After the death of the previous emperor, the Empress Dowager became arrogant

"Ah Qing, I..."

Yuan Yi was about to say something when he was interrupted by a loud noise from next door.

Yuan Qing's attention was immediately diverted.

Isn’t the prefect’s son’s residence next door?

Who would be so bold as to shout here?

She put on her clothes, stepped past the little guard and got out of bed.

The closer she got to the door, the clearer the sound became, so she simply went out and walked to the wall to listen to the noise over there.

"Why are you doing this?"

The voice sounds like Mrs. Shang's.

"My son didn't mean anything else, he just wanted to help more," a man replied.

Could this be the prefect’s son Shang Zhe?

Didn’t he say that he was studying in a college?

Madam Shang said in a weak and trembling voice, "It's all my fault. I taught you to be so soft-tempered..."

The man seemed anxious, and knelt down with a plop. "Mom, I really just sent some clothes to my second sister. I didn't mean to harm Rui'er..."

Madam Shang stopped crying and looked at him fiercely, "That bastard is not your sister!"

"But she is indeed my father's daughter, so she is naturally my sister."

"Snapped!"

A loud slap was heard.

"Mom, why did you hit me?" Shang Zhe asked in disbelief.

"If Rui'er's reputation is damaged in any way, you will have to stay with her in a temple or in the countryside for the rest of your life..."

"Mom, I can't go to the countryside. I still have to pass the imperial examination. I also want to make a name for our business and bring honor to our family!" Shang Zhe said in panic.

"You are not that kind of person. Even if you enter the officialdom in the future, you will only be a pawn used by others.

It is better for you to stay at home peacefully, do business and spend your time as you wish, and don’t go to the capital and ruin your entire business.”

Mrs. Shang's voice was calm from beginning to end, as if she had already let it go.

A maid ran in and reported: "Madam, there are more and more people outside the door!"

Madam Shang suddenly stood up and walked out, but stopped after a few steps, "Kneel here and reflect on your actions!"

Yuan Qing also wanted to know what had happened in the Shang Mansion, so he pretended to have just packed up and went out.

Shang Ming and Mrs. Shang were running around anxiously in the main hall.

Shang Ming thought about it again and again, and ordered his servants: "Go and invite Nephew Gong."

Madam Shang stopped crying and said in disapproval, "Master, what is this doing? Rui'er hasn't eaten anything since yesterday. Why are you calling someone else here now? Are you here to laugh at us?"

"Things have already come to this, do you think you can still keep it a secret? Besides, my nephew is smart and clever. He was the one who helped Rui Er solve the problem before. What if he has a solution?"

Mrs. Shang was persuaded by him and slowly sat back in her chair to wait for someone.

Yuan Qing was invited into the hall by a servant halfway.

As soon as she saw her coming, Madam Shang took her hand, forced a smile and said, "Did I wake you up?"

Yuan Qing shook his head: "I just woke up too, what happened?"

Shang Ming clenched his fists and drove out all the irrelevant people in the hall.

“Since things have developed to this point, we will not hide it from you.

What happened to Rui Er yesterday was caused by my unfilial son."

Combining what he had just heard in the corner, Yuan Qing instantly had a guess.

Shang Zhe took Shang Rui's clothes and gave them to Shang Rou, and these clothes, through some means, came into Wang Xiaoliu's hands from Shang Rou, which led to the scene yesterday.

Shang Ming paused and continued, "Although the incident yesterday was resolved in a timely manner, several people took out Rui'er's things today and said that they had...had..."

He really couldn't say what came after that.

Yuan Qing could guess what it was.

If there is only one person, then it is a false accusation, a coincidence, or the work of a greedy and power-hungry villain.

But when so many people point the finger at the same time, it can no longer be taken as common sense.

At the same time, it is also more certain that someone was deliberately targeting Shang Rui in this matter.

Yuan Qing clasped his fists and stepped forward, his face full of guilt, "It's all my fault that I didn't think carefully enough and impulsively exposed Wang Xiaoliu's conspiracy in public. That's why the person behind the scenes resorted to such ruthless tactics, causing Miss Shang's reputation to be damaged."

The guilt is real, and the misleading words are also real.

She received a report from the secret guard in the store yesterday, saying that a man on the street was slandering Miss Shang by claiming to be the son-in-law of the Shang family, saying that he had an affair with her.

At that time, she thought that instead of waiting passively, it would be better to take the initiative to expose it, which led to the confrontation in the street.

Shang Ming and his wife were caught up in the middle of it and were momentarily overwhelmed by this sudden change.

After Shang Zhe was found out, they naturally put more focus on him and temporarily ignored the real mastermind behind the incident.

By the time they realize it later, it may be too late.

In just a few days, anything can happen.

If Shang Rui couldn't bear the rumors and was forced to commit suicide, Shang Ming and his wife would never recover because of their daughter's matter.

Perhaps looking further ahead, when the one-month deadline is up, Shang Ming and his entire family will be arrested and imprisoned for failing to find out the whereabouts of the disaster relief money.

By then, whether it is the position of the prefect of Pingjin Prefecture or the 100,000 taels of disaster silver, they will all fall into the hands of others because the merchants are convicted.

It is more likely that they would lightly frame Shang Ming for the disaster relief money case. By then, Shang Ming's entire family would have been held accountable, so naturally, whatever those people said would be the truth.

No one cares anymore what the reason is.

Because they only want one result, a result that they can explain to Wen Chengyu.

Shang Ming reacted immediately.

Yeah, how could he forget that?

If Rui'er's matter is not thoroughly investigated, the disaster relief silver seized from Wang Xiaoliu will become a fatal thing for their business.

Not only did he ruin his daughter's reputation, he also wanted to drag him, Shang, down with him!

The person behind the scenes has a very vicious heart!

An idea flashed through Yuan Qing's mind.

She said to Madam Shang, "Aunt, I suddenly remembered that I discovered something when I was interrogating Wang Xiaoliu yesterday."

"What's the matter?"

"That Wang Xiaoliu kept saying that he had an appointment with Miss Shang. My nephew asked him about the appearance of the person he was going to meet yesterday.

She has almond-shaped eyes, a thin face, and is half a head shorter than me. Although she looks similar to Miss Shang, she is definitely not her.

When saying this, Wang Xiaoliu obviously thought about it. He had never met Miss Shang before, but he could describe that person's appearance in such detail. It was most likely that someone was pretending to be Miss Shang to meet him.

Auntie, you can start looking into this aspect, who knows, you might find some clues."

Madam Shang searched her mind for a moment, and suddenly her expression changed. She patted Yuan Qing's arm and said, "If we can find out the real culprit who harmed Rui Er, you will have made an invaluable contribution, my dear nephew."

After saying that, he turned around and left angrily.

Shang Ming's face looked a little ugly, even a little angry.

Could it be that they knew this person?