Chapter 298: Su Wan Framed Me

Marquis Guangyuan and Princess Yongfu hurried to Penglai Pavilion, only to hear resentful screams from a distance, interwoven with faint sobbing of despair and a man’s pleading voice, all merging into a chaotic clamor.

The couple’s hearts skipped a beat. Stepping through the moon gate, they saw a crowd of guests gathered outside the room, whispering among themselves in hushed discussion.

“I initially thought that County Princess Lin’an making a scene in the front hall was just an excuse, and that Princess Yongfu’s claim of her being possessed by evil spirits was merely a pretext. But now, I don’t think so—it might actually be true that she’s been tainted by something unclean.”

“Isn’t that right? Otherwise, who would degrade themselves like this? Liu Baocheng is the illegitimate son of the Earl of Qinghe, always lingering in brothels and pleasure quarters. Just a few days ago, didn’t he become the favored guest of a courtesan and cause a ridiculous scandal?”

“Not necessarily. Maybe she couldn’t marry into the Defender Duke’s residence and ended up making way for someone else. Feeling provoked, she decided to give up completely?”

“But even so, would she really choose someone as useless as Liu Baocheng?”

It was like a sudden clap of thunder on a clear day.

Princess Yongfu’s face turned pale.

Who with whom?

She abruptly shoved through the gathered crowd, forcing her way inside. The moment she saw the scene before her, her expression shattered completely.

County Princess Lin’an was disheveled, her hair in disarray. She wore only a thin inner garment and a half-length skirt, straddling Liu Baocheng while smashing a porcelain pillow against his head, cursing in a hysterical breakdown.

“You wretch! Wretch! Go to hell!” Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably, snot smearing across her features. Her face was twisted with fury, radiating a desperate determination to drag him down with her. “If I can’t live, you don’t get to live either!”

Liu Baocheng was dazed from the blows of the porcelain pillow, his head throbbing with pain as blood streamed down, blurring his vision. Terrified, he screamed, “Let me go! It was you who climbed into my bed, and now that we’ve been caught, you’re turning the blame on me! A shrew like you—if you hadn’t forced yourself on me, I would’ve stayed far away! I wouldn’t have touched you with even a single finger!”

His head grew heavier and heavier, and a sense of dread crept over him—if this beating continued, he might not make it out alive.

Liu Baocheng turned his head toward the people outside the door and cried for help, “Save me! Someone, please help me! This wretch forced her way into my resting room! I was drunk—I don’t know anything!”

“Murder! Help!”

Liu Baocheng struggled desperately, but his limbs were weak, and he couldn’t break free. His eyes frantically searched the crowd for Tang Haoyue, only to despair when he realized Tang Haoyue was nowhere to be seen!

Regret twisted in his gut—he should never have been lured by the generous promises Tang Haoyue made and come to Penglai Pavilion to humiliate Su Wan.

He couldn’t understand it no matter how he thought about it—why hadn’t Su Wan come? Why was it County Princess Lin’an, this she-devil, who appeared instead?

Hearing his words, County Princess Lin’an flew into a rage and hurled the porcelain pillow aside. She picked up a shard of the broken porcelain and stabbed it into Liu Baocheng’s neck. “You’re spouting nonsense! I came to Penglai Pavilion looking for someone, and the moment I entered the room, you—” Her voice cracked with fury. “Die! Just die already!”

The moment she thought about how she had lost her purity, defiled by this beast, County Princess Lin’an felt nothing but utter despair—there was no future left for her in this lifetime.

Losing all reason, madness flickered in her eyes. Her fingers trembled as she pressed the shard down harder, mumbling incoherently under her breath, cursing Liu Baocheng and condemning him to hell.

Liu Baocheng’s neck was slashed, and blood gushed out. He was so terrified that his soul nearly left his body.

“An’an! An’an!” Princess Yongfu rushed inside, throwing herself at County Princess Lin’an, wrapping her tightly in her arms to stop her from killing Liu Baocheng and causing a fatal incident. “Don’t be afraid, Mother is here. Whatever injustice you’ve suffered, Mother will seek justice for you.”

Princess Yongfu caught sight of the marks on County Princess Lin’an’s body and nearly fainted on the spot.

“Mother, Mother, I can’t go on living anymore! Help me—tear this wretch to pieces!” County Princess Lin’an, her expression utterly distraught, pointed a trembling finger and accused, “Su Wan! It was that wretch Su Wan who set me up!”