She didn't want to continue entangling with Qiao Meng. She just hoped to resolve this matter as soon as possible. Otherwise, dragging it on would be most unfavorable to her elder brother.
"Miss Qiao said this has nothing to do with you. Then why did your personal maid say such things? Or are you really unaware of all this?"
Shi Muyuan had the best plan in mind. As long as she added fuel to the fire, someone would surely lose their composure.
After all, neither of them would want the blame to fall on themselves in the end. So shifting it onto the other would be the best outcome.
Sure enough, just as she thought of this.
The two of them started to shift the blame onto each other.
"It was her own idea. I had no idea."
"Miss told me to do it. As a maid, I didn't dare to resist."
Each insisting on their own version, they stared at each other. For a moment, everyone didn't know whom to believe.
However, this was just the beginning, a good beginning.
The young girl seized this opportunity. With a faint smile, she stepped in between the two.
"I suppose the national teacher should have made a decision by now, right?"
But this time, the young girl underestimated Qiao Meng's status in this man's heart.
As soon as he opened his mouth, he actually protected the woman beside him.
"Since childhood, Meng'er has never told a lie. There must be someone framing her behind the scenes. Even if it wasn't the empress dowager instigating it, perhaps it was this maid trying to deceive her master."
"I didn't! It was really Miss who told me to do it. Miss, if you still don't admit it, I'll have to show the evidence."
Qingqing was originally bought from a human trafficker later. After staying in such a filthy place for a long time, she had some means to protect herself. From the very beginning, she had kept the evidence.
Qiao Meng still underestimated this little maid.
After this little episode, she started to cry and changed her previous statement, still pretending to be aggrieved.
"Yes, that's right. I was the one who instructed Qingqing to do all this. But it was all because the eldest young master had been making things difficult for me. I couldn't think of any other good way, so I was forced to do such a thing out of desperation."
Since she was crying so hard, and everyone knew about her being bullied before.
She had never said anything, and no one had really taken it to heart.
Now that she said it, everyone realized how serious the matter was.
Seeing everyone's expressions change, Shi Muyuan knew this was unfavorable to her elder brother.
She looked at the man sitting on one side. Fortunately, he remained unmoved, as if he were just an onlooker.
"Miss Qiao's appearance is really suspicious. Can't people suspect her? You should know that no one is a fool to be manipulated by you. Everything elder brother has done is for us. If you couldn't stand it, you could have just said so. Why did you have to use such a method? Do you know how much of an impact this would have on my elder brother and our Shi family if it got out?"
Qiao Meng was like a frightened rabbit, squatting on the ground with her arms wrapped around herself.
"I really didn't mean to harm you. I just hoped that the eldest young master would let me go in the future."
"Alright, that's enough! It's such a small matter. Does the empress dowager have to make such a big fuss? You've all experienced many ups and downs. Meng'er lost her parents since childhood. It's understandable for her to make a mistake once in a while."
These words left the people around in shock.
This didn't seem like something Cui Qizhou would say.
Shi Muyuan even twitched the corner of her mouth, her eyes filled with disbelief.
"Does the national teacher know what he's saying?"
"Meng'er was greatly frightened today. I'll take her back first. Let's just drop this matter. If the empress dowager and the eldest young master insist on an explanation, I'll come to your door to apologize in person."
He bent down to pick up the woman on the ground and left gracefully.
Watching his back, everyone suddenly felt a strange sense of unfamiliarity.
Lord Huang sighed beside him.
"Before Miss Qiao never showed up, the national teacher wasn't like this. It's only been less than a month, but it seems like everything has changed drastically."
Yes, not only he thought so.
Shi Muyuan felt that she should really investigate Miss Qiao's background.
She called Qin Feng and Shi An into the room.
"What do you think? I thought elder brother was just teasing her at first. Now I think she really has a problem."
Qin Feng looked serious. "In the Great Liang, the surname Qiao is not very common. And among those who had an intersection with the national teacher, there's only one family in the whole Great Liang."
He stopped there. The other two looked at each other.
Shi Muyuan had once spent a whole month going through all the materials to avoid embarrassing herself. She had read every word about the history of the Great Liang in the past few decades without missing a single one.
Now that this matter was mentioned, several lines of words instantly appeared in her mind.
The Qiao family was good at using mechanisms, carving, and strange arts. They were once a famous and noble family in the Great Liang. But finally, they were executed by the former emperor. The old family head of that generation was the only remarkable genius in the Qiao family, but he ended up dying young.
"I heard that Cui Qizhou used to have a close relationship with that Qiao family."
"That's right. Qiao Meng should be the survivor who escaped back then."
"If so, we can directly kill her in the name of the former emperor."
"No. Judging from Cui Qizhou's current state, if we do anything to Qiao Meng, he'll tear us apart."
"Are we just going to watch like this?"
"Maybe there's a better way. By the way, how did an orphan girl survive for so many years?"
Shi Muyuan couldn't figure this out. Was there some secret in it worth digging out?
After thinking for a while, the few of them decided to act separately.
Shi Muyuan would go and stall them first, while Shi An and Qin Feng would investigate Qiao Meng's whereabouts in the past few years.
Early the next morning, the young girl appeared outside Qiao Meng's room.
"Who is it?"
Since Qingqing had been secretly sent away by Shi Muyuan, there was no one to take care of Qiao Meng now. She came out to open the door herself.
When she saw who was standing outside, the smile on Qiao Meng's face clearly stiffened. But she had no choice.
"What is the empress dowager doing here? Don't you look down on me, an orphan girl? Besides, I almost harmed your Shi family before."
"Are you saying I'm not allowed to come here?"
Even though it was she who came to the door, Shi Muyuan's aura was much stronger than hers, which made Qiao Meng very unhappy.
She puffed out her chest.
"The empress dowager is the mistress of the Great Liang. No one can stop you from going anywhere. If you're here to show off, I'm afraid I can't accompany you."
She knew that after what happened yesterday, she couldn't get any advantage from her for the time being. It was better to stay away.