Chapter 274: State Banquet: Part Five

State Banquet: Part Five

At the state banquet, there were quite a few female guests. But on this occasion, no female guest would speak, let alone meddle in such political affairs!

Therefore, at this moment, everyone who had been startled by Xiao Lanshu's actions was shocked, and then turned their heads to look, only to see that the person who had arrived was actually Nie Jinxuan!

Although Nie Jinxuan had not yet been established as the Empress, no one in all of Dongling dared to question her status. So seeing Nie Jinxuan arrive, everyone was not exactly surprised, just feeling that Nie Jinxuan's appearance was somewhat sudden, and at such a time!

After all, all the civil and military officials knew that Nie Jinxuan was not an ordinary woman who relied on favor to be arrogant. And now that she had walked out at this critical juncture and said such things, it was naturally for a special purpose! Compared to the ministers and family members of Dongling, the envoys from various countries were somewhat dumbfounded, each of them staring at Nie Jinxuan with wide eyes, not knowing who this person was!

At this moment, seeing Nie Jinxuan arrive, Yin Fengzhan, who had been sitting in his seat as steady as a mountain, was suddenly stunned, and then without thinking, he stood up and walked directly to Nie Jinxuan.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing that Nie Jinxuan's complexion was very ugly and her expression was rarely cold, Yin Fengzhan deliberately lowered his voice to ask. Hearing this, Nie Jinxuan turned her eyes to look at Yin Fengzhan, then without saying anything, she walked past Yin Fengzhan and came to Xiao Lanshu.

Nie Jinxuan rarely did this. Seeing this, Yin Fengzhan frowned instantly. Just then, Noble Consort Zhang and the others arrived one after another. But seeing Nie Jinxuan walking toward Xiao Lanshu with a cold expression, Noble Consort Zhang sensibly did not follow, and also stopped Jin Jingwen and the others behind.

For a time, the large Imperial Garden was silent.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on Nie Jinxuan. Looking at the suddenly appearing Nie Jinxuan, Xiao Lanshu, who was already burning with anger, narrowed her eyes even more.

"Nie Jinxuan, what did you mean by your words just now? Could it be that this Princess is not worth two small border cities?"

From birth, Xiao Lanshu had been the treasure of the Xidi royal family, and everyone pampered her, liked her, and followed her. So in Xiao Lanshu's eyes, the two cities of Rong and Jin mentioned by Dongling were just two small border towns, not worth mentioning at all! Let alone compared to her, a golden-branched and jade-leaved Xidi princess!

Xiao Lanshu's bones were filled with arrogance and wildness. At this moment, Nie Jinxuan just looked at her, her beautiful and cold eyes without a trace of temperature.

"Whether you are qualified or not is not for you to say, nor for your Xidi to say, but for our Dongling to say!"

Nie Jinxuan said every word clearly, making everyone present hear it. Hearing this, Xiao Lanshu was so angry that her eyes widened. But before she could speak, she heard Nie Jinxuan change the subject instantly and continue,

"Furthermore, even if you have a noble status, our Dongling will absolutely not want you, a murderer who kills without blinking, to give up the two cities of Rong and Jin!"

In the last sentence, Nie Jinxuan's voice already revealed obvious anger! And everyone present was instantly stunned by Nie Jinxuan's words, and then they all looked at Xiao Lanshu!

Nie Jinxuan was naturally steady and serious, so she rarely got angry on weekdays! But at this very moment, she was truly angry!

At this moment, seeing Nie Jinxuan so angry, Yin Fengzhan frowned tightly, and then walked over directly.

"What's wrong?"

While speaking, Yin Fengzhan habitually reached out to hold Nie Jinxuan's hand, fearing that she might accidentally affect the fetus. But at this moment, Nie Jinxuan didn't even look at Yin Fengzhan, pushed him away directly, and stared straight at Xiao Lanshu in front of her.

"Princess Lanshu, I'm right, aren't I!"

Nie Jinxuan's gaze was like a knife. At this moment, the originally angry Xiao Lanshu was stunned upon hearing this, but then she smiled slightly instantly.

"Right or not? This Princess doesn't know what you are talking about!"

"You don't know? You personally had someone send me, Nie Jinxuan, such a big gift... What? Now you don't want to admit it?!"

Having said this, Nie Jinxuan narrowed her eyes instantly.

"Xiao Lanshu, I, Nie Jinxuan, admit that I have some discord with you, but I never knew you were such a ruthless and snake-hearted person! You even had someone lay a hand on Miss Bai... Xiao Lanshu, are you still human? If you hold a grudge against me, you can come at me, why take it out on others?! You are truly disgusting to the extreme, having a beautiful appearance but being rotten inside!"

Adding her past life and this life together, Nie Jinxuan had never said such things to anyone! At this moment, hearing this, Xiao Lanshu was so angry that her face turned livid, but then she gritted her teeth and calmed herself down.

"Nie Jinxuan, what are you talking about? Miss Bai? What Miss Bai?"

Having said this, Xiao Lanshu paused slightly, then stepped forward and stared at Nie Jinxuan.

