Chapter 414: Ningning Knows Everything

Chapter 414: Chapter 414: Ningning Knows Everything

Shen Ningning had her Hidden Guard give the prison guard five taels of broken silver.

"Go stand guard outside. I have a few questions for her."

The prison guard took the money and left, thanking her profusely.

One of the two Hidden Guards stood watch at the cell door, while the other guarded the corner of the dungeon.

Shen Ningning took a step forward. "Was it good?"

Hearing such a soft, sweet question, Second Madam Xie was momentarily dazed.

She slowly raised her head, her murky eyes peering out from behind strands of matted hair.

"AH—!" Seeing it was Shen Ningning, Second Madam Xie scrambled back in fright, knocking over the bowl of rice soup, which spilled all over the floor.

"Don’t kill me, don’t kill me! I haven’t done anything bad anymore! Spare me, Princess, spare me!" Second Madam Xie was so scared she burst into tears.

She hadn’t dared to provoke Shen Ningning for a long time. If Xie Yuanjiu hadn’t been so stubborn, how could she have ended up in a prison cell?

Watching Second Madam Xie’s pathetic, tear-streaked state, the little girl felt a bit helpless.

’I just want to ask a few questions, that’s all.’

"I’m not here to hurt you. I just want to ask you a few questions. Answer them truthfully."

As Shen Ningning spoke, a rat scurried out from a corner, SQUEAKING. It smelled the rice soup and ran over to lick it up.

The little girl frowned and took half a step back.

Although Second Madam Xie was somewhat delirious, when she heard Shen Ningning wanted to question her, she nodded frantically. "I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything I know!"

Shen Ningning pursed her lips. "Xie Yuanjiu comes to see you every few days. Besides bringing you food, has she said anything else to you?"

Second Madam Xie tried to recall. Suddenly, she let out a foolish laugh, a sound tinged with mockery.

"She blames me for giving birth to her, haha—my daughter, whom I doted on for eight or nine years, actually thinks I’m a burden."

As she finished, she dry-heaved, vomiting a pool of yellowish-green fluid onto the floor.

Shen Ningning felt a little queasy and silently averted her gaze.

Just then, she saw the rat that had been lapping up the rice soup suddenly collapse, its limbs twitching uncontrollably!

The little girl’s eyes widened. "The rice soup is poisoned!"

Second Madam Xie stopped heaving and looked up with panicked eyes.

The rat’s limbs trembled violently, and after a moment, its tail went rigid. Second Madam Xie was terrified. But a moment later, the rat seemed to recover and staggered away.

It had lost all balance and coordination, stumbling every other step.

This convinced Shen Ningning that the rice soup was indeed poisoned, but since it hadn’t killed the rat instantly, it must be a slow-acting poison.

She looked at Second Madam Xie with a complicated expression.

Second Madam Xie had already realized what was happening. She frantically clawed at her own throat, screaming curses.

"That bitch! Xie Yuanjiu is a bitch! How could she be so vicious?! I’m her mother—BLEGH..."

She vomited another pile of yellowish-green bile.

A foul stench filled the air.

Shen Ningning covered her nose and mouth. "I think I know why she suddenly had a change of heart and started bringing you food."

"General Fang has returned to the Capital City, did you know? Once you’re dead, she can start a rumor that my second uncle was responsible for your death. Then everyone in the Capital City who knows about their past relationship will suspect that my second uncle killed you to rekindle his old flame with General Fang."

Second Madam Xie wiped the foam from her lips, suddenly understanding. "What? Fang Qingdai... is back in the Capital City."

She burst into tears. "Then I have no hope of ever returning to the Xie Mansion! With her around, the Second Master won’t even spare me a glance! It’s over! It’s all over!"

Her crying gave Shen Ningning a headache.

The little girl snapped fiercely, "Stop crying! If you keep crying, you won’t even have your life left."

Second Madam Xie was afraid of her. Scolded like that, her crying stopped abruptly. She cowered, her uneasy gaze fixed on Shen Ningning.

Then, the little girl pulled several food items out of her sleeve one after another.

A bag of small red bean buns, some dry ration biscuits, and a waterskin filled with fresh water.

She tossed them to Second Madam Xie through the bars of the cell.

"Hide this food well. Don’t worry, it’s not poisoned."

Second Madam Xie was terrified. "Princess... Why are you helping me? I tried to harm you before. Don’t you resent me?"

Shen Ningning’s round, fair little face was very serious.

"Of course I resent you. However, you can’t die right now. Otherwise, my second uncle’s good name will be ruined."

To put it bluntly, the little girl simply couldn’t let Xie Yuanjiu succeed!

Of course, Second Madam Xie didn’t want to die either. After a moment’s hesitation, she crawled over and gathered the things Shen Ningning had given her, hiding them away carefully.

Before leaving, Shen Ningning instructed, "Next time she brings you food, don’t act any differently. Accept it as usual, but don’t eat it. Keep it as evidence."

...

Recently, Shen Ningning had her people keeping a close eye on Xie Yuanjiu.

