Phoenix Reborn: the Prime Minister’s Scheming Daughter - Chapter 362

Everyone looked over in horror. They found that the tiger lay on the floor with its neck tilted to the side. There was a silver chopstick stab into its abdomen, and blood was constantly gushing out of its mouth. As it turned out, at the critical moment, Baili Junyi shot the silver chopsticks toward the tiger’s abdomen to slow it down, and then he leaped forward and smacked his palm toward its neck. For safety’s sake, he used a lot of internal force and shattered the tiger’s internal organs.

One of the performers was bitten, and the other performers were all scared out of their wits. They had practiced it many times to ensure that everything was absolutely safe before they dared to perform in front of the Emperor. None of them had expected such an accident to happen.

Baili Qingcang’s expression was extremely gloomy. Peace and harmony were the mottoes of the New Year’s banquet, and killing and bleeding were the taboo. In fact, they even avoided executing criminals who had committed horrid crimes during New Year. However, such a bloody scene occurred at today’s New Year’s banquet. This was very upsetting.

The Third Prince was already kneeling on the ground and begging for forgiveness. “Father Emperor, it was all my fault. We rehearsed very well in the past, but I didn’t expect that there would be an accident this time. I was wrong. Please punish me, Father Emperor.”

Baili Qingcang looked at the Third Prince coldly and waved his hand to signal him to get up. The performance was proposed by the Third Prince, but it was a bit far-fetched to blame the accident on him.

Seeing the Emperor’s indifference toward the accident, Baili Junyi frowned and rebuked coldly, “Third Elder Brother, Father Emperor doesn’t blame you for disturbing the New Year’s banquet, but the chaos does not only affect the banquet. Everyone saw what happened just now. If I reacted a little slower, Ninghua would have died by now!”

Seeing his Father Emperor did not pursue the matter, the Third Prince breathed a sigh of relief. Just then, he heard Baili Junyi’s growl. A sense of dissatisfaction immediately rose inside him, and he hissed in his mind, “Father Emperor did not care. Why the hell are you so worked up?!”

“Fifth Younger Brother, it is true that I proposed and prepared this program, but I did not cause the accident. If you want to blame anyone for this, don’t get the wrong people. If you want to get to the bottom of it, there! you should question those performers! Yikes, his arm has been bitten off, and he has lost so much blood. Fifth Younger Brother, if you don’t hurry up, you won’t be able to make it!”

Baili Junyi narrowed his eyes, and a cold light flashed quickly. “Third Elder Brother, are you going to be so shameless in front of Father Emperor and all the officials? Ninghua was shocked! Shouldn’t someone be responsible for this?!”

“Fifth Younger Brother, don’t try to make an issue out of this. That tiger is an animal. It can’t tell whether the person is a princess or a prince. It’s not up to me to tell it who to bite. How can you blame this on me? Also, you said it yourself, Fifth Sister-in-law was shocked, not injured. You are making a big fuss over nothing.” The Third Prince put on an innocent face, but his words irritated Baili Junyi.

Baili Junyi did not speak, but the temperature around him dropped to the extreme.

Instead of looking at the Third Prince’s clumsy acting, Shen Ninghua was looking at Lin Feiran, who was whimpering on the floor. She was the one who pressed her on her back, making her unable to get up.

When Lin Feiran was pushed out, she happened to fall on the table in the back row. The bowls, chopsticks, and teacups were shattered all over the ground. The broken porcelain pieces sliced her elbow and back. She was in so much pain that she had not gotten up yet.

Shen Ninghua walked over step by step and looked down at her. Her cold gaze carried boundless coldness. “Miss Lin, long time no see. Your tricks are getting better and better.”

Lying on the floor, Lin Feiran gritted her teeth as she glared at Shen Ninghua, wishing she could tear her apart. She still remembered the humiliation of being slapped in front of the Palace. When she saw the tiger pounce on Shen Ninghua, she subconsciously pretended to have fallen and pressed Shen Ninghua to the ground. She did not expect that she would escape in the end.

“Princess Yi, what are you talking about?” Lin Feiran slowly got up and supported her injured elbow with the other hand. The blood dyed her pale yellow sleeves red. She looked at Shen Ninghua in confusion. Coupled with her beautiful pale face and slightly messy hair, she looked very innocent and pitiful.

With a smirk, Shen Ninghua grabbed Lin Feiran’s right hand, lifted it, and took off the pearl hairpin hanging on her sleeve. “When you pressed on me and trapped me on the floor, the pearl hairpin on my head hooked your sleeve.”

There was a flash of panic in Lin Feiran’s eyes, and she subconsciously avoided Shen Ninghua’s gaze. “I tripped myself and fell down, and I accidentally bumped into you. I didn’t do it on purpose. Please forgive me, Your Highness.”

Shen Ninghua laughed in a low voice. Her black eyes seemed to be able to see through people’s hearts as she glared at Lin Feiran. Lin Feiran’s heart skipped a beat. “Is it? Have you forgotten where you sat? Your seat was in the third row at the back. How clumsy could you be to accidentally fall on me?”

“I…”

Baili Qingcang frowned and snapped, “Ninghua, what happened?”

“Father Emperor, when the fierce tiger pounced on me, I could have gotten up and escaped, but Lin Feiran pressed me against the floor, and I couldn’t get up. I would have died if Junyi hadn’t saved me in time. Miss Lin claimed that she didn’t do it on purpose. I couldn’t accept that.”

