"How can this be?" Lady Qiu trembled uncontrollably at the sight of her husband lying on the floor with such a questionable appearance.
Wasn't he with the male guests?
Why is he here?
How is he here?
While Lady Qiu was shaking her head in denial, Princess Yu was having mixed feelings. She knew that the person who should have been humiliated by Lady Qiu should be Lady Ling. How did she manage to get out of the scheme and turn it into such an interesting result?
With this, Lord Qiu can forget about showing his face anymore.
Lord Qiu, who was glancing around finally managed to process what has happened, fainted from anger. A man of noble lineage has been raped by a male servant. Where should he put his face when he leaves his house?
Although he could not understand nor remember how he ended up in this situation, it no longer matters. All that matters is that all the guests have seen him being done by the male servant, whether he was a willing party matter not in their minds. There is not even a need for gossip to spread since Princess Yu had invited almost all the nobles of high standing in the capital. Everyone has already seen his face, where else could he hide?
Princess Yu shook her head, trying her best to hide her laughter. She is not too sure how she should handle this matter. It is not like Lord Qiu can take the male servant into his household as a concubine, can he?
"That's right, that bitch Ling Xuan! Where is that bitch? It should be that bitch who should have been humiliated by that damn servant! Where is she?" Lady Qiu finally went crazy and whipped her head around, glaring at the crowd behind her, trying to find Ling Xuan.
Princess Yu frowned at her words, "what are you saying?"
"I saw it with my own eyes that it was Ling Xuan who was following the servant. Ling Xuan is a woman, how can I have mistaken a man's back for a woman's?" Lady Qiu was unable to accept that her plan had failed. She has bribed the male servant early on and the plan was flawless. Ling Xuan does not know martial arts unlike the servants of Princess Yu's mansion. She should not be able to escape the male servant's grasp.
"How can Lady Qiu be so sure that it was Lady Ling who was with the male servant?" Duke Fei spoke up from behind the crowd. His voice was not loud but everyone recognized his voice and the crowd parted for Duke Fei to face the crazed Lady Qiu.
When the crowd parted, Ling Xuan came into everyone's view as well since she was standing beside him. Seeing her standing here unscathed, Lady Qiu's eyes saw red.
"How can it be that you are there?" Lady Qiu lunged forward, wanting to grab her hair and tear her apart but Duke Fei was not going to stay still and let Lady Qiu touch Ling Xuan. Gathering some force behind his palm, he strikes her shoulder with enough force to throw her back into the servant's quarter.
"Lady Qiu is so weird, why can't I be here?" Ling Xuan blinked her eyes, her entire appearance giving off an innocent aura.
"You should have been inside the room! How did you get out?" Lady Qiu coughed up a small amount of blood as she snapped back at Ling Xuan.
"Lady Qiu, I know this has been a shock to you but you cannot just slander me this way. Just because your husband likes to dress up like a woman and the dress he is wearing coincidentally looks like mine, you say that he is me?" Ling Xuan hid half her face with her large sleeve, her gaze filled with disdain.
"Ling Xuan came looking for me because I called her over to discuss our family matters, how can Lady Qiu be so sure that Ling Xuan entered the room with that male servant?" Duke Fei narrowed his eyes at Lady Qiu.
"Unless Lady Qiu was the one behind this. She planned this whole farce in this Princess's mansion, determined to drag Lady Ling down and ruin her chastity, preventing her marriage to the Emperor. That is why she would be so sure that Lady Ling is inside the servant's quarters."
Princess Yu slowly drawls, her voice suggested that she was bored with this matter already, and voiced out her thoughts.
"That is also why she is so bold as to drag this Princess over to witness the fall of Lady Ling. I would say that this scheme is too simple, Lady Qiu. Clearly, you are not very smart." Princess Yu smiled at Lady Qiu as though they were having a nice conversation over tea.
Ling Xuan chuckled at Princess Yu's words. For someone who has lived in the Imperial Palace, raised by the Empress Dowager in the Imperial Harem since she was born till she married out, such a scheme is indeed too commonly seen. Ling Xuan was once a member of the Imperial Harem and so, she is the same. It was just that she did not participate nor did she scheme against anyone in such a cruel way. If a woman of the Imperial Harem were to be found committing such adultery, she would be beheaded, her entire family branded as criminals for nine generations. It was too cruel for the soft-hearted Imperial Consort Lan.
"Princess, this... this isn't-" Lady Qiu stuttered, kneeling before Princess Yu, trying to deny what she had said but her mind was jumbled up and she could not think fast enough before Princess Yu laid down her orders.
"Guards, clean Lord Qiu up and send him and Lady Qiu back to the Qiu mansion. From this point onwards, this Princess no longer wishes to have any interactions with the people from the Qiu family. As for the male servant, give him forty strokes for ruining this Princess's gathering and release him. If Lord Qiu wishes to bring him into the Qiu family, feel free. This Princess does not wish to interfere with their matters."
The guards bowed before carrying out their orders. The male servant was still dazed from the aphrodisiac spell, unable to react as he was carried out to be paddled. Lady Qiu had lost all fight in her the moment Princess Yu said she no longer wishes to interact with the Qiu family. She has lost everything. Her status, her husband, her life.
Princess Yu ignored the people behind her as she turned towards her guests.
"Dear guests, this Princess has shown something unsightly. Hope that everyone can give this Princess some face to clean this situation up quietly." With the Princess's apologetic tone, nobody wanted to make things difficult for the Princess and they left the Princess Mansion after giving their greetings, Ling Xuan, and Duke Fei as well.
After that day, several incidents happened.
The Qiu family announced that Lady Qiu had unfortunately passed away due to illness. Lord Qiu was confined in bed, ill with grief and the family felt that it would be better to retreat to the countryside for Lord Qiu to nurse his health.
And so, the Qiu family vanished and one of the pillars of the right minister's fraction has collapsed.