Seeing that she remained silent for a long time, Shi Muyuan naturally knew that she couldn't just cover up today's incident. But since the game had already started, it wasn't up to her to end it whenever she wanted.
"Sister, why aren't you saying anything? Is it that I'm not worthy of you clarifying this matter? Or perhaps you simply have no intention of clarifying it at all? Everyone in the palace knows about the little feud between you and me. Should I just go and find someone at random?"
By saying this, she was already threatening.
Shi Muyuan knew exactly where Concubine Rui's Achilles' heel was, and this was one of them. Since she had built such a good image in front of the common people, it meant she wouldn't easily break through this layer of pretense.
Sure enough, Concubine Rui gritted her teeth and finally turned to look at her personal maid.
"Who on earth is spreading rumors behind my back? How could I, who have such a good relationship with my sister, be at odds with her? As soon as we get back to the palace, find that little maid for me. I'll deal with her personally."
She almost gritted out these words. No one knew how much effort she had put into spreading this rumor at that time, but now she had to personally refute it. She was unwilling, but being unwilling didn't help.
The common people who were originally about to speak up for the concubine all shut their mouths. It seemed there were many things they didn't know about.
And the person who had been defending Concubine Rui never expected that in the end, they would end up shooting themselves in the foot.
Shi Muyuan of course wouldn't give them a chance to react. Almost at the same time, she let out a sigh. "Sister has dealt with the person spreading the rumors, but what about the person who believed the slander?"
Hearing this, Concubine Rui pursed her lips. If she really punished this commoner today, I'm afraid many of those who cooperated with her would betray her tomorrow.
"Sister surely isn't going to argue with this commoner, right? He just believed the rumors. His crime isn't worthy of death."
"Sister has misunderstood my meaning. I've never intended to harm any commoner, but we can't ignore the laws of the Great Liang, can we?"
She didn't want to harm any commoner. She just passed the task of harming the commoner on to Concubine Rui herself.
Concubine Rui had no choice but to brace herself and look at the commoner.
"You spread rumors about the current Empress Dowager as soon as you opened your mouth. Do you know your crime?"
The man had sensed the danger. He knew he must never betray Concubine Rui, so he had to take all the blame himself.
"Empress Dowager, I've already realized my mistake. Please spare me?"
Shi Muyuan admired her own hand in the sunlight. "I'm just a witness in today's matter. You might as well plead with the concubine instead of me."
"Concubine, please spare this humble one. I didn't do it on purpose. I believed what that maid said at first, and now I regret it so much."
"Sigh. Since it was an unintentional mistake, then I'll punish you to do hard labor."
She said this tentatively and then looked at the reactions of those around her. Fortunately, the people around her didn't intend to keep arguing.
The matter was finally over here. Concubine Rui told the others to continue distributing porridge, and she was taken back to the palace by Shi Muyuan.
Looking at this road that she was so familiar with, her heart was filled with unease.
"Sister has been working hard for several days. Why don't you go back to the palace and rest first? I'd like to stay and look after the common people."
"Not so fast. We haven't finished our business yet. Anyway, to maintain your dignity, as your elder sister, I have to watch you handle everything properly with my own eyes."
Concubine Rui blinked her eyes. "Didn't we just handle everything properly? Where did this come from, sister?"
"Sister, have you forgotten? There's still a little maid who hasn't been punished in this matter. Sure enough, you were so angry that you can't even remember such a small thing now."
"Wh... What? We still have to punish that maid?"
Shi Muyuan pretended to be innocent and looked into her eyes. "Sister, do you mean what you said just now doesn't count? We've just got on the carriage, and now you want to go back on your word?"
She was slapped in the face so hard. It seemed it wouldn't be easy for her to go back on her word even if she wanted to.
Helpless, she could only follow the conversation.
"Since I've already promised sister just now, how could I go back on my word? But there's still one thing I don't understand."
"What?"
"Does sister really want to watch me punish that maid in person?"
"Do you have any objections?" When she said this, Shi Muyuan's face had obviously turned cold, and her eyes were fixed on Concubine Rui. It was obvious that if she showed the slightest bit of disobedience, she could be kicked off the carriage right now.
So, for self - preservation, she could only agree to let Shi Muyuan supervise personally when they got back.
Soon, they were back at the palace. A large group of people swaggered into Qingning Palace.
Shi Muyuan took the initiative and sat directly on the main seat.
"Sister can call that person out now. I've been running around for so long. I finally had a chance to rest, but now I still have to deal with your mess."
It was clearly she who had been pestering for an explanation, but now she was shifting all the blame onto Concubine Rui.
But Concubine Rui couldn't say a single word of refutation.
"Sister, please wait. I'll send someone to call that little maid over right away."
"Hurry up. I'm about to fall asleep here."
When Concubine Rui turned around, her face was full of disgust.
The nanny sent soon came back, but there was no one to be found in the maid's room.
"Empress Dowager, Concubine, that maid has suddenly disappeared. We can't find her anywhere. I'm afraid she's fled out of fear of punishment."
Concubine Rui was secretly relieved. She thought that the maid must have received the news before she came back and left in advance. In that case, she didn't have to worry about it anymore.
She turned around. "Sister, it seems we can't find that maid today. I'll send more people to look for her, but it might be a bit difficult to find her whereabouts. Sister will have to wait a few more days."
Just as she finished speaking, a voice suddenly came from outside.
"Mother and Concubine, are you talking about some maid? Is it the one behind me?"
As the young emperor walked in, the guards and maids behind him also appeared in front of the two of them.
The smile on Concubine Rui's face froze. She never expected that the maid would actually be caught by Ji Heng in the end.
She secretly thought something was wrong and still had to step forward to deal with this matter.
"Your Majesty has finished his business so quickly today. Why did you suddenly think of coming to Qingning Palace?"
The young emperor deliberately avoided her outstretched hand. "Of course it's because I heard that Mother is here."