Yingtao listened and hurriedly said: “I heard an old person say that among these gu arts, there is a kind called the child gu, used specifically against pregnant women. The one who casts the gu places it in the pregnant woman’s food and drink for her to swallow. Not long after swallowing it, the pregnant woman will suffer unbearable abdominal pain, and within a few days, the fetus in her womb will dissolve into a pool of blood. The pregnant woman herself will be rendered permanently barren, afflicted with a terrible illness, and will not live beyond two years before dying suddenly. What San Yitai has contracted is certainly the child gu.”

Yingtao cast a worried glance at Du Linghua: “Seeing that San Yitai’s symptoms are similar, I dared to make this bold guess.”

“Is there a way to break this gu art?”

Yingtao shook her head: “Find the one who cast the gu, and perhaps there is a way. Otherwise, even sending her to a hospital would be of no use. One who has been struck by gu can only wait for death.”

“General, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die!” San Yitai clutched the General’s lapels, weeping uncontrollably.

The General’s heart sank. He gently patted Du Linghua’s back while offering comfort: “If someone truly has cast a gu on you, I will certainly root them out. Do not be afraid.”

“You.” The General looked toward Yingtao: “What else do you know?”

Yingtao was still kneeling on the ground, and at this moment spoke in a trembling voice: “All of this is what I heard from that old person. At the time I simply found it interesting and kept it in mind. I remember she mentioned that south of Dagu Mountain, in Lugou County, there is a village called Miaowu Village. The women in that village are fond of the arts of gu poison. Because of this, Miaowu Village has another name — Gu Village. Any man who enters that village, as long as he is good-looking, will mostly never come out again.”

When the words ‘Lugou County’ were mentioned, the prayer beads in Luo Huaimeng’s hand paused for a moment, and a cold laugh sounded silently in her heart.

Yingtao had said all of this at great length, but in the end she had still steered things toward Lugou County — toward Er Yitai.

When the General heard the words ‘Lugou County,’ he could not help but frown: “Lugou County is very far from Shun Cheng. A round trip would take a full week, and Linghua’s illness cannot afford any delay.”

At this moment, Madam Shi interjected: “How has the General forgotten — if San Yitai truly had a gu cast upon her, then the one who cast it must be nearby. Otherwise, how would they have had the opportunity to tamper with San Yitai’s food and drink?”

“Madam, General…” Yingtao seemed to have remembered something and looked at the two of them with some nervousness.

“Speak freely, whatever you wish to say.” Madam Shi opened her mouth.

Yingtao looked toward the General again; the General nodded.

“I… I remember that Er Yitai’s courtyard has a distant relative. When that person registered at the mansion, she wrote ‘Lugou County’ in the residence column. Since the matter of gu poison had always been on my mind, I paid extra attention.” Yingtao finished speaking and looked toward Er Yitai. “Er Yitai, I am only speaking carelessly.”

Someone from Lugou County in Er Yitai’s courtyard?

In the General’s mind, anyone connected to Lugou County seemed to be a gu keeper. Moreover, with Madam Shi and Yingtao singing in harmony and his excessive worry about San Yitai, he had by now truly come to believe that San Yitai had been afflicted by gu art.

“Is what she said true?” The General turned a furious glare in that direction.

It would be false to say Er Yitai felt no pain in her heart. The General not only had no affection for her, but no trust either. For San Yitai’s sake, he could believe anyone’s words.

Luo Huaimeng slowly set down the prayer beads in her hand and nodded: “It is true that there is a maidservant from Lugou County in my courtyard who is responsible for the water room.”

“I recall she is Er Yitai’s distant relative,” Yingtao added.

“Where is she? Bring her here.” The General frowned and gave the order.

Very soon, the person sent to find Bizhu returned in a hurry.

“General, Bizhu cannot be found in the courtyard.” A servant wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Her room — the bedding is folded neatly, but the clothes in the wardrobe are gone. It seems… it seems she has fled.”

The servant also brought a bundle and opened it. “We found these things under the bed.”

Inside the bundle were some objects that looked deeply sinister. Among them was a small straw figure with a needle stuck in its belly. On the straw figure’s face was pasted a slip of paper with Du Linghua’s name written clearly upon it.

There were also various bottles and jars. Several of them contained centipedes, scorpions, and other venomous insects — a sight most unsettling.

“Just as suspected.” Madam Shi cried out in alarm: “These poisonous insects are all used for cultivating gu!”

“Outrageous.” The General rose in fury, pointing toward Luo Huaimeng’s direction, his face flushing red: “This is your servant — this is the wicked deed you directed her to do.”

Luo Huaimeng had long since prepared herself to endure the General’s thunderous wrath. She rose with calm composure, took two steps forward, and knelt before the General.

“How admirable, how admirable. I never imagined that beneath your usual cool and detached manner, you harbor such viciousness. What grudge does Linghua bear against you, that you would harm her and the child in her womb like this?”

Facing the General’s fury, Luo Huaimeng countered: “The General himself said it — I have no grievance with San Yitai. What reason would I have to harm her?”

The General was indeed momentarily stumped.

Although he did not like Luo Huaimeng, he still understood her character. Apart from mediating between the great families on Shi Ting’s behalf, she rarely left her courtyard and had almost no dealings with anyone. Everyone said that Er Yitai had no interest in the inner-courtyard struggles, that she was a woman of few desires and a tranquil mind.

