I woke up as the Villainous Empress
Chapter 283: Tea Party (X)

Chang Ah was desperate to reverse the tables and looked at the other ladies with pitiful, pleading eyes, moist with tears, and accused Yang Ning. "She is lying. She was the one who used to humiliate me and is now framing me. She even used to beat me and grab me by my hair if I didn't do as she said. Everyone in the capital knows how vicious this girl is."

"She is the vicious one, you all know that, right?" Chang Ah said to others, but everyone simply frowned at her embarrassing behavior. If they hadn't met Yang Ning, then they might have believed her words. However, after meeting her today and listening to the crude comments that Chang Ah made about Yang Ning, the ladies couldn't help but be doubtful of Chang Ah and her suspicious behavior.

Madam Guo and Liu didn't even glance at Chang Ah when she came to them to explain what Yang Ning said earlier and simply turned their heads away.

Yang Ning, who was watching Chang Ah's drama with her arms folded in front of her chest, raised her brows in surprise, and her lips curled in a pleased smile. Madam Guo and Liu, at least, did not support Chang Ah openly, if they didn't speak up for her either. This lack of support from influential figures influenced the other ladies not to respond to Chang Ah or speak up for her.

"Who is framing who, there is a way to replace that out." While Chang Ah was pleading to the ladies about her innocence and explaining her side, a familiar male voice interrupted her.

Everyone turned to the side, their eyes widened in surprise when they saw Zheng Liang walking towards them with his guard Gu Lan following behind. The ladies immediately lowered their heads and greeted, "Greetings to Your Highness!"

Zheng Liang nodded in response to their greetings and went to stand next to Yang Ning, coldly staring at Chang Ah, who was speechless and looking at him with teary eyes and disbelief. "Your…Your Highness!" She somehow managed to utter in a quivering voice.

Zheng Liang looked at her with indifferent expressions, ignored her greeting, and said in a chilly tone, "I heard that you were accusing my wife of not following her filial piety as the eldest daughter of the Yang family, and claiming she disrespected and mistreated you. Is that right?" His voice lacked any trace of emotion, clearly conveying his anger. Discover hidden stories at m,v l'e-NovelFire.net

Anyone could tell that he was displeased by Chang Ah's behavior except Chang Ah herself, who had a different mindset when it came to reading situations.

Chang Ah was stumped for words as she wasn't expecting Zheng Liang to confront her directly in front of everyone. However, after thinking it through, she realized that she didn't need to be afraid of Zheng Liang.

She believed she only needed to explain the truth to him, and she was sure that for the sake of the Empire and setting good morals and laws for everyone, he would take her side and protect her rights as a parent.

After all, he is the Crown Prince. Upholding the values of filial piety should be his major concern rather than his crude wife being accused in front of everyone.

She straightened her posture and said, her eyes welled up with tears, "Your Highness, please don't get angry at Ning Ning." She addressed Yang Ning in the most affectionate way, causing Yang Ning's brows to furrow in disgust.

"I apologize to you on my daughter's behalf. It's all my fault. As a mother, I failed to teach her to be a filial wife and daughter. I should have taught-" Before Chang Ah could complete her words and put on an act of a pitiful and saddened mother in front of him, Zheng Liang raised his hand to stop her.

"You don't need to repeat all of this. I already heard everything," he said coldly, sending a shiver down Chang Ah's spine.

"What?" Chang Ah, who had her head lowered and was pretending to wipe her tears, froze and looked up at him. Did he hear everything she said earlier, or just the words after the ladies came outside? She wondered.

Zheng Liang let out a snort before saying, "After having a meeting with His Majesty, I was returning to the Dragon Pavilion to greet the guests that the Crown Princess invited for the tea party. However, instead of the joyous laughter of the ladies, I got to hear the crying and wailing of someone. It was quite noisy and unpleasant to listen to, you see. Turns out it was none other than Mrs. Yang."

"However, Mrs. Yang, if I am not wrong, your name wasn't on the list of the guests invited today. I wonder how you came here today?" He asked coldly, causing Chang Ah to stare at him in a daze. His eyes were cold and indifferent as if interrogating her.

'So he knew everything about her not being on the list. Yet he didn't say anything to Yang Ning.' Chang Ah gulped nervously and stammered for words, "Your Highness, I am her mother. If…how can I miss her first tea party? I only wanted-"

Zheng Liang didn't bother to listen to her words and continued, "Not only did you ruin my wife's first tea party, but you also dared to hit her and accused her of not doing her filial piety duties?"

Chang Ah's eyes widened in horror, "Your Highness, I didn't hit her. I was only planning to slap that wench. I didn't-" She closed her mouth when she realized that she mistakenly admitted to almost slapping Hou Wei in front of him. However, slapping that commoner nurse was better than Yang Ning, who holds the title of the Crown Princess.

"Attempting to hit the staff at the palace is equal to disrespecting the royal family. Are you powerful enough that you dared to raise your hands on one of the staff of the royal palace?" Zheng Liang's sharp words didn't allow Chang Ah to get away from it.

While Chang Ah was scared and trembling upon witnessing the intimidating and scary aura of Zheng Liang, the ladies were surprised to see the Crown Prince standing up for his wife. Though everyone is aware that Yang Ning is favored by His Majesty, there are still many unpleasant rumors about the relationship between the husband and wife.

Since it's going to be almost 1 year, and there is no news of the Princess becoming pregnant, many people were suspicious that His Highness was planning to bring in another consort. Many times His Highness had seemed to be sleeping in the Guest room, causing chaos in discussions at the royal court and the servants, which serves as the root source of the rumors among the masses.

However, they have never expected in their wildest dreams that Zheng Liang would not only plan to come and greet them at the tea party but would also confront Mrs. Yang for the sake of upholding the honor of his wife.

The position of Yang Ning in the royal family was much higher than they had expected.

Zheng Liang didn't mind the surprised gazes of the ladies who were watching the show and stared at Chang Ah with disgust and mockery in his eyes. "Mrs. Yang, until now I haven't bothered to say anything to you for the sake of my wife. However, now it's enough.

Since the situation has come to my wife's reputation, as her husband and the Crown Prince of the Empire, I will clear the name and reputation of the Crown Princess."

He glared at Chang Ah and said, "You said that Yang Ning was lying earlier, right? Will you also call me a liar if I say that I was the witness of your cruelties towards her? Did you forget the first night when I visited the Yang Household? Huh?"