"Your Highness, we had no other choice. It was all Lady Hui who told us to do these things."
Since the news that she had been demoted to a concubine spread, everyone now called He Hui Lady Hui.
What was even more ridiculous was that she had been Lady Hui twice in her life, but the difference between the first and the second was like night and day.
Presumably, He Hui must be furious in the backyard by now.
The young girl pulled herself out of her thoughts and didn't miss the stunned look on Ji Huang's face.
She knew that it was up to her to break the silence.
"Do you two even know whose servants you are? Why would you listen to a concubine?"
The word "concubine" finally brought Ji Huang back to his senses. Remembering what had happened last night, he flew into a rage and kicked the two guards to the ground.
The two guards were caught off guard by this sudden outburst. They felt a chill run down their spines and decided to confess everything.
Shi Muyuan couldn't help but sigh.
These two men had been secretly bought off by He Hui ever since they started serving her.
They had always wanted to kill her, but they were too scared that Ji Huang would find out, so they kept putting it off.
After last night's incident, He Hui's plans were in disarray. She blamed everything on Shi Muyuan and offered the two men a large sum of silver, promising them that if they killed her, they could retire in comfort.
The two men had been fighting alongside Ji Huang for a long time. They were afraid that they would die before they could achieve success, so they were tempted by the offer.
Sure enough, money really could make the devil turn the millstone. Even after so many lifetimes, this truth still held.
Ji Huang could no longer contain his anger after hearing what the two men had to say.
He stormed into the side courtyard and kicked open the door.
Just as he was about to explode, a sweet voice came from inside.
"Father, Mother said you've been very busy lately. Why did you suddenly come back? Are you going to have lunch with me?"
Shi Muyuan had just arrived and heard these words. Without even thinking, she knew that half of her efforts had been in vain.
But it was okay. She never intended to bring He Hui down with just this one incident.
They had plenty of time to fight.
After straightening her clothes, the young girl walked into the room with a confident smile.
"Yo, Junlin, you're up so early today. Why didn't you go play with your imperial grandmother?"
He Hui sat in the back, saying nothing and trying to make herself as invisible as possible.
She had deliberately sent someone to bring Junlin here. She had received news of what had happened at the mansion gate.
The child was now her last line of defense. As long as the child was there, her position would not fall any further. Even if she had committed a grave mistake, Ji Huang would still have to consider the child and their past relationship.
After the young girl finished speaking, she clearly saw the woman in the distance slump her shoulders.
Ji Junlin threw himself into Shi Muyuan's arms and called out "imperial grandmother".
"You came to your mother's place so early in the morning. It seems you really don't care about your mother. Boys will grow up one day. Come on, accompany your imperial grandmother out for a stroll."
The boy blinked his eyes and tugged at his father's hand.
"Father, can I go out with my imperial grandmother?"
At this point, with the child still here, Ji Huang knew he couldn't lose his temper.
He lowered his eyes and smiled. "Of course you can. Mother, I remember that some of the people in your courtyard were specially sent there. It seems they're no longer useful. You can go to the slave market and buy some yourself. I'll pay for everything."
As the man spoke, he left with the young girl and the child, leaving He Hui to breathe a sigh of relief.
In the blink of an eye, a figure sat down beside her.
"You managed to avoid this today. He probably won't give you any more trouble about this in the future."
"That's hard to say. If he gets really angry one day, he might still bring up this old matter."
As she replied, she nestled in the man's arms. The two of them were being so blatant, but the servants in the courtyard acted as if they didn't see anything.
The man sitting beside her was Qing Bai.
Qing Bai had pretended to leave yesterday and then returned when no one was looking.
After yesterday's incident, they had replaced all the people in the courtyard with their own.
"It seems the people in our empress dowager's courtyard are no longer useful. And those two useless fools actually betrayed me at this critical moment. They can't be kept."
"Do as you please. As for how you want to deal with them, I'll send them to you later. You can do it yourself."
The two of them were getting closer and closer. He Hui could see the obsession in his eyes.
"Good. I want those people to suffer. A bunch of useless fools. After all this time, they can't even handle such a small matter. I heard that our empress dowager is going to the slave market. Have you made any arrangements?"
"Of course. I gave the orders before they even left the mansion."
"I've always been at ease with your work."
Not long after, the sound that made people blush and their hearts race came from the room.
At this moment, Shi Muyuan was holding Ji Junlin's hand and looking absent - mindedly at a certain place.
They walked like this for a while, and finally the little guy couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Imperial grandmother, why have you been looking at that place? Is there something new and interesting there?"
"Nothing. I just haven't been out for a long time, so I'm quite curious about these things."
In reply, the little guy brought her a bunch of candied haws from the side.
The little guy's gesture finally brought Shi Muyuan back to her senses.
She smiled and shared the candied haws with the little guy. Soon they found the largest slave market.
Seeing the people coming and going inside, she pursed her lips and turned to leave.
But then she thought of the arrangements the man had made and stepped inside.
Soon, the slave trader came up to her. "Miss, you must be the young lady of some prominent family in this city. I didn't expect you to come and choose the servants yourself. You could have just left your address, and we could have sent the people to your doorstep."
The young girl shook her head. "I've already placed an order here. Thirteen people in total. I wonder how far along the preparations are?"
The slave trader was stunned for a moment and stared at her, his expression changing.
"Miss, are you talking about the batch ordered yesterday?"
"Yes. The order was placed in a hurry. I'd like to check the goods first."
This was the secret code that the man had sent to her through Jing Hong before she left.
After finally matching the secret code, the slave trader took her to a basement.
"These are all well - trained. They're the best we have here. Miss, you can take them away."
Looking at the women sitting neatly in the room, Shi Muyuan could sense the sharpness in their eyes even from a distance.