Fortunately, she wasn't someone whose moral compass shifted with her appearance.
"You've kept me waiting."
Mo Lingxi replied, "No. Let's go chat with Madam Sheng and General Sheng. They miss Xiao Feng very much."
The three of them chatted as they walked towards Madam Sheng's courtyard.
Halfway there, a servant approached them, bowed, and said, "Eldest Young Lady, I have something to report."
Sheng Lengshuang, seeing that the servant was unfamiliar, became more vigilant and instinctively shielded Xiao Feng behind her. "Who are you? I've never seen you before."
The servant lowered his head slightly. "Your servant is a menial servant who does odd jobs. Your servant accidentally saw something just now and thought to report it to Madam. Now that I've encountered the Eldest Young Lady, your servant will report it to you."
Sheng Lengshuang's vigilance increased. Before she could say anything else, she saw Mo Lingxi strike the servant with a palm. She immediately shielded Xiao Feng and retreated.
But at this moment, the servant erupted, charging towards Sheng Lengshuang.
Seeing this, Sheng Lengshuang threw a handful of powder and simultaneously pulled Xiao Feng towards a safe place.
The servant, instead of retreating, charged at Sheng Lengshuang and her son with even greater speed.
But—
He was sent flying by a palm strike from Mo Lingxi from behind, crashing heavily onto the ground, unable to get up for a long time.
Mo Lingxi stepped on his head with one foot, his gaze as cold as ice blades. "Who sent you?"
Noticing the man's attempt to bite open a poison sac to commit suicide, Mo Lingxi decisively dislocated his jaw and then sealed his acupoints, giving him no chance to kill himself.
"Wife, I'll deal with this person first. You and Xiao Feng go to your mother-in-law's," he instructed. "Be careful, and don't interact with people you haven't seen before."
Sheng Lengshuang told him to be careful and then, shielding Xiao Feng, walked towards Madam Sheng's courtyard. Fortunately, she had been wary of the man's gaze. Furthermore, the man's claim of being a menial servant with something to report to her mother had aroused her suspicion.
According to the rules, this person should have first reported to the junior steward, then to the steward, and then the steward would decide whether to report to the mistress of the household based on the importance of the matter.
It wasn't that any lowly servant had the right to see the mistress of the household or report anything to her.
Here, as Sheng Lengshuang and her son arrived outside Madam Sheng's courtyard, Mo Lingxi caught up.
"All handled?" Sheng Lengshuang asked.
Mo Lingxi nodded. "I've handed the person over to the dark guards for interrogation. I sensed that person's aura and the wrongness of his shoes at the time. As expected, he had ill intentions."
Sheng Lengshuang asked Xiao Feng to go in and find Madam Sheng first. She then said to Mo Lingxi, "My home is becoming increasingly unsafe. I'm thinking of replacing most of the servants in the manor, but then the household affairs will become unmanageable."
"That's treating the symptoms, not the root cause. You know as well as I do that with enough benefits, most people can be bought."
"I understand. The problem is, with so many servants in the manor, and not knowing who the spies are, it's easy for things to go wrong."
Mo Lingxi offered a suggestion: "How about you and your family move to..."
"You don't need to say it," Sheng Lengshuang interrupted him, her tone annoyed. "Don't even think about it. We will never move our family to the Ming Rui Royal Manor."
Mo Lingxi persuaded, "Even if you don't think for yourself, you have to think for General Sheng and his wife, and for Xiao Feng. We discovered and resolved this anomaly this time, but what about next time, and the time after that?"
Sheng Lengshuang wasn't unaware of these points. "But I'm even more aware of the consequences of moving to the Ming Rui Royal Manor. Besides, your Ming Rui Royal Manor isn't safe either; it might be even more dangerous than my home."
Mo Lingxi patted his chest and guaranteed, "Impossible! You know how safe the Ming Rui Royal Manor is..."
"What about the Ghost Elder incident last time?" Sheng Lengshuang cut him off.
Mo Lingxi was speechless, scratching his head in silence. That was an accident.
Sheng Lengshuang didn't want to waste more words with him. "I'll say it one last time: our family will not move to the Ming Rui Royal Manor. Please give up this idea and don't bring it up again. Do you understand?"
Mo Lingxi said with utmost sincerity, "Understood!"
Sheng Lengshuang could tell at a glance that he hadn't truly understood, but she didn't dwell on the topic. "You're very good at investigating people. Help me investigate these servants in my household."
"Recruiting new servants is not only troublesome but also prone to manipulation. The best way is to identify the spies."
Mo Lingxi readily agreed. "Then I'd best stay at the Sheng residence."
Sheng Lengshuang gave him a forced smile. "Do you want to live in my house forever and have me take care of you for a lifetime?"
Mo Lingxi suppressed the urge to nod frantically and shook his head silently. He was sure that if he agreed, his wife would definitely make him bedridden for life.
Sheng Lengshuang gave him a knowing look and turned to find Madam Sheng.
Mo Lingxi didn't follow. He was contemplating how to appease his wife. He had tried every method, but none had worked.
Indeed, pursuing a wife was very difficult.
...
In the evening, Mo Lingxi found Sheng Lengshuang.
"That person confessed."
Sheng Lengshuang put down her medical book and asked, "Was he sent by the Black Hand?"
Mo Lingxi nodded and then shook his head. "He was sent by Sima Min, but without the Black Hand's authorization, he wouldn't listen to Sima Min. This time, Sima Min's target wasn't you, but Xiao Feng."
Sheng Lengshuang's eyes turned icy inch by inch. "Sima Min wants to harm Xiao Feng?"
"To be precise, she wants to make you suffer by harming Xiao Feng."
"That's truly Sima Min's style! This woman, to harm me, she can go so far as to attack a child."
Mo Lingxi comforted her, "There's no need to be angry; it only hurts yourself. I've already arranged better dark guards for Xiao Feng. It's best for him to stay at the Sheng residence during this period."
Sheng Lengshuang also knew this was for the best. The journey to the imperial palace was a long one, and no one knew what might happen. Even with dark guards protecting him, they couldn't guard against all schemes and stratagems.
"Did you find out where Sima Min is hiding?"
Mo Lingxi replied, "No, Sima Min gives orders at a stronghold. I've learned of several of their strongholds and have already sent people to raid them."
Sheng Lengshuang's brows furrowed, and she felt a bit uneasy. "Do you think we can resolve all these matters by following Sima Min's lead?"
Mo Lingxi reassured her, "Don't overthink it. Look, Sima Min has revealed herself now. The more she stirs up trouble, the easier it will be for us to catch her."
Sheng Lengshuang frowned, "I'm worried about mistakes. If something goes wrong, what should we do?"
Mo Lingxi softened his voice. "Have some faith in me. I will protect you both. Think about it, if things really escalate, there will be thorough searches of every household, inch by inch."
"Then, no one will be able to hide."
Sheng Lengshuang looked at him. "Are you planning to search every household?"
"It's not time for that yet. We need to see how the Southern Jin Dynasty acts and whether the Black Hand makes any major moves."
"What's the situation with the Southern Jin Dynasty?"