It Wasn't Me Who Attacked You

She reflexively grabbed with her hand, and when she looked, she found it was actually her own jade pendant!

"Your Majesty?" Cindy Zhu looked confused. "Isn't this my jade pendant? How did it end up with you?"

"I gave it to His Majesty," Bobby Zhu chimed in from the side.

Cindy Zhu turned her head and finally saw clearly who the two people were. Her face changed instantly as she said, "Bobby Zhu! Why are you here? How did you get my jade pendant?"

She’d just entered the palace, dazzled by all the jewelry everywhere. How could she still remember a little jade pendant she had as a girl?

So, she didn’t even realize she’d lost her jade pendant.

"Cindy Zhu, I already know—it was you who set up Bobby Zhu and Chloe Zhu," Evan Xiao declared, full of certainty.

"I didn’t! I didn’t! Your Majesty, you can't just listen to their side of the story! Bobby Zhu and Chloe Zhu have always been shady—everyone from both our families can testify!" Cindy Zhu cried out.

"Gavin Gao," Evan Xiao called.

"What are your orders, Your Majesty?" Gavin Gao replied respectfully.

"Since she refuses to admit it, take her to the Department of Punishments." Evan Xiao ordered coldly.

"Yes." Gavin Gao waved to the guards outside, and two armed imperial guards came in, ready to escort her away.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" Cindy Zhu panicked, shouting, "I object! I object! How can a single jade pendant convict me? Chloe Zhu stole it from me to frame me!"

"That jade pendant? I tore it off you when you ambushed me!" Sam Yuan said.

"Nonsense! I wasn't the one who ambushed you! How could you have just 'torn it off' me?" Cindy Zhu shot back.

The whole room went silent at her words.

Actually, Cindy Zhu isn't dumb.

She was just way too pissed off!

How could Sam Yuan just make stuff up like that?

Back then, she knew Sam Yuan’s cultivation was higher than hers, so she specifically asked Kevin Zhuo for help.

How could he say he tore it off her?

Colin Gu walked up to her and asked, word by word, "Then who ambushed him? Was it Kevin Zhuo?"

That’s what Chloe Zhu had said back then.

Only then did Cindy Zhu realize she’d said the wrong thing. She covered her mouth and shook her head over and over, "No, no, that's not what I meant! I didn’t ambush him at all! Your Majesty, please believe me!"

Colin Gu waved his hand in disgust. "Take her away! Lock her up in the Cold Palace!"

"Yes!" The guards dragged Cindy Zhu away as she wailed and struggled.

...

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for standing up for us!" Mr. Yuan and Sam Yuan bowed together.

"I wrongly accused you," Colin Gu said, helping them up. "I heard Sam Yuan joined the Spiritual Alchemist Guild?"

"Yes."

"Good, very good," Colin Gu nodded. "From now on, you’ll deliver any spiritual medicine I need."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Sam Yuan bowed in thanks.

...

Chloe Zhu figured someone would probably come to take her home soon.

So she started ordering Pan Er and Xi Er to pack up their things.

Just as they finished packing, Chu Shi arrived.

But he wasn’t there to pick her up.

The moment he saw Chloe Zhu, Chu Shi looked super serious and said, "Miss, something’s happened! My mom sent me to warn you."

"What happened?" Chloe Zhu frowned.

"At today’s Zhu Family Clan Meeting, your second grand-uncle brought up something..." Chu Shi explained the whole story to Chloe Zhu.

The so-called "Zhu Family Clan Meeting" was a monthly family meeting for the Zhu family.

Chloe Zhu’s second grand-uncle was Prime Minister Zhu’s actual second uncle—high ranking and respected, one of the Zhu family elders.

During the meeting, the elder complained that Chloe Zhu, as the clan leader’s only legitimate daughter, was actually a talentless good-for-nothing with no spirit root—a real stain on the Zhu Family’s reputation.