Lady Northern Feng didn’t like the sound of that at all. “She has never done such a thing.”
The old lady frowned. “She hasn’t? I heard that she was behind that filthy affair of the Xuanyuan family!”
Lady Northern Feng tittered. “Your Majesty, surely you don’t mean what happened between Lady Cai and Zuo Qingliu.”
The old lady snorted.
Lady Northern Feng chuckled. “I don’t understand. Why is my Xiao Wu involved in the affair between Lady Cai and Zuo Qingliu? Did she force them to sleep together?”
The empress dowager found that argument plausible.
Empress Dugu shot a warning glance at Concubine Oriole.
The empress had grown smarter. She would behave as nobly as an empress should, and let Concubine Oriole do all the dirty work for her.
Concubine Oriole covered her mouth with a handkerchief. “Lady Northern Feng, everyone has been saying that Feng Wu set Lady Cai and Young Master Zuo up. What happened was a trap.”
“Well, that’s the truth, but do you have evidence? If not, just shut up!” thought Lady Northern Feng.
She found this Concubine Oriole a pain in the neck.
However —
She would never lose her temper in front of the empress dowager. Holding the old lady’s hand, Lady Northern Feng said in a soft voice, “I don’t get it. Why would my Xiao Wu set Lady Cai and Zuo Qingliu up? She would have to have a motive, right?”
The empress dowager was persuaded. Yes, one had to have a motive to do such a thing.
Hence, the old lady looked dubiously at Concubine Oriole.
Could Concubine Oriole say that it was because Xuanyuan Ying tried to set Feng Wu up first? Of course she couldn’t!
Before Concubine Oriole could speak, Lady Northern Feng struck again.
“Moreover, it’s like you’ve said: Xiao Wu is a dumb girl without much cultivation capability. How can she frame the oldest daughter-in-law of the Xuanyuan family in their own territory? Concubine Oriole, do you think that’s possible?”
Concubine Oriole smiled awkwardly and was about to speak when —
Lady Northern Feng went on. “Concubine Oriole says that my Xiao Wu had been bullying people because of her powerful connections. Who are you suggesting those connections are? Me? Does Concubine Oriole think that I prompted Xiao Wu to do those things that night?”
Concubine Oriole was about to explain, but Lady Northern Feng had already taken the empress dowager’s hand and burst into tears. “Your Majesty, I never knew that Concubine Oriole has this sort of impression of me. I don’t want to live anymore…”
Things turned against them so fast that both Concubine Oriole and Empress Dugu were speechless.
Empress Dugu was used to this. After all, Lady Northern Feng hadn’t remained the empress dowager’s favorite for years for nothing.
The empress dowager patted Lady Northern Feng’s hand. “You silly girl. That’s nothing worth crying over.”
Lady Northern Feng said, “Your Majesty, I feel so wronged.”
The empress dowager patted her hand and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “She wasn’t targeting you. Why do you feel wronged?”
“I feel wronged for my Xiao Wu. She didn’t do anything, but every time something happens to someone else, she’s the one who’s blamed. She had nothing to do with this whole Xuanyuan business!” Lady Northern Feng sounded even more aggrieved as she spoke. “Plus, Your Majesty made her Princess Feng Wu yourself. Are you going to do nothing about all this slander?”
That jogged the empress dowager’s memory. Lady Northern Feng was right. The empress dowager had given Feng Wu that title herself.
