Seeing him laugh so heartily, the others felt extremely aggrieved.
"Duke Shi can still laugh. This time, each of us lost ten thousand taels because of the Empress Dowager. Duke Shi, shouldn't you give us an explanation? We all did things according to your instructions."
Although Shi Qintian was a bit angry with his daughter's actions, no matter what, his own daughter could only be scolded by himself. Outsiders were not allowed to say a single word.
His face darkened slightly. "Everyone should watch your words. Now, Wan'er is the current Empress Dowager. If one day you are punished because of your inappropriate words, I won't be able to save you."
This naked threat immediately silenced them.
Seeing them like this, Shi Qintian was quite satisfied. He fully exerted the tactic of giving a sweet date after a slap.
"I know that everyone is unhappy about losing money now. But Wan'er did this for your own good today. If the court doesn't take any action, how can it explain to the common people? Do you want the Great Liang Dynasty to be overthrown before you're happy?"
He turned black into white. Slowly, the others began to think and finally realized that they were wrong.
"Yes, we were shortsighted. We originally thought that the Empress Dowager didn't care about our alliance at all. We didn't expect that she had taken so much painstaking effort. Duke, rest assured. We won't talk about the Empress Dowager behind her back in the future."
"That's good. I know that everyone is heart - broken about the lost money. So the Shi Mansion will pay for you."
Now, there was no more imbalance in their hearts.
They came with angry faces and left happily.
Shi Li stood not far away with his elder brother and joked, "Father is getting better at speaking. It's really an eye - opener for me. By the way, elder brother, what are you going to do next? Are you still going to the palace to see our little sister?"
Shi An nodded slightly. "I'm not only going, but you also have to go with me."
"Why? Isn't this matter already settled?"
"Neither you nor I are fools. Our little sister has become very strange recently. She never used to care about the lives and deaths of the victims. We need to find out what's going on."
Hearing this, Shi Li immediately understood what he meant and widened his eyes.
"Does elder brother suspect that our little sister has been replaced?"
"Maybe. Well, pack up and go to the palace quickly."
...
When the two entered the palace, Shi Muwan was just about to have dinner. Hearing that they were coming, there was a glint in her eyes.
"Go and prepare two more sets of bowls and chopsticks quickly. Let the two elder brothers taste my cooking."
When the two brothers of the Shi family walked in, the fragrant smell rushed towards them.
Shi Li was the first to swallow his saliva. He couldn't wait to sit down at the table.
"Little sister, has there been a new imperial chef in your palace? I've never smelled such delicious food here before."
Shi An coughed dryly and glanced at the maids and eunuchs around.
"Get up quickly. We're in the palace now. Don't forget your identity."
These words woke Shi Li up like a dream. He touched his nose and awkwardly stood up from the stool.
He was so happy for a moment that he forgot the difference in status.
The two bowed to Shi Muwan together, which made her a little uncomfortable.
"Two elder brothers, you don't need to be like this. Even though I'm the mistress of the harem now, I'll always be your little sister. I cooked this food myself. You just happened to catch up. Sit down and eat together."
These words completely stunned the two of them.
They stared at the food on the table and didn't come back to their senses for a long time.
There was the same message in their eyes: This person might not be their little sister. Then where was their little sister now?
Seeing their increasingly strange expressions, Shi Muwan was a little confused. "Brothers, sit down and eat quickly. The food will get cold soon."
Shi An pursed his lips and said, "Please ask the Empress Dowager to let the irrelevant people retreat first. We have something important to tell you."
Hearing this, Shi Muwan didn't think much. Soon, all the maids and eunuchs retreated.
"Okay, elder brother, just say what you want. There are no outsiders here."
"Then please tell us, miss. Who on earth are you, and where has our little sister gone?"
Shi Muwan almost fell off the stool. Did the two people in front of her already see through her identity as a time - traveler? No, she just had a slightly different personality from the original owner. It shouldn't be that easy to be discovered.
However, she wasn't sure for a moment. After all, the two people in front of her had grown up with the original owner. They were the ones who knew the original owner best in the entire Shi family.
Sure enough, Shi Li had already exposed everything.
"Under father's teachings, our little sister has never been kind - hearted. Moreover, our little sister has never cooked. We've been siblings for so many years, and she didn't even want to enter the kitchen. If you still want to live, quickly return our little sister."
Shi Muwan's mind was spinning fast. How could she forget such an important thing?
Seeing that she couldn't answer, the two thought that the person in front of them had already killed their little sister. Shi An couldn't hold back any longer and took out the dagger in his hand and put it on her neck.
"If you can't explain it clearly today, you won't be able to leave the Shoukang Palace."
The moment he finished speaking, suddenly a lot of secret guards appeared out of thin air, scaring Shi Muwan, a naive little urban administrator. Her heart almost jumped out of her throat.
She quickly said, "Elder brother misunderstood me. Have elder brother and second brother forgotten the promise you made to me when we were kids?"
For a moment, everyone fell into memories.
When the little Empress Dowager was five years old, she was curious about everything. Her two elder brothers followed behind her and always cleaned up the mess for her. They doted on her so much.
Once, Shi Muwan was going to the mountain to enjoy the flowers with her female friend. But when they were on the top of the mountain, a mudslide suddenly occurred. Fortunately, her two elder brothers followed up and protected her at the most critical moment.
But her female friend wasn't so lucky. The little kid had never experienced life and death. She watched her little partner lose her life with her own eyes and cried non - stop. Facing the mudslide, they could only keep retreating. They were just a little bit away from falling off the cliff.
They had nowhere to go, but the three little guys had a determination they had never had before.
"Sister, don't worry. Your second brother and I will definitely protect you all our lives. If we can escape this disaster, we'll give you everything you want in this world."
Shi Muwan had a small head with big doubts, but she still hooked her finger with them. "Let's make a deal like this. Brothers must always protect me. No matter what wrong things I do in the future, you must always stand by my side."