But one day, to the little girl’s surprise, Xie Yuanjiu actually got into a conflict with Liang Yici.

By the Lotus Pond in the National Academy, Liang Yici was confronting Xie Yuanjiu with a sharp tone.

"Lai Zi and his family have confessed! It was you who gave them silver and had that old woman harm me! Why would you do that? What grudge do you have against me?!"

She gave Xie Yuanjiu a hard shove. Xie Yuanjiu staggered, her face pale and streaked with tears.

Xie Yuanjiu said nothing, only shaking her head and crying. "I didn’t, I didn’t..."

A crowd of students had gathered nearby, but no one knew whether they should intervene.

They only gossiped among themselves—

"I heard Princess Rongshu was summoned to the government office not long ago. Could it be because of this?"

"Could Princess Rongshu be mistaken? What reason would Xie Yuanjiu have to harm her?"

"Tsk, what do you know? Princess Rongshu is General Fang’s daughter, and Xie Yuanjiu is Second Madam Xie’s daughter. What’s the relationship between their mothers? Romantic rivals! Of course the daughters don’t get along."

Shen Ningning, Ye Shangyi, Lu Shaoyuan, and Xu Jingxi stood among the students, watching the drama unfold.

The little girl glanced discreetly at Xu Jingxi. His face was calm, but the hand hanging by his side was already clenched into a fist.

Over there, Liang Yici was furious, but she couldn’t squeeze a peep out of Xie Yuanjiu.

No matter what was said, she would only cry!

Liang Yici grew desperate and shoved her again. "Explain yourself, or you’re not walking away from this today!"

Xie Yuanjiu lost her footing and, with a scream, fell backward into the icy pond water.

Liang Yici was the first to react, quickly reaching out to pull her up. However, Xie Yuanjiu gave her a faint, eerie smile, and Liang Yici’s hand froze in mid-air.

"SPLASH—"

The students cried out in alarm.

"Teacher! Teacher, come quick! Princess Rongshu pushed Miss Xie Si into the water!"

Mr. Han rushed over at the commotion, his face pale with shock. He quickly had people pull the soaking wet Xie Yuanjiu out of the water.

The early winter weather was frigid, and Xie Yuanjiu was drenched and shivering violently.

Mr. Han quickly ordered an Attendant Student, "Quick, help her to the Warm Pavilion to change her clothes."

Liang Yici snapped out of it and rushed forward. "Teacher, she did it on purpose! She’s trying to frame me! Xie Yuanjiu, don’t you go anywhere! Explain yourself!"

Mr. Han pushed her hand back. "That’s enough!"

Seeing that Mr. Han was angry, everyone fell silent.

Mr. Han looked at Liang Yici with disappointment. "Princess, the Academy requires harmony. How can you be so domineering and arrogant! Whatever the reason, you should not have pushed someone into the water."

"You! What kind of teacher are you, not even getting the facts straight! I told you, she slandered me! I never meant to push her into the water," Liang Yici fumed.

She looked around at the other students. "Which one of you is willing to testify for me?"

However, all anyone had seen was a weeping Xie Yuanjiu and an aggressive Liang Yici shoving her.

Who could testify for her? Everyone was quiet, looking at each other, not knowing what to do.

Liang Yici felt utterly wronged.

Her eyes reddened, and she fought back the urge to cry in front of everyone.

"I hate the Capital City! Every single one of you is a sanctimonious hypocrite!" With that, she turned and stormed away.

Mr. Han, his face ashen, told the crowd to disperse. He then went to chase after Princess Rongshu himself. If he let the girl run out of the National Academy just like that, he was afraid something bad might happen.

The crowd scattered like birds.

Lu Shaoyuan walked beside Shen Ningning and sighed. "This Princess Rongshu grew up on the border and is used to the straightforwardness of army camps. She probably never imagined that people’s hearts could be so treacherous and dark, right?"

Ye Shangyi snorted. "Xie Yuanjiu’s tricks are always the same. She provokes people until they get angry and then pretends to be the innocent victim."

Xu Jingxi looked at Shen Ningning. "Why didn’t you step up and help her just now?"

The little girl licked the candy figure in her hand, her watery eyes dark and bright.

"Why should I help her? She wouldn’t appreciate it and would just think I’m being nosy."

"And I’ll let you in on another secret. My Hidden Guard told me that Xie Yuanjiu is sending someone to set fire to Lai Zi’s house tonight."

"Because she’s calculated that Liang Yici will go look for Lai Zi again today to get him to come forward and expose what Xie Yuanjiu did."

"What a coincidence, right? When the fire starts, Liang Yici won’t be able to defend herself at all. Oh well, I can’t be bothered. It’s not like anyone cares anyway."

With that, Shen Ningning, Ye Shangyi, and Lu Shaoyuan walked away, grinning.

The little girl glanced back impassively and saw Xu Jingxi standing frozen in place, his handsome face lowered slightly, as if covered in a layer of frost.

Shen Ningning’s pink lips curved into a smile before she looked away.