Chapter Forty-Four: The Fake Pregnancy Exposed

  The crowd turned around, and they saw a beautiful woman wearing a fiery red riding suit slowly walking over on a tall horse. The woman jumped down from the horseback with a nimble movement and came to the front of the crowd.

  Mrs. Xü and Mrs. Lǐ, the wife of the Minister of Works, were the first to react, hastily making a curtsy to the red-clad woman approaching them: "Greetings, Princess Jìnglín." Xu Míngxiá was stunned, her earlier smugness gone, replaced by a hint of fear. Xu Míngjǐn felt grateful to the princess for speaking up on her behalf and followed Mrs. Xü in making a respectful curtsy. Xu Míngyīng and the others also hastened to make their bows, leaving only Xu Míngxiá standing there, staring blankly at Princess Jìnglín.

  Princess Jinglin's eyes flashed, and her sharp gaze swept towards Xu Mingxia, scaring her so much that she immediately went weak in the knees. Although she was the daughter of a high-ranking official, the highest-ranking royal person she had ever met was only Princess Wusuo. As soon as Princess Jinglin's name came out, Xu Mingxia felt dizzy and was scanned by Princess Jinglin's displeased gaze. She finally remembered the words that Princess Jinglin had just said, her face immediately turned pale like paper. It was something she made up, a completely fabricated story. How could she answer the princess? Hurriedly giving Princess Jinglin a bow, she didn't know how to open her mouth to respond to Princess Jinglin's question. Xu Mingxia had the guts to deceive others, but not enough guts to dare deceive Princess Jinglin.

  Xu Mingxia finally remembered the life story of Princess Jinglin: she was the most favored princess of the current emperor, ranking sixth in line with that damned Xu Mingjin, and was born to the current empress. Princess Jinglin had two older brothers, one being the current crown prince and the other being the young and promising Prince Rong. Even if Xu Mingxia were a thousand times bolder, she wouldn't dare offend these people. As for Princess Jinglin herself, she was also someone who couldn't be trifled with. Now Xu Mingxia was so anxious that her intestines were turning green, and she regretted not knowing earlier that Princess Jinglin would come at this time, and even if you killed her, she wouldn't dare to slander Xu Mingjin again.

  Xu Mingxia's mind suddenly grasped a key point, that is Xu Mingjin. If it weren't for her flawless face, she wouldn't have been unable to resist sullying her, and there wouldn't be the current predicament! It's all Xu Mingjin's fault! This cheap woman has brought disaster upon herself! She glared at Xu Mingjin with hatred in her eyes.

  Xu Mingjin looked at Xu Mingxia, who was glaring at him with anger, and felt speechless. He thought to himself: "I'm the one being framed and having a dirty hat put on me, shouldn't I be the one giving this kind of glare? Never seen anyone try to frame someone else and then turn around and resent them for not falling into their trap!"

  Princess Jinglin's eyes grew even colder as she gazed at Xu Mingxia. She spoke in a light tone, "What, do I need to ask again?"

  Xu Mingxia's face turned even paler, and she stammered: "Yes, yes. It's Lingyin Daozhang." Taking a deep breath, she reported the only Taoist name she knew. She thought to herself that Lingyin Daozhang was far away in the White Cloud Temple on the outskirts of the capital city, and it was impossible for him to appear here and expose her. Even if Princess Jinglin didn't believe her, as a princess, she wouldn't possibly go to find Lingyin Daozhang to verify the truth. Xu Mingxia had steeled herself to take this gamble.

  Unfortunately, her abacus was clicking away, but things didn't go as he had expected.

  Princess Jinglin sneered and said: "Oh? Lingyin Daozhang? Are you sure?"

  Xu Mingjin looked at Princess Jinglin, but in her heart, she was secretly amazed. This was the first time she had seen an ancient princess, and it would be a lie to say that she wasn't curious. The princess was only thirteen or fourteen years old, yet she was as beautiful as a flower. Her entire demeanor was not something that ordinary women could possess. Xu Mingjin also saw a heroic and refreshing air about the princess. In her mind, the most beautiful warrior costume was worn by Chingmy Yau in "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber", but Princess Jinglin's elegance far surpassed that of Chingmy Yau.

  Xu Mingjin was even more curious, this princess came to the banquet, and she actually rode a horse by herself, without even bringing a single follower. This was completely different from her impression of how princesses traveled with fanfare.

  Jinglin Princess also saw Xu Mingjin secretly sizing her up, but she didn't feel annoyed because Xu Mingjin's eyes didn't show the same fear and flattery as others when they looked at her. Instead, there was only curiosity and admiration. After looking at herself, Xu Mingjin even showed a thoughtful expression, how interesting.

  Princess Jinglin smiled slightly.

  But seeing Xu Mingxia's eyes, it was the princess who listened to her words and sneered coldly. It seemed that the princess did not believe herself, she was so scared that she knelt down with a thud.

  Outside the Pingxi Royal Mansion, people came and went, many of whom turned their eyes over. Mrs. Xu felt a chill run down her spine and could no longer care about anything else, hastily kneeling down to plead for her daughter: "Xia'er spoke nonsense, please, Your Highness, have mercy and spare her!"

  Princess Jinglin's face turned even colder: "I'm letting her off, it's just that adults have a lot of tolerance, if not, then it's narrow-mindedness."

