.

Thinking about that hairpin, Wei Luo felt somewhat reluctant in her heart. She won't mention the other factors. Just the appearance of the hairpin was enough for her to like it. It was really beautiful...

If Li Xiang was really the culprit, she definitely couldn't let her get away with this.

After Wei Luo pondered over this, she decided that she would personally solve this problem. She didn't want Zhao Jie to interfere. Zhao Jie was a man. The battlefield and officialdom were the areas where he exerted his control. If he became involved in a conflict between women, then it would be too petty. Beside, she had already thought of a method for Li Xiang to pick up the stone that would crush her own feet. Since Li Xiang dared to try to secretly harm her, then she should be prepared to face retaliation.

--------

After the hairpin ceremony was over, Zhao Liuli asked a servant girl where Wei Luo went and hastily came to the back of the hall. She had already taken off the golden butterfly and plum blossom hairpin. As she personally gave it back to Wei Luo, she rebuked, "Ah Luo, did you think I wouldn't know? This isn't my hairpin. This is the one my older brother gave you..."

Chongfei Manual [Completed]Where stories live. Discover now