Chapter 192 None of the people with the surname Xiao are normal.
Late at night.
The entire capital was shrouded in the stillness of the night, with only the sound of the night watchman's drum echoing through the streets.
Meng Shilan sat quietly at the table.
Only the lonely shadow of a single oil lamp flickered slightly.
On the table lay the faded, old sword tassel.
When the eldest princess was Princess Chaoyang, Meng Yushan was merely the head guard of the princess's residence. His eldest son, Meng Yuyun, was five years younger than Princess Chaoyang.
Two young people fell in love.
However, their social statuses are vastly different.
Princess Chaoyang secured a favor for Meng Yushan, and fighting was the fastest way to get promoted.
Meng Yushan and his eldest son took to the field.
Princess Chaoyang gave away this sword tassel before she left, but she never got to see its owner return.
That eighteen-year-old boy will never again smile and lead her to pick fruit.
This is a secret, and no one knows it.
Before leaving, Meng Yushan told her that she could take the sword tassel to the princess, which might be of some help.
Meng Shilan smiled as she looked at the sword tassel.
He probably didn't expect that the first thing she encountered would be related to the eldest princess.
Guo Fan is back.
The chill emanating from him had not yet dissipated.
"There is nothing unusual at the Princess's residence. The Princess is perfectly lucid and has only mild symptoms of poisoning."
Meng Shilan frowned slightly. "The poisoning of the eldest princess is a serious crime, but involving the shop is too far-fetched."
"Could it be that the eldest princess wants to use the poisoning incident to arrest someone?"
Guo Fan looked up at her.
"My men also raided the Dali Temple at night, but Shuang'er was not in the Dali Temple prison."
"Not at the Dali Temple?!"
Meng Shilan was confused. "If the case doesn't belong to the Court of Judicial Review, could it have gone to the Ministry of Justice?"
Guo Fan's mission is to protect Meng Shilan.
Although he felt that Shuang'er had nothing to do with the Meng family and was not worth the effort.
But after glancing at Meng Shilan's anxious face, he lowered his head and didn't say another word.
Meng Shilan slightly raised her chin. "Since it was the Dali Temple that arrested the person, I will visit the Dali Temple in prison tomorrow."
Early the next morning.
The carriage from the Meng family arrived at the entrance of the Dali Temple well in advance.
The gates of the Dali Temple opened, and she got off the carriage.
The officers who opened the door were stunned; someone had come to report a crime so early.
"I've come to visit Yao Shuang'er, the owner of the Yao Family Business."
Meng Shilan took out a silver ingot from her sleeve and handed it to him.
The officers and soldiers were completely baffled. "There is no suspect named Yao Shuang'er."
"No? They were just arrested yesterday, where are they?!"
Meng Shilan frowned, and her tone became impatient.
"Miss, are you mistaken? No one was arrested yesterday."
Even the light sword tassel in Meng Shilan's sleeve seemed to have become heavier.
She clenched her teeth and slowly walked down the steps.
He then said in a deep voice to the coachman, "To the Princess's residence."
The Princess's residence and the Duke of Zhenguo's residence are not far apart.
The steward of the manor seemed unsurprised by her arrival.
"Miss Meng, this way please."
As soon as she stepped across the threshold, her maid and Guo Fan were stopped.
The steward said with a smile, "Please rest here, both of you. Miss Meng will be served by the maids from the Princess's residence."
She glanced back.
Guo Fan nodded silently to her.
Meng Shilan pursed her lips, then followed the butler inside.
Guo Fan gave her a signal flare; if she released it in a moment of crisis, he would appear.
He had already memorized the layout of the princess's residence by heart last night.
The size of the Princess's residence was similar to that of the Duke of Zhenguo's residence.
However, the Princess's Mansion is filled with pavilions and towers, each step revealing a new and beautiful scene, far surpassing the empty Zhenguo Duke's Mansion.
"Miss Meng."
The steward stopped in a garden.
Meng Shilan looked in the direction he indicated.
A graceful figure stands in the lakeside pavilion, accompanied by the melodious sound of a zither.
She was about to turn around and ask the steward when he walked away without saying a word.
Meng Shilan could only walk towards the pavilion.
The closer you get, the clearer the melodious piano music becomes.
There wasn't a single maidservant around.
There were only two people in the pavilion.
One listens.
One performance.
The music suddenly stopped with a "snap".
Then an unhappy voice rang out.
"Your musical skills have declined greatly; what use are you to me?"
"Your Highness, please forgive me."
"Get down."
A slender man carrying a zither walked out of the pavilion and brushed past her without looking at her.
"Are you not coming in because you're waiting for me to invite you?"
Meng Shilan woke up with a start. She walked into the pavilion and bowed.
"Your subject, Meng Shilan, greets Your Highness."
The pavilion was filled with the fragrance of wood.
There was not a sound.
The scrutinizing gaze above her lingered for a long time, and she unconsciously softened her breathing.
After an unknown amount of time, a voice that seemed to bestow a blessing came from above.
"Get up."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Meng Shilan looked up and finally saw the well-maintained face of the eldest princess.
Time cannot diminish beauty.
He doesn't look fifty at all; he looks incredibly young.
Xiao Xinru lazily glanced at her face, somewhat disappointed; she didn't resemble him at all.
She casually pointed to the spot opposite.
"sit."
"Your shop poisoned me. Will you pay with your life or with Meng Yushan's?"
Meng Shilan clenched her fingers in her sleeve, and boldly raised her eyes to examine the princess's rosy complexion.
"This humble woman observes that Her Highness the Princess is in good health and radiant beauty, and shows no signs of poisoning."
"There is probably a misunderstanding here."
