Chapter 30

Chapter 30 It’s Her

The maid quickly brewed the tea and brought it out, saying, “Master, be careful.”

Tao Hua raised her head and glanced at her casually before taking the tray and returning to the main room.

Shen Zaiye looked a bit strange, gently tapping his fingers on the table, as if he was lost in thought. When he saw her return, his earlier anger seemed to have somewhat subsided. He merely lifted his chin and asked, “Did you personally brew this?”

“As the master commands, your humble servant naturally obeys.” Peach Blossom smiled sweetly as she set down the teapot, carefully taking out a teacup to pour him a cup.

Shen Zaiye nodded. After making things difficult for others, his anger dissipated. He took the teacup, blew on it, and then took a sip.

“You still need to practice your tea art a bit more.” Putting down the cup, Master Shen said unhappily, “It’s almost the same as a servant’s skill—it’s quite embarrassing.”

“…The ground you walk on every day is also almost the same as what the servants walk on. Should we have someone come and dig up this Prime Minister’s residence?”

She instinctively retorted with this remark, and as soon as she finished speaking, Jiang Taohua regretted it. She tapped her own lips, and under Shen Zaiye’s gaze as cold as a winter wind, she smiled and said, “I was just joking.”

“You have quite the silver tongue,” Shen Zaive remarked coldly. “It seems your spirits are quite high. Perhaps you should practice your tea ceremony skills right here. Moss, go find ten sets of teaware for your mistress. She can have her midday meal only after brewing ten perfect cups of tea.”

Drink ten cups and you still won’t be down! Peach Blossom raised her eyes angrily, eager to condemn such utterly inhumane behavior!

When their eyes met, Jiang Taohua immediately cowered, obediently smoothing down her feathers, and sat by the table waiting for the tea set.

Shen Zaiye seemed to have nothing to do today. Completely idle, he simply sat by and watched her brew tea.

“Don’t you have work, Master?” Peach Blossom asked while pouring water.

Shaking his head slightly, Shen Zaoye said, “I’m on leave today.”

On leave again? Jiang Taohua was stunned: “Is it really so easy to be the Prime Minister of Great Wei?”

He was the head of the Three Excellencies! He was shouldering heavy responsibilities and dealing with countless affairs, yet he could take a break every dozen days or so?

“You are already married into Great Wei.” Casting her a sidelong glance, Shen Zaiye remarked coolly, “Now you are a citizen of Great Wei, and yet you still say ‘you people of Great Wei’?”

“Your concubine acknowledges her mistake.” Peach Blossom lowered her head, but acknowledging the mistake did not mean she intended to change. After all, she would not stay here forever, and in the end, she would not truly be one of Great Wei’s people.

However, observing Shen Zaiye’s demeanor, although he was on leave, his expression remained tense, as if he were troubled by something. The position of prime minister was likely not an easy one to hold, and perhaps one day it might even lead him to exhaustion and illness.

No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than I looked up and noticed Shen Zaiye’s expression was off, his face a shade of pale.

“Master?” Startled, Taohua hunched her shoulders. “Your servant is preparing tea as you instructed. Are you really so angry that your face has turned green?”

Taking a deep breath, Shen Zaizhe found himself speechless. After a moment of pent-up frustration, he leaned over and spat a mouthful of dark blood onto the ground.

Everyone in the room was shocked. Zhan Lu hurried over to support him. “Master?”

Taohua was dumbfounded. Staring at him for a long time, she muttered quietly, “He really spat blood?”

Zhanlu’s ears pricked up, and he glared at her: “What did you put in the tea?”

Shaking her head, Taohua shrugged innocently: “I didn’t put anything in.”

“If you didn’t put anything in, how did you know I was going to vomit blood?” Zhanlu frowned, stood up, and shouted towards the door: “Someone, come here!”

The tranquil Spring Competition Hall suddenly filled with guards. Some supported Shen Zaiye as he departed, others detained Qing Tai and Jiang Taohua, while still others directly seized the teacup Shen Zaiye had just drunk from. They worked separately, methodically and in an orderly fashion.

The green moss was terrified, her face pale as she hurriedly tugged at Peach Blossom’s clothes: “Master, what’s going on?”

Peach Blossom frowned, letting these people hold her in place, and then thought to herself for a moment.

Shen Zaïye only drank the first cup of tea, and that cup was not brewed by her—it was made by a kitchen maid.

“Take some people and go detain all the other maids in the Contending Spring Pavilion. Bring them to the Linwu Courtyard.”

Hearing the command, the guards instinctively responded, “Yes!”

Only after replying did they realize—the Prime Minister was not there. Who was giving the order?

Zhanlu frowned at Madam Jiang but still waved for them to take her into custody and bring her to Linwu Courtyard.

Who would have thought that drinking tea in Zhengchun Pavilion could lead to vomiting blood? The moment the physician arrived at Linwu Courtyard, the news that Jiang Taohua had poisoned the Master spread throughout the entire Prime Minister’s Manor.

Madam Meng was the happiest of all, immediately gathering her people and rushing over. The others from the other courtyards, of course, did not stay idle either. One after another, they arrived, completely surrounding Linwu Courtyard.

This could be considered Taohua’s first meeting with everyone from the rear courtyard, even though she was kneeling in the inner chamber while the rest stood in the outer chamber.

