"Besides, my sister swore that I was out at night, but what evidence did she have? I was clearly sleeping in my room."
Shangguan Wanning raised her eyebrows and looked at Shangguan Xiaoxiao with certainty. "Sister, these two servants are working for you. Can you ask them where I came from?"
Shangguan Xiaoxiao looked at the servant with the last glimmer of hope.
"The young lady...came out from inside..."
"What else do you have to say, sister?"
Shangguan Xiaoxiao saw Shangguan Wanning disguised as a man to go out with her own eyes. She originally wanted to take this opportunity to destroy Shangguan Wanning's reputation, but she didn't expect to be bitten back.
She really couldn't accept it.
"Sister, if you didn't go out, why did you let Lutong guard the back door? It's so late at night, she should be waiting in your room."
Seeing that Shangguan Xiaoxiao was still struggling, Shangguan Wanning lowered her head and pretended to wipe her tears with a handkerchief.
"Dad, Mom, Lu Tong wasn't guarding the back door at all. I was hungry at night, so I asked her to go to the kitchen and make me a bowl of soup. But she didn't come back, so I went out to look for her. I clearly heard the two servants say that my sister promised to give Lu Tong to them..."
“Dad, I…”
"That's enough."
Shangguan Yue saw the two sisters arguing, and his face became more and more ugly. He stood up angrily, with burning anger in his eyes.
"Xiaoxiao, you framed my eldest sister and you still refuse to repent. If I don't teach you a lesson today, I'm afraid you won't learn your lesson." Shangguan Yue shouted, "Come here, drag the second young lady out and give her twenty spit words. Lock her up in the ancestral hall for three days. No visitors are allowed. Only water can be brought in, not food."
Shangguan Xiaoxiao was so scared that she collapsed on the ground, trembling all over.
"Master, please don't..." Aunt Zhao felt sorry for her daughter, so she knelt down and crawled to Shangguan Yue, grabbing his clothes and begging him. "Xiaoxiao is your daughter no matter what she did, don't treat her like this... She is weak, she will die..."
"Master, this punishment is indeed too severe." Madam Shangguan felt a little sorry for him and also helped to plead, "Xiaoxiao is still young, and Ning'er is not hurt, otherwise... just give her a light punishment."
Shangguan Wanning couldn't help but secretly sigh that her mother had always been kind, but she could never get the true gratitude from Shangguan Xiaoxiao and her daughter.
"Ning'er, talk to your father quickly." Mrs. Shangguan winked at Shangguan Wanning.
Shangguan Wan Ning couldn't bear to refuse her mother. She glanced at Shangguan Xiao Xiao and said, "Dad, Mom is right. Calm down. No matter what, we are a family."
Shangguan Yue looked at his kind-hearted wife and daughter and sighed deeply.
"Xiaoxiao, you've seen it, your aunt and elder sister really love you. Because they pleaded for you, I will only punish you by grounding you for a month. If there is a next time..."
"No, sir. Xiaoxiao doesn't dare to do that anymore." Aunt Zhao said, and kowtowed to Madam Shangguan a few more times, "Thank you, Madam. Thank you, Miss..."
Shangguan Xiaoxiao lowered her head, her face pale. She bit her lips tightly until blood oozed out and a fishy and salty taste came from her mouth.
"Okay, let's go back to our rooms." Shangguan Yue said, and left the hall with Mrs. Shangguan.
Shangguan Wanning walked over and gently helped Shangguan Xiaoxiao up, saying with a smile: "Sister, you must be careful in what you say and do in the future. If you make a wrong step, you will suffer in the future."
"Thank you, sister..." Shangguan Xiaoxiao gritted her teeth in hatred, but could do nothing about it.
"Give these two men thirty strokes of the cane and expel them from the Prime Minister's Residence. I don't want to see them again." Before Shangguan Wan Ning took the two servants away, she ordered her servants to beat them severely.
The purpose is to warn Shangguan Xiaoxiao.
Shangguan Wanning walked out of the hall with Lutong. She saw a dark shadow flash by behind the flower bed.
A warm feeling flowed through her heart.
As expected, Mu Jingrui was still watching her in the dark.
After a few days, everything was calm.
Shangguan Wanning took the opportunity of going out to buy bird's nests for her mother and wanted to go to the house in the suburbs to see Mu Jingyan.
She set off with only Lu Tong and a coachman. When she arrived at the city gate, she saw many ragged people lined up in a long queue, which slowed down the progress.
"What's going on?" Shangguan Wan asked with a frown.
"My lady, I heard from Old Xu who buys vegetables in the kitchen a few days ago that several counties not far from the capital had a poor harvest this year and suffered from famine. Although the court has also reduced taxes, people still starved to death on the streets. Some refugees have flocked to the capital. The second prince has used his private property to provide porridge and medicine here."
Shangguan Wanning was stunned, and many scenes appeared in her memory.
In the memory of his previous life, Xiao Zhenting did a lot for disaster relief, and thus won a lot of support from the people, laying the foundation for his future seizure of power.
At that time, she naively thought that this man had the world in his heart and was a rare wise ruler.
It's ridiculous.
She must find a way to expose Xiao Zhenting's true face.
Shangguan Wanning sighed silently and came to the door of the house in the suburbs. She vaguely heard the sound of fighting coming from inside.
Her heart sank involuntarily and she hurriedly pushed open the door and went in, only to see four masked men besieging Mu Jingyan.
Mu Jingyan's injuries had not yet healed, but his every move was ruthless and precise, and his expression was heroic.
"You think if you kill me, no one will know what you are doing? Dream on!"
Mu Jingyan slapped a masked man away with one palm and was about to escape when he saw Shangguan Wanning standing at the door.
She frowned, jumped to Shangguan Wanning's side, grabbed her hand and tried to run away.
Feeling the murderous aura coming from behind, Mu Jingyan felt a chill in his heart and had no time to dodge.
A figure passed by and several screams were heard.
In an instant, the scene became quiet.
"elder brother……"
Mu Jingyan's eyes were blurred with tears, as if she was in a dream. She shook off Shangguan Wanning's hand and rushed over, hugging Mu Jingrui tightly.
Mu Jingrui also felt sad and patted his sister's back gently. "Silly girl, don't cry, it's okay."
Shangguan Wanning rarely saw Mu Jingrui act so gently.
Even the terrifying evil spirit has a kind side.
"Jingyan, who are these people?" Shangguan Wanning stepped forward and handed Mu Jingyan a handkerchief.
Mu Jingyan didn't answer and looked straight at Mu Jingrui.
Mu Jingrui nodded slightly, and she took the handkerchief and wiped the tears from her face.
"They are killers raised by Yingchunlou."
"Yingchun Tower?" Shangguan Wanning was a little surprised. "It's just a brothel. How could there be a killer with such high martial arts skills? Could it be... Yingchun Tower has other secrets?"
"Yingchunlou must have a deep background."
Mu Jingrui's words made Shangguan Wanning even more surprised.
"The killer we encountered in the alley on the day we rescued Xiaoyan was a master from the Imperial Palace."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
