After scanning the list in his hand, Shen Zaiye lowered his head and asked Lan Guifei, “Before drinking Jiang’s tea, did you eat Qin’s fried pastries?”
Lan Guifei raised an eyebrow. “How does the Prime Minister know this?”
“Although I’m not well-versed in health matters, I’ve occasionally read a couple of related books,” Shen Zaiye replied. “One book mentioned that consuming honey with fried foods can easily lead to poisoning, causing abdominal pain and diarrhea.”
Slightly taken aback, Lan Guifei looked at him with displeasure. “Prime Minister, you wouldn’t be making this up to exonerate Jiang, would you?”
“If Your Highness doesn’t believe me, you can inquire with the imperial physicians,” Shen Zaiye said, keeping his eyes lowered. “If I’ve spoken even half a falsehood, I’m willing to share Jiang’s punishment.”
Share Jiang’s punishment indeed! Lan Guifei let out a cold laugh, then closed her eyes. “Since the Prime Minister is so determined to protect Jiang, what more can I say?”
“Lan’er, don’t be upset,” the Emperor patted her shoulder. “The Prime Minister has always treated you well. How could he intentionally make excuses for others? I think following the Prime Minister’s reasoning explains everything. The palace servants checked Jiang’s tea and found no issues, and there were no problems with the others’ offerings either. It must have been the combination that caused the problem. From now on, when checking food, we won’t need so many palace servants working separately. We’ll have just one person check to ensure everything is safe for all palaces.”
“Your Majesty is right,” Lan Guifei nodded, then asked softly, “How should we deal with Jiang?”
The Emperor glanced at Shen Zaiye and chuckled lightly. “Today’s incident was an accident. Jiang and Qin probably didn’t understand food incompatibilities, so let’s just drop it. I’ll make it up to you properly.”
Clenching her fist, Lan Guifei pursed her lips and looked at Shen Zaiye. “Then please, Prime Minister, educate the people in your household well.”
“I obey the imperial decree,” Shen Zaiye bowed, never once looking at Lan Guifei. With the matter resolved, he went to the Ministry of Rites to retrieve Taohua.
Taohua was crouched in a corner of the temporary cell at the Ministry of Rites, lost in thought. When Shen Zaiye entered, she looked like a little mouse curled up in a ball.
“Haven’t you had enough?”
Hearing Shen Zaiye’s voice, Taohua immediately sprang up, turned, and flew into his arms, clutching his waist and looking up at him. “My lord! Please give me a moment to explain. I had nothing to do with Lan Guifei’s poisoning!”
He knew she wasn’t involved, of course, but seeing her anxious expression, Shen Zaiye felt the urge to tease her. He looked at her sternly and said, “If you had nothing to do with it, why were you the one locked up?”
“I’m a stranger in this palace, and the empress doesn’t like me. Being locked up was unavoidable!” Taohua stamped her foot. “I’ve figured it out. If the empress insists on punishing me, she’d have to punish the palace servants who checked the food too. That way, those servants would try to prove my tea was fine to save themselves.”
“Oh?” Shen Zaiye raised an eyebrow. “If your tea wasn’t a problem, and neither was anyone else’s offering, how did Lan Guifei get poisoned?”
“I’ve thought about that too,” Taohua wrinkled her nose. “There are two possibilities. Either the empress is pretending to be poisoned to teach me a lesson, or some foods and teas are fine separately but cause poisoning when eaten together.”
Intrigued, Shen Zaiye narrowed his eyes at her. “If you understood all this, why didn’t you explain it to the empress earlier?”
Taohua pouted, looking extremely aggrieved. “How could I explain? The empress was being treated in the inner palace and sent her maid to accuse me. They wouldn’t believe anything I said. They needed someone to take the blame, and if it wasn’t me, those servants would suffer. So I was bound to be locked up today.”
She looked up at him again, clinging to his waist and coaxing, “I’m useless and was just waiting for you to rescue me. You must believe me this time, my lord!”
Shen Zaiye gave her a meaningful look. “You put your hope of rescue on me? What if I don’t believe you?”
“You couldn’t be that cruel, could you?” Taohua shrank her neck and looked at him strangely. “Have you forgotten how I helped you before? You promised to protect me!”
“Alright, I’ll make an effort to get you out this time,” Shen Zaiye smiled slightly. “And we’ll call it even for your previous help. How’s that?”
“Shameless!”
“What did you say?” Shen Zaiye raised an eyebrow.
Taohua turned her head and spat, then looked at him with a grin. “I said, thank goodness! Fortunately, you believe me, my lord. I guess we’re even now.”
“Good,” Shen Zaiye embraced her, his eyes full of delight. “Then let’s go home.”
“Yes… wait, we’re just going back like this?” Taohua was stunned. “Don’t you need to explain things to the empress?”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of it later,” Shen Zaiye frowned seriously, his eyes full of melancholy. “It seems it will take quite some effort.”
That’s true, Taohua thought. Shen Zaiye disliked mentioning Lan Guifei, yet now he had to plead with her on Taohua’s behalf. Realizing this, Taohua suddenly felt a bit guilty. As they left the palace and got into the carriage, she obediently massaged Shen Zaiye’s shoulders and back the whole way.
