She's Slandering Me!

Shen Anxin stared speechlessly at the deranged Lanxiang before her.

Chacha: [Host, she's way too arrogant. Get her! We've got plenty of points! What do you want to redeem?]

Shen Anxin: [Wasting points on someone like her really isn't worth it, but I don't have a choice now.]

Shen Anxin was sharpening her knives, wondering what she could use against this woman desperate to get married.

But Xiao Yanchen had already stepped forward.

Every one of Shen Anxin's points was precious. They really shouldn't be wasted on Lanxiang.

"His Highness the crown prince has arrived!"

Shen Anxin and Lanxiang both froze and whipped around, only to see the crown prince appear with his attendants and guards.

Lanxiang's face changed drastically, but she reacted quickly. She rushed to the crown prince, fell to her knees and kowtowed as she sobbed, "Your Highness, Your Highness, please give this servant justice! This servant came to find Lord Shen to look for a handkerchief I had lost, but I never imagined he would take liberties with me and try to..."

Lanxiang's face was streaked with tears, and her robe hung open, though she clutched it with trembling hands. She looked every bit the pitiful victim of abuse.

The melon-eating crowd watched, their mouths twitching. They had to admit, watching someone act was pretty awkward.

Shen Anxin: That acting is incredible!

Chacha: [Host, she's the villain crying foul first!]

Shen Anxin was startled and immediately followed suit. "Your Highness, I've been wronged! This humble subject did nothing! I merely rejected Lady-in-waiting Lanxiang's request to throw herself into my arms. I never expected her to turn around and accuse me! Besides, if I really had such intentions, I wouldn't have handed the handkerchief over to Your Highness. Your Highness, please give me justice!"

Shen Anxin was mimicking Lanxiang's wailing, her voice rising and falling so mournfully that anyone who didn't know better might have thought she was singing opera.

The melon-eating crowd: Seriously, did you have to act so outrageously? You're going to make us break into laughter!

And stop twitching your eyes. We know you're trying to squeeze out some tears to make yourself more convincing, but if you can't cry, stop making things difficult for your eyes.

Xiao Yanchen coughed and stepped forward, helping Shen Anxin up with one hand. "Don't be anxious, Lord Shen."

Shen Anxin froze. Does that mean he believes me?

Beside them, Lanxiang's eyes widened in disbelief. She and the crown prince had known each other since childhood, so surely he should have taken her side!

Could the crown prince have heard what she had just said?

Lanxiang desperately tried to recall her words.

But Xiao Yanchen couldn't be bothered wasting any more words on her. "There's no need to think back. I saw everything you did. Lanxiang, even if you are Mother Empress's senior palace maid, you won't escape punishment for falsely accusing an imperial official."

Lanxiang's eyes nearly split with shock.

Shen Anxin felt wonderfully relieved. I didn't expect to be so lucky. Xiao Yanchen actually saw everything... Huh? Wait, he came ages ago, so why didn't he show himself? Was he secretly watching the show? I never would have guessed, Your Highness, that you were this kind of crown prince, that you liked eating melons so much too! Even watching it live!

Xiao Yanchen: "..."

Lanxiang began to tremble all over, struggling to face the situation. "Your Highness, Your Highness, you've misunderstood. This servant... This servant has been wronged. It really was Lord Shen..."

"What's going on here?"

Suddenly, there was a commotion at the moon gate. It was the empress's voice.

The announcement of the emperor and empress's arrival rang out.

A crowd appeared in the little courtyard where Shen Anxin stood. Outside were other officials staying overnight, who had heard the news and come to watch the excitement.

The moment Lanxiang saw Empress Wei, it was as if she had spotted a life-saving straw. She scrambled and crawled to the empress's feet.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please give this servant justice!"

Seeing Lanxiang crying so miserably, Empress Wei's heart softened. "Don't cry. What on earth happened? Lanxiang, why are you here, and why are you in this state?"

"This servant... This servant..."

Shen Anxin: I'll just watch quietly and see what she says. Xiao Yanchen saw the whole thing anyway. Surely the empress won't disbelieve her own son.

Xiao Yanchen also frowned at Lanxiang. In his heart, he hoped she wouldn't persist in her delusion. After all, she had been at Mother Empress's side for many years. If she still tried to lie, no one could protect her.

Lanxiang was also hesitating. Should she admit she had been foolish and made a mistake, and save her life, or...

No! She refused to give up. If she confessed, even if Empress Wei showed mercy, she would still drive her out of the palace. Her life would be ruined.

An idea suddenly struck Lanxiang. "Your Majesty, this servant... this servant was foolish. Lord Shen deceived me. I gave myself to him long ago, and he promised to ask Your Majesty to give me to him.

"But when I came to see him today, all he wanted was to take advantage of me. Afterward, he went back on his word and drove me out.

