The maids' screams echoed all over the palace, and before they could contain themselves, the room was already filled with loud gasps, wagging tongues, and widened eyes.
Words had begun spreading even before Feiyue succeeded in covering herself properly. The place by her side was wrinkled but empty, her body trembling as her fingers tightened on the bedspread.
"I... I didn't do it," she murmured, tears streaming down her face, but her words were useless in the face of such outstanding evidence.
If the palace had not been fully awake before, it was now, and news had already gotten to Ji Fengye and the Empress.
"Call on the Prime Minister," the Empress ordered as she stormed out of her quarters. "I want to see what madness Ji Mingyaun is playing at," she hissed as she hastened her steps toward the Crown Prince's quarters.
Outside the palace, words began spreading like wildfire.
