Chapter 68: Demanding Justice for the Princess Consort

Ning Junruo’s heart tightened slightly. As she walked out of the quiet room alongside Qingchen, she discovered that several women were clamoring and making a scene, demanding to see Daoist Qingchen.

Upon seeing Qingchen emerge, the women immediately fell to their knees, kowtowing like pounding garlic and pleading with the celestial nun to show great mercy and lift the demonic gu poison inflicted by Miao Shan.

As it turned out, once the news of Miao Shan’s use of gu poison spread, someone tracked down the Goddess Pavilion. Unable to bear watching the victim suffer further, Daoist Qingchen had stepped forward to cure her.

Once this news got out, everyone who knew Qingchen could cure gu poison flocked there in a swarm, desperate for help.

"Celestial Nun, you are the Goddess incarnate, our great savior!" a young woman cried out in a trembling voice, her eyes filled with anticipation.

"Ever since I went to the Yiyi Pavilion, I’ve been suffering from inexplicable pains. Physicians are utterly helpless, saying it looks like witchcraft. Please, you must save me!"

"Celestial Nun, I also took that vicious woman's medicine. Although the pulse shows I am expecting, I still feel uneasy. I beg the celestial nun to examine me."

Standing in the main hall, Ning Junruo looked at these anxious-faced women, a tangle of complex emotions rising in her heart.

Stepping down the platform, just as she was preparing to head to the back mountain to pay her respects, a familiar figure suddenly blocked her path.

"What a coincidence. I never expected to see the Princess Consort here as well."

Ning Junruo hurriedly glanced around, only to find that everyone's attention remained firmly focused on Daoist Qingchen.

Only then did she lower her voice and ask nervously, "Why are you here?"

"If the Princess Consort can come, can Mingyi not come?" Xu Mingyi’s uninhibited and frivolous demeanor was truly hard to genuinely dislike.

A playful smile curved the corners of Xu Mingyi’s lips as he quietly gazed at her.

"Could it be that you heard Daoist Qingchen can cure gu poison and came running here specially to beg for medicine?"

Ning Junruo said half-jokingly, attempting to mask the turbulence within her heart.

Xu Mingyi raised an eyebrow, leaning close to her ear and lowering his voice with a feigned air of mystery.

"If I told you I came here for a certain little rabbit, would you believe it?"

A faint flush tinged Ning Junruo’s cheeks. She glared at him and was about to retort when an even more intense commotion interrupted her.

As it turned out, another crowd had surged toward Daoist Qingchen, their pleas rising one after another and throwing the scene into even greater chaos.

Ning Junruo quickly quickened her pace and headed toward the back courtyard.

"Rest assured, no one followed us today."

Watching her retreating figure and recalling the expression she had just worn, Xu Mingyi felt as though his heart had been sweetened with honey.

He strode forward to catch up. "I have already heard about the matters in the Manor. Since the Princess Consort intends to tear off the masks, the bigger this commotion, the better. This humble one believes the Princess Consort should manufacture an opportunity outside..."

Ning Junruo had originally intended to ignore him, but remembering Daoist Qingchen’s words—that a noble person with a rather unusual status would come to her aid this time—she reconsidered.

Ever since the day she proactively presented the *Dragon Chant Scripture*, Xu Mingyi had been assisting her in secret.

Considering that in three months he would take first place and become the top scorer in the imperial examinations, Ning Junruo thought to herself: in this Liangzhou City, aside from Master Li Tailai, who else could possibly possess a more extraordinary status than him?

"What does Young Master Xu mean?"

Ning Junruo stopped in her tracks, fixing a sharp gaze on Xu Mingyi while involuntarily pondering the implications of his words.

"My meaning is, if the Princess Consort wishes to make a smooth exit, why not use this incident to create momentum and let the entire city know of your grievances and resolve? That way, even if the Prince Consort wishes to obstruct you, he will still have to weigh the pressure of public opinion." Xu Mingyi spoke casually, yet his eyes flashed with a shrewd brilliance.

Ning Junruo tilted her head slightly, her gaze sweeping through the crowd as if weighing the feasibility of this strategy.

Indeed, if she could harness the power of the common people to win public support, it would undoubtedly be a brilliant move.

"But if we do that, wouldn't it implicate Daoist Qingchen?" A trace of hesitation lingered in Ning Junruo’s tone, as she was unwilling to let an innocent person suffer on her account.

"Rest assured, I have my own methods. I can help you achieve your goal without letting Daoist Qingchen get dragged into it."

Xu Mingyi promised with absolute certainty. That confident demeanor caused the balance in Ning Junruo’s heart to tilt.

"Very well, I hope you truly have a way." Ning Junruo finally nodded, deciding to take a gamble.

After the two conferred for a moment, Xu Mingyi swung into action. Mingling with the crowd, he subtly and cleverly disseminated certain pieces of information.

Before long, rumors that Chang Yumiao came from a brothel and that Miao Shan claimed Zhao Shenxing had personal dysfunctions and could not father children spread through the Goddess Temple like wildfire.

"My goodness, who would have thought His Highness the Prince of Liang was impotent? That Miao Shan really dares to say anything!"

"I came into contact with Chang Yumiao for half a day during the full-moon banquet last time. She looked so versatile and smooth, yet she turned out to be a harlot. Alas, I wonder if that child of hers is even the Prince's seed?" Another woman shook her head and sighed, her words filled with sympathy for Zhao Shenxing.

"Ah, this matter is simply shocking. The Prince of Liang has utterly lost all his face."

An old man nearby shook his head, his folding fan tapping rhythmically against his palm, his eyes filled with shock.

"Viewed in this light, the Princess Consort is far too pitiful. I heard the Dowager and the Prince nearly divorced the Princess Consort previously on the grounds of her being childless."

A scholar squeezed into the crowd, lowering his voice and speaking mysteriously.

"Divorced the Princess Consort? Were they trying to seize the Princess Consort's dowry?" someone asked indignantly, burning with a sense of justice.

"Of course! Aside from those ten miles of shops in the west of the city, I heard the Princess Consort brought along many rare and ancient texts as part of her dowry. Those were collections accumulated by the Ning family over generations, and every single book is worth a fortune. Who wouldn't drool over that?"

"Alas, to think someone as good as the Princess Consort has to live such a life!"

"If not for the Princess Consort, wouldn't my two grandsons still be illiterate? For this reason alone, we cannot just sit by and watch the Princess Consort be framed..."

Hiding in a side hall, Ning Junruo and Xu Mingyi quietly observed all of this. Ning Junruo’s brows furrowed slightly, a mixture of emotions churning in her heart.

"It seems public opinion has begun to ferment," Xu Mingyi said softly, a satisfied smile hanging on the corners of his lips.

"Yet, is doing this truly right?" Ning Junruo asked in a low voice, a flicker of unease flashing through her gaze.

"Princess Consort, do not forget how she schemed against you back then. If you wish to leave the Manor, you sometimes have to sacrifice a few things..."

Thinking of the countless trials from her past life, Ning Junruo nodded heavily. "I am only worried that Zhao Shenxing will lose all face and do something utterly unreasonable."

Xu Mingyi smiled faintly. "The Princess Consort must not forget Master Li. I believe that upon hearing these rumors, Master Li will certainly take action. After all, he once stated right in front of the Dowager and the Prince of Liang that he would protect you comprehensively."

"You are right. Master Li will not sit idly by." Thinking of this, Ning Junruo suddenly felt much less worried.

Just as the two of them were deep in thought, a voice outside shouted with arms raised, "That's right, we must demand justice for the Princess Consort!"

"We will reclaim justice for the Princess Consort!"