TBIC

129-133

 Chapter 129

Mo Lan stood beside Mu Xi Yao, pretending to be earnestly identifying the person as per her mistress's order. Yet, she felt inwardly very uncertain. Her mistress's trick was too vicious. She actually told her how to deceive others! She has never done this work before. She wondered if she could meet her mistress's requirement – putting on a vivid and realistic act while showing a pleasantly surprised expression of "I finally found you".

She cast several secret glances at cefei. That look in her mistress's eyes, she could immediately tell that her mind has again wandered elsewhere. Every time mistress talked with this expression, it simply meant that she was not paying attention to you.

His Highness has handed over the important task of investigating the rebel faction to the mistress. Why is it that when it came to the mistress, it became her being an absent-minded spectator and even asking a servant girl to act as a charlatan to deceive people?

Mo Lan secretly muttered to herself while staring solemnly at the people passing by with extremely penetrating eyes.

Mistress has said, from the look in one's eyes to the expression, she had to act in such a way that outsiders couldn't catch the slightest flaw. Right now, she was extremely gifted. Since she was particularly good at this, she needed to show extra arrogance and put on airs so that her words would seem to carry authority.

After each of the eight people was done walking, Mo Lan took a step forward and used a voice not too loud nor too quiet, enough to make everyone in the room hear, to report to Mu Xi Yao.

"Mistress, this servant only caught a vague silhouette of that servant girl that night. Although this servant cannot say that her footsteps were committed to memory without any error, this servant is fairly confident. Among these few maidservants, three of them quite resembled that person." Mo Lan's eyes stayed on the three people below for a while. She stretched out her right hand and pointed out the suspicious people one by one.

Everyone in the main hall looked in the direction of her fingers, and discovered that every time she pointed at a person, that servant girl was bound to tremble and her face would turn pale in fright. All three seemed to be frightened, and their reactions were almost identical.

Mu Xi Yao had people report their identities. Upon hearing the identities, she learnt that they were servant girls from lady Kong, lady Wu, and Lady Qi's courtyards. The three of them looked at each other, and then quickly shifted away their gazes.

"What?!" Lady Kong was deeply shocked. She stared intently at the servant girl and repeatedly looked her up and down.

"Cefei, this maid was assigned to this servant's courtyard by the chief steward. How can she be a spy? Besides, after she finished her duties that day, she immediately went back to her room to sleep. This servant fears that from the perspective of the time, she doesn't match."

She has used this servant girl for a long time. She was quite satisfied with her. Up till now, she didn't make any mistakes. She shouldn't be the spy. If she was being wronged by others, she as her mistress will inevitably attract trouble. When it was needed for one to emphasise her innocence, one had to exert as much effort as possible to make herself understood clearly so as not to be the subject of others' gossip.

Mu Xi Yao slightly raised her eyebrow when she saw her eagerly arguing, "Who said that the servant girl was a spy? Is a little servant girl capable enough to serve as the rebel faction's spy? She is merely another person's lackey who can be discarded at any time. The real culprit is the person behind that servant girl!"

Once Mu Xi Yao's words came out, not only lady Kong was so frightened her complexion changed on the spot, even lady Wu and lady Qi turned pale with horror.