The Empress Dowager was so heartbroken she almost fell ill!
"Linglong, you are so well-behaved and gentle, how can I stand by and watch you die?"
The Empress Dowager turned and looked at Chu Qianli, who still stood beside her with a blank expression.
She looked heartbroken. "Why are you so cruel, breaking up a pair of lovers?"
Chu Qianli really wanted to laugh.
Did everyone sympathize with Yu Linglong as long as she acted pitiful?
She said faintly, "Has the Empress Dowager asked Prince Xuan if he truly likes Yu Linglong this much?"
Yu Linglong felt a pang of guilt.
She had confessed to Feng Yexuan, but she was rejected.
However, Feng Yexuan was proud and unruly. He wouldn't mention such a thing to anyone.
Yu Linglong secretly clenched her palm and whispered, "Miss Chu, you now have everything you want in the Prince's manor. You've even forced Consort Jin to be forbidden from entering the manor!"
"You have already won, so please be merciful and stop letting Yexuan deal with me."
"Outrageous!"
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager's face immediately darkened.
This newly wedded Princess Xuan, who wielded absolute power in the manor, was simply too much!
She glared at Chu Qianli. "Do you think no one dares to punish you? Guards! Drag her out and give her thirty strokes of the cane!"
"Empress Dowager, I have not made any mistakes. On what grounds are you hitting me?" Chu Qianli was indignant.
The Empress Dowager was usually kind and reasonable, but today, the incident of Yu Linglong's attempted suicide had made her lose all reason.
"You forced Consort Jin to break ties with Xuan'er and his mother, and now you have almost forced Linglong to her death. How can I let you off?"
Yu Linglong pursed her lips and glanced at Chu Qianli.
This glance was filled with mockery.
Now that the Empress Dowager was here, and Feng Yexuan was not.
With the emperor far away, thirty strokes of the cane were enough to vent her anger.
She had already communicated with Granny Yao, ordering them to strike hard when administering the punishment.
For a young lady, thirty strokes of the cane, even if not fatal, would leave her crippled!
Then Chu Qianli would have no capital to seduce Feng Yexuan with a crippled body!
The Empress Dowager had made up her mind to punish Chu Qianli, and she angrily said, "Guards!"
"Wait a moment!"
Chu Qianli looked at the white silk on the ground and suddenly asked, "Miss Yu, is this the white silk you used to attempt suicide just now?"
Yu Linglong's eyes darkened. "What does it have to do with you?"
The Empress Dowager's expression was displeased, but her gaze also fell on the white silk.
Chu Qianli's thin lips curved slightly. "This white silk looks quite sturdy. How could it break so easily?"
"Presumptuous! What do you mean by that?" The Empress Dowager's face darkened.
Was she questioning Yu Linglong why she wasn't directly hanged?
This woman was too malicious!
"Empress Dowager, I suspect that Yu Linglong never attempted to hang herself. She was acting."
"You..."
"Miss Chu, you... you are going too far!"
Yu Linglong bit her lip and began to cry. "Empress Dowager, please leave. Don't concern yourself with Linglong anymore!"
"Linglong, how could I..."
"Empress Dowager, look, that beam seems rather high. Miss Yu hung the white silk on this beam to hang herself?"
Although Chu Qianli's words were abrupt, everyone couldn't help but look up.
They then realized that the beam in Yu Linglong's room was indeed exceptionally high.
The beam was high, the room was large, and the air was good. Yu Linglong had high demands for her living quarters.
However, what did the height of the beam have to do with Yu Linglong's suicide?
Yun'er quickly said, "My young lady knows martial arts. What's strange about her being able to go up there?"
"Yes, Miss Yu was so desperate that she could leap up and hang herself with white silk."
Chu Qianli said with a sarcastic smile.
Breaking free from the two guards, she picked up the white silk and unfolded it before the Empress Dowager.
"Empress Dowager, please look carefully. What is on this white silk?"
Granny Yao, standing beside the Empress Dowager, snorted. "There's nothing on the white silk!"
What did this dead girl want to do?
"Is there really nothing?" Chu Qianli smiled. "Then, I now have proof that Yu Linglong never attempted to hang herself!"
She took a step forward and looked up at the beam.
"Empress Dowager, you must look clearly!"