After her mind was read, the spoiled brat became the darling of the whole group.

Chapter 413: Throwing dirty water

"The princess!"

Those who originally intended to surround Xie Xing and the others returned immediately upon hearing the commotion of Princess De'an. They were horrified to see Princess De'an's face so badly ulcerated.

"Call the imperial physician! Call the imperial physician quickly!"

The crowd quickly forgot about Xie Xing and Xie Jiaojiao and hurriedly led Princess De'an toward the Empress Dowager's banquet.

Xie Jiaojiao was taken aback.

She turned her head and looked at Xie Xing in surprise.

Xie Jiaojiao hadn't seen Xie Xing for a long time since Xie Xing entered the palace, but she hadn't expected that Xie Xing would have such a trick up her sleeve.

Xie Jiaojiao was somewhat taken aback.

She quietly leaned close to Xie Xing and whispered in her ear, "Are the pustules on Princess De'an caused by the worms you released earlier, Xing'er?"

Xie Xing had already opened the brocade pouch, and soon insects flew in.

Xie Xing winked playfully at Xie Jiaojiao: "What do you mean, my bugs? Maybe it's because this place is remote, and Princess De'an might have been bitten by some poisonous insects."

"It will save you the trouble of coming to us."

Xie Jiaojiao chuckled and said, "Xing'er is right, let's go."

When Princess De'an was carried to the Empress Dowager by the guards, everyone was startled.

"What, what's going on?"

When the Empress Dowager saw the pustules on Princess De'an's face, her expression changed drastically, and she immediately called out, "Imperial Physician! Quickly, summon the Imperial Physician!"

Soon, a royal physician arrived.

The imperial physician knelt down to take Princess De'an's pulse. After a short while, he said with a solemn expression, "Your Majesty, the princess has been poisoned by a Gu worm."

"Gu!?" The Empress Dowager was shocked.

"Is someone in this palace raising Gu poison?"

"Your Majesty, this Gu worm must have been released by Xie Xing, the fifth young lady of the Xie family!"

The little maidservant beside Princess De'an knelt before the Empress Dowager, sobbing and crying.

"Xie Xing?" The Empress Dowager frowned. She scanned the Imperial Garden but did not see Xie Xing. She then asked, "Where is Xie Xing?"

The maidservant then spoke up, "Just now, Miss Xie was in the back garden. Our princess only stopped her from saying a few words, but we never expected that this person would be so vicious as to openly release poisonous insects to bite our princess!"

The personal maid spoke with great conviction, as if it were a true story.

Luo Mengfei sat next to the Empress Dowager, and her expression hesitated when she heard what the personal maid of Princess De'an said.

She and Princess De'an had played together since childhood, so seeing Princess De'an like this naturally made her feel sorry for her.

However, Xie Xing was someone in her palace and also her future sister-in-law, so she couldn't let the blame fall on Xie Xing.

Luo Mengfei then spoke up: "Xie Xing is one of my people. How could I not know whether Xie Xing raises poisonous insects or not?"

"Besides, given her personality, how could she possibly have poisonous insects?"

"Waaaaah, it hurts so much! It hurts so much!" Princess De'an cried out as she lay on the ground, while a royal physician administered acupuncture to her.

Fortunately, the worms are not very painful. After being stung, the body will only ulcerate and develop pustules, and it will not be life-threatening.

But for one woman, having sores and pustules all over her body was already half her life in danger.

How will Princess De'an get married in the future?

Princess De'an's parents are both guarding the border. If something were to happen to her now, and the news got out, it wouldn't be a minor incident for a young girl.

Jun Lanjin glanced at Princess De'an and immediately knew what was going on.

After she was released, she harbored resentment towards Xie Xing and attacked him.

Xie Xing also had the Gu worms given to her by Qi Yu, so naturally she learned her lesson.

Jun Lanjin turned around and bowed to the Empress Dowager, saying, "The divine physician is in my residence. I will have Princess De'an treated by the divine physician Ximen, and I guarantee that not a single scar will remain on her body."

Upon hearing this, Princess De'an stopped crying out in pain and stared at Jun Lanjin with teary eyes, saying, "Brother Jin, I knew you wouldn't abandon me."

"Woooooooo..."

For Princess De'an, this was a blessing in disguise.

For a moment, Princess De'an even forgot the pain in her body and wished that the people around her would send her to Prince Jin's mansion as soon as possible.

The Empress Dowager couldn't bear to look at Princess De'an like that.

She said helplessly, "In that case, let De'an stay in your residence until he recovers, and then he can come out."

Jun Lanjin remained silent, which was taken as tacit agreement.

Luo Hanfeng stood to the side, glancing at Wen Yan behind him.

After receiving Luo Hanfeng's gaze, Wen Yan smiled and said, "Your Highness, after all, neither of us is married, and Princess De'an is covered in boils. It might not be appropriate for her to move into Prince Jin's residence like this, given her reputation."

Prince Jin glanced at him lazily and said, "Then I will have the divine physician stay in your mansion, and you will bring Princess De'an back to your mansion."

Wen Yan's smile froze.

Before he could even speak, Princess De'an objected, "I don't want to! I don't want to live in the Wen family! I want to live in Prince Jin's mansion!"

As she spoke, Princess De'an blushed again: "If it would damage my reputation, then let Brother Jin go to me instead."

"You're dreaming," Jun Lanjin said, speechless.

Princess De'an: "..."

Princess De'an was heartbroken and saddened after being rejected by Jun Lanjin in public.

She didn't speak, she just kept crying.

Just then, Xie Xing and Xie Jiaojiao arrived.

As soon as the two arrived, everyone's attention turned to them.

The Empress Dowager pressed on in a deep voice, "Xie Xing, what happened to the injuries on Princess De'an's body?"

"But you did it?"

Upon hearing this, Xie Xing looked around blankly before finally noticing Princess De'an lying on the ground.

Her face immediately looked as if she had been wronged by some great injustice.

She knelt down with a thud: "Your Majesty, please see the truth! I am utterly wronged."

"I finally got to see my cousin today. We found a quiet place to chat about our private matters, but I didn't expect to suddenly hear Princess De'an coming with people looking for me, threatening to teach this little slut a lesson."

"My cousin and I were scared, but Princess De'an and her people blocked our way out. We had no choice but to go out."

"When Princess De'an saw the two of us, she wanted to teach us a lesson, but unexpectedly, she suddenly screamed and her whole body was covered with pustules."

"After that, she was brought here by her attendants to Your Majesty the Empress Dowager."

“From beginning to end, my cousin and I never got close to Princess De’an.”

Seeing this, Xie Jiaojiao knelt down and said, "Please, Your Majesty, make a wise judgment."

"This is definitely a case of mudslinging! This must be mudslinging!" At this point, even Old Mrs. Xie couldn't sit still any longer. She sat up shakily and exclaimed:

"Xie Xing has always been well-behaved, but others take advantage of my granddaughter's timidity and fear of trouble, trying to smear the Xie family. I, this old woman, will never allow it."

"I beg Your Majesty the Empress Dowager to do justice for my granddaughter!"