Xiu Qu began serving at Jin Chao’s side, handling small tasks like needlework and embroidery.

Yu Zhu no longer took care of Xiu Qu and instead took Yu Tong with her every day to Lin Yan Pavilion to watch people come and go. Outside Lin Yan Pavilion, along the bluestone path, there was a large cluster of yellow locust trees in full bloom. Yu Zhu pulled Yu Tong to sit behind the locust trees and shared her box of malt candy with her.

Yu Tong quietly said to her, “Look at you, you already have little dimples on the back of your hands, yet you still eat so many sweets. Be careful, or you’ll become as round and plump as Nanny Li…”

Yu Zhu sucked her fingers and said with a grin, “I’m not afraid of getting fat. It would be too miserable to deny myself tasty things just because of that.”

The two maids were talking quietly when Yu Tong glimpsed someone walking along the bluestone path and tugged at Yu Zhu’s sleeve. Yu Zhu immediately perked up, crouching on her bottom and crawling into the locust grove to peer through the gaps at the approaching person. It was Yu Xiang, the maid who served Concubine Song.

She walked along the bluestone path and then turned left, seemingly heading toward the outer courtyard.

Yu Zhu whispered to Yu Tong, “Yu Xiang usually stays by Concubine Song’s side to serve tea and water. I wonder what she’s doing heading in that direction. Put away the candy, let’s follow her and see!”

Yu Tong whispered back, “The young lady only asked us to watch here. If we leave, no one will be guarding this place. If we mess up the young lady’s affairs, Sister Bai Yun will punish you…”

Yu Zhu explained, “We’ve been watching here for days and haven’t seen anything. Now that we’ve finally discovered her going to the outer courtyard, we should follow and see. There’s no use just guarding here.”

Yu Tong snorted, not wanting to follow. Seeing that the person was already walking away, Yu Zhu frowned, “Fine! You stay here and watch, I’ll go alone!” She grabbed her candy box and followed behind Yu Xiang, while Yu Tong shrank back a little, continuing to watch the bluestone path.

Yu Zhu hastily stuffed the candy box into her sleeve and carefully followed behind Yu Xiang. Although Yu Xiang was heading toward the outer courtyard, she didn’t go through the pendant flower gate. Instead, she stopped at the rockery beside the gate and took a small path into a grove of contorted willows.

Yu Zhu followed, her heart pounding, though her face wore a mischievous smile. Yu Xiang walking to such a deserted place… who knew what she was up to!

Yu Xiang stopped ahead, and Yu Zhu quickly hid in the willow grove. She saw a man standing by the rockery, dressed as a servant, with a neat and proper appearance. Yu Xiang spoke softly with this man, but they were too far away for Yu Zhu to hear anything. The willow grove was too sparse for her to dare approach closer. She only saw the man smile, and then Yu Xiang turned to leave.

Yu Zhu quickly retreated from the willow grove, feeling somewhat disappointed. She had wondered what Yu Xiang was up to, but it turned out she was just meeting a male servant in secret…

Still, this would be an amusing story to tell the young lady.

Yu Zhu went back and told Jin Chao, “…I think that Yu Xiang is something, secretly meeting with a male servant. If she were caught, she would certainly be beaten and driven out of the household. Young lady, perhaps we should tell the madam…”

Jin Chao smiled with pursed lips, “Driving Yu Xiang out of the house is a small matter, but how would you explain how you saw all this? Would you say I had you watching Lin Yan Pavilion, and you went following a maid from there?”

Yu Zhu let out a sigh and said no more. Even if they drove Yu Xiang away, the truly formidable one by Concubine Song’s side was Qiao Wei.

At noon, Jin Chao prepared medicinal food as usual and brought it to her mother.

Madam Ji asked Jin Chao if she had prepared a birthday gift for Gu Dezhao. Jin Chao smiled and answered, “…I want to give Father a painting of pine and cypress trees. I’ve already asked Manager Luo to arrange it.”

Madam Ji couldn’t help but sigh, “…This Manager Luo manages those few Hangzhou silk shops very well. But after all, he’s an uneducated businessman, so his temperament and virtue inevitably fall short of Manager Ge from Changzhou Prefecture. A few days ago, when refugees from the floods came to Changzhou Prefecture, Manager Ge opened his granaries to distribute grain. This Manager Luo swallowed up a neighboring Lu silk shop, leaving the entire family without even a place to live…”

Jin Chao smiled without saying anything. Her mother’s views on these matters differed greatly from her own. She felt that since she completely trusted Manager Luo, she could confidently leave these affairs for him to handle. Every business deal couldn’t be completely clean. Even when Grandmother managed the Ji family, she must have done many things with both benefits and harms. Mother was simply too kind and gentle, which was why Concubine Song could pressure her.

As the two were talking, Nanny Xu came in carrying gastrodia pigeon soup in a purple clay pot.

“You never eat bitter things, but today you must accompany your mother and drink this soup,” Madam Ji personally ladled soup for Jin Chao.

Jin Chao glanced at the clear yellow soup in the bowl and helplessly said in a low voice, “Mother…”

Madam Ji smiled and said, “When you were little and didn’t want to take medicine, you would cling to your grandmother like this. But I won’t be soft-hearted like your grandmother.”

Jin Chao smiled bitterly. When she was younger, she was even more afraid of bitter things. When she was sick, the elderly nanny had to coax her for half a day before she would take medicine, and she would need a preserved fruit after each sip of medicine. Well, she might as well think of it as taking medicine. Jin Chao could only pick up the bowl, frowning as she gulped it down.

Nanny Xu laughed from the side, “Young lady, this is pigeon soup, not poison!”

