ebookland Chapter 144 So bold
Chapter 144 So bold
Aunt Hua did not hesitate for long. Leaving the Duke of Wen's mansion was her dream, even if it was just for a short time.
Although Wen Zhu's life was saved after the last banquet, and she was not forced to marry that wealthy merchant from Jiangnan, her life with Wen Zhu in the Duke of Wen's mansion was very difficult, with Madam Wen deliberately making things difficult for them at every turn.
"Young Miss!" Her eyes shone brightly. "Don't worry! Even if I hadn't brought all the money with me... even if we ate simple meals, it would be better than being tormented at every turn in the Duke Wen's mansion!"
Wen Zhu nodded in agreement, her little head bobbing heavily: "Big sister, don't worry!"
“In that case, I will write to my maternal grandmother.” Wen Shuyao said, noticing the unease in Aunt Hua’s eyes, she kindly explained, “What happened back then was entirely the fault of Duke Wen, and had nothing to do with you, Aunt.”
“If your mother doesn’t blame you, your maternal grandmother certainly won’t either.” Wen Shuyao patted her shoulder and instructed Xique, “Send your aunt and Zhu’er to General Chu’s mansion.”
"Yes!" The magpie nodded quickly with a serious face.
She also had a good impression of Aunt Hua and Wen Zhu, and there was a deep affection between the three of them.
Having the magpie lead the two to the Chu family was the best choice.
After everyone had left, Granny Qi came in.
She had overheard everything from outside the door, and now her temples were throbbing. She gritted her teeth and said, "How dare they! They actually tried to murder the Prince and Princess!"
"How utterly despicable!" Granny Qi said viciously. "Do you think our Prince Jing's mansion is a place to be trifled with?"
It can be said that in Prince Jing's mansion, even an old woman like Granny Qi has blood on her hands. Apart from Xique and Wen Shuyao, there is no one who doesn't know martial arts.
"I'll have to trouble you with this matter, Granny," Wen Shuyao said in a low voice. "Now that they've decided to take action, they won't hold back any longer. In the coming days... they'll probably come up with all sorts of new tricks."
This also reveals just how important the secret that the mother knew back then really was!
They were willing to risk being discovered by the emperor to kill her and Xie Jinghan.
Granny Qi looked serious, keeping Wen Shuyao's words firmly in mind, and said in a deep voice, "This old servant will definitely give proper instructions and will not allow them any opportunity to take advantage!"
As she said this, Granny Qi already had an idea in mind.
Seeing her confident demeanor, Wen Shuyao smiled from the bottom of her heart: "It's good that you're here, Granny."
"You are the mistress of our Prince Jing's Mansion!" Granny Qi said firmly. "No one can hurt you! To hurt you is to hurt the face of Prince Jing's Mansion! Prince Jing's Mansion will make these people pay the price!"
At this point, Granny Qi lowered her voice again: "But Your Highness, how exactly did you offend her? Wasn't she just pretending to be friendly with you before?"
Wen Shuyao sighed: "I'm afraid it's because she and my father share a secret."
“Once this secret is exposed… it will endanger the Wen State Duke’s Mansion and the Zhang family’s ancestral foundation.” Wen Shuyao also said in a low voice, “However, this matter still needs Your Highness to send someone to investigate.”
She had never met Prince Xin, so naturally she didn't know what kind of person he was.
To be on the safe side, it's best to leave this matter to Xie Jinghan; that would be the most reassuring option.
And she...
"Granny, we have to go somewhere else."
Today, she specifically asked Granny Qi to bring Manager Yuan along, just to retrieve the letter that Manager Yuan had hidden.
Granny Qi readily complied with Wen Shuyao's every request, nodding quickly and decisively.
Manager Yuan was waiting in the carriage outside the door. When she saw Wen Shuyao return, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Today's meeting with Madam Wen meant she could never go back; she could only rely on Wen Shuyao to survive.
"Let's go," Wen Shuyao said calmly. "Manager Yuan, your letter shouldn't be discovered, right?"
Given Madam Wen's cautious nature, she should have already sent people to search Manager Yuan's residence the day he was arrested.
Upon hearing this, Manager Yuan quickly shook his head: "Don't worry, I have been her confidant for so many years, so I naturally know her style of doing things. I hid that letter very well, and no one but me can find it."
Wen Shuyao narrowed her beautiful phoenix eyes, meeting Manager Yuan's confident gaze, and smiled gently: "That would be for the best."
In less than fifteen minutes, they arrived at Manager Yuan's residence.
Just as Wen Shuyao had guessed, Manager Yuan's residence was in a mess. Even the bedding had been torn apart, with cotton scattered all over the floor and many dirty footprints on the snow-white cotton.
Porcelain vases and teacups were all destroyed, and beds, tables, chairs, and benches were chopped into many pieces to prevent anything from being hidden inside.
Manager Yuan walked calmly to the well.
"I hid that letter in the well," Manager Yuan said as she groped around the well. With great effort, she removed a brick from the well, which was about half a person deep.
Then, she smashed the brick, and the letter inside, tightly wrapped in oil paper, appeared before Wen Shuyao.
"Is this the letter?" Wen Shuyao didn't make a move, but looked at Manager Yuan.
Shopkeeper Yuan nodded quickly: "I stole this from Madam Wen by chance back then. What's written on it is Madam Wen's plan to poison... the late Madam. Although I don't know who sent this letter to Madam Wen, you can see from the words on it that it mentions a kind of poison."
As she spoke, Wen Shuyao had already unfolded the letter.
The handwriting in the letter was very ordinary, almost as if it had been printed, very rigid and without any personal style.
As Manager Yuan said, the letter contained instructions on how Madam Wen could poison Chu Wanqing.
The poison is called...
"A single line of red."
Wen Shuyao read the name of the poison aloud, only to realize that she had never heard of it before, neither in her past life nor in this one.
This poison was completely foreign to her.
But Granny Qi, standing to the side, slapped her forehead and exclaimed, "This old servant knows about this poison!"
Under Wen Shuyao's excited gaze, she said, word by word, "Drunken Spring Breeze is a forbidden drug from the previous dynasty. It is colorless and tasteless, and people will not experience any symptoms after taking it. However, by the seventh day, the internal organs will fail, and the poison will take effect the moment a person breathes their last."
“Once the poison takes effect, it will dissolve in the blood. Even if Hua Tuo were alive, he wouldn’t be able to detect it,” Granny Qi said in a low voice. “Unless you cut open the person’s flesh and blood and look at the bones to see if there is a red mark.”
But Chu Wanqing was the wife of the Duke's mansion at the time. After she died, how could anyone dare to dig open her flesh and examine the red marks on her bones?