Silently enjoying her attention, Shen Zaiye’s lips curled into a slight smile. He suddenly felt that tricking Jiang Taohua was the most interesting thing in the world.
However, as soon as they returned to the Prime Minister’s residence, the atmosphere immediately turned serious.
Although Shen Zaiye had told the Emperor this was just an accidental food incompatibility, he didn’t believe it was such a coincidence that two incompatible foods happened to be brought by people from his household.
Mei Zhaoxue led all the concubines to kneel in Linwu Courtyard, with Taohua and Qin kneeling at the front, both lowering their heads and not daring to speak.
“Let’s start by explaining. Did you prepare the fried pastries and honey tea yourselves?” Shen Zaiye asked.
Qin Jieyu frowned and said softly, “Although I did prepare it, I had no idea this would happen! My lord, please understand. I decided to make the fried pastries days ago and had already informed the kitchen to avoid anyone else making the same thing. As for Jiang’s tea, as far as I know, it was only bought recently.”
Taohua nodded. “The honey tea was indeed bought just recently, but I truly didn’t know that honey shouldn’t be mixed with fried snacks.”
Gu Huairou, kneeling at the back, hesitated for a long time before saying, “I bought the honey tea for Miss Jiang. I was even more unaware of food incompatibilities.”
“What a coincidence. Others didn’t know, but did the madam not know either?” Shen Zaiye looked at Mei Zhaoxue. “Madam should be well-versed in health practices.”
“I am ashamed,” Mei Zhaoxue frowned. “I’ve been busy with the tea ceremony lately and haven’t paid attention to household matters. Naturally, I didn’t notice what snacks they were making. Even the list was reviewed by Qin.”
“If you let Qin help with everything, perhaps you should share half your position as the primary wife with her?” Shen Zaiye said with a smile.
The atmosphere in the courtyard immediately became heavy. Qin Jieyu hurriedly kowtowed, “My lord’s words are too harsh. I only occasionally help the madam…”
“Then shouldn’t you also share some of the blame for the madam’s oversight?” Shen Zaiye said. “Linghan Courtyard and Haitang Pavilion, reduce your monthly allowances by half this month.”
“…Thank you, my lord,” Mei Zhaoxue bowed her head, but Qin Jieyu was somewhat indignant. “How can only the madam and I bear responsibility for this? Jiang and Gu should be equally punished.”
“I didn’t say they were innocent,” Shen Zaiye replied. “It’s just that those two courtyards have received many rewards recently, so reducing their allowances wouldn’t have much effect. They can each copy the ‘Family Instructions’ thirty times instead.”
“Thank you, my lord,” Taohua and Gu Huairou bowed their heads. Although Qin Jieyu was still dissatisfied, she could only suppress her anger.
Shen Zaiye looked very displeased. Such an incident in his household would inevitably affect his relationship with the Emperor, and he would have to make amends shortly. Naturally, he wouldn’t show a kind face to them. After dealing with the matter, he returned to his study and dismissed them.
Everyone remained silent as they left, but as soon as they were out of Linwu Courtyard, Qin Jieyu couldn’t hold back. She stepped forward to block Jiang Taohua’s path. “Miss Jiang, do you feel ashamed for implicating everyone with your actions?”
Taohua looked her up and down. “How has Miss Qin decided that this incident was caused by me? Today, I was the only one locked up in the Ministry of Rites.”
“Who else but you would cause such trouble?” Qin sneered. “Trying to drag me down with you, how vicious!”
Gu Huairou frowned. “Miss Qin, don’t speak so definitively. It’s not clear who’s trying to drag whom down. Miss Jiang is already highly favored, why would she harm herself? Only those without favor would come up with such schemes to harm others.”
“Oh my, our Miss Gu has climbed to a high branch and now dares to argue with me?” Qin Jieyu looked her up and down. “What? Just because the lord forgave your fake pregnancy, do you think it never happened? Better keep your tail between your legs, or you might face retribution again.”
“You…”
“Stop arguing!” Mei Zhaoxue scolded angrily. “Is this a marketplace? You’re all from noble families, what kind of behavior is this? Go back to your quarters immediately!”
Everyone fell silent and dispersed. Gu Huairou wanted to pull Taohua along, but Jiang Taohua walked slowly, staying behind Mei Zhaoxue as the others left.
“Madam, I have something else to say,” Taohua said.
Mei Zhaoxue glanced at her and asked coolly, “What is it?”
“Don’t you think today’s drama was a bit strange?” Taohua tilted her head and smiled. “It doesn’t seem to be your idea, nor mine. So who’s clever enough to be pulling strings behind the scenes, causing our four courtyards to suffer and resent each other?”
“Your mouth is quite good at twisting black into white,” Qin Jieyu, who hadn’t left, glared at her. “It was your doing, and now you’re trying to pin it on someone else?”
Looking at someone’s retreating figure in the distance, Taohua shook her head. “Whether you believe me or not, I’ll give you a piece of advice: don’t take me as your real opponent. The true adversary is someone else. Beware of being like the snipe and the clam fighting while the fisherman benefits.”
Mei Zhaoxue was taken aback and frowned, looking ahead. After a moment, she lowered her eyes and said, “There shouldn’t be any conflicts in this household. Your warning is unnecessary, Miss.”
(End of Chapter)