Chapter 6: Want to Go from Perpetrator to Victim? No Way

A man wearing thin trousers and bare-chested burst out of the room, chased by a disheveled woman hitting him as she followed.

When the man saw the crowd gathered at the door, his legs gave out and he collapsed on the ground.
Tang Rong, who had chased after him, froze on the spot as soon as she saw the group of noblewomen led by the Princess.

She wasn’t the only one stunned, Qin Shi’s mind also went blank.

It’s over. Everything is completely over now!

Although everyone had already suspected that the person inside might be the fourth Miss of the Tang family, actually seeing their faces still shocked them.

“Fourth sister?” Tang Mi looked at the disheveled Tang Rong in disbelief. She quickly averted her gaze, embarrassed to look at the shirtless man.

Hearing Tang Mi’s voice snapped Tang Rong back to her senses, and she charged at her like a madwoman, screaming:
“Tang Mi, you bitch! Why did you do this to me?!”

Tang Rong, filled with hatred, clawed at Tang Mi’s face.

Tang Mi had just taken a slap from Qin Shi earlier and wasn’t going to let herself get hit again. She caught Tang Rong’s hand and gripped it tightly.
“What are you saying, fourth sister? When did I ever harm you?”

Tang Rong grew even angrier at her denial and flung off her grip, dropping to her knees in front of the Princess. Crying, she pleaded,
“Your Highness, I was framed by Tang Mi. Please, seek justice for me!”

Qin Shi immediately knelt as well, crying out:
“Our Rong’er has always been so well-behaved. Tang Mi used such a wicked scheme to harm her! She’s ruined Rong’er’s life. Your Highness must help us!”

They had no other options now but to push everything onto Tang Mi, hoping to play the victim. Maybe then there’d still be a chance to salvage the situation.

Their tears and pleas stirred sympathy among many of the onlookers. After all, these ladies were also women who had once been daughters themselves. They all understood how important a young woman’s chastity was.

Soon, the tide turned against Tang Mi:

“That eldest Miss Tang is too cruel, harming her own sister like this.”
“So vicious! They’re family, how could she do something so heartless?”
“A woman’s chastity is everything. Tang Rong’s whole life is ruined now.”
“Poor fourth Miss Tang, being framed by her own cousin. How did the old madam of the Tang family raise such a girl?”
“She looks elegant and virtuous, but who knew she was hiding such malice?”

The Princess looked at the weeping mother and daughter, then at Tang Mi. She was sitting up straight and proud, showing not a trace of guilt. Narrowing her eyes, the Princess asked coldly:

“Tang eldest miss, how do you respond?”

Tang Mi kowtowed before calmly speaking:
“Your Highness, I am innocent. I truly don’t know why my fourth sister believes I harmed her. I didn’t do anything.”

Tang Rong screamed, “Tang Mi, you clearly shoved me into the room and locked me in there with that man. And you still deny it?!”

Before Tang Mi could respond, the older maid from earlier, Granny Zhong, stepped forward and said:

“Fourth Miss Tang, the door was never locked.”

Granny Zhong had been closest to the door and had seen the scene clearly, Fourth Miss Tang had been sitting on the man, completely shameless.

At her words, the noblewomen recalled how the door had opened easily with just a push. There had been no sign of it being locked.

Tang Rong was stunned. The door hadn’t been locked? But she’d definitely tried and failed to open it. Suddenly, she shrieked again:
“She must’ve been holding the door shut! Her hands must be injured!”

Tang Mi clenched her fists. Tang Rong grabbed her hand and held it up for all to see perfectly smooth, without a single scratch.

“What?!” Tang Rong stared at Tang Mi’s unblemished, delicate hand in disbelief.

If Tang Mi had held the door closed with all her strength, she would definitely be hurt. Tang Rong had pulled with all her might and couldn’t open it, there should’ve been injuries.

Tang Mi had remembered her injured hand earlier when opening the door and realized it had been treated likely by that man.
Though she didn’t know why he had done it, she was thankful he saved her the trouble of explaining.

She yanked her hand back and looked at Tang Rong with a frown:
“Fourth sister, are you confused? I wasn’t feeling well earlier, had a terrible headache and no strength. You helped me into the room to rest. I fell asleep afterward. How could I possibly have pushed you into the room?”

“I…” Tang Rong was at a loss for words, only managing to choke out,
“You woke up later! It was you!”

“Yes,” Tang Mi admitted readily. “I did wake up later, but because I overheard a conversation that scared me awake.”

A conversation?

Everyone immediately looked toward Tang Mi with curiosity.
What conversation had she overheard?