Xu Ziqi's appearance was naturally expected by Mu Ziling, not to mention that this play, if Xu Ziqi was missing, it would not be good-looking enough, so after she sat down, Mu Ziling put down the teacup and looked at her and shouted to her mother, her attitude was the same as usual, but her tone was a little more perfunctory.

"Ling'er, my mother can't help you," Xu Ziqi turned his head and looked at Mu Ziling seriously, his face full of apologies: "Will you blame your mother?" ”

Tilting his head, Mu Ziling pretended to be puzzled: "Mother, have you done anything to be sorry for me?" Of course, he could hear that Xu Ziqi's words were implying that Mama Xue was the one who wanted to harm him, and she didn't know it.

Xu Ziqi was choked for a while, speechless for a while, and said after a while: "Mother naturally has never done it, but this Mama Xue has always been my nurse, if she does something wrong, it means that I have misdisciplined her, and I should naturally apologize to you." ”

After a pause, she whispered, "Will you forgive your mother?" ”

Shaking his head slightly, Mu Ziling said slowly, "Mother, where did you hear that Mama Xue did something wrong to me?" If what Wang Qi said is true, then it should be me to compensate Mama Xue. ”

Hearing this, Xu Ziqi's expression changed, knowing that these words should not be said, she was a little anxious, she lowered her eyes and thought for a while, and then raised her head, she turned her eyes back on Mu Ziling, and said in a gentle tone: "What Ling'er said is that her mother is in a hurry......

She originally had something to say, but Mu Jiyan had already looked at her several times frequently, and her brows were furrowed and her expression was puzzled, her heart trembled, and she knew that she should not continue to say more, otherwise she should be burned.

Seeing Xu Ziqi sit down quietly with his eyes down, Mu Jiyan withdrew his gaze that fell on her, turned to look at Mama Xue, and asked, "What Wang Qi said, but is it the truth?" ”

Mama Xue shook subconsciously, "Yes...... The old slave did oppress him. ”

Mu Jiyan pursed his lips, then turned his head, looked at Ah Lin, who was standing beside Mu Ziling, and asked, "Ah Lin, you were the first to see the two of them, did you hear what they said at that time?" ”

was called by name, Ah Lin immediately stood up, for Mu Jiyan, he didn't dare to have no rules, so he bent down and repeated the words he heard at that time word for word. He had the heart to repeat it in his mind several times, so he memorized them all.

"Master, that's what Wang Qi said at that time."

Mu Jiyan nodded, waved his hand to signal him to step back, and after a moment of silence, he suddenly asked sharply: "Wang Qi, where did you get five hundred taels of silver?" ”

Although the treatment of the Prime Minister's Mansion is not bad, the ordinary maid is only two taels of silver a month, and even if it is like the head of the mansion, the monthly money is only twenty taels of silver, and there is no doubt that five hundred taels of silver is a lot of money for any person.

Wang Qi's face changed, his brain turned fast, he didn't expect that Ah Lin would actually listen to these words completely.

Forced to calm down, Wang Qi hurriedly shouted out for injustice, at this time, the heart that had just been put down was raised again: "Master, the slave didn't say five hundred taels, the servant said five taels of silver, Ah Lin heard it wrong!" ”

"Nonsense!" Ah Lin's bun face bulged, he took a step forward, crossed his waist and said loudly: "What you said is five hundred taels, and I am not deaf." ”

"Ah Lin, don't say much." Seeing that Ah Lin was about to roll up his sleeves and rush up to beat Wang Qi again, Mu Ziling called him, his tone was very flat, but as soon as Ah Lin heard it, he immediately came back obediently and stood up.

Mu Jiyan didn't blame Ah Lin, but stared at Wang Qi intently, without any expression on his face, and his eyes were even more fierce.

Wang Qi knelt with his head down, only to feel that Mu Jiyan's majesty was so overwhelming that he couldn't breathe, and his body couldn't help but tremble.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the main hall was somewhat silent.

