Chapter 658

Chapter Nineteen — The Three Little Ones: Niannian 19

“Xiao Tao, you were the one who tried to push me into the water. How dare you blame me instead?” Li Mingyue had decided not to indulge Xiao Tao any longer.

She cursed herself inwardly for being so foolish. She had actually treated someone like this as a close friend before.

And today, she had even brought her to the Grand Princess’s residence.

“Mingyue, I didn’t! You were the one who pushed me into the water. You can’t slander me just because your cousin is here!” Xiao Tao wept so pitifully that she seemed to have suffered some enormous injustice.

Gu Nuonuo frowned. She did not know this girl named Xiao Tao.

However, the Li family had always conducted themselves openly and honorably.

Li Mingyue’s reputation in the capital had never been bad.

Deep down, Gu Nuonuo believed that Li Mingyue would never do something like push someone into the water.

Still, the incident had happened at the flower-viewing banquet she was hosting, so she had to give everyone an explanation.

“Someone go and ask the servants who were near the waterside pavilion whether they saw what happened,” Gu Nuonuo instructed the attendants beside her.

Li Mingyue pressed her lips together, feeling wronged as well.

But since this was the Grand Princess’s residence, she forced herself to remain calm.

“Don’t worry, Mingyue. I won’t let you suffer any injustice over this,” Niannian said with a grim expression.

Yet inwardly, she was also annoyed. She had underestimated just how shameless Xiao Tao could be. Still, anyone who wanted to frame her had better see whether they were qualified to do so.

Before long, all the maids and manservants stationed around the waterside pavilion at the Grand Princess’s residence arrived in the side room.

The Third Prince, Xie Yanzhi, and Jiang Yu came with them.

Their expressions were all rather unpleasant.

One of the attendants accompanying the Third Prince gave a push, and a beggar emerged from behind him.

“Third Prince, who is this?” Gu Nuonuo asked, startled by the sight.

“Eldest Miss Gu, we just discovered this man skulking around suspiciously beside the waterside pavilion, so we brought him here,” Xie Yanzhi said with a cupped-fist salute.

He had only just returned after changing clothes and had seen the man then.

“I only wanted to come to the Grand Princess’s residence to have a look around. Why are you arresting me?” the beggar asked evasively.

The moment Xiao Tao saw him clearly, her entire expression changed.

She had never expected that he would be discovered.

Xiao Tao secretly prayed that he would not reveal her involvement.

“You were all near the waterside pavilion just now. Did you see how Miss Li and Miss Xiao fell into the water?” Gu Nuonuo asked as she looked at them.

“Answering Eldest Miss, I only saw Miss Xiao grab Miss Li when Miss Xiao fell into the water,” one of the young maids said after glancing at Li Mingyue and Xiao Tao.

“Answering Eldest Miss, I only saw the two of them fall into the water together,” a manservant beside her said, shaking his head.

“Answering Eldest Miss, I saw Miss Xiao try to push Miss Li. But she lost her footing, and when she was about to fall into the water, she grabbed Miss Li and pulled her in with her,” another maid who had been standing nearby truthfully reported what she had seen.

“Answering Eldest Miss, I was standing close by. What I saw was exactly the same as Er’ya said,” the manservant beside her stated firmly.

“They’re lying! They must have taken a bribe from Li Mingyue and are slandering me!” Xiao Tao’s face turned pale. She had not expected that someone had actually witnessed the incident. She had clearly checked that no one was outside the pavilion before daring to push Li Mingyue.

“We’re people from the Grand Princess’s residence. What benefit would we gain from slandering you? You were the one who tried to push Miss Li, but you lost your footing and dragged her into the water with you,” the maid called Er’ya said unhappily.

“And who are you? Why did you sneak into my residence?” Gu Nuonuo said nothing. She merely glared coldly at the beggar.

This man should not have been at the Grand Princess’s residence today.

“I heard that the Grand Princess’s residence was very grand, so I just wanted to come in and take a look,” the beggar said indifferently.

“Where did you enter from? All the guests who came to the Grand Princess’s residence today had invitations. If you refuse to tell the truth, I’ll have you handed over to the authorities.”

Before the beggar could say anything, Gu Nuonuo added coldly.

Gu Nuonuo had been raised and taught by the Grand Princess herself. The imposing air about her was no weaker than that of a princess of the imperial family.

Niannian was also staring fixedly at the beggar.

“I’ll talk! I’ll talk!” As soon as the beggar heard that the Grand Princess’s residence would report him to the authorities, he hurriedly pointed at Xiao Tao. “I sneaked in through the back gate when someone was bringing in vegetables. She told me to come here today, and that afterward I would be able to marry a wealthy young lady and live a good life.”

“You’re talking nonsense! I don’t know you at all!” Xiao Tao panicked when she heard this.

If the matter were exposed, it would not merely mean offending the Li family.

There were also Prince An’s household and the Grand Princess’s residence. She could not afford to offend either one.

What was more, there were members of the Xie family, the Third Prince, and the heir of the Marquis of Yongning present as well. At the thought of this, Xiao Tao began trembling. The arrogance she had shown while accusing Li Mingyue was nowhere to be seen.

“You gave me twenty taels of silver too,” the young beggar added when Xiao Tao refused to admit it. He realized that the matter must be serious. “You said you’d give me another hundred taels after it was done!”

The young beggar knew that he would be in grave trouble if he continued to conceal the truth, especially here at the Grand Princess’s residence.

Terrified, he dropped to his knees and begged for mercy. “Honored masters, I truly had no intention of offending anyone. She deceived me and said she could arrange for me to marry a young lady from the Li family.”

The young beggar pointed at Xiao Tao.

“You’re talking nonsense! Mingyue and I are friends. Why would I ask you to ruin her?” Xiao Tao’s face turned ugly.

She had always been jealous that, despite Li Mingyue’s family being merchants of lower status than her own, Li Mingyue moved through the capital with ease, and no one dared offend her.

And what about herself?

She was the daughter of an official, yet she lived in the capital with far less freedom than Li Mingyue, the daughter of a merchant.

Today, she had only been able to enter the Grand Princess’s residence by relying on Li Mingyue’s connections. That was when she had come up with the idea of dragging Li Mingyue down into the mud.

What she had not expected was that Niannian would turn out to be the Young Princess of Prince An’s household.

Even more unexpected was that when Li Mingyue fell into the water, Xie Yanzhi had jumped in to save her without the slightest hesitation.

Jiang Yu had originally wanted to jump in and save Li Mingyue as well. But when he saw Xie Yanzhi leap into the water, he had sent someone to rescue Xiao Tao instead.

He would never be foolish enough to jump into the water himself to save Li Mingyue. What if that woman used the opportunity to cling to him and make him take responsibility?

Now, Jiang Yu felt fortunate that he had been so clever.

Otherwise, Xiao Tao might have been crying and shouting that he had tarnished her virtue and demanding that he take responsibility for her.

The Third Prince’s expression darkened. He had never expected the daughter of a mere sixth-rank official to have the audacity to harm someone from the Li family.

Could it be that she did not know the Li family was Imperial Father’s purse?

“Guards, send these two to the Dali Temple and question them thoroughly!” the Third Prince ordered directly.

“I already told you everything! Why are you still sending me to the authorities?” The young beggar felt as if the sky had collapsed. Hadn’t he already confessed? Why did they still want to send him to the authorities?