An ugly girl starts off, then becomes a beauty

After the youngest daughter of the Sang family was brought back to the palace, there was no interest in continuing the picnic.

Although the Empress Dowager had not left her seat, she was also frightened by the situation just now, so she ordered a sedan chair to return to the Yongshan Palace.

The remaining nobles paid their respects to the two ladies, then took their leave and returned to their palaces.

Sang Ling just pulled Ya Nu's hand, but a palace servant stepped forward to stop her. "Miss, we are going to take this maid away for questioning."

After such a serious accident, Yanu was already at a loss. She could only kneel there and shiver. Her skirt was covered with mud and even her forehead was wet.

"My maid cannot do this. If you want to send someone to question him, just come to my place." She protected the man behind her.

I glanced out of the corner of my eye and saw someone slowly approaching.

"Your Majesty, Madam." The palace servant immediately bowed and saluted. Sang Ling also turned around and immediately saluted Queen Wu and Madam Zhaoyu.

"How dare you take someone else's maid away with you?" Empress Wu said to the palace servant, and with a wave of her hand, she ordered the eunuch beside her to "prepare two sets of clothes."

She also saw clearly the miserable state of the master and servant, so one of the two sets of clothes was left for Sang Ling - she was also wet after being pushed by Sang Mei just now. The hem of the ancient people's skirt covered the upper of her shoes, and after walking a few more times on the grass, she was also covered with a lot of grass clippings and dust.

Sang Ling swallowed nervously, thinking about how to express his gratitude, when he saw a man approaching from a distance. The old man had white hair and beard, and although he was holding a cane, his figure was not too hunched, and there was a little boy accompanying him.

Sensing someone coming behind them, the two nobles turned around, and Madam Zhaoyu moved even faster to help him up, "Grandpa."

Even Queen Wu nodded and asked, "When did the Grand Master come? Why didn't the servants inform us?" After saying that, she glared at Li Xing beside her.

"I had no intention of disturbing the ladies' fun. I was just strolling here when I heard someone was poisoned by a snake, so I came to take a look. When I saw that you were able to handle it, I watched for a while without moving."

The tone of the old man's conversation with Queen Wu did not seem very humble, and even had an aura that was slightly superior to that of the Queen Mother. On the other hand, Queen Wu bowed slightly to him. Grandfather, which grandfather? Sang Ling was wondering in his mind when he saw the old man's eyes looking up at her. "Whose daughter is this?"

After saying this, Empress Wu also moved her eyes and said warmly, "Is she the eldest daughter of the Sangwu Sang family?"

Sang Ling's throat rolled secretly, and he immediately guessed the identities of the three people in front of him. The old man's status must be high, but among the people who came back from Huanlin Mountain, the only ones with higher status than Empress Wu were the emperor and the old lady. Now that both of them were not present, Empress Wu was the highest among the three, followed by the old man. And since Madam Zhaoyu could support the old man, it was likely that they were from the same family - this person was probably Nie Ce's grandfather.

She lowered her head and looked over there. The man's face did look familiar. Nie Ce looked somewhat like his grandfather.

Nie Da was the former prime minister, a person who was truly second to none. After studying for more than half a year, she was quite clear about the situation in the country: in the early days of the current monarch's accession to the throne, most things needed to be done according to the prime minister's opinion. This relationship was equivalent to that between Lü Buwei and the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty, but now this prime minister was more low-key, and took the initiative to resign in the later period of his official career. Not only that, he no longer asked about political affairs, and knew how to protect himself.

They were all important people, so she nodded cautiously and said, "Your Highness, Grandpa, and Madam, your humble servant greets you."

Queen Wu turned her head and glanced at Madam Zhaoyu, "What did I say? It was her."

Madam Zhaoyu rolled her eyes and first signaled to Grandpa Nie beside her. Empress Wu seemed to understand what she meant immediately. She covered her face with a long-handled bamboo fan and smiled slightly, saying, "Okay, go change your clothes first, and I'll talk to you later."

These words were spoken to Sang Ling. She looked at him through her long eyelashes and responded subconsciously.

Not long after returning to Yuchen Palace, Sang Ling asked Ya Nu to rest for a while, and then he went to the courtyard where the Ban family lived alone.

Coincidentally, Dai Chengjun was also inside, and his two little daughters were chattering away, with occasional sweet giggles emanating from them.

"I just saw her happily. Don't look at her young age, she is very scheming. She attracted all the boys in the school to gather around her. I wonder if they are here to study or to find a husband? You know that Xun Jin, the son of the Eastern Marquis, who never talks to others, asked her a few questions during those days. The two of them were talking and laughing by the window. If you don't know them, you would think they are a couple. They are not ashamed at all."

When she heard that the words just now were about Sang Mei, she didn't mind that. She was just afraid that the red-headed snake was also the work of these two people, so she knocked on the door.

"Why are you here? Your sister—" The maid in the house opened the door. Ban Le turned around and saw Sang Ling. He was interrupted by her while he was talking, "Did you release the snake?"

Dai Chengjun also looked over, and after hearing this, he immediately asked the other maids to leave.

"What do you mean?" Ban Le stood up from his seat and walked over, raising his thin eyebrows.

The Ban family's daughters still had makeup on their faces, their chins held high, and they looked quite domineering - that is, they were young ladies from aristocratic families, consistent in their inner and outer selves, and disdained to pretend. Sang Ling thought that after more than half a year, he had gotten to know the two little girls well, and this reaction was nine times out of ten - it was probably not Ban Le's doing.

The doubts in her heart disappeared instantly, but she still questioned, "Tell me the truth, otherwise people in the palace will suspect that it was my servant who did it."

The two ladies still couldn't figure out her thoughts, but if Sang Wu knew about this, what would he think of her? -- He would definitely suspect that she was the one who wanted to harm Sang Mei.

It is already difficult for her to survive in the Sang family, and Ma is a poisonous snake. If she leaves the Gao Mansion and returns to the Sang Mansion, she can only depend on her biological father. If he thinks that she has bad intentions, how can she rely on him to find a better way out for herself in the future?

"I would like to do that, but I don't have the ability to do that." Ban Le rolled his eyes at her. "Do you think I have the ability to do that? Where can I get a poisonous snake?"

The daughter of the Dai family behind the headlight laughed in silence, "Sang Ling, Ah Le is good at talking, but he is not a good person. I can still testify to this."

Even the words that helped to clarify the matter had to contain a sting. Dai Chengjun, who was previously considered tongue-tied, now knew how to talk. His tone did not change, and he was still smiling, "Besides, this is in Huanlin Mountain, a royal place. Do you think she really has that ability?"

That is indeed the case. Before today's picnic, the place was cleaned up by the royal family. No matter how capable these two are, they cannot cause such a head-losing incident in this occasion.

The doubt was completely eliminated, but Sang Ling's brows were furrowed even more tightly. The green plants on the grassland had been flattened, and there were many servants waiting outside. Even if there were snakes around, how could it get through the layers of obstacles and get through Ya Nu's skirt and bite Sang Mei's leg?