However, everyone soon found out why.
A dagger materialized out of thin air less than a foot away from Shi Muyuan, pointing straight at her chest. If Cui Qizhou hadn't shown up in time, everyone knew what would happen next.
The commoners came to their senses and swarmed forward. Even the shadow guards couldn't protect the man.
In the blink of an eye, the man was covered in wounds and lying on the ground, twitching.
Seeing that the man was about to die, Cui Qizhou quickly spoke up to stop them.
"Everyone, calm down. We still need to take this man back for interrogation."
"No way, National Master. This man tried to assassinate the Empress Dowager! We absolutely can't let him off so easily. Otherwise, we don't know what he'll do next."
Shi Muyuan was deeply touched that so many people dared to confront this all - powerful man for her.
However, she knew the importance of this man. The one who dared to target her after Xu Qun's death and Wu Lin's serious injury was no good person. He was very likely sent by someone with ulterior motives.
"Everyone, please let the National Master take this man back for interrogation. I want to know who on earth has the audacity to mix in the crowd and attempt to assassinate me."
Since she had said so, the others didn't dare to continue pestering. The commoners all stepped aside.
Seeing this, the man gave her a strange look. Why was this woman's words more effective than his?
However, since the matter had been resolved, he led the others away.
After seeing off the commoners, Shi Muyuan smiled helplessly.
"Later, you go door - to - door to return the money for these things."
Xiao Xiao was stunned and hesitated.
"But Empress Dowager, these things were specially sent by the commoners. If we just return them like this, won't it disappoint the commoners?"
Shi Muyuan rolled her eyes. "Jiangnan is in trouble now. If the commoners don't even keep a bit of surplus food, how will they survive then?"
This made sense. In the end, Xiao Xiao sent people to return all the things to the commoners.
However, Shi Muyuan was still worried that the commoners would bring them back, so she made a decision. "We'll leave in the middle of the night."
"Empress Dowager, we originally planned to leave during the day."
"Just listen to me. Hurry up and make the preparations."
Helplessly, the group had to quietly leave the city in the dead of night.
However, after leaving the city, seeing the man who had been following them, Shi Muyuan was a bit unhappy.
"General Qin, don't you need to go back? Now that we're going back to the capital, Changjing City, isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to follow us?"
But Qin Feng had a thick skin and didn't take her words to heart at all.
"Empress Dowager, you're wrong. I've already sent a message by carrier pigeon to our Emperor, asking him to surrender. To show our sincerity, as a general, I'll personally follow you back as a hostage. In this way, you can also solve a big problem."
Shi Muyuan twitched the corner of her mouth. She had never seen someone so self - serving. However, good things didn't fall from the sky. He must have other reasons for saying this.
After thinking carefully, she suddenly remembered that a few days ago, Qin Feng had helped Xiao Xiao speak. Could it be that he was doing this for Xiao Xiao?
Her gaze naturally fell on Xiao Xiao beside her, making Xiao Xiao shiver involuntarily.
She always felt that her mistress was thinking about something, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
"Mistress, why are you suddenly looking at me like this? Are you not feeling well?"
Shi Muyuan noticed Qin Feng's occasional glances. They were really hard to ignore.
She let out a laugh. "It's nothing. I just suddenly remembered something funny. By the way, are all the things prepared for this trip back ready?"
"Of course. Everything for the Emperor is ready."
"Also prepare gifts for the other two little ones."
"Mistress, you can rest assured. It's rare that you still miss the Prince and the Princess so much when you're away."
Shi Muyuan pursed her lips and disagreed with this statement.
"Didn't I care about them before?"
Xiao Xiao covered her lips and snickered. "It's my fault, Empress Dowager. You cared about the Prince and the Princess before too."
Just as the atmosphere here was turning cheerful, Cui Qizhou walked over with a solemn face.
"Empress Dowager, we've found out who was behind this. It's the Minister of War. I wonder what your thoughts are?"
Shi Muyuan was stunned for a moment and it took her a while to realize that he was talking about the assassination.
"I remember that I've never offended this Minister."
"Previously in the court, the Minister had raised objections to the Empress Dowager many times. I think this time, it's because his student died unfortunately. Oh, and before, the Minister was also reluctant to send troops for support."
Hearing this, Shi Muyuan's face fell.
"In that case, let the Emperor detain this man first. I'll handle this matter personally when I get back. Don't let the Emperor interfere. The Minister has so many students who have saved the commoners. This matter is not easy to handle."
Cui Qizhou was a bit surprised that this woman had considered so many things this time, but he didn't say anything.
As long as she considered the Emperor and the Great Liang Empire, he naturally wouldn't oppose her.
What they said fell into Shi An's ears.
"I don't know where he got the audacity to object to the current Empress Dowager again and again. It seems that his days as the Minister are numbered. Even if he has so many students, so what? This Great Liang still belongs to the Ji family."
Qin Feng quickly echoed beside him.
"Master Shi is right. In my opinion, why don't I take over the position of the Minister of War?"
Originally just a flattering remark, it made everyone fall silent.
Shi An also folded his arms and smiled wickedly.
"I think General Qin's words make sense."
Cui Qizhou also rarely didn't object, but Shi Muyuan immediately disagreed.
"No!"
Several pairs of eyes looked at her in unison. Shi Muyuan bit her lip. "I'm just considering General Qin's previous identity. If he really enters the court, I'm afraid everyone will oppose it. Moreover, the relatives of the soldiers who died on the battlefield before won't agree either."
Although she just came up with an excuse casually, this was actually the biggest problem.
No one present had forgotten the war many years ago, which had caused countless casualties. Since then, many people had lost their loved ones overnight.
Qin Feng sighed. "When you're in a certain camp, you have to do your duty. I had no choice at that time. From my perspective, what I did was right."
Everyone knew this cruel truth, but if it was said out loud, it wouldn't be accepted by the public.
The relatives of those commoners lost their loved ones' lives, while they, the chief culprits, still wanted to enter the court as officials.