Song Chuyi naturally needed to make preparations, but lately every time Lai Chenglong asked for her help, he would first scare her, which left her quite displeased. She glanced at him coolly, thinking to herself whether she should mention this Commander Lai’s mischievous nature to her uncle. She waited until Lai Chenglong led Hongfa and the others toward the front before turning back with Qing Luo and Han Yan. This back-and-forth trip had taken quite a while, and it was already getting late. Over at Cui Huaying’s quarters, Yu Shi should have already begun instructing her on matters. As sisters accompanying the bride-to-be, they should be present to help her prepare the clothes, jewelry, and other items needed for tomorrow’s wedding. Glancing at the sky, she quickened her pace.
Along the way, flower petals drifted down everywhere. As Song Chuyi walked, she felt inexplicably relaxed for some reason. Perhaps it was because the weather was too beautiful, or perhaps for reasons she herself couldn’t quite understand, but that dark, fearful weight that had been coiled in her heart seemed to have dissipated considerably. She felt her whole body lighten, and the corners of her mouth curved up slightly with a hint of a smile.
However, just as she arrived at the front of Cui Huaying’s embroidery tower, she saw Yu Shi coming down from upstairs with servants in tow, stumbling along with a panicked expression, her face deathly pale and bloodless.
On such a joyous day, such an expression should never appear on the face of Yu Shi, who was the bride’s mother. Song Chuyi stopped in her tracks in surprise, and saw Cui Hualuan following quickly behind Yu Shi down the stairs, lifting her skirts.
Yu Shi had no time to collect herself. Upon seeing Song Chuyi, she acted as if she had found her pillar of support, stepping forward to grasp Song Chuyi’s hand. She was so nervous that her hands kept trembling: “Xiaoyi… news came from the front courtyard that someone has poisoned the wine!”
The front courtyard—because the bride would depart early tomorrow morning, the celebratory feast had been set for this evening. If someone had poisoned the wine, they clearly intended to bring disaster upon the entire Cui household, and this must be the work of an inside traitor.
For such a thing to happen before the wedding even took place—if Cui Huaying’s future husband’s family was also affected, then even if the Cui family remained powerful in the future, Cui Huaying would likely be considered an inauspicious person. Otherwise, why would someone strike at her wedding feast? Who were they trying to poison? If her fiancé was poisoned to death like this, wouldn’t that be…
Most importantly, today Zhou Weizhao and Ye Jingkuan had both come to show their support…
Song Chuyi gripped Yu Shi’s hand tightly and shook it, forcefully suppressing the panic in her own heart as she comforted her: “Auntie, don’t panic yet. First have Uncle and the others go to the front to see exactly what’s happened, then have people guard all the exits of the inner and outer courtyards. Since the problem appeared in the wine, it must be either the kitchen or the wine cellar. First have people check whether these two places show any abnormalities!”
Yu Shi had been momentarily confused, but now hearing Song Chuyi speak so decisively, she immediately came to her senses. She nodded repeatedly and immediately turned to order someone to fetch Xie Shi—Xie Shi had also helped oversee this celebratory feast, and with her present, things would be more thorough. After sending someone to fetch Xie Shi, she personally led people to the council hall to give instructions.
Cui Hualuan looked anxious. Hearing Song Chuyi speak thus, she merely glanced up at her—the Crown Prince was also drinking at the feast up front. She only knew now that someone had poisoned the wine, but didn’t know exactly what poison it was, or whether anyone had been poisoned. Her heart hung suspended in midair. The Crown Prince had already been poisoned once before, and had only recently recovered somewhat. If he were truly poisoned again… It wasn’t merely that she worried for the Crown Prince’s safety alone. After all, she had studied alongside her brothers—if something happened to the Crown Prince at the Cui residence, the Cui family would be finished as well.
Seeing Yu Shi about to leave, she hesitated slightly as she looked at Song Chuyi, then bit her lip and ultimately lifted her feet to follow Yu Shi. After all, she was a young lady of the Cui clan, and had already begun learning household management. Going to help now wasn’t anything unusual.
Song Chuyi didn’t follow. Although inwardly she was not as calm and composed as her expression suggested, she stood in place and waited for a moment, seeming greatly conflicted. Only after this brief moment did she turn back to instruct Qing Luo: “Go to the front and investigate to see exactly what’s happened. Also…” Song Chuyi thought for a moment and added: “Also ask… whether anyone has been poisoned…”
Nanny Xu had just come down from upstairs with a worried expression. Hearing Song Chuyi speak thus, she glanced at her. This was wanting to ask whether the Crown Prince was alright, wasn’t it?
Upstairs, Cui Huaying was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. Compared to Song Chuyi and Cui Hualuan, her heart was even more desperately agitated—her fiancé, the elders and family members her fiancé had brought for the wedding procession were all drinking at the feast up front, and they were tonight’s undisputed guests of honor. If tonight’s incident truly resulted in deaths… She leaned against the railing, her legs weak.
Song Chuyi stepped forward to support her. It wasn’t that she herself wasn’t tense and worried—at the feast up front were not only Song Yan, her uncle, cousins, and relatives, but also Zhou Weizhao, who had just been smiling as he asked her how she was… She took a deep breath, as if comforting both Cui Huaying and herself: “Nothing will happen. Because the Crown Prince, the Prince Consort, and the Imperial Guard Commander are all present, the servants attending are all household servants born into the Cui family, each and every one of them having proper backgrounds. Even if something truly happened—” Her gaze suddenly turned cold and hard, her expression becoming icy as snow: “Even if something truly happened, it will be easy to investigate!”
Cui Huaying was in complete panic at this moment. Song Chuyi speaking in such a decisive tone actually helped stabilize her anxious heart considerably. She clutched Song Chuyi’s hand, her tear-filled eyes staring vacantly ahead without focus, yet subconsciously stopped crying.
Cui Huayi standing nearby was also deeply worried, but didn’t dare say too much for fear of further agitating Cui Huaying, the bride. She joined the Xie family sisters in surrounding Cui Huaying, speaking aimless words to try to divert her attention.
It seemed like thousands of years had passed, yet also seemed like only a moment. Downstairs, which had been terribly quiet due to the incident, suddenly showed signs of activity. Cui Huaying was the first to jump up from the bed, taking two steps as one as she hurried outside.
Before she had fully reached the doorway, she caught sight of an old nanny from her mother’s side. She couldn’t help but grab the old nanny’s hand and ask nervously: “Nanny, what happened? Did someone… did something happen to someone up front?”
The old nanny looked at her young mistress’s swollen eyes from crying and quickly shook her head: “Don’t worry. Fortunately that Imperial Guard Commander is a cautious man and discovered it early. Although quite a few people drank the wine, none of them suffered any serious harm…”