Seeing that Song Chengze was listening attentively and had no intention of interrupting her, Meng Qi thought for a moment and continued, "When preparing the birthday gift for Princess Cheng, I deliberately let Wang Chenghai spread the news. I thought that if Li Mancang was really Prince Cheng's man, he might take advantage of this opportunity to do something. So, I specially included two bottles of rose water in the birthday gift."
Seeing Song Chengze's puzzled expression, Meng Qi whispered, "Princess Cheng is addicted to peonies, but not roses. However, roses and peonies are very similar, making it difficult for ordinary people to tell them apart, especially after they are made into perfume. And when packing the birthday gift, I specifically asked Wang Chenghai to find someone from the west courtyard to help. Among them was Li Mancang's trusted disciple, and he watched Wang Chenghai pack the rose perfume."
Song Chengze listened very seriously, his eyes fixed on Meng Qi. If they were not talking about something very important and formal, Meng Qi would have thought that Song Chengze had some thoughts about her and was watching so intently and seriously.
"One of the people who was supposed to go to Prince Cheng's mansion to deliver birthday gifts today had an accident early this morning. Before Wang Chenghai could go look for them, Li Mancang's trusted disciple volunteered to go along. By the time I learned this news, I was already certain that Li Mancang was Prince Cheng's man, and that he was the one who spread rumors about my mother's birthday last time. His goal was to cause misunderstandings and dissatisfaction between us, to make you dislike me, to make me quarrel with you, to disrupt the peace of our family, and to distract you."
Song Chengze nodded. "Did his confidant replace the rose perfume with peony perfume?"
Meng Qi nodded. "When loading the car, Yuan Dong specifically looked at the two bottles of rose perfume. Wang Chenghai specifically arranged for that person to follow in the car, fearing that he had replaced them with the peony ones."
"Then what did you do? I mean, you wouldn't let them put Shaoyao's in there, otherwise Princess Cheng wouldn't use Meng Zhi to attack me."
"I asked Yuandong to bring two bottles of osmanthus. Xiao Chunzi next to Wang Chenghai is smart. He replaced them when we were moving the gifts."
Song Chengze frowned, "Is it true that it was replaced with Peony Dew?"
Meng Qi nodded, then shook her head. "I don't know if they're peonies, but they must have been replaced. The color of roses and peonies is too similar. I know they were replaced because the direction Wang Chenghai placed them was different from the direction Xiao Chunzi discovered when she went to replace them at Prince Cheng's mansion. The mark Wang Chenghai made is gone, so someone must have moved them. The two bottles are still in my room. I don't have time today, but tomorrow I'm thinking of asking the prince to take them out and let someone who knows the inside take a look to see if there are peonies."
Song Chengze exhaled, "And then?"
"I asked Ms. Li to go with me to register. She didn't know that my birthday gift contained rose water, and I also wrote osmanthus water on the gift list. I asked Ms. Li to show the people in Prince Cheng's mansion each time she read out an item, thinking that if they found out that I gave osmanthus water and told Prince Cheng or the Princess, they would use this Meng Zhi incident to make trouble for you again."
"What other birthday gifts did you give?"
"Everything else is impeccable, don't worry, Your Highness."
Only then did Song Chengze retract his gaze, stand up and walk to the rear window where the two of them had watched the wild ducks together last time, and push the window open wider.
Meng Qi stood behind him without saying a word, just looking at his back, suddenly feeling a little distressed. Song Chengze looked so lonely from behind. Without any favorable conditions, he had built himself up to what he was today. Needless to say, the hard work involved was self-evident.
After a long while, Meng Qi continued, "Of course, these are just my findings. Some of them are just my guesses, so I need your Highness to confirm them. I thought it would be inappropriate for me to interfere in what happens next, and there is no reason for me to question Li Mancang, so..."
Song Chengze turned around and said, "I know. Leave this matter to me. I'll tell you the result later."
"What do you want?"
"Make him disappear."
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