Gu Chaobei lifted his head and saw her holding the food box, his eyes brightening. “I was just thinking of going to have a meal with my colleagues, and here you are.”
Shen Guiyan smiled as she entered, placing the food box on the table.
Women from the families were not permitted to linger too long in the Six Ministries area, so Shen Guiyan naturally had no intention of dining with him. She simply took out all the dishes one by one. “Big Brother has been staying behind closed doors lately, and Sister-in-law has been rushing about constantly—all because of the imperial examination matter. Husband, have you heard any news about it?”
Gu Chaobei had been smiling as he looked at the dishes on the table, but upon hearing this, half his smile faded. He looked up at Shen Guiyan. “Why are you asking about this?”
“Just asking.” Shen Guiyan finally brought out the duck blood soup. “The atmosphere in the residence has been very strange, and people have been acting oddly too.”
Big Brother was in the eastern courtyard—how could that affect everyone in the entire residence? Gu Chaobei felt stifled and couldn’t help thinking with some petty jealousy: could it be that Yan’er cares about Big Brother, and that’s why she came to bring him food?
He couldn’t be blamed for thinking this way. After all, Yan’er used to like Gu Chaodong so much. Even though she had now married him and conducted herself very properly, he still couldn’t help wondering…
Did she harbor a regret in her heart? A regret that she couldn’t marry the man she loved, and had married him instead?
“I haven’t heard any news. Big Brother is abundantly talented—even if there were some errors, he would surely still be among the top three.” Gu Chaobei lowered his eyes. “May I eat now?”
“No.”
Shen Guiyan didn’t give him chopsticks at all.
Gu Chaobei frowned slightly and looked up at her, only to see her expression serious. “There’s something wrong with the food.”
Something wrong? Gu Chaobei froze. Shen Guiyan had already removed the silver hairpin from her head and gently tested it in several dishes. The silver needle turned half black. Then she turned it around and placed the decorative silver flower end into the duck blood soup. When she pulled it out, the silver flower had turned completely black.
“What is the meaning of this, wife?” Gu Chaobei raised an eyebrow. “Are you trying to murder your husband?”
Shen Guiyan pressed her lips together. “If I wanted to harm you, why would I waste a silver hairpin? I made all these dishes myself in the residence kitchen. Apart from me and Lin Danniang, no one else touched them.”
“When I was washing the vegetables, I noticed she had something hidden in her sleeve. Out of curiosity, I said nothing. She helped me wash and arrange the vegetables, and at the end when she was serving the soup, she even sprinkled salt into it.”
Shen Guiyan pointed to her own eyes. “Does she think I’m blind? Does she really believe I’d be so careless that I wouldn’t notice someone tampering with things right under my nose?”
Gu Chaobei listened in some bewilderment.
Yan’er had always been very observant, with an excellent memory. This wasn’t a case of Lin Danniang treating people as fools—she had treated her as an ordinary person making small gestures, not knowing that everything would fall completely under her scrutiny.
“The reason I’m asking you about Big Brother’s matter is because didn’t Lin Danniang also work for the eastern courtyard before?” Shen Guiyan said in a muffled voice. “This time, putting such vicious things in your food—what does it mean?”
Was it to kill Gu Chaobei so the position of Vice Minister could be vacated for someone else to take? This was what Shen Guiyan had been thinking all the way here.
Gu Chaobei composed his expression and stood up to embrace her waist. He didn’t answer her question, but instead asked, “Has the wound on your back healed?”
Shen Guiyan started, then nodded. “It doesn’t hurt as much anymore.”
“Then go back and wait for me first. As for Lin Danniang’s matter, we’ll discuss it when we return.” Gu Chaobei said softly, “After all, it’s a family matter.”
“Alright.” Shen Guiyan nodded and reached out to pack up all the food on the table. Finally, she glanced at Gu Chaobei. Seeing that he wasn’t panicking at all and looked completely confident, she felt somewhat reassured and left the Ministry of Justice according to protocol.
Gu Chaobei sat back in his seat, tapping the table in a daze.
In the past, when he had no accomplishments and Big Brother and Second Brother were competing to distinguish themselves before Father, nothing happened to him—troubles didn’t reach him either. Now, however, disasters were coming one after another, in quick succession.
Not only internal troubles, but external problems as well. Yuwen Changqing had already come to warn him that dealing with Hu Chang would likely have repercussions.
It would have been better to retreat in order to advance.
Shen Guiyan carried the food box back and went first to the kitchen, her face bearing a sorrowful expression.
“How did Fourth Young Madam return so quickly?” Lin Danniang was still shelling beans. “Did Fourth Young Master like the food?”
Shen Guiyan looked up at her despondently. “Not only did he not like it, he didn’t take a single bite. All those ingredients were wasted for nothing—I’m furious.”
Lin Danniang froze, wiping her hands on her apron. “How could he not like it? Let me see—what was done wrong?”
Shen Guiyan smoothly took out all the food and pulled her to sit at the edge of the corridor outside the kitchen. “Danniang, you taste it and see if something was left out?”
“This…” Lin Danniang smiled awkwardly. “Didn’t Young Madam taste it herself?”
“No, I feel like I can’t judge the taste properly myself.” Shen Guiyan looked at her with complete seriousness. “You should taste it, Danniang.”
As she spoke, she even pressed chopsticks into her hand.
Lin Danniang’s forehead broke out in cold sweat. Her hand stiffened as she held the chopsticks. Suddenly she clutched her stomach. “Oh my, my stomach hurts so much.”
“What’s wrong?” Baoshan kindly came over to support her. “Should we call a physician?”
“No need, no need.” Lin Danniang waved her hand. “This servant just needs to go to the privy, oh my…”
“It’s fine.” Shen Guiyan smiled sweetly at her. “The sooner you go, the sooner you’ll be back. I’ll wait for you right here.”
Lin Danniang’s expression became even more strained. She clutched her stomach and nodded frantically, immediately running toward the privy.
Shen Guiyan, with Baoshan in tow, waited right there. After quite a while, Lin Danniang still hadn’t returned.
“Baoshan, go check.”
“Yes.” Baoshan pinched her nose and went to the privy. After searching inside and out, she came back shaking her head. “Miss, there’s no one there.”
She ran away? Shen Guiyan laughed lightly and turned to look at Chef Tian in the kitchen. The monk may escape, but can the temple escape as well?
She sent the dishes to Doctor Liu for examination. Doctor Liu quickly provided an answer. “It’s arsenic—the kind the residence uses to poison rats. How did it end up in human food?”
Shen Guiyan’s face went pale.
Arsenic again.
Her fists clenched tightly. Without another word, Shen Guiyan took Baoshan and searched Lin Danniang’s sleeping quarters thoroughly.
“Recently, only Lin Danniang from the kitchen asked me for half a catty of arsenic, saying she wanted to keep it to gradually poison rats.” Doctor Liu followed her. “The amount in the dishes would at most cause a stomachache, but the soup had the most. If someone with good fortune drank it, they’d just have a stomachache for half the night. If someone with bad fortune drank too much, they couldn’t be saved.”
“Arrest Chef Tian and bring him to the main hall.” Shen Guiyan’s eyes were full of frost. “When the Prime Minister and Fourth Young Master return, notify all the households—Guiyan has something to say.”
“Yes.” Baoshan received the order and immediately went to handle it.
The thing she least wanted to see again in this life was arsenic, yet someone still dared to use it to harm her most important person!