The queen of the last days became a maid and just wanted to lie down

Xu Yao didn't expect him to be so sensible. He nodded with satisfaction and said, "Boy, you have a bright future. I will definitely make friends with you."

As he spoke, he asked the waiter to bring another serving of meat soup. Zhuang Mu also ate the braised pork and a portion of pancake. Only then did he burp in satisfaction and walked with Pei Shuo and the others with his full stomach.

Xu Yao originally wanted to book an inn for him, but Zhuang Mu was anxious and afraid that Xu Yao would change her mind again, so he insisted on living with Xu Yao in Old Man Qu's house.

Old Man Qu's yard was not spacious, and he was a little unhappy when so many people suddenly squeezed in. "Why did you bring more people? Your ten thousand taels of silver don't include these."

Xu Yao: "I'll give you the money, but what's the big deal if one more person stays for two nights?"

Then he threw another ten taels of silver to him as food expenses for Zhuang Mu.

Old Man Qu was blinded by the money and nodded with a smile, but he only cleaned up a room where the medicine was stored.

At night, Xu Yao took advantage of the fact that Old Man Qu was treating Pei Shuo. Then he called Zhuang Mu over and asked, "You mentioned the Bai family, the imperial merchant, today. Do you know anything about the Bai family?"

It was only later that Xu Yao found out that Bai Lingzhi had a close relationship with the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.

I used to think they just knew each other, but later I found out that Bai Lingzhi's mother was Mrs. Pei's cousin.

Since the two families have a very good relationship, the Bai family also relies on the Pei family to do business safely in the capital.

Now that something has happened to the Pei family, what about the Bai family?

Zhuang Mu could only laugh when he heard this. "You don't know that Bai Lingzhi is now the head of the Bai family. Although the Pei family is in trouble, the Bai family is not only not in turmoil, but also more trusted by the prince. Some special purchasing business has been handed over to the Bai family. Now the Bai family is one of the imperial merchants, and everyone has to look at the Bai family's eyes."

When Xu Yao heard him say this, he thought of the glass key again.

If I had doubted Bai Ling's purpose in stealing the key, now it seems that it was for the third prince.

Since that time, the Third Prince has been plotting against the Second Prince?

This third prince is really scheming.

Xu Yao thought about it and realized that the Third Prince had been plotting against the Pei family since that time, or even earlier.

She couldn't help but feel a little strange. The Third Prince seemed to have never thought about marrying Pei Yi and marrying into the Pei family. Instead, he was aiming for the Pei family's military power from the beginning. He never thought about letting the Pei family live.

Is there a grudge against the Pei family?

Xu Yao couldn't help but ask: "Besides asking this, what other inside information do you know?"

Seeing that she was interested, Zhuang Mu naturally gave her his all.

"I also heard about it. The Bai family had been in constant internal strife before, and many people were fighting for the position of the head of the family. Later, Bai Lingzhi joined some powerful and influential people and got a backer, which is how he controlled the Bai family. We privately speculated that he should have joined the third prince. Not only that, there is a man named Ma in the capital, who is also a subordinate of the third prince. He helped the third prince to gather information and do some shameful things.

It's funny that the man surnamed Ma is related to the Second Prince's mother's family. Others thought he was working for the Second Prince, but they never thought that he was actually the Third Prince's man. I heard that after the Crown Prince took power, the man surnamed Ma also sought an official position in the capital."

Xu Yao sneered. In that case, Bai Lingzhi's statement that he couldn't steal the key was just a lie to fool her.

Maybe Mr. Ma San deliberately colluded with her to steal the key from Zuixian Pavilion.

But she was confused, and it seemed that the Second Prince really didn't know what the key was that day.

Is there something fishy going on here?

She shook her head, too lazy to care about it. It had nothing to do with her anyway.

"Now these two can be said to be the prince's left and right arms. One is responsible for gathering information for the prince, and the other is the prince's money bag."

Zhuang Mu was talkative and continued to chatter: "It is said that the reason why the Third Prince was able to take control of the court so quickly was because of Master Ma San, who collected a lot of officials' privacy for him, and also because of the money in Bai Lingzhi's hands, he raised some soldiers. These people are now working in the Palace Front Department. It can be said that the Second Prince's loss was not unfair."

Xu Yao couldn't help but think about the Pei family's affairs. He wondered if Bai Lingzhi had a hand in the Pei family's misfortune.

There was a sudden noise behind him, and Pei Shuo was already standing by the door without him knowing.

Xu Yao was nervous for a moment, then smiled uncomfortably: "It's over so quickly? That old man must be fooling me."

Pei Shuo shook his head: "Doctor Qu said that after examining my injuries today, he needs to prepare some medicine and can start treatment tomorrow."

Xu Yao asked Zhuang Mu to go back and rest and let Pei Shuo come in.

The two of them stayed in the same room, with Xu Yao sleeping on the floor.

The Northwest is a very dry place, so we are not afraid of humidity. Now the weather is hot, so it doesn't matter if we lie on the ground.

While she was lighting mugwort in the house to fume the mosquitoes, she asked him, "Do you know everything about the Bai family?"

Pei Shuo snorted, "I just found out."

Xu Yao turned around and looked at him in surprise, and almost forgot to put away the fire starter in his hand.

"You can tell me what you think. Since I promised to teach you Kung Fu and help you get revenge, you don't need to hide your thoughts from me."

Pei Shuo thought for a moment and said, "Master, I'm actually still not sure what they did behind my back. My mother and I both regard him as a relative and have never refused to help him. I just can't understand it. I regard him as my cousin, why does he treat us like this?"

He shook his head in self-mockery: "I really can't judge people, right?"

Seeing that he was sad, Xu Yao sat cross-legged on the ground.

"Are you blaming Bai Lingzhi or Liu Moyan?"

Pei Shuo looked at her and said, "Blame myself for not being able to judge people well."

Xu Yao sensed his sadness and self-blame, and sneered: "If it were so easy for people to see clearly, then people in this world wouldn't have so many troubles. Everyone in this world has their own desires and difficulties. When a person encounters danger, it is normal for him to choose to protect himself and give up others."

Just like in the end times, even if it is one’s closest and beloved parents and relatives, when danger comes, the first thing they choose to do is protect themselves. This is human instinct.

Pei Shuo was a little confused: "But my father taught me since I was a child that as a man, if I encounter danger, I must protect the weak. Later, when I grew up, I was used to protecting my elder sister and Yanyan. Why didn't they do that? Why did they betray me the first time they encountered danger?"

Xu Yao sighed and looked at the somewhat confused boy.

"There are not many people in this world who are born brave. There are only two kinds of people who have the courage to sacrifice themselves for others. One kind is an ignorant fool, and the other kind is a true brave who knows it is a threat but still decides to sacrifice himself for others. Both of these are very rare in this world. Your father is a true brave. For the sake of the people of the Great Zhou, he defended his home and country, fought against the enemy again and again, and risked his life.

But Pei Shuo, you must understand that your father was not born brave. You were also taught from childhood to gradually become brave.

But whether it's Bai Lingzhi or Liu Moyan, they haven't received such education since childhood, so they follow their instincts and protect themselves first when they encounter danger. This is the instinct of the weak. You can hate them, but don't think it's your fault. "