Zhao Rushuang: "The joint trial by the three judicial departments has revealed that Li Zanran was behind this whole affair. He was bribed by the traitorous Crown Prince and became a lackey of the Da Nu Kingdom, which is why he made all these moves. Father is the victim. If Li Zanran is dealt with, the imperial family will surely offer some solace."
"That's not what I want to hear," Lord Zhao said, observing the expressions on the siblings' faces. "You'd better tell me the truth, or if you really offend the Qiao family, I won't be able to save you."
He had regained some clarity two days ago. Things were calm at the Qiao family's place, but he still had a bad feeling, probably because he had been immersed in officialdom for too long.
“Father, you really don’t trust us? When you fell ill, my brother and I were so worried that we didn’t have the mind to care about anything else. We were just making a guess at the time. Who would really go against the Qiao family?” Zhao Rushuang massaged Lord Zhao’s back and then gave Zhao Ruye a wink.
Zhao Ruye walked over and poured a full cup of tea for Lord Zhao.
"Father, don't worry. Just wait until you're well enough to go to the Court of State Ceremonies. Our family will be fine."
After much persuasion from the brother and sister, and after they made them repeatedly assure him, Lord Zhao finally gave up.
In the garden, Zhao Ruye frowned: "Sister, with Qiao Lian'er's temperament, I'm afraid she won't let this go so easily. Before we can apologize, who knows what kind of trouble she'll cause."
Zhao Rushuang, however, did not take it seriously: "Brother, you are being too worried. It's not just Father who has fallen ill, but also Lord Bai. How can Qiao Lian'er be so sure that we did this, and not the Bai family?"
Her words reminded Zhao Ruye, whose voice lowered: "You mean?"
“That’s right, we’ll shift the blame. Since Qiao Lian’er isn’t sure it was us, we’ll pin it on the Bai family.” Zhao Rushuang curled her lips. “That way, we can resolve this matter without anyone noticing, and we’ll have a real explanation to give to Father.”
Zhao Ruye nodded: "That's a good idea, but how do we get started?"
“That’s easy. The horse was startled and went berserk; it must have been provoked by something.” Zhao Rushuang whispered to Zhao Ruye, “Just give it that medicine—”
Zhao Ruye laughed: "That's a good move. I'll find someone with good lightness skills to infiltrate the Bai family immediately."
The charges against Li Zanran were as follows: all members of his family aged fourteen and above were executed, and those under fourteen were all sold into slavery.
Mu Xinghe was promoted to the rank of fifth-grade official in the Ministry of Personnel, a promotion of half a grade. To reach the rank of fifth-grade official, one usually needs to be at least in their late thirties, while Mu Xinghe was only twenty years old. This promotion was very eye-catching and aroused the envy of everyone.
The foreign dignitaries and envoys all returned with gifts, and the matter was considered closed, but the Zhao family made no comment.
“The Zhao siblings are not going to apologize,” Pei Shijiu said. “Lian’er, what do you plan to do?”
These days, Qiao Lian'er went to Puchen Kingdom to appraise dozens of piles of raw stones, received a large number of merchant caravans, and made tens of millions of taels of silver. When he returned, he found that seven or eight days had passed, and the Zhao family was still pretending to be dead pigs.
Lord Zhao also went to the Court of State Ceremonial to report for duty.
She laughed. Did the Zhao family really think that she was completely kept in the dark and knew nothing about it?
She originally intended to give them a chance; as long as they showed enough sincerity in compensating Mu Xinghe and his wife, she would let bygones be bygones.
It seems they won't shed a tear until they see the coffin.
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