Chapter 105: You're clearly lying!

In Chenghui Hall, the atmosphere was heavy.

After hearing Xiao Yuanhang's clear statement, the Grand Princess glanced at the prince's kneeling, pallid Huo family maid and the three kidnappers.

Her face darkened terrifyingly as she looked at Huo Wenxuan, standing before her, trembling all over.

"Wenxuan, what else do you have to say?"

Huo Wenxuan fell to her knees with a "thump," tears pouring down: "Aunt! Wenxuan is innocent!"

She pointed at the Huo family maid and said, "This person is indeed my mother's attendant, but my mother acted recklessly and committed such a mistake—how would I know?"

The maid snapped her head up, looking at her with astonishment.

Huo Wenxuan continued her lament: "Exactly! I understand now. It must be that Mother, seeing me constantly gloomy over Princess Jiayou, felt sorry for me and wanted to vent my anger, so she momentarily lost her judgment and made a grave mistake."

She turned sharply to Xiao Yuanhang, kowtowing repeatedly: "Prince, please see clearly! I truly know nothing of this! Mother, out of love for her daughter, made a grave error—I have nothing to say."

"Wenxuan is willing to take her punishment; I only beg the Prince and Princess Jiayou to show mercy and spare my mother this once!" She spoke sincerely, kowtowing nonstop until blood streaks seeped from her forehead.

The Grand Princess's face showed reluctance—after all, she had watched this child grow up, and she was also the Huo family's daughter-in-law……

Tuan Tuan had been nestled in his father's embrace, playing with the corner of his robe.

Upon hearing this, she lifted her little face: "You're lying! You clearly know everything! And you still blame your mother!"

Huo Wenxuan snapped her head up, shouting sharply: "Princess! You have indeed been wronged, but you cannot just spout bloody nonsense!"

She crawled forward on her knees, embraced the Grand Princess's legs, and cried: "Aunt! You know me best! I grew up by your side, receiving your teachings for years!"

"I really am jealous of the Princess; for a moment I lost my mind and kept complaining in front of Mother. But that was merely a child's thought, worrying that you would no longer dote on me."

"Aunt! Do you really believe that the child you raised with your own hands could be such a vicious, scheming person who orders others to abduct young children?!"

She cried until her voice was hoarse; the blood streaks on her forehead slid down her cheeks, mixing with tears, making her look both disheveled and pitiable.

The Grand Princess looked at her, recalling how she used to sit happily on her lap as a child, and a wave of soft sorrow welled up in her heart.

Xiao Yuanhang remained silent, waiting to see how the Grand Princess would dispose of the matter.

Tuan Tuan lowered his head to untie the embroidered pouch at his waist, rummaged through it, was about to pull something out, then lifted his head and met his father's gaze.

Seeing Xiao Yuanhang glance at the Grand Princess and shake his head slightly, she obediently tucked it back in.

Tilting her little head, she thought: Father doesn't want Imperial Aunt to see it.

But she is clearly lying! Ah! Right! This is just the thing!

She rummaged in the embroidered pouch a moment longer and produced a small paper packet.

She placed the packet on the table beside the tea cups, opened it, and inside was some bright yellow powder with a sweet fragrance—wisteria pollen.

Xiao Yuanhang whispered in her ear: "What is this, Tuan Tuan?"

Tuan Tuan wore a sly grin: "This, uh, is a treasure I picked up!"

She dumped all the powder into her own untouched cup of tea.

Then she clapped her hands satisfied: "That'll do!"

She picked up that cup of tea and said to Huo Wenxuan: "You say you didn't lie?"

"Then do you dare to drink it?"

The Grand Princess and Huo Wenxuan both stared, startled.

Xiao Yuanhang asked gently: "Tuan Tuan, what is this?"

"It's water that makes you tell the truth! Drink it and you won't lie anymore! If she drinks it, I'll believe whatever she says!"

Huo Wenxuan's pupils constricted as she snapped: "Don't even think of harming me! Who knows what's in there! Poison! Right, poison—are you trying to poison me?"

Tuan Tuan pursed her lips, drank a small sip in front of everyone: "Hmm, tastes great! Look, no poison—I drank it."

"You don't dare?"

The Grand Princess glanced at Xiao Yuanhang, then at the cup of tea in Tuan Tuan's hand showing nothing unusual, and turned to Huo Wenxuan: "Since it's non‑toxic and your words are not false, what's the problem?"

"The Princess said beforehand, if you are truly guiltless, drink this tea."

"I am your Imperial Aunt; if you are truly innocent, I will naturally seek justice for you."

Huo Wenxuan's face turned deathly pale as she beheld the Grand Princess's unquestionable gaze and Xiao Yuanhang's solemn expression; she realized this cup of tea was unavoidable.

"What in the world could make someone speak the truth just by drinking it? This damned girl is surely trying to trick me! It's just a matter of whether I dare or not."

She made up her mind, took it, tilted her head back, and gulped it all down.

The tea went down her throat without any odd sensation.

Her heart sank to her stomach—indeed!

She tidied her hair and dress, regained a bit of composure, and spoke.

"Hahaha! That's right! It was me! I had my mother find people to kidnap you!"

Huo Wenxuan heard her own voice, her face full of shock.

"Ever since you appeared, everyone compares you to me! Whether I speak or stay silent, it's wrong!"

"I wish you would drop dead! If it weren't for my useless mother, who fears your father finding out someday, she'd only dare to have people toss you far away—you'd already be dead!"

"What's the matter? I kidnapped you! Who let you steal everything that was mine?!"

Everyone stared, dumbfounded.

Huo Wenxuan panicked, raising both hands to cover her mouth, but as soon as her fingers touched her lips they involuntarily dropped.

She suddenly turned toward the Grand Princess, her face ferocious, and the years‑long resentment poured out:

"And you! Aunt! I've been by your side since childhood, fawning over you like a dog!"

"What about you? Are your eyes blind? You dote on that country bumpkin girl you brought home! What's good about her? I'm the one who's been by your side since childhood!"

Unable to cover her mouth, she clutched her own throat in desperation, yet still couldn't shut up—like a madwoman, she began cursing her own family.

"And the Huo family! Hahaha, Huo family! You think the Huo family is something good? It's just a bunch of useless wine sacks and rice bags!"

"For the Huo family's glory and wealth, my mother constantly whispers in my ear: 'Our family rests on you—you must curry favor with the Grand Princess, win her over!'"

「【You can't be controlled, you're just a piece of trash!】」

「【I've had enough! You want to manipulate the Grand Princess, go do it yourselves! Why should I have to live so hard! Why—!】」

After a hysterical outburst, Huo Wenxuan finally shut her mouth, the color draining from her face instantly.

She widened her eyes in terror, as if only then realizing what she had said, went limp, collapsed to the ground, and let out a despairing wail.

Xiao Yuanhang had already covered his daughter's two little ears tightly when she shouted the first sentence.

Only then did he slowly release them, so Tuan Tuan only heard a muffled scream, but couldn't make out exactly what Huo Wenxuan had said.

「【Daddy, what's wrong with her?】」

Xiao Yuanhang held his daughter tightly in his arms, coldly watching the curled-up figure on the ground.

The Grand Princess slowly, slowly closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, inside was a sheet of cold resolve and deep disappointment.

She looked at her niece on the ground, as if looking at a stranger.