This quality of hers the General did actually appreciate. Therefore, if Er Yitai wished to harm San Yitai, he truly could not think of any reason.

“There may have been no reason before, but there certainly is now.” Madam Shi’s eyes and brows were cold and sharp: “That girl Shi Yutong is willful and reckless, repeatedly clashing with your daughter-in-law. Last time she even released a venomous snake to harm her. Shi Yutong dares to act thus because San Yitai stands behind her as support. For Shi Yutong to bully Yan Qing is for San Yitai to bully Er Yitai — can Er Yitai swallow this grievance? Furthermore, San Yitai is favored. Is Er Yitai not jealous? This jealousy has long been buried in her heart, and when Shi Yutong finally stepped on your red line, this accumulated hatred quickly erupted.”

“First Madam, your words are incorrect.” Yan Qing suddenly stepped forward: “Setting aside the fact that this Bizhu entered the mansion before I married in, even after I married in, Mother has always been cold and distant toward me, and to this day has many complaints about me. Why would Mother take such a dangerous risk for someone who is an ‘outsider’ to her? Furthermore, if we speak of jealousy toward San Yitai, does First Madam not feel the same? First Madam likely harbors resentment far deeper than my mother.”

“How bold of you.” Madam Shi slapped the table sharply: “Is this the place for you to speak?”

Yan Qing was not in the least intimidated, and continued: “The military police conduct their investigations emphasizing a complete chain of evidence. Just because a murder weapon is found in someone’s home does not mean that person committed the crime. What if it is a deliberate frame-up?”

Yan Qing bit down especially hard on the words ‘deliberate frame-up.’

Madam Shi was momentarily stunned, then quickly let out a cold laugh: “I don’t understand this ‘chain of evidence’ you speak of. I only know that Bizhu is Er Yitai’s person, and she has now fled the scene in guilt.”

“It is rather strange, come to think of it,” Yan Qing said. “A person fleeing in guilt takes her valuables and clothing with her, yet deliberately leaves behind the evidence of her gu poison cultivation. If this Bizhu is not a fool, then it was intentional.” Yan Qing looked toward the General: “General, this matter is full of suspicious points. I hope the General will investigate carefully.”

By now the General had calmed somewhat. Having listened to Yan Qing’s words, he looked again at Er Yitai, kneeling before him with a face full of stubborn resolve.

“General.” Du Linghua spoke in a faint voice: “General, this matter is no trifling thing. The General must not wrong the innocent, nor let the guilty go unpunished.”

The General hurried over and gently supported Du Linghua, his eyes filled with concern: “Rest assured, I will certainly capture that Bizhu and have her break the gu poison afflicting you.”

Du Linghua revealed a weak but comforted smile.

After soothing Du Linghua, the General finally turned to Er Yitai: “Regardless of all else, this Bizhu is a person from your courtyard. In this matter, you cannot escape involvement.”

Luo Huaimeng said nothing; instead it was Yan Qing who spoke: “General, there is something I find puzzling.”

At the banquet, the General had witnessed Yan Qing’s powers of deduction, and just now had found her arguments most reasonable. He quieted his mind and waved his hand: “Speak. What is puzzling?”

“San Yitai’s only symptom is abdominal pain. Though the physicians cannot diagnose it, there are many reasons a physician might fail to diagnose something — it could be spirit affliction, or worms in the belly. When none of us had any idea what was happening, why did Yingtao immediately think of gu poison? Did Miss Yingtao simply guess correctly, or did she already know beforehand that San Yitai would be afflicted with gu?”

Yan Qing’s words were sharp, and in a few sentences she had Yingtao’s face turning red with embarrassment.

However, Yingtao quickly defended herself: “I naturally guessed correctly by chance.”

Yan Qing smiled: “Miss Yingtao certainly has a thorough understanding of gu poison. As far as I know, all gu poisons cause abdominal pain when they erupt. Why did Miss Yingtao insist that what San Yitai contracted was called the child gu, and not some other variety? Was this also guessed correctly by chance?”

“Sharp-tongued creature,” Madam Shi said angrily. “Stop trying to argue on Luo Huaimeng’s behalf here. Yingtao was merely saying what she knows. The fact that Bizhu is a person from Luo Huaimeng’s courtyard — and moreover her distant relative — cannot be changed. How do you explain that?”

The General looked toward Yan Qing, waiting for her answer.

Yan Qing said unhurriedly: “In fact, I have long had someone keeping an eye on this Bizhu.”

Everyone frowned upon hearing this.

“To speak plainly, although this Bizhu is a distant relative of my mother’s, her hands are extraordinarily dirty. My mother has always been one to save face and, having been taken advantage of several times, never made a scene. Watching Bizhu become more and more brazen, she even set her sights on my mother’s bank notes.”

Luo Huaimeng was still kneeling on the ground, head lowered. At her daughter-in-law’s present fabrications, she could only curl the corners of her lips ever so imperceptibly.

“My mother has always looked after her relatives generously, so she naturally could not send Bizhu back to her hometown. But I could not watch her stir up trouble in the courtyard, so I sent a servant to Lugou County to investigate Bizhu’s background. The result — can you guess what I found out?”

As Yan Qing spoke, a glimmer of gossip danced in her eyes.