Su Xiaoqi clutched her stomach, tears streaming down her face.
Although Du Yiyi knew she was faking it, the agony she portrayed was as real as it could be.
She became fully immersed, rushing to support Su Xiaoqi, her own eyes turning red with distress.
The accompanying officials' wives watched, but dared not openly accuse Zhao Xiaohua due to Zhao Xiaohua's status.
However, their evasive glances and subtle, unspoken condemnation made Zhao Xiaohua feel incredibly wronged.
Since her rebirth, relying on her foreknowledge of future events, she had always proceeded with meticulous planning.
Manipulating most people at her fingertips had always been smooth sailing.
She had never experienced such humiliation.
If she had meticulously schemed against others before, it would have been understandable.
But today, she hadn't even had a chance to do anything.
How could she suddenly be framed for this?
She glared hatefully at Su Xiaoqi, knowing instinctively that this woman was born to thwart her.
Whenever they were near each other, Su Xiaoqi prevented her from being as successful as she usually was in front of others.
This had happened more than once or twice.
It was just that in the past, she never personally confronted Su Xiaoqi and her companions when scheming against them.
There were always scapegoats to take the brunt, so she hadn't directly clashed with Su Xiaoqi.
Today, she had been too impulsive.
Thinking that with her status as the Crown Princess, she could surely outshine Su Xiaoqi.
But the current situation did not seem to be going as she had anticipated.
She gritted her teeth, anger escaping her nostrils.
To Du Yiyi, this posture made Zhao Xiaohua look as if her nostrils were askew from rage.
She sneered and mocked her.
"I haven't done anything, stop pretending." Zhao Xiaohua wanted to lash out, but the crowd around them grew.
She had to swallow her grievances and anger, suppressing them within.
"Haven't done anything, what a perfect excuse.
Everyone here saw you walk over and deliberately bully my Sister Xiaoqi.
And you even dared to use your status as Crown Princess to suppress her. You are the Crown Princess, true, but you must remember that my Sister Xiaoqi also holds the noble status of a Princess."
No one had ever compared a Princess to a Crown Princess before.
But to a certain extent, Su Xiaoqi's princely rank was indeed higher than Zhao Xiaohua's rank as Crown Princess.
Especially since, besides being a princess of the Liang Dynasty, she also had the support of Northern Chu behind her.
Su Xiaoqi lowered her head, her eyes red, doing nothing but listening to the voices around her criticizing Zhao Xiaohua, almost drowning her out.
She slightly curved the corners of her lips, feeling quite pleased.
Finally, Zhao Xiaohua had suffered a clear setback.
Soon, Shen Yun arrived.
He had just been attending to other cabinet ministers and was unaware of everything that had transpired here.
Upon his arrival, he saw his wife looking distressed.
And Zhao Xiaohua stood before them in her full regal attire as Crown Princess.
Listening to the words of the surrounding people, it was clear that Zhao Xiaohua had bullied his wife.
At this moment, Shen Yun did not bother to consider how Zhao Xiaohua, with her abilities, could possibly bully his wife in public.
He only knew that his wife, who was pregnant, had been bullied while attending a palace banquet with him.
This was absolutely intolerable.
He walked directly to the Crown Prince, who had been silent until then, and softly spoke two words.
The Crown Prince's expression changed drastically. He beckoned to a palace maid standing behind him. She immediately stepped forward and whispered into Zhao Xiaohua's ear, "Your Highness the Crown Princess, His Highness commands you to apologize to Princess An Qi."
"On what grounds? I haven't done anything," Zhao Xiaohua frowned, displeased.
Su Xiaoqi appeared to be looking at Zhao Xiaohua, but in reality, she had been straining her ears, listening to the commotion around her.
She couldn't hear what Shen Yun said, but she heard him clearly.
He had spoken to the Crown Prince about contraband salt.
She hadn't expected this Crown Prince, who seemed rather timid usually, to dare deal in contraband salt.
"Your Highness the Crown Princess, this is His Highness's will. Princess An Qi is pregnant, and you truly shouldn't treat her this way." The maid speaking was no ordinary maid.
She was a capable palace maid arranged by Noble Consort Li to be by the Crown Prince's side.
She could assist him in his important affairs and take meticulous care of him in his daily life.
Of course, this was before Zhao Xiaohua arrived.
Ever since Zhao Xiaohua became the Crown Princess through some unknown means, her position as the chief maid was almost jeopardized.
Therefore, she harbored no good feelings towards Zhao Xiaohua.
However, Zhao Xiaohua's methods were too strong, and she was completely outmatched.
Seeing her in a predicament today, she naturally seized the opportunity to push her down.
Zhao Xiaohua had already become overly arrogant, incapable of tolerating Pear Blossom, a mere maid, dictating to her.
She dared not lay a hand on Su Xiaoqi, but could she not even control this mere little maid?
She gritted her teeth and immediately slapped Pear Blossom across the face.
With a crisp "slap," the sound was clear.
Su Xiaoqi, who had been leaning on Du Yiyi, couldn't help but be stunned when she witnessed this.
Striking someone in public, even if it was a servant, was essentially a loss of face.
Furthermore, the Emperor was about to arrive.
Su Xiaoqi curved her lips and smiled.
Upon seeing this, Shen Yun could no longer concern himself with the Crown Prince. He immediately came forward, took Su Xiaoqi from Du Yiyi's hands, pulled her into his embrace, and protected her safety from all angles.
"My dear, are you alright? Are you frightened?" Shen Yun cast a cold glance at the Crown Prince.
He said nothing, implying that the Crown Prince should understand his meaning.
The Crown Prince quickly came forward personally, held Zhao Xiaohua back, and whispered, "Quickly apologize to Princess An Qi."
Zhao Xiaohua choked.
She could slap Pear Blossom, but now it was the Crown Prince speaking. How could she dare?
This was the imperial family. If she acted rashly out of temper, she might be crushed like a small ant before achieving anything.
Thinking of her grand future plans, she had to suppress all her impulses for the time being.
She glared resentfully at Su Xiaoqi, who was being held in Shen Yun's arms.
Her gaze swept across Shen Yun's face.
This man was even more handsome than when he was in the village.
His chiseled face, sculpted features, dark eyebrows, and eyes as deep as stars...
Zhao Xiaohua was momentarily mesmerized.
It was only when a nearby maid gently tugged at her that she came to her senses.
Everyone was still waiting for her to apologize to Su Xiaoqi.
"I'm sorry, Princess An Qi." Zhao Xiaohua gritted her teeth, having controlled all her anger.
She had to endure, endure for a moment to achieve greater things.
Su Xiaoqi looked around. The ladies were already scolding Zhao Xiaohua from all directions.
Although they were in the imperial palace and couldn't use overly vulgar language, these educated ladies and young ladies, when scolding, uttered not a single curse word.
Yet, every word they spoke inflicted unbearable pain.
Especially for someone like Zhao Xiaohua.
She always thought herself invincible in her schemes, perhaps looking down on these ordinary people in her eyes.
But precisely because of this mindset, being suppressed and reprimanded by them made her feel even worse.
It was the frustration of being unable to strike back at an opponent.
Su Xiaoqi had originally intended to add fuel to the fire. She wanted Zhao Xiaohua to lose the possibility of mingling with any noble ladies in the capital starting today.
Isolating her might be more painful than killing her.
After all, she was already accustomed to a life of being adored.