  Mrs. Xü was so angry that she almost bit her tongue, and she deeply regretted speaking carelessly again and offending Princess Jinglin. Now she didn't dare say anything else and just kept kowtowing. Xu Mingxia also looked at Mrs. Xü with resentment and had no choice but to follow suit and kowtow as well.

  Princess Jinglin said, "You just said that it was the guarantee of Daozhang Lingyin. In that case, I will invite Daozhang Lingyin to come and confront you." After finishing speaking, she clapped her hands, and an old man wearing a Taoist robe with eyes shining brightly slowly emerged from the crowd, holding a dustpan in his hand. He came to Princess Jinglin's side, joined his palms together, and said, "Wúliàng Tiān Zūn."

  Princess Jinglin said: "The Taoist priest has been polite." Then, pointing at the kneeling Xu Furen and her daughter, she asked: "Taoist priest, do you recognize these two?"

  Lingyin Daozhang narrowed his eyes and sized up Mrs. Xu and her daughter for a moment, shaking his head and saying, "This old Taoist has never seen these two ladies before."

  As soon as the words came out, Madame Bu Zheng exclaimed: "Ah, Mrs. Xu, what your daughter just said about sending the sixth miss of the mansion to the countryside to recuperate is all nonsense?"

  Mrs. Xü heard this, but didn't know what to do for the best. If she admitted it, then Xu Mingxia's reputation would be ruined, but if she didn't admit it, how could she respond? Mrs. Xü was angry with her daughter for speaking out of turn, but at this moment, she had no choice but to think of a way to help her get out of the situation. If Xu Mingxia's accusations against Xu Mingjin were proven true, then Xu Mingxia would be in big trouble today. But Xu Mingxia was her only daughter - how could Mrs. Xü just stand by and do nothing? She thought quickly, and suddenly had an idea. With a flattering smile on her face, she said: "My daughter is illegitimate, and has only recently been acknowledged as mine, so it's possible that the Taoist master doesn't know about her. Besides, my daughter was sent to live in the countryside ten years ago, so it's also possible that the Taoist master has forgotten."

  Xu Mingxia listened to her mother and immediately grasped it like a lifeline, nodding desperately: "Right, right, right, Master Dao must have forgotten!" Xu Mingxia prayed desperately in her heart: Master Dao, please don't deny it, just spare me this once! I'll definitely offer you many gold, silver, and jewels every year, just spare me this time!

  Xu Mingxia's temporary hug did not move the spirit of Linyin Daozhang, he furrowed his brow and said: "But I've never broken my word about any woman's body being bad, saying she needs to be sent back to the countryside to recover, how could I possibly remember wrong."

  As soon as Lingyin Daozhang spoke, the onlookers immediately pointed and whispered to each other about Mrs. Xu and her daughter kneeling there, their eyes filled with disdain. They had just learned from the wife of the Minister of Works that this was not the first time these noblewomen had plotted against someone, and they were all too familiar with the taste of conspiracy. It wasn't that they sympathized with Xu Mingjin - she was just a concubine's daughter who had been acknowledged by her husband's first wife; how could she possibly gain the sympathy of these women who often oppressed concubines? They were mocking Mrs. Xu and her daughter, but only because they had failed to harm others and ended up harming themselves instead.

  Things have basically been clarified.

  It's believed that by tomorrow, the news of Mrs. Xu and her daughter's failed attempt to frame the concubine will spread all over town.

  Mrs. Xu and her daughter felt ashamed under the mocking gaze of the crowd.

  Things have developed like this, Xu Mingjin never thought of it. She didn't expect that the princess Jinglin, who had never been in contact with her before, would come from nowhere and help her out of trouble. But the play is not over yet, Xu Mingjin knows that she is not busy thanking Princess Jinglin now, she has more important things to do. These noblewomen in the capital are not mocking Mrs. Xu and her daughter because of themselves, they will not sympathize with them for this reason, and the best opportunity to gain their recognition has come.

  "Princess, please spare them for the sake of my mother's pregnancy!" Xu Mingjin knelt down beside Mrs. Xu, pleading for mercy on behalf of the mother and daughter. Although she really wanted to stand aside and watch the commotion, she knew that if she did so, everyone would think her cold-blooded and look down on her even more.

  Xu Mingjin's kneel, compared with Xu Furen and her daughter being ridiculed for their failure, she successfully achieved her own goal.

  The ladies around started to praise Xu Mingjin, saying that although her stepmother had wronged her so much, she was still able to put aside past grievances and actively plead for her. It seems that she is a broad-minded and tolerant person, and it's truly admirable that someone so young can achieve this.

  Xu Mingying and others were originally watching from the sidelines, but when they saw Xu's wife and daughter being punished, they were overjoyed. They couldn't wait for them to be punished by Princess Jinglin, so how could they possibly plead on their behalf? When they saw Xu Mingjin kneeling down to plead, they ridiculed her in their hearts, but when they heard the crowd praising Xu Mingjin, they immediately became unhappy. So they also knelt down one after another to plead for Xu's wife and daughter. However, it was already too late. The crowd looked at them with disdain: "If you want to show filial piety, why didn't you do it earlier? What's the point of kneeling now?"

  Xu Mingying and three others, hearing the crowd's scornful voices, all looked embarrassed.

  At this time, Princess Jinglin spoke up and asked Xu Mingjin: "How many months pregnant is your mother?"