Can't Bear to See Him Get Beaten Again

Right now, Chloe Zhu radiated a fierce and powerful aura that seemed to command the whole room.

Kevin Zhuo stared at her, a little stunned, lost for words.

Why does this Chloe Zhu look so strong and... unfamiliar?

Is she a fake?

Seeing her son so battered, Grace Wan was fuming. She rushed over to help Kevin up and demanded, "Grace, why did you drug Kevin’s wine and make him commit such a huge mistake?"

Now that Grace had no chance of entering the palace, Grace Wan had lost all patience for pretending to be the loving mother.

"Mistake? What mistake did he make?" Chloe Zhu asked, looking genuinely confused.

"He—oh, stop pretending!" Grace Wan snapped, frustrated.

"Miss, here’s what happened," Claire, ever quick-witted, explained the situation to Grace and Maya Summers.

"Oh, really?" Chloe Zhu's smile was half-mocking as she looked at Kevin. "Kevin Zhuo, that lie was just pathetic. Who doesn’t know you’re a drunk and a womanizer? You mess up and then try to blame me and my brother—are you even a man?"

"Who are you calling not a man? Clearly it was you—" Kevin Zhuo, humiliated and angry, tried to lunge at Chloe Zhu again.

"Enough!" Jason Zhu, unable to watch him get beaten up again, asked, "Kevin, you keep saying you were drugged. Do you have any proof?"

"This wine is the proof!" Kevin pointed at the wine pot. "There's poison in it, and no one but Chloe Zhu touched it! Who else could it be?"

At that moment, Dowager Lady Evelyn Zhu, who had been silent, asked, "You knew there was poison in the wine, so why did you drink it?"

"Of course I didn't know when I drank it!" Kevin retorted as if it were obvious. "I only found out after testing it for poison!"

Dowager Lady Evelyn Zhu raised an eyebrow. "Really? You tested it for poison just now?"

"That's right!" Kevin blurted out. "I used Soulveil Bamboo to test it. The bamboo turned dark yellow—that means it's a lust potion! Otherwise, how could I have... done something like that?"

In reality, he hadn't tested it at all.

He already knew there was something in the wine, so what was the point of testing it?

Still, to make himself look reasonable, he had to say he'd tested it.

Dowager Lady Evelyn Zhu nodded and called, "Servants, bring the Soulveil Bamboo to test the wine."

A guard quickly brought the Soulveil Bamboo and tested the wine for poison.

Grace Wan shot Grace a cold glare.

With so many witnesses today, Kevin's hopes of marrying the princess were probably dashed.

But she wasn't about to let Grace or Jason Zhu off easy!

"Well?" Jason Zhu asked the guard.

"Prime Minister, the Soulveil Bamboo hasn't changed color," the guard reported.

"Impossible!" Kevin's face changed dramatically as he blurted out.

He snatched the wine pot and tested it himself with the Soulveil Bamboo.

But the Soulveil Bamboo did not change color.

He tried another stick, but still no color change.

He froze for a moment. What was going on?

Why wasn't there any poison?

Could it be that the mechanism in the pot was broken?

He glanced at the petals carved on the pot—weren't they supposed to trigger the mechanism?

He'd tried this many times before. It had never failed!

"Are you thinking, 'There was supposed to be poison in here, so why is there none?'" Dowager Lady Evelyn Zhu asked coolly.

"Yeah! What's going on..." Kevin muttered.

"And you're wondering if the mechanism in the pot is broken?" Dowager Lady Evelyn Zhu pressed.

Mechanism?

Kevin stared wide-eyed at Dowager Lady Evelyn Zhu.

She said 'mechanism.'

How did she know there was a mechanism in the pot?