"Nie Jinxuan, you can't just talk nonsense! You must know that I am the most noble princess of Xidi, and now you say I killed someone... Fine, where is the evidence? You say this Princess killed someone, then where is the evidence?"

Xiao Lanshu's arrogant aura was displayed again. At this very moment, although everyone saw her various kinds of arrogance, the surrounding people couldn't help but stare at Xiao Lanshu with questioning expressions, and then they whispered to each other!

At this moment, no one could get a word in!

Even Yin Fengzhan could only stand aside, listening and watching quietly, without speaking. As for Ba*Hejie sitting on the other side, although he remained calm on the surface, his brows had already furrowed slightly without him knowing!

At this moment, listening to Xiao Lanshu's words and watching her continue to be arrogant, Nie Jinxuan pursed her lips and sneered coldly.

"You want evidence? Fine! Then I will give you evidence!"

Having said this, Nie Jinxuan's expression froze, and she called out loudly,

"Minister Pei!"

"This official is here!"

"Bring the person up!"

"Yes!"

It turned out that although Nie Jinxuan was extremely angry upon hearing that Bai Meilan had been harmed, Nie Jinxuan was not a reckless person after all. So after leaving the Yongle Palace, she had calmly contacted Pei Yaoguang and made some preparations!

And although Pei Yaoguang was usually arrogant and spoke casually, Pei Yaoguang was not the kind of person who couldn't distinguish the occasion, so his answer was crisp and respectful.

Not long after, several guards dragged up a young man covered in blood. Xiao Lanshu narrowed her eyes and looked, only to see that the person was exactly the attendant who had been taken away by Nie Jinxuan that day!

"Hmph~! This Princess thought you could produce something, but it turns out it's just this~!"

Knowing that Nie Jinxuan had no other evidence, Xiao Lanshu felt relieved instead. But hearing this, Nie Jinxuan just sneered coldly.

"Yes, it's just this... But now, in front of everyone, I would like to re-confirm with Princess Lanshu! May I ask if this person is your attendant?"

"So what if he is? What he does is not something this Princess can control!"

"I am only asking you, is he your attendant or not?"

No matter what Xiao Lanshu said, Nie Jinxuan only wanted an answer now. Seeing Nie Jinxuan so persistent, Xiao Lanshu pursed her lips and snorted coldly.

"Yes! So what?!"

"Good! It is good that the Princess admits it!"

Having said this, Nie Jinxuan turned and came to the attendant who was lying on the ground, panting. Then she looked up at Xiao Lanshu and said loudly,

"Ten days ago, a shocking bloody case occurred in the capital! The proprietress of Tianyuan Inn, Sun, along with nine people including inn staff and guests, were killed in the inn overnight! Among the nine people killed, the bodies of the staff and guests were in the backyard, with one fatal wound each, all killed by a master with martial arts in one blow! At the same time, according to the situation of the eight deceased, although the deceased were scattered, only the places where their feet were located could accurately form a straight line!"

"Therefore, it can be judged that the murderer drove the eight deceased into the courtyard, ordered them to stand in a row, and then killed them all at once!"

"And besides these eight deceased, the body of the proprietress Sun was found in a side room in the backyard. At that time, Sun had a total of thirty-six wounds on her body, her eyes were gouged out, her tongue was cut off, and even her pair of feet were chopped off by the murderer!"

"And after a careful autopsy, it was found that the thirty-six wounds on Sun's body all reached the bone, but none were fatal. At the same time, what is even more outrageous is that Sun was alive when her eyes were gouged out, her tongue was cut off, and her feet were chopped off, and she finally died from excessive blood loss!"

Raising her voice slightly, Nie Jinxuan said every word. At this moment, listening to Nie Jinxuan's calm, overly calm words, everyone present was stunned!

Dead people are not scary. Among the officials and envoys from neighboring countries present, who didn't know about them? Many had even seen them! But they had never heard of such a hair-raising way of killing!

So for a time, everyone was dumbfounded! An unspeakable chill spread through their bodies instantly. Some timid female guests were so scared that they trembled all over, covering their ears and not daring to listen anymore!

At this moment, Nie Jinxuan kept staring at Xiao Lanshu in front of her, and after a moment, she continued,

"Nine lives were killed by the murderer just like that! And just the day before Sun was harmed, she had a conflict with you, Princess Lanshu. At that time, Sun accidentally stepped on your foot while backing up, and then said some dirty words without being polite. Although Sun corrected herself in time, you were relentless!"

"Gouging out eyes represents having eyes but no pupils, cutting off the tongue because Sun said dirty words at the time, chopping off feet because she accidentally stepped on your foot... Not only that, the time Sun was harmed was between midnight and 1:00 AM. And it has been confirmed that during this time, you, Princess Lanshu, who were temporarily staying at Tianxiang Pavilion, happened to go out with your attendants!"

"At the same time, the autopsy found that although there were no clues about the murderer who killed the eight people in the courtyard, it can be determined that there were at least two murderers who killed Sun, and one of them should be a woman! And because Sun struggled before she died, she scratched one of the murderers, and that murderer is this attendant in front of us!" ===== CHAPTER 275 =====