Xiao Xinru threw the teacup in her hand away and said sharply, "Does this mean that I have to die for it to be a sign of poisoning!"
Meng Shilan immediately knelt down, her calf hitting the corner of the table, the pain making her face turn pale.
"Your Highness, you are wise; this humble woman did not mean that at all!"
"I have only been in the capital for a little over ten days, and my shop has no grudges against any of the nobles in the capital. Moreover, to poison my own shop would be tantamount to courting death!"
"Oh."
A disdainful laugh came from above her head.
"I'm telling you, you poisoned me. What are you going to do about it?"
Meng Shilan paused for a moment.
“If that is the case, even if I am tortured and beaten with drums, I will still try to clear my name before the Emperor.”
Those who strike the drum to appeal will be punished with thirty lashes before they can go before the emperor to file a complaint.
"He's actually got some guts."
"Get up, I scared you to death. Meng will come back to demand your people back from me." Xiao Xinru's lazy voice came over.
Meng Shilan was covered in cold sweat.
The sword tassel was not used.
She quietly exhaled a breath of stale air.
Xiao Shu was like that, and so was his aunt, Xiao Xinru.
There isn't a single normal person among those surnamed Xiao.
"Bring that girl here."
"yes."
A response came from an unknown direction.
Meng Shilan now knows that Shuang'er is alright, and she can also leave the Princess's residence unscathed.
Xiao Xinru stood up and glanced at the wine pot in front of her.
"After you finish drinking, you can leave."
Meng Shilan was just about to stand up when she heard the princess's words and stared blankly at the wine pot in front of her.
"Drink...drink it all?"
Xiao Xinru stopped looking at her and turned to leave the pavilion.
The stewardess, who had been waiting by the path, smiled and helped the princess up, saying, "Princess, look how frightened that child is."
Xiao Xinru snorted, "Who told her to be so easily frightened?"
"Keep an eye on them, and walk them out of the princess's residence backwards."
“I will send someone back to the palace to report to my nephew, the emperor, that I have done everything he asked.”
The head maid was somewhat puzzled. "What is His Majesty's intention in doing this?"
Xiao Xinru smiled and said, "If you had guessed everything correctly, would it still be His Majesty the Emperor?"
The head maid nodded immediately, "Yes, yes, this old servant is foolish and presumptuously tried to guess His Majesty's intentions."
The two walked away.
Shuang'er was also taken to the pavilion.
When she saw her sister, her heart finally settled down, and she rushed to her sister with teary eyes.
"My sister scared me to death! I thought I was going to die!"
Meng Shilan patted her shoulder reassuringly, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, everything is alright now."
"Sister, where is this?"
Shuang'er looked around at the beautiful scenery with a bit of a blank expression. This place didn't look like the Dali Temple at all.
When she was arrested, her head was covered, and she couldn't see anything along the way.
When the hood was removed, it turned out to be a woodshed!
There were guards outside the door, and no one paid any attention to her, whether she tried to bribe them or speak to them.
"This is the residence of the Eldest Princess."
Meng Shilan pulled Shuang'er down to sit, "The Princess instructed us to finish this wine."
Shuang'er was a little uneasy, "This wine isn't poisoned, is it?"
She shook her head. "If you wanted to kill someone, you would have done it already. Why poison the wine?"
She paused for a moment, then said, "I'm afraid we need to create some smoke and mirrors."
Shuang'er still didn't understand, but Meng Shilan wouldn't allow her to ask any more questions. The two of them each had a teacup and drank the wine in the wine pot clean.
Within fifteen minutes, he was completely drunk and passed out.
I woke up again.
It was already evening of the second day, and the two, still hungover, slept soundly for a full day and night.
"Miss, you're finally awake."
Maids Chunxing and Chuntao came in carrying two basins of clean, warm water.
The two wrung out the warm handkerchiefs to help them wake up.
"Mrs. Zhang from the jewelry store has come three times already."
She then pointed to the account book on the table, "This was left by Madam Zhang. She told Miss to take a look at it as soon as she wakes up."
Shuang'er rubbed her head as she opened the account book.
Looking at the losses on the books, her muddled mind instantly cleared!
"A loss of three thousand seven hundred and sixty-two taels!"
Her heart was bleeding!
Meng Shilan smelled the alcohol on her clothes and took off her outer garment in disgust.
She glanced at Shuang'er, whose face was full of heartache, and said, "It's good that you came back alive. Don't think about those three thousand seven hundred carriages anymore."
Shuang'er corrected her, "It's three thousand seven hundred and sixty-two taels!"
It stinks terribly, she told Shuang'er as she walked toward the bathroom.
"You should wash up too, and then go to the shop to let them know later, so that Zhou Wanqing won't worry."
The shop was a partnership, so Zhou Wanqing was naturally anxious when Shuang'er got into trouble.
After Meng Shilan finished bathing.
Shuang'er had already packed up and returned to the shop.
Guo Fan was also waiting outside.
"Miss."
"Come in."
Guo Fan walked in, holding an arrow, his expression grave.
“These are arrows from the Biannan Army. My subordinates found them on a tree in the back alley of the Princess’s residence.”
Meng Shilan frowned. "The Biannan Army actually has such great power that they can order the Princess around?"
“If they want to threaten Lord Meng, it would be unwise of them to target me.”
Guo Fan looked at the arrow in his hand. "Should we send a letter to the general?"
Meng Shilan shook her head. "Sending a letter is pointless and will only cause unnecessary worry."
"This matter is likely to have far-reaching implications. As long as it leaves a trace in the capital, we can ask Lord Zhou to help investigate it after he returns to the capital."
Zhou Congxian has been away from the capital for many days and has not returned.
Guo Fan's covert investigation also made no progress.
Until something strange happened.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
