Forced to be a third person: I turned around and left the palace to marry a villain

"Prince Gong, is it true that this woman rescued the Marquis of Zhenbei with you as Prince Xichen said?"

"good."

"Is she from Beiling?"

"I don't know."

"Is she under your command?"

"No."

The emperor of Beixi asked three questions in succession, all of which were rejected by Xiao Zhan with a concise "three no's".

"You are lying! If she was not your person, why would she be so active in rescuing Marquis Zhenbei? If she was not a spy from Beiling, how could she use such means to deal with the Fourth Prince." Jun Li said angrily.

"What would you do if I told you that I was going to kill Lord Cao who is beside you right now?" Xiao Zhan looked at Cao Yuan coldly. The chill in his eyes made Cao Yuan shiver involuntarily.

"You dare." Jun Li immediately stood in front of Cao Yuan, his eyes full of vigilance. Cao Yuan is now Shangguan Xi's important assistant, and he must not let Shangguan Xi lose such a key person.

"Look, you are so excited when I want to kill Lord Cao. Does he have any relationship with you? Could it be that Lord Cao is also your man, so you protect him like this?" Xiao Zhan's words made Jun Li fall into silence.

Did he have to admit the relationship of interest between him and Cao Yuan in front of the Emperor of Beixi? If so, it would be a crime of collusion with another country, and neither of them would survive.

"I just respect Lord Cao as a person. How can I watch him being framed?" Jun Li thought for a long time and finally said this.

"The same goes for Miss Si. Zhenbei Hou has devoted himself to Beiling, and everyone who knows him respects him.

Jun Li, you can protect the people you respect, so why can't Miss Si? If you say she is a spy because of this, then shouldn't you also be considered a spy sent by Xichen?"

Xiao Zhan's words left Jun Li speechless and he was so angry that he couldn't speak.

"More importantly, we should be discussing the Fourth Prince's injury, but you've turned the topic to an irrelevant identity issue. Isn't this a bit of a sidestep? Are you afraid of having Cao Zhiqing come out to confront you?"

Xiao Zhan interrupted Jun Li and looked coldly at Cao Yuan who was standing beside him. The latter seemed very nervous.

The Emperor of Beixi watched all this thoughtfully, then turned his gaze to Jiang Xue, who had remained silent.

The identity of this woman is indeed intriguing. It is indeed not easy for her to cause the royal families of the two countries to argue over her.

"Bring her up here."

Following the emperor's order, a eunuch announced loudly: "Summon Cao Zhiqing to the audience."

Not long after, under the guidance of a palace maid, a thin figure walked into the Xuchen Palace.

Cao Zhiqing seldom went out. Faced with such a grand occasion, as soon as she came in and saw the hall full of officials, she became so nervous that she could hardly move.

Especially when she saw Jiang Xue standing there firmly, she felt even more nervous.

However, now that things have come to this, she can only bite the bullet and move forward. After all, there is no way back. "Cao Zhiqing pays respect to the emperor."

After the ceremony, Cao Zhiqing stood up. The Emperor of Beixi looked at her nervous expression and asked, "Daughter of the Cao family, Cao Zhiqing, I want to ask you, did you get the medicine you gave the Fourth Prince from her?"

The emperor pointed at Jiang Xue.

Cao Zhiqing took a look and nodded: "Yes."

"Your Majesty, please be wise. The witness has told the truth. This woman is the murderer who framed the Fourth Prince. Please give her the punishment she deserves and bring justice to the Fourth Prince." As soon as Cao Zhiqing finished speaking, Wang Xiurong immediately blamed Jiang Xue.

"Don't be anxious, Empress Xiurong. Both sides just need to produce evidence to convince everyone. Concubine Cao wants to convict me for just saying one sentence. This is too hasty." Jiang Xue showed a meaningful smile and looked at Cao Zhiqing calmly.

Why does she have that expression? What is she laughing at? Shouldn't she be worried about her fate at this moment?

In terms of psychological warfare, how could Cao Zhiqing, who had never seen much of the world, be a match for Jiang Xue, who had experienced many ups and downs? Jiang Xue's smile was enough to shake Cao Zhiqing's mind.

"Concubine Cao, do you still keep the two bottles of medicine I gave you?" Jiang Xue saw Cao Zhiqing's hesitation, but pretended to be calm and asked softly.

"Keep it." Cao Zhiqing took out two small porcelain bottles from her arms.

Jiang Xue confirmed that it was indeed the bottle she gave her.

Jiang Xue reached out to take the medicine bottle, but Cao Zhiqing took a step back.

"What's wrong? Concubine Cao won't let me see these medicines? Are the contents different from what I gave you?"

Cao Zhiqing felt uneasy, holding the medicine bottle tightly and not daring to hand it over. She knew in her heart that the medicine in the bottle had been replaced by her.

"I...I..." She stuttered, unable to utter a complete sentence.

Cao Yuan, who was standing by, was furious when he saw his daughter was so useless.

"Are you mute?" He secretly worried about how such behavior would affect the emperor's opinion and the views of the officials in the court.

If the Cao family is implicated, he will never let her off easily.

"If it's inconvenient for me to examine it, then please ask the imperial physician to come." Jiang Xue saw that there was something wrong with the medicine bottle in Cao Zhiqing's hand.

Just as her senior brother had expected, Cao Zhiqing was eager to get rid of Shangguan Xi and attempted to pin the blame on her.

Jiang Xue once said that she could give Cao Zhiqing a glimmer of hope, but she could also easily crush it. She had given Cao Zhiqing a chance, but she herself did not cherish it.

"Cao Zhiqing, take the medicine bottles to the imperial physician for inspection." The emperor noticed Cao Zhiqing's abnormal behavior and realized that there was something wrong with the two bottles of medicine.

Under the emperor's order, Cao Zhiqing had to do it despite her reluctance.

When the imperial physician opened the medicine bottle, an unpleasant smell quickly spread.

Everyone covered their noses, frowned and stepped back. The servants quickly opened the windows of the palace to ventilate, otherwise the pungent smell would make it almost impossible to breathe.

"This is not the smell that medicinal herbs should have." Jiang Xue felt uncomfortable from the smell and she really wished her sense of smell was not so sensitive.

Seeing this, Xiao Zhan took out a handkerchief from his arms and handed it to her. The faint scent of ambergris on the handkerchief made her feel much better.

Jiang Xue didn't think much about it and immediately took the bottle and covered her mouth and nose. The familiar ambergris slightly relieved her discomfort, and her breathing gradually became smoother.

The imperial physician's face was gloomy. After he frowned and confirmed the smell in the bottle, he closed the cap tightly and reported to the emperor: "Your Highness, this is not medicine for wounds, but rotten water mixed with gold juice."

No wonder the smell is so pungent!

It seems that Cao Zhiqing hated Shangguan Xi so much that she actually dumped this kind of thing on Shangguan Xi!

Whether it was the gold juice or the rotten water, once it came into contact with the wound it would cause infection and ulceration, not to mention how corrosive the mixture of the two was.

"Gold juice, it's so disgusting." After Wang Xiurong learned the ingredients in the bottle, his face turned pale and he vomited several times.

Upon seeing this, the emperor personally rubbed her back to help her calm down.