"His Highness arrived too late just now. He only saw me turn against Lord Shen and threaten him as I was being driven out, so he mistakenly thought I was falsely accusing Lord Shen.

"This servant knows that having an illicit affair with an official is a capital offense, but I was deceived by him. I thought it was love. I was too naive and took too much for granted.

"Please give this servant justice, Your Majesty. If Your Majesty doesn't believe me, you can send someone to examine me. This man has already destroyed my purity. Boo-hoo-hoo..."

Everyone: ...Her purity was destroyed by... "Lord Shen"?

Shen Anxin: ...

She's slandering me! She's slandering me! Aaah, I'm going to die! How am I supposed to prove my innocence? I can't just say, actually, I'm a woman. Haha, surprised? Didn't see that coming, did you?

Chacha: [Then there's a very good chance the host will suffer an accident involving her person!]

Shen Anxin: [What if I pretend to dash myself against a wall to prove my innocence? Civil officials do that all the time.]

Everyone: No, that really won't be necessary!

Chacha: [No, Host, I think the situation can still be saved. After all, they can't just take her word for it, can they?]

Emperor Hongyao, Empress Wei, and the other officials who had arrived later never expected to hear such an accusation. It was utterly ridiculous.

Their expressions, every one of them, were as colorful as could be.

Yet Lanxiang sounded so sincere and acted so earnestly.

The night wind blew. Only Lanxiang's sobbing complaints could be heard. No one answered her, and no one whispered among themselves. There was only an eerie silence.

Lanxiang cried for a long while, growing increasingly puzzled. She looked up at Empress Wei, only to see the empress staring at her with a terribly grim expression.

A thought occurred to Lanxiang. Could it be that Empress Wei was concerned about the crown prince's reputation and found it awkward to help her deal with Lord Shen?

Lanxiang steeled herself. "Your Majesty, this servant has no face left to go on living. I've brought shame upon you. I'll repay your kindness in my next life." With that cry, she rose to her feet, poised to dash herself against the wall beside her.

"Stop her!" Emperor Hongyao barked. Guards immediately stepped forward and restrained Lanxiang.

Shen Anxin: Damn it, she stole my act! If I'd known, I wouldn't have hesitated. Now she's even more believable!

Everyone: Not at all. It's just gotten even more awkward. We really want to tell this palace maid the truth. If we keep watching her act, our toes will dig an entire palace out of the ground.

Empress Wei, watching Lanxiang in such apparent despair, felt only one thing: a chill in her heart, an endless chill.

Empress Wei thought: Lanxiang was lying and putting on an act. If she hadn't known that the Lord Shen before her was none other than Shen Anxin, a genuine woman, she might have been fooled by Lanxiang.

This was the lady-in-waiting who had grown up at her side, her most trusted subordinate. Yet Lanxiang was lying to her face without the slightest change in expression, and without a single flaw.

How much practice did it take to achieve acting like that?

Empress Wei hardly dared imagine how many things Lanxiang had deceived her about over the years, outwardly obeying while secretly doing as she pleased.

"Lanxiang, I'll give you one more chance. Tell the truth. Did Lord Shen really take liberties with you, take your body, and make you a promise?"

Lanxiang froze. "Of course, Your Majesty! How would this servant dare lie to you? I can swear to Heaven that if I'm lying, I won't die a good death!"

The shock of being deceived by someone she trusted nearly made Empress Wei's vision go black, and she staggered back two steps.

Emperor Hongyao was startled and hurriedly caught her. "Empress, calm yourself."

Shen Anxin: Lanxiang is ruthless! She even dares make such a vicious oath. Didn't they say ancient people believed in these things most of all?

Chacha: [Oaths only bind gentlemen, not petty people.]

Shen Anxin thought that made a lot of sense. She took a deep breath and stepped forward. "If swearing an oath worked, why would anyone need evidence? I can swear one too. If I made any improper advances toward you, then let me, Shen Anlan... take a knife and castrate myself!"

At first, all the men present thought what she said made sense. But when they heard the end, they instantly sucked in a cold breath, clamped their legs together on instinct, and sucked in another cold breath.

The melon-eating crowd: Does your brother know you're using his manly happiness to swear an oath?

...Shen Anlan, still on the road, suddenly shuddered and muttered, "Why do I keep feeling like someone wants to secretly harm me?"...

It was the first time Lanxiang had heard someone swear an oath like that, and she nearly lost her emotional momentum.

"You... you... Lord Shen, are you still going to twist words and argue in front of His and Her Majesty? Could... could a woman like me lie about her chastity and innocence?"

The moment she finished, Shen Anxin's face darkened, and the whole air about her changed.

It was the first time the others had seen Shen Anxin's face turn as cold as ice. After all, her inner self had always seemed carefree, lively, and spirited.