At this time, Mu Yan, the chief manager who had just gone out, hurried back, he came to Mu Jiyan, bowed down and said respectfully: "Master, I have gone to the gambling workshop to find out according to your request, Wang Qi has indeed been gambling in the gambling workshop for half a month, but the people in the gambling workshop said that he will lose every time he gambles, and in the past half a month, one after another, he has lost a total of five hundred taels of silver, all of which are recorded in this account." As he spoke, he took out an account book from his arms and presented it to Mu Jiyan.

"Xunfanglou, I also went to investigate, on the night of the third day of the fourth month, Wang Qi did go, but it was after the fifth watch, according to the girl who received him, Wang Qi was dusty at that time, and he still carried a large sum of silver taels in his arms, she remembered very clearly."

"Hmm." With a sound, Mu Jiyan motioned for Mu Yan to step aside for the time being.

After briefly flipping through the account book a few times and seeing the numbers recorded on it, Mu Jiyan slapped the table suddenly, and could no longer hide the anger in his heart: "Wang Qi, what else do you have to say?" ”

"Slave ......" Wang Qi opened his mouth to speak, but found that no matter how he argued, he couldn't explain the origin of the five hundred taels, so he was sweating profusely, if he hadn't been tied up by five flowers, he would have jumped up at this time.

Looking at him with a calm face, the anger between Mu Jiyan's eyebrows had not yet dissipated, which made the majesty around him even worse, and Wang Qi's whole person trembled, and his face was completely bloodless.

After being quiet for a while, Mu Jiyan spoke again: "Mu Yan, you sue him, according to the rules of the house, how should this matter be resolved?" ”

Although he was asking Mu Yan these words, Mu Jiyan's gaze first swept over Xu Ziqi, who was sitting beside him, and then fell on Mama Xue, who had been kneeling on the ground and was so quiet that it was weird, thoughtfully.

The five hundred taels of silver in Wang Qi's hand could not be conjured out of thin air, unless someone gave it to him...... And the person who gave him the five hundred taels was the mastermind behind this matter.

This Wang Qi is greedy for life and afraid of death, and the villain's behavior only needs to threaten his life, and he will definitely confess to the mastermind.

Mu Yan has followed Mu Jiyan for many years, and is naturally very familiar with him, hearing this, he thought for a moment and replied: "According to the rules of the house, those who vainly try to kill their masters should be killed with a cane." ”

When Mu Yan's words fell, Wang Qi was so frightened that his whole body softened, and he turned his head to stare at Mama Xue who was kneeling beside him, and he shouted loudly: "Master spare his life, the slave has something to say-" Since he is going to die, why does he have to drag his back!

Before Mu Jiyan could respond to his words, he confessed all the things that had happened, and he didn't dare to hide any more: "This qiē was done by Mama Xue instructed the slaves, she knew that the eldest prince had a habit, that is, every day after dinner, he would go back to the room to burn incense and read books, so on the third day of the fourth lunar month, she took the poison to the slave early, and asked the slave to put the medicine into the incense burner...... That night, after the eldest prince had an accident, she gave the slave five hundred taels of silver, and then asked the slave to leave the capital overnight. ”

"The slave knew that he was wrong, it was the slave who was blinded by lard, so he dared to make this heinous mistake, begging the master to learn and spare the slave's life-" After Wang Qi finished speaking, he put his forehead against the ground, and the whole person knelt on the ground, and his body trembled uncontrollably because of fear.

"Mama Xue, do you have anything to say?" Mu Jiyan asked, his tone was extremely cold.

Mama Xue only raised her head at this time, her face was pale, her eyes were blank, her expression was extremely decadent, and the wrinkles on her face became more and more obvious, as if she was more than ten years old in an instant.

"Old slave ......" licked her dry lips, Mama Xue opened her cloudy eyes, and just said two words, but was suddenly interrupted by Xu Ziqi.

