Seeing how exhausted they were, Shi Muyuan thought they should take another break and then head back.
Just then, Shi Er stepped forward and handed her a thin piece of paper. Shi Muyuan opened it and saw it was a land deed!
Shi Muyuan was overjoyed. She folded it up and put it in her clothes, then patted the place where the land deed was through her clothes in a serious manner.
Sure enough, Huo Qizhou was fast.
"Your Highness said that the land deed is under his name. Your Majesty the Empress Dowager need not worry about it being traced back to you," Shi Er said.
"Ah, then will Huo Qizhou be traced?"
"All the lords have some idle properties. Your Majesty the Empress Dowager need not worry," Shi Er replied.
Hearing this, Shi Muyuan nodded reassuringly.
If she accidentally caused any commotion in that mansion in the future, it would be troublesome if others found out.
Huo Qizhou said he would make the dukes and the others bleed, but she had no idea how he would do it.
Since the assassination attempt last time, the people in the Shoukang Palace had been replaced both openly and secretly by her elder brother. Shi Muyuan had sighed more than once, wondering if her elder brother was too bold or too capable.
The good thing was that Shi Muyuan's life was now more secure, but the bad thing was that the commotion when Xiao Xiao emptied the Shoukang Palace yesterday was too great, and the people of Shi An noticed and sent the news back.
So, Shi Muyuan, who had just got up from bed, received a "kind" greeting.
Shi Muyuan was still drowsy when she took the letter that Xiao Xiao handed to her. After reading it, she instantly woke up.
Seeing the strange expression on her Empress Dowager's face, Xiao Xiao reached out and took the letter. Looking at the strong and powerful handwriting, she saw that the letter clearly accused Shi Muyuan of her recent bold actions. It also asked about the commotion yesterday and why she had been in frequent contact with Huo Qizhou recently. Then there was a long passage of badmouthing about Huo Qizhou.
Finally, it hoped that Shi Muyuan could give an explanation.
Shi Muyuan came to her senses and shouted, "Shi Er!" She remembered that Huo Qizhou had once told her that Shi An must have arranged a master like Shi Er around her.
"Are there any people arranged by my elder brother in the dark?"
Shi Er shook his head.
Xiao Xiao said from the side, "Your Majesty the Empress Dowager didn't like such arrangements before, so General Shi didn't arrange anyone but sent me here. This time, he just sent some reliable people into the palace to take care of Your Majesty."
Shi Muyuan couldn't believe that Shi An was monitoring her. The letter was unsigned, and she had never seen Shi An's handwriting, so she wasn't sure.
"Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, General Shi is not such a person. There must be a misunderstanding," Xiao Xiao said.
"Where did this letter come from?"
"A palace maid stopped me this morning and gave it to me."
"Go and find that palace maid."
"Yes." Xiao Xiao left with a solemn face.
Shi Muyuan felt restless in the Shoukang Palace. Her whole body was tense. She wondered if "Big Brother" knew about the secret passage.
Soon, Xiao Xiao ran back.
Seeing that there was no one following her, Shi Muyuan's face changed. "Didn't you find her?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, I didn't find her. I asked around, and no one knew her. She didn't seem to be from the Shoukang Palace."
Shi Muyuan felt something was wrong. "Ze Ze, go and get some paper and a brush." Sitting there doing nothing wasn't an option. She had to ask. If it was really Shi An who did this, she would tell him to withdraw the people.
Shi An was training the soldiers in the military camp at this time. Someone came to report that there was someone from the palace looking for him and was waiting outside. Shi An immediately thought of Shi Muyuan. He took the handkerchief beside him to wipe the sweat off his body, put on his clothes, told his subordinates to continue training, and then walked outside.
The training ground was surrounded by a circle of wooden horse-blockades. Ze Ze was waiting outside the blockades. Seeing Shi An coming, he quickly bowed.
"General Shi."
"Ze Ze, why are you here?" Sure enough, it was Shi Muyuan who had something to ask him.
"General Shi, this is a letter from Her Majesty the Empress Dowager." Ze Ze took something out of his sleeve and handed it to him.
Shi An raised his eyebrows, took it, and opened it to read. After reading it, his eyebrows furrowed.
"What's going on? The people I sent were only responsible for the safety of the Shoukang Palace. I didn't instruct them to do such a despicable thing."
"This is the letter from this morning. Please take a look, General Shi." Ze Ze handed over another opened letter.
After reading this letter, Shi An's eyebrows furrowed even more.
"What's going on?" A voice suddenly came from the side. Shi An turned around and saw it was Shi Li. He just casually nodded at him.
"Your servant pays respects to the Second Young Master Shi," Ze Ze bowed to him.
"So it's Ze Ze. Why are you here?"
Knowing that the three young masters of the Shi family doted on their Empress Dowager, Ze Ze didn't suspect anything and told Shi Li what he had just told Shi An.
"What?" Shi Li was also shocked.
"The people I sent to protect Wan'er's palace are actually monitoring her and writing threatening letters to her. They really have the guts! If I catch them, I'll surely punish them according to military law!" Shi An was extremely angry.
Shi Li came to the military camp today to help look at some official documents. When he heard that someone from the palace was looking for Shi An, he came to have a look and happened to hear this.
"What's going on? The people you arranged shouldn't do such a thing, Big Brother!"
"Of course not." Shi An suddenly remembered something.
"I remember that when I was allocating manpower before, some old guys in the family asked me what I was doing. I told them about this. Now that I think about it, they must have secretly stuffed someone in without my knowledge. These damned old guys. I should have sent them back to the old mansion long ago. They only do stupid things."
"Don't be angry, Big Brother. Fortunately, they couldn't hold their horses and we found out early. Otherwise, it would have caused big trouble," Shi Li comforted him gently.
"Take a look at this letter." Shi An handed the letter that Ze Ze had just given him to Shi Li.
After Shi Li took it and looked at it carefully for a long time, he said, "Big Brother, isn't this the handwriting of the Second Grandfather?"
"Second Grandfather?" Shi An took the letter back and looked at it back and forth.
"Yes. Granduncle is really getting muddle-headed!"
"Humph, this old thing. I'll really teach him a lesson when I get back to the mansion."
"Big Brother, don't be impulsive! Be careful of being gossiped about and someone going to the Emperor to speak ill of you."
"Don't worry, Second Brother. I'm not that stupid. I was just venting my anger. But the old mansion, the Second Grandfather should go back and have a look."
Shi Li sighed. "Alright."
"These old guys have been restless for some time. I'll let them know that I'm in charge of the Shi family now. It's time to kill a chicken to scare these old monkeys." Shi An clenched his fists tightly, making cracking sounds.
Although Shi Li didn't say anything, Ze Ze clearly felt his approval from his smile.
"I'll go into the palace to see Little Sister first. You continue to look at those official documents for me here," Shi An suddenly said.