The maid quickly prepared the tea and brought it out, saying, “Please be careful, mistress.”
Taohua looked up, casually glancing at her before taking the tray back to the main room.
Shen Zaiye’s expression was somewhat strange as he lightly tapped the table, seemingly lost in thought. Upon seeing her return, his anger had subsided somewhat. He raised his chin and asked, “Did you brew it yourself?”
“As you commanded, my lord, I naturally obeyed,” Taohua replied with a smile, setting down the teapot and carefully pouring him a cup.
Shen Zaiye nodded. Having troubled her, his anger dissipated. He took the cup, blew on it gently, and took a sip.
“Your tea-making skills need more practice,” Lord Shen said disapprovingly as he set down the cup. “It’s no better than a servant’s handiwork. How embarrassing.”
“…The ground you walk on is no different from what the servants tread. Shall we have the entire mansion dug up?” Taohua retorted reflexively. Immediately regretting her words, she lightly slapped her mouth and, facing Shen Zaiye’s cold winter wind-like gaze, smiled and said, “I was just joking, my lord.”
“You have quite a sharp tongue,” Shen Zaiye said coldly. “It seems you’re in good spirits. Why don’t you practice your tea-making skills here? Qingtai, bring your mistress ten tea sets. She’ll brew ten cups of good tea before having lunch.”
Ten cups won’t kill you! Taohua thought angrily, raising her eyes. She wanted to protest that this behavior was completely inhumane!
However, as soon as she met his eyes, Jiang Taohua immediately cowered, obediently smoothing her feathers and sitting at the table to wait for the tea sets.
Shen Zaiye seemed very idle today, with nothing to do but watch her make tea.
“Aren’t you busy, my lord?” Taohua asked as she poured water.
Shaking his head slightly, Shen Zaiye replied, “I’m on leave today.”
Another day off? Jiang Taohua was shocked. “Is being the Prime Minister of Da Wei so easy?”
As one of the Three Excellencies, bearing heavy responsibilities and busy affairs, he could still take a break every ten days or so.
“You’re already married into Da Wei,” Shen Zaiye glanced at her and said flatly. “You’re now a Da Wei citizen. Why do you still say ‘your Da Wei’?”
“I was wrong, my lord,” Taohua lowered her head but had no intention of changing her mindset. She wouldn’t stay here forever and would never truly be a Da Wei citizen.
However, looking at Shen Zaiye’s expression, although he was on leave, he didn’t seem relaxed. It appeared he was worried about something. The position of Prime Minister must not be easy to maintain; who knows, he might even cough up blood from exhaustion one day.
Just as she thought this, she looked up to find Shen Zaiye’s expression unusual, his face turning slightly blue.
“My lord?” Startled, Taohua shrank her shoulders. “I’m brewing tea according to your instructions. Is it necessary to turn blue with anger?”
Taking a deep breath, Shen Zaiye couldn’t speak. After a moment, he bent over and coughed up a mouthful of dark blood onto the ground.
Everyone in the room was shocked. Zhanlu hurriedly came forward to support him. “Master?”
Taohua was stunned, staring at him for a while before muttering softly, “He coughed up blood?”
Zhanlu’s sharp ears caught this. He looked up and glared at her. “What did you put in the tea?”
Shaking her head, Taohua shrugged innocently. “I didn’t put anything in it.”
“If you didn’t put anything in, how did you know the lord would cough up blood?” Zhanlu frowned and turned to shout outside, “Someone come!”
The quiet Zhengchun Pavilion suddenly filled with guards. Some supported Shen Zaiye as he left, some detained Qingtai and Jiang Taohua, and others went directly to take the teacup Shen Zaiye had just drunk from. They worked together efficiently and in an orderly manner.
Qingtai, frightened and pale-faced, hurriedly tugged at Taohua’s clothes. “Mistress, what’s happening?”
Taohua frowned, allowing herself to be held by these people as she thought.
Shen Zaiye had only drunk the first cup of tea, and that cup wasn’t brewed by her but by the maid from the kitchen.
“Some of you go and detain all the other maids in Zhengchun Pavilion. Take them to Linwu Court,” she commanded.
Hearing the order, the guards instinctively responded, “Yes!”
But after responding, they realized that the Prime Minister wasn’t present. Who was giving orders?
Zhanlu frowned, glancing at Lady Jiang, but still waved his hand for them to go and detain people, taking them all to Linwu Court.
The news that Jiang Taohua had poisoned the lord while having tea in Zhengchun Pavilion spread throughout the entire mansion as soon as the doctor arrived at Linwu Court.
Madam Meng was the happiest, immediately bringing people to rush over. Naturally, people from other courtyards weren’t idle either, coming one after another, surrounding Linwu Court until it was packed.
This was Taohua’s first time meeting everyone in the back courtyard, although she was kneeling in the inner room while the others stood in the outer room.
Shen Zaiye, lying on the bed, looked extremely uncomfortable with his pale face, tightly clenched jaw, and furrowed brows. The doctor examining his pulse also looked very solemn. After a while, he said:
“The Prime Minister’s pulse is strange. It seems his internal organs have been damaged by poison, which is why he coughed up blood. As for the specific poison, I’ll need to ponder it carefully. For now, take a detoxification pill and nurture your internal energy.”
So he was poisoned.
Mei Zhaoxue, sitting by the bed, looked very displeased. Her piercing gaze fell on Taohua’s head like a knife. “What exactly did you give the lord to drink?”
