However, at this moment, Old Madam Liang felt somewhat powerless to deal with Qin Shuying.

She wanted to scold Qin Shuying, but wouldn’t that confirm her intention to kill Qin Shuying?

If she tried to argue with Qin Shuying, at this moment she found herself completely alone—everyone else was just watching the spectacle and were quite happy to see her make a fool of herself!

Old Madam Liang’s vision darkened, and she involuntarily looked toward Liang Qiong.

When Liang Qiong met Old Madam Liang’s gaze, her eyes flickered and she immediately lowered her head.

She was now certain that the Old Madam Liang before her was fake—otherwise, why would she wear such a brightly colored drape to secretly meet Emperor Delong?

Thoughts raced through Liang Qiong’s mind. No wonder Old Madam Liang had never really tried to bring her together with the Fifth Prince—turns out she had an affair with Emperor Delong…

Just then, an old lady recognized the seal: “This is the seal of the Qifeng Dynasty!”

“What?”

Suddenly, the entire room erupted in commotion.

“The Qifeng Dynasty was destroyed decades ago. How could there be letterhead bearing the Qifeng Dynasty’s seal here?”

“Exactly.”

“How could Old Madam Liang use Qifeng Dynasty letterhead to write letters? And demanding the lives of her own grandson and granddaughter-in-law?”

“This, this, this… is she really the grandmother?”

“Right, this probably isn’t the real grandmother.”

“Of course not! What real grandmother would want to kill her own grandson?”

…

Old Madam Liang’s mind was in complete chaos—she was nearly going mad!

How had things come to this?

Qin Shuying stood frozen in place, staring at Old Madam Liang in disbelief, her gaze somewhat vacant.

But her heart was filled with joy. Ziyu worked so efficiently. Ever since the secret room was discovered, rumors had been spreading in the capital, saying Old Madam Liang was not Liang Yunshan’s birth mother.

The rumors said that Old Madam Liang first bewitched Liang Yunshan into beating Liang Zhe, trying to kill Liang Yuan and Liang Jie.

Later, Old Madam Liang also bewitched Luo Meixiang into pinning Zao’er’s death on Qin Shuying’s personal maid. When Liang Zhen discovered it was Ningyuan’s doing, Old Madam Liang refused to allow interrogation and injured Liang Yuan again.

Repeatedly harming her own legitimate granddaughter and grandsons—all of this proved that Old Madam Liang was not Liang Yunshan’s birth mother.

Liang Yunshan quickly found the midwife and maids who had attended Concubine Guan’s birth, and learned how his birth mother had died. Under his direction, Liang Yuan and Liang Jie remained silent about the rumors.

Their strange injuries in the pine grove—they had sent many people to search for answers, but the results were confusing. Later, seeing those strange objects in the secret room, when Liang Zhe said Old Madam Liang had sent people to kill them, they initially didn’t believe it, but later began to have doubts.

As for why Old Madam Liang would send people to kill them while helping Qin Shuying when she was nearly assaulted, they thought even deeper: first shoot them dead, then have Qin Shuying assaulted—all three would be ruined, wouldn’t that kill multiple birds with one stone!

Now the rumors finally came in handy. These ladies had naturally heard the rumors and now recalled them.

“Haven’t you heard? Old Madam Liang is not Liang Yunshan’s birth mother!”

“No wonder—beating Liang Zhe, killing Liang Yuan and Liang Jie… it’s truly terrifying!”

“Didn’t you notice what Madam Liang asked earlier? She said, who exactly is Old Madam Liang?”

“What does that mean?”

“Haven’t you heard? There’s another matter!”

“What matter?”

“This Old Madam Liang is fake!”

“Fake?”

“Look at her bearing—does she look like someone nearly sixty years old? We’re in our forties and look older than her. In all your years, have you ever seen such a person?”

“…You mean Old Madam Liang isn’t really Old Madam Liang?”

“…”

“There’s some logic to that. If she were the real grandmother, how could she kill her own legitimate grandson? Even if she weren’t Liang Yunshan’s birth mother, she’d still need to keep a male heir to inherit the family business and provide for her.”

“Exactly.”

“Then why didn’t she act like this in earlier years?”

“In earlier years, the real Old Madam Liang probably hadn’t died yet. This one came later… some say it’s only been a few years.”

“You mean the real Old Madam Liang died just a few years ago? And this one…”

…

The ladies sitting here were all of noble status, extremely cultured and well-mannered, yet at this moment they were discussing animatedly with great excitement.

The noble ladies seated above listened with great interest, and none stopped this inappropriate discussion.

Old Madam Liang repeatedly said “shut up” several times, but no one paid her any attention. Instead, many strong, sturdy women suddenly appeared beside the noble ladies.

Old Madam Liang’s vision darkened, her gaze fierce as she glared at Qin Shuying, who was still pretending to be naive, “It’s you, it’s all your doing, isn’t it?”

Qin Shuying was so frightened she kept backing away, “You, who exactly are you? You’re not Old Madam, who are you? No wonder Ziyu faced repeated assassination attempts and schemes after returning from the northwest. No wonder you wanted to cripple Second Brother and Third Brother! No wonder you never went out visiting or received many guests—you were afraid others would discover you’re fake. You, you’re actually not Old Madam! You, where exactly have you hidden our family’s real Old Madam?”

Old Madam Liang felt a sweet, metallic taste in her throat!

What a vicious scheme!

Old Madam Liang turned her gaze to Liang Qiong, who quickly retreated several steps, “Old Madam… no, no, what kind of demon are you exactly? You, you quickly return my grandmother to me!”

Old Madam Liang looked at Liang Qiong with pain and disappointment.

“No, she’s not some demon—she’s a remnant of the Qifeng Dynasty!” Princess Liang slowly rose, wearing a somewhat eerie smile as she gazed at Old Madam Liang.

“What?”

Immediately, the ladies’ discussions became even more heated.

Old Madam Liang’s beautiful eyes flashed with anger, “You shut up!”

Princess Liang’s lips curved in a satisfied smile, “Attempting to dismantle the Liang family from within the Pacifying Western Earl’s residence, first making father and son turn against each other, causing Liang Yunshan and Liang Zhe to become estranged, even having Liang Zhe subjected to family punishment until crippled. Then disguising as assassins to wound Liang Yuan and Liang Jie, and pinning the blame on Liang Zhe. Naturally, Liang Yunshan wouldn’t spare Liang Zhe and would punish him to death. Finally, telling Liang Yunshan everything to completely destroy his mental state—when Liang Yunshan learned the truth, it would be too late for regrets. Where would he have the heart for military campaigns? Without spilling a drop of blood, you’d kill Liang Zhe who had made great contributions on the frontier, and completely destroy our Great Zhou’s strongest General of the Western Campaign who resisted the Western State! Then you could take the opportunity to occupy our border cities and slaughter our Great Zhou people!”

Qin Shuying’s eyes truly went wide this time.

Princess Liang’s ability to call a deer a horse and fabricate wild stories surpassed even her own!

Princess Liang’s eyes flashed with authority befitting a princess, “Speak! Are you a spy sent by the little emperor of the Western State? Your goal is to destroy the Liang family’s most capable fighters, Liang Yunshan and Liang Zhe, without losing a single soldier!”

With this stern rebuke, many people couldn’t help but tremble inwardly and chose to believe her.

Everyone’s gazes contained doubt, anger, and scrutiny.