Jin Chao’s heart suddenly jumped. Poison?

She quickly put down the bowl and took a long spoon to stir the soup in the purple clay pot, but she only saw gastrodia and pigeon inside, along with some goji berries for garnish. Jin Chao asked Nanny Xu, “You said Mother’s medicinal food contains herbal medicine, but why can’t I see any?”

Nanny Xu was puzzled, not understanding why the young lady would ask such a question, “These medicinal herbs cannot be eaten; they are removed before serving.”

Jin Chao stood up and asked again, “You said everything Mother eats, wears, and uses is inspected, but I wonder if these herbal medicines have been checked?”

Nanny Xu was somewhat surprised, “You suspect… These herbs are prescribed by Doctor Liu and sent over. We servants just take a handful or two from them when needed. There shouldn’t be any problem.”

Madam Ji asked Jin Chao to sit down, “Don’t be anxious, what could be wrong… Would Doctor Liu poison me?”

Jin Chao didn’t know how to explain to her mother, but after thinking for a moment, she told Madam Ji about Cai Fu going to see Zi Ling. She wasn’t afraid that Doctor Liu would poison her; she was afraid that Concubine Song might tamper with the medicine. Nanny Xu, listening from the side, said, “…The medicine is packaged in Qing Lian Lane, and Doctor Liu has his apprentice deliver it. The people from the reception office take the medicine and send it to Xie Xiao Garden. If something poisonous was added, it should be noticeable…”

Jin Chao said coldly, “The fear is that they might mix in other herbs, making it impossible to guard against.”

Nanny Xu immediately became cautious and quickly had a maid bring over the remaining medicine. It was wrapped in oiled paper, containing dried herbs, tubers, and other materials. Not being familiar with medicinal herbs, they naturally couldn’t tell anything wrong. Without waiting for Jin Chao’s instruction, Nanny Xu immediately went to invite Doctor Liu over.

Jin Chao then called Mo Yu over, “…In Xie Xiao Garden, how many people have access to Madam’s medicine?”

Mo Yu immediately knelt and answered, “Young lady, in Xie Xiao Garden, only I, Mo Xue, and Nanny Xu have access to Madam’s medicine. Such things, we would never allow others to touch!”

Jin Chao thought for a moment and asked again, “What if someone secretly entered your rooms?”

Mo Yu shook her head, “Our rooms are usually locked, and we keep the keys with us at all times.”

This meant it wasn’t done by the servants of Xie Xiao Garden. Jin Chao helped Mo Yu up, “Don’t worry for now… Let’s wait until Doctor Liu arrives.”

Madam Ji lay on her large welcoming pillow, smiled at Jin Chao, and extended her thin hand to hold hers, “My Jin Chao, don’t worry. If there is a problem, we’ll just stop using this medicine.” She asked Jin Chao to sit beside her.

Jin Chao smelled the faint medicinal fragrance on her mother’s body and looked at her skeletal hand, letting out a soft sigh.

An hour later, Nanny Xu returned with Doctor Liu. Jin Chao took the medicine to the flower hall to meet him.

Doctor Liu looked at the medicine wrapped in oiled paper and carefully examined it with his fingers, and his expression suddenly changed dramatically. He took out a tuber-like object from the medicine, took a deep breath, and said to Jin Chao, “Young lady, this is rhubarb.”

Seeing his grave expression, Jin Chao asked in a low voice, “Is this… some kind of poison?”

Doctor Liu shook his head, “Rhubarb has properties for attacking stagnation, purging heat, cooling blood, removing stasis, and detoxifying. It is commonly used for symptoms like stagnant diarrhea, and high fever with a yellow coating, and is a cold-natured herb with very strong medicinal properties. Madam’s illness is one of weakness, with spleen deficiency and a stomach cold. Rhubarb is contraindicated for her condition. When medicines conflict in their yin and yang properties, long-term use… could be life-threatening!”

Jin Chao’s expression changed slightly. Her mother’s recurring illness was indeed caused by external factors! She suddenly remembered that when her mother fell ill for the second time, for nearly half a month, it was she who had prepared food and brought it to her mother, during which time her mother’s condition had improved somewhat. Could it be that her condition improved because the medicine containing rhubarb wasn’t used then?

No wonder her mother’s illness never got better!

Nanny Xu asked, “Could it be that you accidentally mixed up the herbs when preparing them?”

Doctor Liu shook his head, “I wrote the prescription and prepared the herbs, and personally packaged and sent them to the household. There could be no mistake!”

Jin Chao naturally trusted Doctor Liu; he had no reason to harm Madam Ji. Even if Doctor Liu had made a mistake with the herbs, he couldn’t have made the same mistake constantly. It could only be intentional. She continued to ask, “When did you start sending these tonics?”

Doctor Liu thought for a moment and said, “About a month after Madam fell ill, I started sending tonic prescriptions.”

That meant her mother had been intermittently taking rhubarb for almost half a year!

Cai Fu escorted Doctor Liu out, and Nanny Xu whispered to Jin Chao, “Young lady, I suspect someone from the reception office tampered with it…”

Jin Chao listened thoughtfully.

In her previous life, her mother had died so miserably… could it have been because of this rhubarb? And now, because of her intervention, the amount of rhubarb her mother consumed had been greatly reduced, so her health hadn’t deteriorated to that extent.

Who had put the rhubarb in? Was it a Concubine Song?

If it wasn’t from Doctor Liu’s side, and it wasn’t someone from Xie Xiao Garden… Jin Chao suddenly remembered what Yu Zhu had said about Yu Xiang meeting a male servant in the willow grove.

Who was that servant?