The woman lowered her head, looking extremely respectful.
As soon as these words were spoken, Li Ruhua's complexion changed. What on earth was this? How was it nothing like what she had imagined?
It would have been fine if Su Qingwen had just come back out of the blue, but she even brought an inexplicable woman to testify for her. How was that possible?
"No way? Isn't Concubine Xian a fool? How could she get lost?" Li Ruhua stepped forward and questioned.
Suddenly, Su Qingwen realized Shen Lingyun's painstaking efforts. Right! If she had come back in her previous state, she would surely be unable to clear her name no matter what. Now that she was neatly dressed and had a "witness", surely no one would say anything about her.
"Why is it impossible? I sleep - walked last night and walked out of Prince Rui's Mansion alone. By the time I came to my senses, I didn't recognize anything around me. I had no choice but to go from house to house asking for help. Fortunately, I found my benefactor." As she said this, Su Qingwen blinked her eyes and looked at the woman beside her with gratitude.
Unexpectedly, she was quite good at acting. The woman's mouth twitched. She continued to play her part and immediately nodded, "Yes, that's exactly what Concubine Xian said."
"What?" Li Ruhua thought this was simply too absurd. She clenched her fists tightly and asked again, "But that doesn't make sense. What about Concubine Xian's hairpin?"
"This is even easier to explain. It must have accidentally fallen off my head when I was sleep - walking. You know, anything can happen when you're sleep - walking." Anyway, Su Qingwen was determined to stick to the story of her sleep - walking and tried to justify everything based on this.
"This young lady is not only beautiful but also kind - hearted. She accompanied me all night last night. We really hit it off. Now that it's dawn, I brought her back." The woman smiled slightly and reached out to pat Su Qingwen's hand.
"So it was just a false alarm. We thought Concubine Xian had been kidnapped. It's good that she's safe. Concubine Xian, you must be more careful in the future. The Emperor was really worried." Prince Rui looked at Su Qingwen in the distance and said.
Su Qingwen turned around, looked at Hua Yueye, blinked her eyes and asked, "Hua Yueye, were you really that worried about me?"
"Don't even dream about it." A blush appeared on someone's face. He coughed awkwardly and quickly turned his head away.
"How could this happen?" Li Ruhua clenched her fists. Her complexion suddenly changed. She rolled her eyes in confusion. She had spent her money, but why had she achieved nothing?
"What's wrong?" Su Qingwen squinted her eyes and looked at Li Ruhua inquisitively. "It seems you have some opinions about my disappearance."
"No." Li Ruhua quickly shook her head and immediately denied it. "I'm just curious. Since Concubine Xian has returned safely, that's good."
"Um." Su Qingwen gave her a meaningful look but didn't say much.
"Alright, you've worked hard. Go back and rest quickly." Hua Yueye nodded, sent someone to take the woman back, then took Su Qingwen's hand and led her back to the room.
"I'm so tired." After a whole day of running around, Su Qingwen was extremely sleepy. She yawned and was about to go to bed immediately.
"Stop." Hua Yueye put his arm around her shoulder. His sharp eyes stared at her intently. "Tell me the truth. Where did you really go?"
"Sleep - walking." Su Qingwen blinked her eyes and still clung to this story.
"How come I didn't know you had the habit of sleep - walking?" Hua Yueye lifted her chin. His eyes stared directly into hers, as if he could see into Su Qingwen's heart through her eyes.
Su Qingwen pouted, thinking there were still many things he didn't know.
"Also, that woman said you had rested at her house all night. If so, why are you so sleepy now?" Hua Yueye stroked her face. His voice was gentle but carried an irresistible momentum.
This time, Su Qingwen was stunned. "This..."
"There's no need to hide so much from me. Just tell me." Hua Yueye sighed.
Su Qingwen thought that since she couldn't hide it anyway, she might as well just admit it honestly. Then she told him everything that had happened to her last night.
"So, someone is trying to frame you." Hua Yueye looked down at her, his eyes full of worry.
"Yes." Su Qingwen propped up her chin, looking helpless. "I don't even know how many people I've offended."
"Then who saved you?" Hua Yueye glanced at her and asked curiously.
"Of course I saved myself." Su Qingwen wasn't a fool and definitely wouldn't tell the truth. "By the way, were there any more young girls missing after I left?"
"Yes." Hua Yueye nodded. "At first, we thought you had met the same fate as them. But unexpectedly, another young girl went missing last night. This proves that it wasn't the same group of people."
Su Qingwen nodded. Judging from the clumsy appearance of those two people last night, they didn't seem like the masterminds. In fact, after last night's incident, she had an idea.
"Hey, I have a way to find the real culprit. Do you want to give it a try?" Su Qingwen stepped forward mysteriously.
"Hmm?" Hua Yueye looked at her with interest and asked provocatively, "What method can you come up with?"
Humph, he underestimated her again!
Su Qingwen quickly stood up straight and said unhappily, "I'm not a fool. After last night's life - and - death ordeal, I've figured it out. If we want to catch the real culprit, we need to be ruthless! You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a child!"
"What do you want to do?" Hua Yueye frowned and asked, feeling that what Su Qingwen was about to say was unusual.
"It's very simple. Find a beautiful girl as bait, let her walk around on the street, and then lure the bad guys out." Su Qingwen said confidently, her eyes and eyebrows full of excitement.
"What a stupid idea. Where can we find such a girl? Are you going to do it?" Hua Yueye couldn't help but complain. Who would be willing to send their own daughter out for such a dangerous thing?
"So what? I'm willing to offer myself!" Su Qingwen slapped the table righteously and shouted. She would go. It wasn't a big deal anyway. After all, she wouldn't be alone.
Hua Yueye's complexion changed slightly. He was very worried. Then he shook his head and said, "No, you're too careless to do this."
As he said this, he hooked up a playful smile. "Moreover, you're not that attractive. It probably won't work."
What? Su Qingwen was so angry that she wished she could strangle him right now!