At this moment, Shen Anxin seemed genuinely furious.

Xiao Yanchen also looked at her in considerable surprise. He hadn't heard anything in Lanxiang's words that should have provoked her so much.

Even Chacha grew cautious. [Host, don't be angry.]

Shen Anxin: Someone like her really deserves to die.

Everyone was startled.

Shen Anxin stepped forward, seized Lanxiang by the collar, and forcibly hauled her up from the ground.

Lanxiang was stunned, staring in astonishment at the refined and elegant third-place scholar she had chosen.

Shen Anxin said, "You know a woman would never lie about her own innocence! Then why are you doing this?!

"Do you know the consequences of what you're doing?

"When the truth comes out, when everyone sees that a woman like you has actually staked the chastity and innocence women value most for the selfish purpose of falsely accusing a man,

"then no one will treat such a situation with the same gravity again.

"The next time a woman really experiences something like this, when she cries out that she's been wronged and tells her story through tears, how much filthy water and how many conspiracy theories will be thrown at her?! How much credibility will her words still have?!

"It would be one thing if you were selfish all by yourself, but you had to say something that drags every woman in the world into it, trying to make every woman's chastity and innocence vouch for you! Who the hell do you think you are?!

"Do you want every woman to pay the price for this?

"Life is hard enough for women already! What gives you the right to be so shameless?!"

When Shen Anxin finished, she could no longer hold Lanxiang up and dropped her straight onto the ground. She was panting and truly furious.

Life was even harder for women in ancient times. Although Great Qi was a little better than Southern Xia, encouraging women to divorce by mutual consent and remarry,

they were still constrained by so-called chastity and reputation.

Women could easily become the targets of pointing fingers because of their reputations. If they couldn't bear the pressure and their families didn't protect them, one misstep could see their lives snuffed out like flowers, or leave them forced to marry the men who had bullied and molested them.

It was truly despairing to think about.

Shen Anxin's speech left everyone dumbfounded.

At first, they really hadn't realized it. But after Shen Anxin brought it up,

they realized that now Lanxiang had said such a thing, and they had watched her act and lie with their own eyes, what would they think if they encountered another woman saying the same thing in the future?

It was... terrifying the more they thought about it.

Empress Wei in particular, who had just been heartbroken by her personal palace maid's betrayal, now felt goosebumps rise all over her body. As the mother of the nation, she naturally had to concern herself with the affairs of women throughout the realm.

Thinking of it that way, how utterly loathsome and sickening Lanxiang looked!

No wonder... No wonder Miss Shen was so angry.

Emperor Hongyao couldn't help nodding. This little girl truly understood the greater good! And Lanxiang really did deserve to die!

Xiao Yanchen took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. He hadn't thought that far just now. It seemed he still needed to reflect on himself.

Shen Anxin: Things are already hard enough, and yet she's a woman herself and still stabs other women in the back. I really can't stand it.

Chacha: [She even dares to do more despicable things, let alone something like this, where a couple of sentences can get her what she wants!]

Shen Anxin: I think I smell a big melon!

Chacha: [I warned you just now, Host. This one has a big melon on her.]

Everyone was instantly startled and pricked up their ears.

Whenever someone was said to have a big melon, it was genuinely explosive news.

And Chacha had said it was something even more despicable, so it had to be even more outrageous than this false accusation against an innocent person.

Everyone's appetite for melons had been whetted.

They were just waiting for Shen Anxin to ask.

"You... you..." Lanxiang had been somewhat frightened by Shen Anxin, but someone like her would never reflect on herself, nor would she recognize what she had done wrong. "Shen Anlan, stop pretending to be virtuous and saying such high-sounding things! It's a fact that you treated me so cruelly!"

Everyone else: ...Who told you to interrupt?! Death to anyone who blocks a melon!

Faced with Lanxiang's accusation, Shen Anxin simply rolled her eyes.

Lanxiang was furious, but then she suddenly realized something was wrong. Why was no one speaking up for her? Why hadn't even Empress Wei...

Lanxiang looked up and saw Empress Wei's cold expression. Her heart jolted.

"Your Majesty, you don't believe me? You also think I'm falsely accusing Shen Anlan? Your Majesty, it's me, Lanxiang! I've served you for fifteen years, and you don't believe me?!"

Empress Wei said, "I wanted to believe you too, but Lanxiang, you've disappointed me deeply. Lord Shen would never defile your innocence! You lied to me."

Lanxiang's eyes widened in disbelief. "Your Majesty, you won't even investigate? You've just decided I'm lying? He was the one who destroyed my innocence!"

Everyone else: No, it wasn't him. She couldn't do it! And can someone cover her mouth and give Shen Anxin time to eat the melon?! We're all waiting!