A ring of fire gradually gathered, surrounding the two ghostly things.
"How dare you!"
A fierce voice rang out from behind the firelight, and the encirclement opened up, revealing an old woman.
She was none other than Granny Kong, who served by the side of the Prime Minister's wife.
"Tie them up!" Granny Kong said sternly.
There's no time to catch thieves here at night, but miraculously, Nanqianyue in Qingyun Courtyard sleeps exceptionally soundly, without any nightmares.
The next morning, she was awakened by someone in green, who said that the lady wanted her to go to the front hall.
When the man moved south, his face fell immediately. "Is there going to be some trouble again?"
"Miss, we must hurry, lest we keep Madam waiting," the woman in green whispered respectfully.
Nanqianyue was like a rag doll, letting Green Robe and others dress her up, comb her hair, and do her makeup.
The atmosphere in Qianxiang Hall was extremely solemn.
The Prime Minister's wife sat at the head of the table, while Nan Kezhi and Nan Yichu stood silently to her side.
Aunt Liu stood in the hall, with a servant and a man dressed as a farmer kneeling beside her.
Seeing this situation during the southward migration, I felt a headache coming on.
What kind of show is this?
"I have met Mother." Nan Qianyue bowed to the Prime Minister's wife, passing by the people in the hall.
Standing to the side, Nan Kezhi nodded to her and called out, "Big sister."
"Mm." Nan Qianyue nodded, ignoring her younger brother's awkward expression.
"Sit down." The Prime Minister's wife's calm gaze swept over Nan Qianyue.
"Yes." Nan Qianyue sat down beside her, her gaze falling on Aunt Liu. Feigning ignorance, she asked, "Mother, what happened?"
Actually, she had already guessed the general idea.
Judging from this situation, it must be related to yesterday's horse fright incident, and Aunt Liu standing in the hall must be one of the participants.
Those kneeling people were most likely people sent out by Aunt Liu on a mission but were caught before they could complete it.
These are all sordid affairs of a large, secluded family, and they are truly annoying.
The Prime Minister's wife raised her stern eyes, reached for the small bottle on the table, threw it at Aunt Liu's feet, and said sharply, "What explanation do you have?"
Aunt Liu remained composed, her phoenix eyes holding a faint smile. "Madam, I don't know what you mean by this?"
The Prime Minister's wife gave an elegant chuckle, "Bring the person up."
As soon as the order was given, a servant dragged in a middle-aged man.
It was easy to see that the middle-aged man had been beaten many times, his back was covered in blood, and he couldn't even walk.
The man was forced to kneel beside Aunt Liu. When he looked up, the Prime Minister's wife immediately kowtowed and begged for mercy, and confessed everything clearly.
"Spare me, Madam! It was all Aunt Liu's doing. She gave me a large sum of money to poison the young lady's horse. I know I was wrong, please spare my life!"
The Prime Minister's wife's cold gaze fell on Concubine Liu's face. "Are you still going to try to deny it?"
Nan Kezhi, standing to the side, was extremely anxious. She wanted to help explain but dared not speak, so she could only grit her teeth.
"Madam, this is a case of coercion to extract a confession," Aunt Liu said with a mocking smile. "Beat someone up like this, and you can turn white into black."
The Prime Minister's wife calmly picked up her teacup and took a sip. "Aren't there still two that haven't been beaten yet?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Granny Kong immediately understood and gave a wink to the thugs in the mansion.
The thug nodded, pressed down on the man they had arrested the night before, and demanded, "Tell me, who told you to destroy the medicine bottle?"
Little Si saw that the beaten stable boy was almost scared to death.
He was a kitchen helper who worked for Aunt Liu, but he dared not betray her because his mother and younger sister were in her hands.
"Replying to Madam, I was blinded by greed and couldn't stand the eldest young lady's arrogant attitude, so I had the stable boy poison her horse. It was all my doing, and it has nothing to do with Aunt Liu. Please, Madam, see the truth!"
"Tch..." Nan Qianyue couldn't help but laugh. How could someone come up with such a clumsy reason? It's pathetic.
However, her laughter at this moment did indeed sound somewhat arrogant, and the Prime Minister's wife cast a quiet glance at her, "Qian Yue, do you think there's anything wrong with what he said?"
Nanqianyue's smile faded, and she looked around before asking, "Is the money for the stable boy still there?"
"Young lady, here she is." Granny Kong personally took the bulging purse from the tray held by the servant and handed it to Nan Qianyue.
Nanqianyue glanced at it and looked at Xiaosi, "You mean to say that this silver was given to the stable boy by you?"
Xiao Si nodded tremblingly, "...Yes."
Aunt Liu closed her eyes and thought to herself, "Fool."
"Where did you, a lowly servant, get so much silver?" Nan Qianyue's gaze seemed to pierce through the servant, making him break out in a cold sweat.
"Yes...yes, it was me who saved it."
"Nonsense!" Granny Kong retorted sharply, "With your meager monthly salary, you couldn't save up that much money even if you lived three lifetimes!"
Xiao Si was so frightened that he trembled and couldn't come up with a good excuse.
Nanqianyue stood up and walked right up to Aunt Liu, but her gaze fell on Xiaosi. "Let me guess what made you willing to offend the Prime Minister's mansion to protect the mastermind behind the scenes."
After a pause, Nan Qianyue feigned hesitation and guessed, "Could it be that your family is being held captive by her?"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Si immediately looked up in astonishment, as if to say, "How did you know?"
Nanqianyue wanted to end the farce as soon as possible. She turned to look at the Prime Minister's wife. She didn't believe that her mother, who was obviously a master of domestic power struggles, hadn't left any tricks up her sleeve. She was afraid that she had made thorough preparations long ago.
"Mother, where are his family?"
The Prime Minister's wife's gaze towards Nan Qianyue changed at this moment; she hadn't expected that her daughter, who had been living away from home, would actually have some brains.
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