The Dark Moonlight returns to the capital, and the mad prince is accused of forcing love.

Qin Miaoyun was still a young woman, and this matter concerned her marriage.

Upon hearing this, her face immediately darkened.

"Xu Qianhui, if you've already refused, then you've refused. Let's stick to the facts. Your speaking up for us makes us seem unreasonable."

Xu Qianhui avoided her gaze, coughed twice while clutching her heart, and her eyes became moist.

She quickly covered her mouth with a handkerchief, her voice choked with emotion: "Miss Qin is right, Miss Lin really didn't use any force."

The sickly young woman looked so pitiful that even Madam Xiao hesitated for a moment.

She looked at Qin Miaoyun, who grabbed her shoulder, her eyes also red with anger.

"Mother, you don't believe me? I saw it clearly. Even if Xu Qianhui was just a handkerchief, she couldn't have been pushed that far, let alone a living, breathing person!"

Xu Qianhui caught a glimpse of her grievances out of the corner of her eye.

So, Qin Miaoyun knew she was a person after all...

But before, in their eyes, I wasn't even considered an object.

Madam Xiao grasped Qin Miaoyun's hand and looked at Madam Fu: "Madam Duchess, since this matter is unclear, why not send a servant from the manor to inquire? If Zhiwei truly lost her composure, we will certainly apologize to Miss Xu. If not, we need not feel too guilty."

Xu Qianhui lowered her eyes, but couldn't help but admire Xiao Shi.

Her words only indicated that they felt guilty, without any intention of pursuing the matter further.

But if any servants had actually witnessed what happened, even without them investigating, the old lady herself couldn't protect herself from this treacherous person who deliberately framed others.

She will surely be driven out of the Duke's mansion again, her reputation ruined.

Just then, Lin Zuoqing, who had been silent all along, looked up at Qin Miaoyun.

"The person was pushed by Zhiwei, so it's not your fault, nor is it the fault of the Grand Tutor's mansion. Why should you take their affairs to heart?"

Qin Miaoyun retorted, "Zhiwei pushed Xu Qianhui down because of me, how can it have nothing to do with me?"

"Why would she push Xu Qianhui for you?" Lin Zuoqing asked.

Qin Miaoyun choked.

Although both families knew about Lin Zuo'an's previous relationship with Xu Qianhui, if they were to openly discuss it, wouldn't Xu Qianhui really become a concubine in the mansion?

That won't do!

"It was just a quarrel; it's nothing to be taken seriously."

"So..." Lin Zuoqing looked at Qin Miaoyun, "Miss Qin, why did you cause the Duke's Mansion to mobilize so many people to interrogate your servants so early in the morning over such trivial matters?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao's consistently polite smile gradually vanished.

Madam Fu, who was watching the play, was startled and said softly, "Aqing, what nonsense are you talking about?"

Lin Zuoqing said, "Isn't that right?"

Qin Miaoyun blushed and looked at Lin Zuoan. Faced with Lin Zuoqing, only he could save the day.

After struggling for a moment, Lin Zuoan stood up and spoke.

"Brother, not only Miaoyun, but I saw it too. Lin Zhiwei didn't push hard, ah... Xu Qianhui somehow fell into the pond."

Upon hearing this, Qin Miaoyun's tense expression instantly relaxed.

"I told you I didn't lie, does Mother believe me now?"

After saying that, she looked at Xu Qianhui and asked, "Xu Qianhui, what did Zhiwei and I do to offend you that you would frame us like this?"

Before Xu Qianhui could refute, Xiao cut her off.

"Miss Xu comes from a humble background, so it's normal for her to be a bit unconventional. Madam, we already know the situation, so there's no need to send anyone to inquire. I hope this small misunderstanding won't affect the relationship between our two families. Miaoyun and I will take our leave now."

As she spoke, she straightened her clothes and stood up gracefully.

Qin Miaoyun climbed onto Xiao's arm, her head slightly raised, looking like a victorious rooster.

Xu Qianhui laughed immediately.

She rose and bowed to Minister Lin: "Minister Lin, in the Jingzhao Prefecture's adjudication of cases, if a witness has a close relationship with the party involved, their testimony may be used as evidence for conviction?"

Upon hearing this, Madam Fu immediately stood up.

Before she could speak, Lin Zuoqing immediately replied, "No. Witnesses have close relationships with the parties involved, and their testimonies are inevitably biased. They can only be used as a reference for judging the case."

Xiao looked at Lin Zuoqing, then at Xu Qianhui, but didn't reply, seemingly lost in thought.

Xu Qianhui was also somewhat surprised.

She had considered that Lin Zuoqing wouldn't respond, so she would finish saying what he needed to say.

Now that the Prefect of Jingzhao has spoken, everything will fall into place naturally.

Xu Qianhui continued, "If the Jingzhao Prefecture handles cases like this, it would be better if Madam Qin really wanted to find out the truth by asking more questions."

"I didn't want to trouble you, but you've become so aggressive." Madam Xiao sat down and looked at Madam Fu: "Madam, it's said that the truth becomes clearer through debate. Could you please summon one of the servants to ask?"

Seeing that Xiao and Xu Qianhui had started fighting again, Fu simply waved her hand.

"Granny Liu, go and call all the servants who are cleaning that area."

Granny Liu replied "Yes" and quickly walked out.

He soon brought in five people.

After the five people entered the house and knelt down, Xiao's shoulders relaxed, and a smile reappeared on her face.

"Madam, now that the Heir Apparent is here, may we ask him some questions?"

Madam Fu said, "Aqing, go and ask."

Lin Zuo'an seemed quite surprised.

If so many people are working in the artificial rockery, then someone must have seen the truth.

He looked at Lin Zuoqing: "Brother, it's better to ask them together than to ask them individually."

What he meant was that he believed deep down that Xu Qianhui was wronged, but he still wanted to help Qin Miaoyun give false testimony.

If questioned together, the servants can easily change their testimonies depending on the situation.

Lin Zuoqing nodded: "Okay."

He walked up to the five men, circled them once, and then spoke calmly: "Where were you five at the time of the incident?"

The servant kneeling in the middle replied, "Your Highness, yesterday, as soon as the Second Young Master returned, he instructed us to tidy up the artificial hill. Since the Second Young Master was coming over later that evening with the young ladies, we left the garden after we finished cleaning."

"You mean, none of you were present when it happened?"

Everyone kowtowed in unison: "Yes, none of us are here."

"Impossible!" Qin Miaoyun shrieked, "You are all servants of the Duke's mansion. How dare you not wait on your master when he wants to go sightseeing?"

"Your Highness, please understand!" a maidservant cried out, "The Second Young Master specifically instructed us yesterday that he was afraid we might disturb Your Highness, and told us to leave the artificial hill after we finished cleaning. It wasn't that we were being lazy!"

Lin Zuo'an coughed lightly: "Brother...it is true."

Yesterday, he was thinking about getting closer to Qin Miaoyun, so he not only drove away the servants from the artificial hill, but also didn't leave behind even their own personal servants.

At this point, there are clearly no more witnesses.

Although Qin Miaoyun felt somewhat resentful, she still said, "Never mind. Fortunately, the Second Young Master saw the truth and knows that I am not such a disgusting person. As for others... I'm too lazy to pursue the matter."

Madam Xiao also said, "Miaoyun is right. We are not here today to hold anyone accountable. As long as the facts are clear, everyone should just be more wary of treacherous people in the future."

She had just gotten up to say goodbye when Lin Zuoqing suddenly spoke.

"I saw what happened yesterday."

Everyone stopped moving and turned to look at him.