As the hairpin was moved out of her mouth and back to her neck, Xie Feifei could finally speak.
She started crying and looked at Wang opposite her with tear - filled eyes:
"Mom... Save me..."
Wang's heart ached as if it were being torn apart, and she wished she could dismember Chu Ru on the spot.
"Chu Ru, Feifei is your sister! What has she done to wrong you that you want to take her life!"
The people around looked at Chu Ru with eyes full of disdain and fear.
"A baleful star is a baleful star. Sooner or later, she'll cause chaos in the family..."
"She looks just like an evil ghost now. They say she sucked her biological mother, the eldest princess, into a dried - up corpse when she was born. She's simply a natural bad seed!"
"No wonder His Majesty and the Empress Dowager still ignore her."
"The Marquis was too kind. He should have killed her directly back then."
The servants whispered among themselves, but these words still reached Chu Ru's ears.
Her smile remained unchanged. Well, these scolding words actually sounded quite familiar.
She smiled and looked at those who were speaking, and with a snort, she laughed.
Her right eye was so red that it seemed as if blood would flow out. Her contemptuous gaze pierced people's hearts, and everyone's scalps tingled for a moment.
There was a terrifying feeling of looking into the eyes of a monster in the abyss. Their hearts were pounding wildly, and they instinctively held their breaths.
She heard it...
This baleful - star princess heard it!
"Chu Ru! Are you even human!" Wang said mournfully, "The Marquis was kind enough to raise you. Is this how you repay him?! Feifei has no enmity with you..."
"Pfft—"
Chu Ru laughed out loud. With a flick of her hand, the silver hairpin made another bloody mark on Xie Feifei's face.
The scream hadn't even come out yet.
Chu Ru said softly, "I've already said that I'm timid and my hands are unsteady. If you keep screaming, I don't know where I'll stab next."
Xie Feifei bit her lip tightly and didn't dare to scream anymore.
Wang also covered her mouth and nose, filled with resentment.
A majestic male voice suddenly sounded, exuding an imposing pressure that shook people's souls.
Many people present swayed, and ordinary servants even fell to their knees directly.
"Chu Ru! You have some nerve! Let go of your sister right away!!"
The man was wearing a court robe of red color, dressed as a civil official. His face was gloomy, and his features were regular. If he were twenty years younger, he would definitely be able to live off a woman.
The person who came was Xie Jun, the Marquis of Pingyang!
Chu Ru's nominal father.
"Daddy!!" Xie Feifei was stunned by the stern shout. When she came to her senses and saw that her father had come, she immediately regarded him as a savior.
If she could move, she would definitely rush over directly.
Xie Jun's expression was uncertain.
Just now, he had used spiritual power in his stern shout. Those with cultivation levels lower than his would surely be dazed and lose their minds for a moment.
But across from him.
Chu Ru was still standing there fine. Her right eye was blood - red, and her left eye was clear. Apparently, she hadn't been affected by him.
Xie Jun was surprised and suspicious in his heart, but this obviously wasn't the time to explore this.
"Chu Ru! Are you going to be disobedient and unfilial?! Have you heard what I said?!"
Xie Jun said with a cold face, "If you don't let go, don't blame me for not showing father - daughter affection!"
Chu Ru was surprised: "Father - daughter affection? Has the Marquis ever had such a thing for me? Where is it?"
"You unfilial daughter!" Xie Jun's eyes were like lightning, and a murderous look appeared on his face. It seemed that he was about to take action.
"I said, Marquis." Chu Ru casually interrupted him, "You keep saying that you and I are father and daughter, but why is the only daughter you see in your eyes Xie Feifei?"
Xie Jun's anger was momentarily halted.
"I think even in her current miserable state, Xie Feifei should not be more miserable than me."
She tilted her head slightly, and her smile was extremely sarcastic.
Xie Jun's eyes flashed, and only then did he notice Chu Ru's current appearance.
In fact, he had seen it at the beginning, but he just didn't care.
The girl was covered in blood, as dirty as a beggar at the city gate.
The right side of her face was all dried blood and still stained with dirt, and her right eye had become a terrifying blood - red.
She looked neither human nor ghost!
But even so, her eyes were still terrifyingly bright, like bone - scraping knives, stabbing directly into people's hearts.
"You... What on earth is going on with this ghostly appearance of yours?" Xie Jun frowned, unable to hide the disgust in his tone.
"You should ask your good daughter about that."
There was a chill in Chu Ru's laughter: "I've become like this all because of her."
