Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Chen Xi’er truly has a crow’s beak; she has a knack for making her dire predictions come true.
For years, Wei Shi and I had minded our own business, staying out of each other’s way. I never imagined she would actually go so far as to poison me.
It all started like this-
Because I had been increasingly lethargic lately, my Wet Nurse and Xi’er sensed something was wrong and finally went to fetch Li Shiyin.
Upon his arrival, Li Shiyin’s brow furrowed so deeply it could have crushed a fly.
He stroked his beard, weighing his thoughts and hesitating for a long time before finally declaring that I had likely been poisoned.
This particular toxin was quite rare, worth hundreds of taels of silver on the black market. It was called the Drunken Heart Flower.
The Drunken Heart Flower was a product of the Western Rong. If ingested in small amounts over a long period, it would cause progressive lethargy, killing its victim without a trace.
Li Shiyin was a clever old man who had no intention of getting swept up in a groundless scandal. He wrote me a prescription for an antidote and instructed Xi’er on how to decoct the medicine. Only as he was leaving did he offer a slow, casual remark: “The spring air is damp and heavy; the Madam should not overindulge in food.”
To hell with the spring air!
Xi’er and my Wet Nurse were absolutely livid about the poisoning.
After putting their heads together, they decided that they needed to catch the thief with the loot in hand to truly uproot the black-hearted culprit.
Those who harm others always like to think they are clever, believing they can execute their schemes flawlessly.
Little did they know that Xi’er and my Wet Nurse hardly had to think twice before insisting that Wei Shi was behind it.
After all, I was a woman confined to the inner manor who rarely offended anyone. Why else would I be targeted with such an expensive poison?
My Wet Nurse argued that since Wei Shi now had a son, her ambition had surely swelled. She was no longer content being a secondary wife and believed she had a chance to take my place.
Just as she predicted, it took Xi’er and her only three days to find something suspicious in the tonic I usually ate. They successfully caught a maid who served in my courtyard.
At first, the maid cried out that she was being framed, refusing to admit to the poisoning no matter what.
That lasted until Xi’er produced the packets of medicine found in the maid’s room and threatened to report her to the authorities. She declared the maid would be charged with the attempted murder of a Commandery Lady of the court, a crime that would lead to the execution of her entire family.
Terrified, the maid broke down in tears and confessed that the concubine Chunlan had put her up to it.
Chunlan had once been Wei Shi’s trusted personal maid. As long as we apprehended her, we wouldn’t have to worry about getting the truth out of her.
Though I was not favored by Cheng Wenting, I still held the power to manage the household. As my head maid, it was well within Xi’er’s power to seize a mere concubine in my name.
Fearing that word might leak out, she and my Wet Nurse took several servants and went straight to Chunlan’s courtyard.
Unfortunately, they were a step too late.
Scarcely two hours after the poisoning maid had been interrogated, the concubine Chunlan died in her room after consuming poison herself.
She had taken arsenic.
Her face was contorted in agony when she died.
And that very afternoon, my mother-in-law had found a pretext to send Wei Shi away to a manor outside the capital to “recover from an illness.”
Cheng Wenting returned home very late that night.
Xi’er and my Wet Nurse waited in the front courtyard, presenting both the maid who had administered the poison and the evidence.
They claimed I was currently unconscious and confined to my bed.
Chunlan’s death was suspicious, and Wei Shi had always been in good health; sending her away so suddenly to a manor to recover defied all logic.
“We beg your lordship to seek justice for the Madam. Bring Wei Shi back and uncover the truth!”