Taohua, feeling truly innocent, said softly, “The lord said he wanted tea, so I had someone from the kitchen brew it.”
“Lies!” Zhanlu said sternly. “This servant was standing beside the master the whole time. I heard the master tell you to brew the tea yourself. You came back with the tea and said you brewed it yourself. How did it become someone from the kitchen who brewed it?”
Sighing, Taohua felt this matter was indeed difficult to explain. She could only try to look as honest as possible and say, “I’m injured and could only have a maid do it for me. I didn’t even enter the kitchen.”
Madam Mei frowned. “Which maid brewed it? Can you identify her?”
“Yes,” Jiang Taohua nodded. “Please, madam, let me see the maids from my Zhengchun Pavilion first.”
“Alright,” Madam Mei stood up. “I’ll accompany you.”
Concubine Qin, listening nearby, rolled her eyes. “The lord is in this state, and you still talk about accompanying her? Just have her pushed there. We can do whatever we want in this courtyard. Are you going to be nice to someone who hurt the lord?”
Looking at her, Mei Zhaoxue said, “The truth is still unclear. You can’t just condemn someone right away.”
Madam Meng was crying, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. Hearing this, she sobbed, “If it’s not her, who else could it be? Our lord is such a cautious person, only recently becoming careless around Jiang Shi, often letting his guard down in her courtyard. Now that something has happened, how can Lady Jiang claim innocence?”
Taohua helplessly said, “If someone dies in your house, does that mean you must be the killer? What kind of logic is this? Baseless accusations won’t do, Concubine Meng. You insist I wanted to harm the lord, so tell me, what reason would I have to do so? A woman’s heaven is her husband. Why would I destroy my heaven for no reason? What benefit would that bring me?”
Meng Zhenzhen was stunned, about to argue. But thinking about it, Jiang Taohua indeed had no reason to harm the Prime Minister. Unless she was crazy, she wouldn’t risk her own life.
However, even understanding this point, due to old grudges, she wouldn’t help Jiang Shi clear her name. She chose to remain silent.
“Enough, if you want to know the truth, we need to investigate. Your arguing here is only disturbing the lord’s rest,” Madam Mei said, squeezing her hand. “Everyone, go out. Jiang Shi will come with me to the back courtyard to question people. The rest of you, go about your business. Concubine Qin, make a list for people in the mansion to take turns attending to the lord’s medicine these two days.”
“Yes,” Qin Jieyu nodded in agreement, smiling as she glanced at Madam Meng.
The list she arranged would naturally follow her wishes.
Madam Meng frowned, wanting to argue but mindful of Shen Zaiye on the bed. She could only suppress her dissatisfaction and bow her head as she retreated. Taohua stood up, rubbed her knees, and followed Madam Mei to the back courtyard.
Apart from Qingtai, there were only three maids in Zhengchun Pavilion. Jiang Taohua was cautious with her staff; these three maids usually stayed in the back courtyard and kitchen, never entering the main room, so she rarely saw them and their faces were unfamiliar.
But with just one glance, Taohua knew, “That maid isn’t among these.”
Mei Zhaoxue was a bit surprised. “You’ve been resting in your room, yet you remember the menial maids in the courtyard so clearly?”
“I don’t remember them clearly,” Taohua shook her head. “But I did see the maid who helped brew the tea. She was about as tall as my eyebrows, with slender shoulders, and an old small scar on her right index finger. None of these maids match that description.”
“Do you remember that maid’s face?” Madam Mei asked.
Shaking her head, Taohua pursed her lips and said, “A person’s face can be disguised, so remembering it isn’t very useful. However, body characteristics are not easily disguised and are easier to identify. Madam, while that maid is likely still in the mansion hoping to escape notice, you should immediately order that no one in the mansion be allowed to leave.”
Mei Zhaoxue was shaken. She looked at Jiang Shi twice, then turned her head and instructed, “Do as Lady Jiang says. Bring all the maids in the mansion here. No one is to leave the premises.”
“Yes!” The servants responded and hurried off to carry out the orders. Mei Zhaoxue’s expression finally softened a bit as she looked at Taohua and said, “You have quite a good memory, my lady.”
Taohua smiled, “Sometimes, a good memory can save one’s life.”
What she didn’t say was that she had a photographic memory. She hadn’t found much use for it before, but since coming to Wei, it had saved her life multiple times, proving incredibly valuable.
Mei Zhaoxue pursed her lips and said quietly, almost imperceptibly, “I believe you didn’t intend to harm the lord.”
“Thank you, madam.”
“But with the lord injured, you will be punished regardless, even if in the end it turns out you didn’t administer the poison,” she said, her gaze gentle. “If you are punished, don’t hold it against me. As the principal wife, I must handle matters impartially.”
Smiling slightly, Taohua remained silent. Mei Zhaoxue had taken on both the good and bad roles herself; what could she say? Thank her for the advance notice, so she could be mentally prepared for the punishment.
Better to keep quiet and let things unfold.
The number of maids in the mansion, big and small, added up to more than fifty. Standing together in the courtyard, they startled Jiang Taohua.
The Prime Minister’s mansion was truly wealthy.
“The roster has been checked, and everyone is here,” the steward bowed to Mei Zhaoxue and said, “Madam, please question them as you see fit.”
Madam Mei nodded, just about to let Taohua look when she heard a loud shout:
“It’s her!”
(End of Chapter)