"You're slandering me!" Wang angries said, "Feifei has been kind - hearted since she was a child. She can't even bear to kill an ant. Moreover, your cultivation is much higher than hers. How could she harm you!"
As soon as Wang said this, the others nodded one after another.
"Whether she did it or not, the Marquis can just ask and find out, right?" Chu Ru raised the corner of her eye, "The Marquis is a civil - official Confucian cultivator, and his cultivation has reached the Bai - stage. He can use the truth - telling technique."
"You can tell whether it's true or false with just one question."
"Xie Feifei, if your father dares to ask, do you dare to answer?"
Chu Ru lifted Xie Feifei's chin with the silver hairpin.
Xie Jun obviously didn't believe that his precious daughter could do such a thing, but when he met Xie Feifei's expression, his heart skipped a beat.
Not just him, everyone could see it clearly.
Xie Feifei was afraid. She was shaking her head slightly, and her eyes were flickering.
She didn't dare...
The eyes of the others also showed a bit more suspicion.
Could it be that...
"Daddy, don't believe her! She's framing me!"
Xie Feifei didn't dare to let people know what she had done. Ignoring the fact that her life was still in Chu Ru's hands, she quickly said:
"She was jealous that you loved me, Daddy, and she lured me to the edge of the cliff. If Cousin Tianci hadn't passed by just in time, she would have harmed me!"
"It was Cousin who knocked her off the cliff. He did all this to save me..."
"Big sister, please let me go. I didn't want to take your life. I was just trying to protect myself..."
Xie Feifei cried pitifully, shifting all the blame onto Xu Tianci first.
Anyway, Cousin Tianci loved her the most and definitely wouldn't care about these things.
Besides, it was indeed Cousin who gave Chu Ru the Spirit - Dissolving Powder.
Xie Feifei looked extremely pitiful with her face wet with tears.
After Xie Jun came back, she also had a backbone.
So what if Chu Ru was holding her hostage? This bad seed could never be a match for Daddy!
Xie Feifei didn't have the energy to think about how Chu Ru had survived. She just wanted to save herself now!
Xie Jun didn't rise to the position of Marquis from a son - in - law who married into the wife's family for nothing. He could tell whether Xie Feifei was lying or not.
But for now, these things were not important.
What was important was that Xie Feifei's reputation must not be damaged by this bad seed!
"Chu Ru, you're in the wrong this time."
Xie Jun said with a solemn face, "As an elder sister, how can you be jealous of your younger sister! Your sister pushed you off the cliff to protect herself."
"Although you've suffered a bit, you're still alive. Instead of reflecting on your actions after returning to the mansion, you actually took cruel actions!"
Chu Ru's expression was calm, and her smile hadn't faded from the beginning to the end.
She had long expected Xie Jun's reaction.
"Is the Marquis considering that a baleful - star bad seed like me is better off dead?"
"Especially since this baleful star came back and immediately went crazy and took cruel actions against her own sister. Maybe she's gone mad. If I'm accidentally beaten to death and it's claimed that I died of madness, it would make sense!"
"But it won't work, Marquis. If I die, you're finished."
Chu Ru looked at Xie Jun with a half - smile, "Before I returned to the mansion, I deliberately took a detour around the capital. Now, everyone in the entire capital has seen the miserable appearance of this baleful star."
"Oh, before I came back, I also went to the Yingtian Office to file a lawsuit and beat the drum! I believe the people from the yamen will be here soon."
"If I die now, guess what the common people will say about you? And about your precious daughter?"
"Will they say that you're guilty and trying to silence me?"
Chu Ru's smile gradually faded, and her eyes were like sharp blades: "Marquis, don't forget that no matter how unpopular I, Chu Ru, am, I'm still a woman of the Chu clan!"
"Only the imperial family can decide the life and death of the members of the Chu clan! This is an iron - clad rule!"
Chu Ru paused, and a smile appeared on her face again. She asked softly, "So, do you deserve it, my son - in - law father?"
Xie Jun's face turned ashen, and he was so angry that he almost spat out a mouthful of old blood!
The thing he hated the most in his life was being called a son - in - law!!
He, Xie Jun, was the Marquis of Wenyuan! Not a son - in - law who had risen from a remote place to cling to the royal family!!
"Sigh." Chu Ru sighed and looked at him, "So angry. You want to kill me but can't. I feel sorry for you, my son - in - law father."
"Pfft—" Xie Jun spat out a mouthful of old blood. This time, he really couldn't hold it in.