"Mama Xue, I read that you are my nurse, and you are also doing your best to serve me, so it is just that you bully your subordinates on weekdays, I turn a blind eye and don't care about you, I can't imagine that your heart is so vicious, you actually poisoned Ling Er to death, I ask you, can you confess your guilt?!"

Xu Ziqi looked at her coldly, shielded with a handkerchief in his hand, and made a movement quietly, his eyes swept to Xue Er, who was standing blankly on her right, intentionally or unintentionally, and the threat in his eyes was overflowing.

Mama Xue grew up watching Xu Ziqi since she was a child, and she has served her for so many years, so she naturally understands how ruthless her heart is and how vicious her methods are.

Finally, he turned his head to look at Xue Er, who would be dragged away, until he disappeared, and then Xue Mama reluctantly withdrew her gaze, and then smiled miserably, kowtowed heavily, and said in a dumb voice: "The old slave pleaded guilty." ”

Mama Xue was already disillusioned at this time, and she knew that she would definitely not be able to escape a dead word, but she was unwilling, she had been a cow and a horse for Xu Ziqi for so many years, but in the end, the other party did not save herself, but used her only grandson to blackmail her and force her to confess her guilt and die...... She hates, she resents.

Since she was destined to die, she had to do something before she died, how could she make the person who killed her better?

Thinking of this, when she raised her head again, Mama Xue said: "This matter is indeed the work of the old slave alone, because the old slave has a grudge against the eldest son in his heart, so he will make this big mistake." She did it on purpose, deliberately before anyone could ask for it.

And the reason for doing this is naturally to reduce Xu Ziqi's defense, so that Xu Ziqi will get carried away and show her feet, she believes that with the wisdom of the eldest prince and the master, she will not fail to see the changes in Xu Ziqi.

Sure enough, as soon as her words fell, she heard Xu Ziqi's expression loosen, and she asked sharply: "Why do you hold a grudge against Ling'er?" ”

Although Xu Ziqi asked, her clenched hand hidden in her robe loosened, and she was greatly relieved to hear that Mama Xue had borne all the blame.

Mama Xue knelt on the ground, lowered her head, and a grim smile appeared on her wrinkled face, she was really fooled...... Ha, she will always be watching from below, watching the day Xu Ziqi was retribution!

Turning his head to look at Mu Ziling, Mama Xue said slowly: "Three years ago, the eldest prince once taught the old slave a hard lesson because of a maid, and since then the old slave has been holding a grudge in his heart, and a month ago, the eldest prince actually taught the old slave another lesson, making the old slave lose face, so the old slave was resentful in his heart, and he couldn't suppress his anger for a while......

"Ridiculous! It is natural for the master to teach the slave a lesson, and you have always held a grudge, Mama Xue, although you are my nursing mother, but you have committed such a heinous crime, I can't spare you. Xu Ziqi turned his face and looked at Mu Jiyan, his face was full of apology and guilt, his eyes blinked, and tears actually fell: "It was Ling'er who was harmed by my poor discipline that went through this catastrophe, husband, you can punish me." With that, she covered her face.

Looking at the pitiful Xu Ziqi in front of him, Mu Jiyan's brows not only did not loosen, but wrinkled even tighter, he turned his head to look at Mama Xue who was kneeling on the ground, and then when he looked at Xu Ziqi again, something flashed in his eyes...... He found that he never really seemed to know his stepwife.

After taking a sip of tea, Mu Ziling blinked, and a sneer appeared in his heart, although he had long expected that his stepmother would not be so easy to admit guilt, and he would definitely find a scapegoat, but he didn't expect that she would push out the nurse who had been serving her for more than 30 years, which was really ruthless.

However, at this point, he did not gain anything at all...... Looking up at his father, Mu Ziling showed an extremely faint smile on his face.

-- The sudden change made Xu Ziqi panic, and he was confused, and his words just now had already revealed too many horses, which had aroused his father's suspicion at this moment.

And at this point, his original goal has been achieved, he never thought that this one thing alone would be able to reveal the true face of Xu Ziqi that he had hidden for so many years.