Chapter 578: The Crown Prince’s Arrival Is So Timely?
Chapter 578: Chapter 578: The Crown Prince’s Arrival Is So Timely?
It all happened so suddenly that Shen Ningning couldn’t process it for a moment.
But the people around them had already started gossiping—
"I can’t believe it. Mrs. Meng is usually so strict, yet her own son would do something so outrageous."
"Exactly. He’s about to be officially engaged to the Princess, and he’s still messing around. What a disgrace."
"You’d never know it to look at him. Second Young Master Lu always seemed like such an upstanding person. How could he do this?"
Lu Shaoyuan’s face was flushed red with anxiety. "I didn’t do anything! I don’t even know how this woman got into my room!"
He then grabbed Shen Ningning’s wrist. "Ningning, I swear I haven’t done anything to wrong you!"
Shen Ningning finally snapped back to reality. She pursed her lips. "I believe you."
Then, she turned and had the Shopkeeper and the waiter work together to usher the gawking crowd away.
The young woman then pushed Lu Shaoyuan back into the room and shut the door.
Lu Shaoyuan was aghast. "I don’t want to be in the same room as her! It’s disgusting! I’ve been framed! It must have been Mr. Long and his men!"
’His mother was right,’ he thought. ’Jiang Shanglong is a former pirate, after all. They probably had ill intentions from the start.’
Shen Ningning patted the back of his hand reassuringly. "Don’t panic. First, go get dressed. You can’t just leave. If you do, you won’t be able to clear your name even if you’re innocent. We have to at least question her and find out what happened."
’If he leaves, they’ll just destroy the evidence, and his reputation will be ruined for good.’
The woman kneeling by the bed, who had been weeping bitterly, suddenly stopped when she heard Shen Ningning’s words. A moment later, she resumed her quiet sobs.
Lu Shaoyuan was already frantic and at his wit’s end. He followed Shen Ningning’s advice and went behind the screen to change.
Shen Ningning calmly walked over to the woman. She pulled the blanket from the bed and draped it over the woman’s shoulders.
"Regardless of what happened, a woman’s reputation is important. So why don’t you tell me exactly what’s going on? Who are you, and how did you end up here?"
The woman wiped her tears and knelt before Shen Ningning. "I am a wine server brought by Mr. Long. Last night, Second Young Master Lu was dining with our Mr. Long and became drunk. The shopkeepers had me help the Second Young Master to his room to rest and change into clean clothes. But... but..."
At this, her crying grew more intense. "But the Second Young Master pushed me onto the bed! He was shouting the Princess’s name, and then he started tearing at my clothes. I struggled with all my might and refused him, but he slapped me so hard I passed out. When I woke up... it was already like this. Sob... Princess, you must get justice for me!"
The woman lifted her face, and Shen Ningning could indeed see that her left cheek was badly swollen, with a clear handprint on it.
Looking at the parts of her body visible beneath the blanket, they were covered in marks left from a night of passion. The bed itself was a complete mess.
Lu Shaoyuan, having finished changing, heard the woman’s accusation and stormed out from behind the screen.
"You’re lying!" His eyes were bloodshot, and the veins on his neck bulged. If Shen Ningning hadn’t immediately blocked his path, he looked ready to kick the woman to the ground.
Lu Shaoyuan pointed at the woman. "I was dead drunk last night, completely passed out! How could I have possibly forced you down?! Where’s Mr. Long? Get Mr. Long! He can prove it!"
’Although he’d blacked out and couldn’t remember the latter part of the night, Lu Shaoyuan did recall that Jiang Shanglong had to leave early for some urgent business. At that point, he was drunk, but still conscious.’
’It was only after that, when he was drinking with the other shopkeepers, that he got completely wasted.’
Shen Ningning pursed her lips, watching the woman who was trembling and weeping nonstop.
"You still haven’t told me your name."
"My name is Shuyan."
Shen Ningning seemed to notice something. She bent down, took the woman’s hand, and examined her fingertips and palm, her brow slowly furrowing.
A flicker of panic flashed in Shuyan’s eyes.
"Shuyan, have you always served as a handmaid for Jiang Shanglong and the other shopkeepers?"
"Yes. I’m mainly responsible for helping them with their washing and grooming."
She looked up, her voice choked with sobs. "Princess, what do these questions have to do with the fact that my reputation has been ruined? I’m not asking for wealth or status. I only beg you, Princess, to allow me into Second Young Master Lu’s household. Even being a low-ranking concubine is better than having lost my virtue. Otherwise, how will I ever be able to marry? Sob..."
"You want to be my concubine? In your dreams! It’s obvious you conspired with Jiang Shanglong to frame me!" Lu Shaoyuan was livid.
Shen Ningning raised a hand to silence him.
The young princess asked calmly, "Actually, I have a few questions. You need to answer them for me. First, you claim your job is to help with washing and grooming, but your hands are soft and delicate. They don’t have the calluses a typical maidservant would have."
Shuyan froze.
"That’s because... I... I’m usually just responsible for simple tasks like serving tea. The shopkeepers are kind and don’t make me do any of the hard, dirty labor."
Shen Ningning nodded slowly. "Is that so? But you said you were knocked unconscious. How can you be certain you were actually defiled? I think we should have an examining matron take a look."
Shuyan’s head snapped up, and she stared at her, aghast. "Princess, you might as well just order me to die!"
"Being examined by the matron is for the sake of justice. Why would you see it as an insult? I’ve heard that some matrons are so experienced they only need a single glance to know when a woman lost her virginity—they can even tell the year and month. As it happens, there’s a very skilled old woman just like that in Xiangyun Village."
Lu Shaoyuan immediately agreed. "Excellent! Ningning, I’ll send someone to fetch her right now. We’ll let the examining matron decide whether I assaulted you or not!"
Shuyan suddenly let out a mournful cry. "Since the Second Young Master refuses to have me and the Princess refuses to take me in, then I have no choice but to die!"
As she spoke, she shot to her feet and lunged forward. But Shen Ningning was ready and kicked a long bench that was in front of her.
The bench slid forward, knocking Shuyan to the ground.
"She’s trying to kill herself! Lu Shaoyuan, restrain her!"
’If she dies,’ Shen Ningning thought, ’this will be much harder to investigate.’
However, as Lu Shaoyuan moved toward her, Shuyan suddenly drew a dagger she’d had hidden and slowly backed away toward the window.
Lu Shaoyuan’s brow furrowed. "What do you think you’re doing?!"
Shuyan stared at Shen Ningning, then shrugged the blanket Shen Ningning had given her off her shoulders.
Shuyan spoke, her voice hoarse. "Princess, what I needed wasn’t a blanket."
As soon as the words left her mouth, she caught sight of a group of people rushing toward the building out of the corner of her eye. She immediately plunged the dagger into her chest and fell backward out the window.
Lu Shaoyuan, horrified, lunged forward to grab her.
But he caught nothing. A dull thud echoed from below as she hit the ground, followed by a wave of screams from the people in the street.
Shen Ningning rushed to the window and looked out.
Down below, she saw Mo Lingwei standing with a group of his trusted aides. Shuyan had landed right in front of his horse. Her hand, in its final moment, stretched out as if to grab the horse’s hoof, but it was a futile gesture. She died with her eyes wide open, her breath gone.
Mo Lingwei looked up, his gaze meeting Shen Ningning’s beautiful, startled eyes.