Through hypnosis, Li Man'er finally learned the truth of the matter.
Xiao Si was actually born to a concubine, while Xiao Yu, who was left in the capital, was the legitimate son born to the official wife! And Xiao Qiniang, she was also legitimately born, but because her birth mother was not favored, she was demoted from legitimate to庶, living a life of being looked down upon.
This Xiao Rudí is truly a talent! I wouldn't have thought he was a devoted lover, capable of passing off a庶 as a legitimate for a woman of humble origins.
A talent.
"Since you hate him, you should have harmed him to vent your anger, not implicated others," Li Man'er asked again, "Was it you who put the aconite in the medicine?"
"Yes."
Truly ruthless, not hesitating to harm her own biological father.
But it's also a coincidence, she is also such a person. It's just that she doesn't have any feelings for Li Shu, and it's all for the original owner's revenge. Otherwise, a scumbag like Li Shu wouldn't even be worth her trouble.
As for Xiao Qiniang, she probably first felt disappointment, then despair, and finally all of it turned into hatred.
"This isn't the first time you've tried to harm him, is it?"
Xiao Qiniang said matter-of-factly, "No."
"When was the last time you acted?"
Xiao Qiniang seemed very resistant to this question, but under Li Man'er's forceful interrogation, she quickly lost control again and honestly confessed that she had colluded with her maternal grandfather's family years ago to assassinate Xiao Rudí while he was away from the capital.
My heavens!
Only then did Li Man'er realize that the speculation outside was completely unreliable!
All those guesses about enemies coming to the door, or the emperor wanting to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys, were all nonsense. It turned out that Xiao Qiniang was the one who hired someone to do it.
How old was she then? Her heart was so vicious, she couldn't be underestimated.
"Was the poisoning your idea? Or did you have someone behind you?"
Xiao Qiniang said, "It was my idea."
"Do you hate Li Man'er?" She wanted to take this opportunity to thoroughly investigate Xiao Qiniang.
Unexpectedly, her question made Xiao Qiniang fall silent again, as if it were difficult to answer.
"I don't hate her, I just envy her."
Envy her?
Li Man'er raised her eyebrows. Could it be because of Qi Yihan.
She was about to ask Xiao Qiniang if she knew the Ninth Prince, but the words got stuck in her throat. She changed her question to, "Why did you capture Ning Daocheng? Why did you imprison him?"
Xiao Qiniang refused to speak, and a fine sweat began to form on her forehead.
Such a resistant question must hide a huge secret.
Li Man'er's spirits immediately soared. She thought that her uncle probably had an even bigger and more shocking truth about him! This time, no matter what, she had to uncover the truth.
"Don't worry, it's safe here. No one knows you told me. You're tired and need an outlet, you need to confide."
After some comforting, Xiao Qiniang finally calmed down and slowly said, "Ning Daocheng is not born to the Ning family at all. He is the son of Duohan Sha, the leader of the Fourteen Barbarian Tribes."
This statement struck Li Man'er like a thunderclap. Ning Daocheng was actually a barbarian? How could that be possible?
Could it get any more dramatic? Damn heavens.
"I found out that when Duohan Ha was alive, he and Ning Liancheng were sworn brothers, and they became sworn brothers of different surnames. So, I followed the clues and discovered Ning Daocheng's origins. The flower birthmark on Ning Daocheng's left arm is the best proof. It is a mark passed down through generations of the leaders of the Fourteen Tribes. Legend has it that if the person who ascends to the leadership position does not have this birthmark, they will lead the Fourteen Barbarian Tribes to ruin. Duohan Sha died in internal strife, and various tribes vied to find his successor, but found no one. In the end, they elected Ku'ermian, Duohan Sha's brother, as king, but Ku'ermian did not have the flower birthmark, so the tribal leaders below were not very convinced."
Li Man'er asked again, "How many people are looking for Ning Daocheng?"
"All the barbarian tribes are looking for him. When Duohan Ha was alive, some people had seen Ning Daocheng, but later thought he was dead. A few years ago, for some reason, the news suddenly spread that Duohan Ha's successor was still alive, so the barbarians have been looking for him. It was the Xiao family's good luck that, because of the incident at Mount Moluo, they captured Ning Daocheng in advance and accidentally captured the leader of the Fourteen Barbarian Tribes."
"You kept Ning Daocheng to use him as bait?"
"Yes," Xiao Qiniang admitted without hesitation. "Whether I threaten the Ning family with him or make a deal with the barbarians, I won't lose out."
"You even want to make a deal with the barbarians?"
Xiao Qiniang hesitated for a moment, then quickly and resolutely told Li Man'er, "If I can't get rid of Xiao Rudí and rescue my eldest brother, I am willing to make a deal with the barbarians and hand over Mobei without hesitation."
Li Man'er exerted all her strength to refrain from slapping her.
A nation comes before a family, and a small family should always come after the nation.
Xiao Qiniang, for her own selfish desires, was willing to use the barbarians to contain Xiao Rudí, and even disregard the lives of the people of Mobei, which was truly deserving of death.
This was no different from treason.
"What happened to your Xiao family? Where is Old Master Xiao now?"
"The Xiao brothers have been at odds for years. Xiao Rudí is crippled, and the second uncle is dead. Xiao Ruqin and Xiao Ruduo have become ambitious. Xiao Ruqin is impulsive, outwardly strong but inwardly weak, and his health is poor, but this person is extremely wicked, thoroughly so, and it's difficult for him to inherit his grandfather's legacy. Xiao Ruduo is calm, shrewd, and unfathomable. In short, the three brothers are secretly guarding against each other. As for my grandfather, I haven't seen him for a long time and don't know where he is. However, no unfavorable news has been reported from the army so far, so I suppose grandfather should be fine."
Not necessarily!
Li Man'er was not as optimistic as Xiao Qiniang. Things were far more complicated than she had imagined.
Xiao Qiniang was now somewhat weak, with sweat on her forehead and her body swaying slightly. Li Man'er could only stop the hypnosis and give her an order to go back and sleep well, and she would remember nothing when she woke up.
Xiao Qiniang slowly opened her eyes and saw Li Man'er staring at her coldly. "Man'er sister, why are you looking at me like that."
Her memory was still at the point before Li Man'er exposed her for tampering with the food. How could she know that Li Man'er had tampered with her memories.
Xiao Qiniang felt a little nervous, but she couldn't explain where this nervousness came from.
"It's nothing, you should go back."
Just then, Gong Xiao and others returned with medicine. Xiao Qiniang was a little flustered and really went back first.
Liu Ya glared at Xiao Qiniang fiercely and quickly entered the room.
Zhu Yu nervously asked Xiao Qiniang, "Miss, how was it?"
Xiao Qiniang shook her head, feeling a severe headache. "Help me back first, my head hurts so much."
"Oh, okay." Zhu Yu did not dare to delay and quickly helped Xiao Qiniang towards the main courtyard, thinking as they walked that this time it didn't work out, and she would have to find another opportunity.