Seeing that she never stopped talking about her elder brother but didn't seem to care about her own safety at all, the man couldn't help being sarcastic.
"If the eldest young master saw his younger sister die because of him, he might not even have the face to face your ancestors of the Shi family even if he came back."
Hearing this, the young girl widened her eyes. How could this man curse her?
"I just fainted. How could I die? The national teacher is really overstating things."
"According to the doctor, if the empress dowager keeps this way, she may not be able to hold on. Just listen to me. I can't possibly harm the empress dowager."
Seeing the man's insistence, helplessly, the young girl had to compromise.
"What about elder brother then? I can't just ignore him."
"Your Majesty the empress dowager can rest assured. I'll go and look for the eldest young master myself. You just wait here for good news from me."
Since he said so, Shi Muyuan could only nod in agreement.
After she fell asleep, the man strode away. First, he sent people to look for the whereabouts of the eldest young master, and then he went to Qiao Meng's room.
He walked in with a gloomy face and then closed the door.
Hearing the noise, Qiao Meng felt a chill running down her back and trembled involuntarily.
She turned around and tried to keep calm.
"Brother, what are you doing? Did someone upset you?"
"Meng'er, I've always trusted you, but I'm not a fool. Shouldn't you tell me what's going on? Why did you suddenly appear in Jincheng before?"
Sure enough, this man finally asked her about it.
Fortunately, Qiao Meng had prepared for this before, so she remained calm when facing him.
She raised her hand and pretended to wipe away her tears. "Brother, are you suspecting me? I've said before that in order to survive, I've done many things against my will. Do you still want to bring up those things that make me sad? If so, I'll just tell you everything today."
The man remained the same. When facing Qiao Meng's tears, all his words were held back.
His expression was a bit unnatural.
"I don't mean that. I just want to know the truth. If you don't want to say it, I'll let others investigate. I don't want you to recall those painful experiences."
There was a bit of pity in his tone, and he didn't see the flash of contempt in Qiao Meng's eyes when she lowered her head.
Sure enough, as long as he pitied her, things would be easier to handle.
Qiao Meng threw herself into the man's arms aggrievedly and tightly grabbed his waist, not willing to let go.
"As long as brother wants to know, I'm willing to tell you in person. Even the most hard - to - talk - about experiences, I'll never hide anything from brother."
She opened her mouth and told all those so - called "painful" experiences. In this not - too - long story, she portrayed herself as a wronged person from beginning to end, making the man feel even more pity for her.
He gently patted Qiao Meng's back. "Alright, it's all in the past. It's my fault. How could I let you talk about these things? That's enough. Don't talk anymore. By the way, you haven't had a good rest these days. Go and rest quickly. I still have to go out to look for the eldest young master's whereabouts, so I can't accompany you."
"Then brother must come back safely."
"Don't worry."
As soon as the man left, another familiar voice appeared in the room, but it was full of blame. "You really have great skills. You've shifted all the blame onto me. Aren't you afraid that I'll expose you?"
That's right. After the Imperial Concubine Rui knew that she had been sold out, she immediately came to find this woman.
When she saw this woman still having the leisure to act with the man, the anger in her heart just couldn't be held back.
Now Qiao Meng was in a good mood. Facing her blame, she remained unmoved. Instead, she poured a cup of tea and handed it over. "Your Highness, why are you so angry? If you keep getting angry, the wrinkles at the corners of your eyes may not be able to be covered."
If there was anything the Imperial Concubine Rui loved most, the first was power and the second was her own face. As soon as she heard this, all her anger disappeared.
However, this couldn't cover up her dissatisfaction.
"If you don't give me a reasonable explanation today, then you can wait for the whole city to spread the good deeds you did before tomorrow."
She always kept her words, and Qiao Meng was already used to it.
"I was just using this as a temporary measure. How could I really sell you out? Moreover, at most, they'll think that you came for those gold, silver and jewels, and they won't suspect your other intentions. This can actually clear my suspicion. The reason why I've kept them here for so long is just to make everyone dispel their doubts about me."
She spoke so plausibly as if it was really the case.
If it weren't for the fact that most of her previous plans had been successful, the Imperial Concubine Rui wouldn't have been in a half - believing, half - doubting state now.
"What do you want to do again?"
"I know that Your Highness has always wanted those gold, silver and jewels. Just when the eldest young master is missing, you can take the opportunity to make a deal with the national teacher. Then you can disappear with those gold, silver and jewels. Even if Cui Qizhou turns the whole Daliang upside down, he won't be able to find you."
Hearing this, the first thing the Imperial Concubine Rui thought of was something else.
"But I don't know where Shi An is at all. How can I make a deal with them?"
Qiao Meng rolled her eyes in her heart. The Imperial Concubine Rui was really stupid. She didn't know how she had managed to survive until now.
"They don't know where Shi An is either. You can deceive them into giving you those gold, silver and jewels first. I'll stabilize the situation here for the time being."
The Imperial Concubine Rui thought for a long time and finally took her advice. She quickly disappeared from the room.
On the other side, the man had been leading people to search outside for several days, but they hadn't even seen a shadow of Shi An.
The leader of the martial arts alliance, feeling apologetic, also joined the search. Now, looking at the man with a determined face beside him, he sighed slightly.
"We've searched along the bloodstains for so long. After these two days of heavy rain, there's nothing left of the bloodstains here. How about we go back first and make other plans? What does the national teacher think?"
The man hadn't slept for several days. He desperately led people to search in the place where Shi An disappeared. The words he had promised the young girl kept echoing in his mind.
When he heard what the leader of the martial arts alliance said, almost instinctively, he wanted to refuse. "No, absolutely not. I've already promised the empress dowager."
"But if we keep searching like this, it won't work. Just wandering around in a place with no clues is just a waste of effort."
The truth that the leader of the martial arts alliance said was actually understood by everyone present, but without the man's permission, they didn't dare to say anything.