The Third Prince sneered, “Fifth Sister-in-law, everyone was panicked just now. How can you be sure that Feiran did it on purpose? I have no offense, but it seems that Fifth Younger Brother and you dislike me and the Lin Family. Just now, Fifth Younger Brother suspected that I ordered the fierce tiger to hurt you on purpose. After I refuted it, you vented your anger at Feiran… Oh, I remember. Have you still been holding a grudge against us because of the past incident?”

Sensing that everyone’s attention was on him, the Third Prince pursed his lips slightly and said earnestly, “Fifth Sister-in-law, back then, Feiran was spoiled by her family. She was young and ignorant, which was why she offended you verbally. After that, My mother and the Lin Family had taught her the proper etiquette and manners. Didn’t you slap her at the entrance of the Palace? Now, her identity is not only the Lin Family’s young lady, but also the Sixth Prince of the Great Yue Kingdom’s fiancee. You’d better think about it carefully before you want to punish her.”

Lin Feiran’s face was ghastly pale, and her forehead was drenched with sweat due to the pain. Her delicate face was particularly pitiful and fragile under the illumination of the candlelight.

“Princess Yi, I was wrong in the past, and I was punished accordingly. I didn’t do it on purpose today. I was too flustered just now. Someone pushed me behind my back, and I staggered and fell down. I didn’t mean it. Please forgive me. If you don’t believe me and insist on punishing me, I’ll accept the punishment without regrets. After all, I did wrong in the past.”

Baili Junyi’s gaze was cold. These two people were going back and forth, putting on a good show. In this way, it would seem that Shen Ninghua and Baili Junyi were petty and narrow-minded if they pursued the matter further.

Shen Ninghua suddenly smiled. Her beautiful smile was like a blooming peony, which made every female guest pale in comparison. “I was angry because I was almost bitten to death by the tiger, so I probably made the wrong judgment. Miss Lin, since you said that you didn’t mean it, I owe you an apology for accusing you just now.”

Baili Jinchuan suddenly looked at Shen Ninghua’s face, and a trace of confusion flashed in his eyes as he thought, “When was she be so tolerant? Is it because she is intimidated by Lin Feiran’s current identity?”

Baili Junyi and Shen Ninghua exchanged glances, and they could see a trace of concern in each other’s eyes. Shen Ninghua walked to Baili Junyi’s side and looked at the little monkey and eagle in the cage. A trace of coldness flashed in her eyes. “These animals still have the bestial nature inside them. Even if they have been trained and tamed for years, it is impossible to completely wear away their wild nature.”

Just as she finished speaking, she saw the eagle suddenly cry out and leap up from the cage, pouncing towards Lin Feiran.

Lin Feiran hurriedly blocked her face with her arms. The sharp claws pierced right into her arms. Instantly, her flesh turned into a bloody mess. The women standing behind her completely panicked!

This feathered beast had gone crazy. If it injured their faces, their lives would be ruined. Baili Junyi protected Shen Ninghua as they retreated. Suddenly, the monkey went berserk and rushed toward the Third Prince, scratching him with its claws. The Third Prince, who originally wanted to save Lin Feiran, was caught off guard. Bloody marks scratched by the monkey were visible on his cheeks.

“Ah!” The Third Prince suddenly grabbed the monkey and threw it on the ground. After that, he kicked the monkey in resentment.

Baili Qingcang was shocked by the scene in front of him and only reacted after a while. “Guard, hurry up and take those crazy animals away!”

The guard rushed forward and took a long time to catch the eagle. The monkey was already dead like the tiger.

Lin Feiran almost fainted from the pain. Her arms were severely injured after being clawed by the eagle. “Ah, it hurts!”

The Third Prince suddenly glared at Baili Junyi and Shen Ninghua and barked furiously, “Did you do this?!”

Baili Junyi, who was protecting Shen Ninghua, sneered when he heard this. Ignoring the Third Prince completely, he turned to Baili Qingcang and denoted, “Father Emperor, you have seen it with your own eyes. Ninghua and I did not get close to the eagle and the monkey, but Third Elder Brother accused us of taking revenge against him. We’re innocent.”

The Third Prince was full of anger. “If it weren’t for you, why would those two animals attack me and Feiran?”

“Hey, that’s funny. Didn’t you just say that the animals don’t listen to human’s orders? If you want to blame someone for this, blame those performers. Oh, they are not dead yet. You can slowly get to the bottom of it.”

The Third Prince was huffing and puffing indignantly. Baili Junyi rebuked him with his own words!

The performers were already scared out of their wits. They knelt on the ground and pleaded repeatedly, “Your Majesty, we’re innocent! The animals were fine before. We didn’t know why they suddenly went crazy. Your Majesty, please spare us!” One of them was so scared that he even wet his pants. A strange smell mixed with the smell of blood almost made the officials vomit.

The Third Prince pulled Lin Feiran up. Seeing that her face was fine, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief. “Father Emperor, you have to do justice for me!”

Baili Junyi burst into laughter. “Do justice for you? What do you expect Father Emperor to do for you? This was just an accident. Do you want Father Emperor to beat those animals to death? Oh, right, you have trampled that monkey to death. You can only beat the eagle to death now. Third Elder Brother, you’re also making a fuss over such a small matter. Look at Ninghua, she almost died but she wasn’t as dramatic as you are!”

The Third Prince’s face turned red, and he almost fainted from anger. “You… you…”