Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 1377: Chapter 1379 Sparring at the Royal Palace Gate_1

By noon, many commoners had gathered at the Main Gate of the royal palace. The commoners seemed to have been incited by something, claiming they were there voluntarily to ask the King to release King Yuchuan.

The King sent Lian Jia with guards to check the Palace Gate first, to see what kind of tricks the Divine Hall was playing. Bai Ruozhu and Jiang Yichun volunteered and followed Lian Jia to the Palace Gate.

The mood of the commoners wasn’t very agitated, only occasionally someone would shout, ”We beseech His Majesty to release King Yuchuan!”

Others would join in, echoing the chant. Afterward, the clamor would die down, but from the looks on everyone’s faces, they didn’t seem like they were paid to pretend.

”Ladies and gentlemen, whether King Yuchuan is guilty or not, the King will make a judgment after an inquiry. If the matter is unrelated to King Yuchuan, the King will surely release him from the Palace,” Lian Jia used his inner strength to say aloud to the commoners.

”No one saw King Yuchuan capture Princess Yingtong, there’s no eyewitness or evidence. How can the King keep detaining King Yuchuan?” one of King Yuchuan’s concubines, now seeking a reputation for herself, shouted loudly.

The Queen Yuchuan beside her gave the concubine a displeased glare but didn’t say anything.

”The King loves his subjects like his children and has always taken great care of his brothers and sisters. By causing such a commotion, are you not showing distrust in the King, or has someone incited you?” Lian Jia asked with a stern face.

For a moment, the scene fell silent, but soon someone shouted, ”No one incited us, we are voluntarily pleading for King Yuchuan.”

Bai Ruozhu shook her head slightly towards Lian Jia, signaling him not to say more. Lian Jia understood and stepped aside.

Seeing that Lian Jia had stopped speaking, the commoners started to clamor again, asking the King to release King Yuchuan.

After a while, a melodious music could be heard from afar. It sounded like music from heaven, at least that’s what Bai Ruozhu felt the first time she heard it, but now she found it nauseatingly false and pretentious.

The commoners wishing for King Yuchuan’s release suddenly quieted down, and soon cheers erupted, ”The Saintess has come, the Saintess has come to uphold justice for King Yuchuan!”

Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but want to criticize, what standing does Honglian have to administer justice in the Royal Family’s affairs? Have these people been brainwashed?

However, not everyone showed an enthusiastic attitude towards the Saintess’s arrival, which was an improvement from when Bai Ruozhu encountered the Saintess blessing the masses before. It seemed the heavy rain did have some effect.

The crowd parted to make way, and the Saintess’s carriage arrived at the Palace Gate. She was seated cross-legged in the middle of the carriage, appearing as if she were seated on a lotus platform. There were no walls on her carriage, only very thin veils surrounding it. When the wind blew, the veils fluttered, adding a hint of an ethereal, Immortal-like aura to her.

The Saintess was accompanied by four maids and a group of Holy Guard, followed by Jin Jing, who wore a dark expression on her face.

Jin Jing’s face darkened the moment she saw Bai Ruozhu, as her amputated hand throbbed with pain daily—a pain Bai Ruozhu had inflicted. It was because of Bai Ruozhu that Sangta had chopped off her hand.

Thinking of this, Jin Jing looked at Bai Ruozhu with eyes full of hatred, as if she wanted to rush up and tear her limb from limb.

Bai Ruozhu was sizing up Honglian when she suddenly felt a gaze upon her. She turned and met Jin Jing’s resentful look. Yet, she just lifted the corners of her mouth and then, with vermilion lips slightly parted, made a mouth shape at her: ”Hand.”

After that, she lifted her own smooth right hand, deliberately turned it over before her eyes to examine it closely, then touched the hairpin on top of her head before lowering her hand.

Jin Jing was so angry she almost crushed her silver teeth. She was doing it on purpose; she must be doing it on purpose!

Jiang Yichun was paying attention to his little woman’s actions and found it amusing. Then with disdain, he glanced at Jin Jing in the distance, deliberately raised his hand to help Bai Ruozhu tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear. This affectionate gesture and tender demeanor nearly caused Jin Jing to faint from rage in the distance.

Bai Ruozhu’s cheeks grew warm. This dead man wanted to tell that infatuated woman to stop coveting him, but he didn’t have to play it like this, especially with so many onlookers around.

Atop the chariot, Honglian’s pupils contracted slightly, but they quickly returned to normal.

She pretended not to see Mr. and Mrs. Bai and said to the people around her, ”It is rare for everyone to have such sincere hearts, but do not speak too harshly, lest you further displease the sovereign. If there is an issue, we should discuss it nicely. Honglian believes the sovereign isn’t an unreasonable person.”

Heh, she was already laying the groundwork, tirelessly smearing the sovereign’s name.

Suddenly, Honglian looked towards Bai Ruozhu and Jiang Yichun with feigned surprise, ”Mr. Bai and Madam Bai are here too? Could it be that you also know about this matter? The sovereign is always benevolent, yet he has been particularly harsh on King Yuchuan this time. Do you know why?”

Bai Ruozhu smiled. Honglian was trying to divert trouble elsewhere, making it seem as if these foreigners were stirring up strife.

Jiang Yichun was about to speak but Bai Ruozhu stopped him. It was hardly gentlemanly for a man to bicker with a woman; naturally, she should handle this situation.

”The great elder is still under investigation and interrogation. How come Saintess Honglian is out and about so casually?” Instead of directly answering her question, Bai Ruozhu countered with one of her own, her face bearing a meaningful smile.

Honglian struggled to maintain her smile, but her expression stiffened a bit. ”What do you mean by this, Madam Bai? Surely you do not also believe those rumors. You do not seem like the kind of person who would sully someone’s reputation.”

Bai Ruozhu’s smile deepened, ”I am not just unlike that, I am absolutely not that person. I like to speak the truth and never tarnish anyone’s innocence. You also put me through a divine trial, and since the red incense lit up, it proves the deities trust my character. Moreover, the recent divine decree surely cannot be slandered by others.”

Honglian’s smile waned, cursing internally why she had ever helped Jin Jing accuse Bai Ruozhu and held that divine trial, which now had become an adornment for Bai Ruozhu’s character.

The onlookers then realized that Bai Ruozhu was the foreigner who had ignited the red incense. Their eyes now held a mix of inquiry and reverence—after all, not just anyone could earn the favor of the deities. Conversely, recalling the red lettering at the Holy Hall’s Main Gate that read ”Gave birth to a daughter by adultery, raised as a saintess”, their gazes towards Honglian were tinged with doubt.

Honglian quickly resumed her smile and regained her pure and pristine demeanor. Unable to mention the incident with the heavy rain, she changed the subject, ”Regardless, you are favored by the sovereign, so you should urge him to treat King Yuchuan more leniently.”

”Saintess is mistaken. How can we foreigners meddle in the family affairs between the sovereign and his brother? Besides, even in ordinary families, if a younger brother makes a mistake, the elder brother has the right to deal with it according to Family Law. The sovereign’s actions are for King Yuchuan’s own good. You shouldn’t worry too much,” Bai Ruozhu responded with a smile.

”Your words are perplexing, Madam Bai. What wrongdoing has King Yuchuan committed?” Honglian challenged.