Shen Zaiye on the bed looked pale, his jawline tightly clenched, his brows deeply furrowed, and he appeared to be in extreme discomfort. The physician taking his pulse also wore a grave expression and said after a long pause:

“His Excellency’s pulse is unusual. It seems he has been poisoned, which has injured his internal organs, leading to the vomiting of blood. As for the specific poison, it will take time for me to examine it thoroughly. For now, take this antidote pill and focus on regulating your inner energy.”

So it truly was poison.

Sitting by the bedside, Mei Zhaoxue’s face was grim, her sharp gaze landing on Peach Blossom’s head like a knife: “What exactly did you give him to drink?”

Peach Blossom felt quite wronged and whispered, “When master said he wanted tea, I asked someone from the kitchen to brew it.”

“Lies!” Zhanlu said sternly, “I was standing by master’s side the whole time. I clearly heard master ask madam to brew the tea herself, and when you returned, you said you brewed it yourself. How did it suddenly become the work of the kitchen staff?”

With a sigh, Peach Blossom realized this matter was rather hard to explain. She could only try to look as sincere as possible and said, “I’m injured, so I had to ask a maid to do it for me. I didn’t even step into the kitchen.”

Madam Mei frowned, “Which maid brewed the tea? Can you point her out?”

“Yes,” Peach Blossom Jiang nodded. “May I ask Madam to first allow me to see the maidservants in my Zhichun Pavilion.”

“Very well,” Madam Mei stood up. “I will accompany you.”

Beside them, Madam Qin rolled her eyes and said, “With the master in this state, why would you accompany her, Madam? Just take her there by force. It doesn’t matter how we act in this courtyard, but if she has harmed the master, do you still intend to treat her politely?”

Glancing at her, Mei Zhaoxue said, “The truth has yet to come to light. You can’t just convict someone from the very beginning.”

Mrs. Meng held her handkerchief, weeping. With a choked voice, she spoke, “If not her, then who? Our husband is an extremely cautious man. It’s only recently that he’s been utterly charmed by Lady Jiang and has let his guard down in her courtyard. Now that something has happened, how could Lady Jiang possibly claim she has nothing to do with it?”

Peach Blossom said helplessly, “If someone dies in your family, does that automatically mean you killed them? What kind of logic is that? Baseless slander won’t do. Mrs. Meng insists that I intended to harm the master, so tell me, what reason would I have to do such a thing? A woman takes her husband as her heaven. Would I have any benefit from poking a hole in my own sky for no reason?”

Meng Zhenzhen was taken aback and opened her mouth to argue. But on second thought, Jiang Taohua truly had no reason to harm the Prime Minister; unless she was out of her mind, she wouldn’t willingly put her own life at risk.

However, even knowing this, she would still not help the Jiang family clear their name out of past grievances; she would rather choose to remain silent.

“Enough. If you want to know the truth, we must investigate. All this clamoring here is only disturbing Master’s rest.” Lady Mei said, wringing her hands. “Everyone, leave. Madam Jiang, come with me to the inner courtyard to question the servants. The rest of you, attend to your duties. Madam Qin, compile a list. In the next couple of days, those in the household will take turns serving medicine to Master.”

“Yes.” Qin Jieyu nodded with a smile, casting a cheerful glance at Lady Meng.

Since it was her order, she might as well go along with her wishes.

Lady Meng frowned, wanting to argue but mindful of Shen Zaiju lying in bed, she could only suppress her dissatisfaction and bow her head as she withdrew. Tao Hua stood up, rubbing her knees, and followed Lady Mei toward the backyard.

Apart from Qing Tai, the Zhengchun Pavilion had only three maidservants in total. Jiang Taohua was cautious with her staff; these three maidservants usually stayed in the backyard and kitchen and had never entered the main room, so they were seldom seen and thus had unfamiliar faces.

But with just a glance, Tao Hua knew, “That maid isn’t among them.”

Mei Zhaoxue was somewhat surprised. “You’ve been recovering indoors this whole time, yet you can still remember the courtyard maids so clearly?”

“This humble one doesn’t remember them clearly,” Tao Hua shook her head. “However, this humble one noticed the maid who helped brew tea—she was about as tall as my eyebrows, with slender shoulders, and there was a small, old scar on her right index finger. But none of these maids match that description.”

“You remember that maid’s appearance?” Mei asked.

Shaking her head, Peach Blossom pursed her lips and said, “A person’s appearance can be disguised, so remembering it doesn’t serve much purpose, but physical characteristics are not easy to change and are much simpler to identify. Mistress, while that maid is still most likely hiding in the Prime Minister’s residence, clinging to hope, you should immediately order that no one is allowed to enter or leave the residence.”

Mei Zhaoxue was visibly shaken. She glanced at Lady Jiang twice before turning to give the order: “As Lady Jiang said, bring all the maids in the residence here immediately. No one is allowed to leave the residence.”

“Yes!” The servant responded and hurried off to carry out the order. The severity on Mei Zhaoxue’s face finally softened, and she looked at Peach Blossom and said, “Lady’s memory is truly remarkable.”

Peach Blossom smiled slightly and replied, “Memory is something that can sometimes truly save a life.”

She didn’t mention that she also had a photographic memory. It wasn’t until she came to the Kingdom of Wei that she discovered just how useful it could be—saving her life time and time again, which was no small feat.

Mei Zhaoxue pursed her lips and whispered discreetly, “I believe it wasn’t you who tried to harm him.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“But the master has been injured, you will inevitably be punished, even if the poison wasn’t actually your doing in the end.” Her gaze softened as she said, “If you are punished, please don’t hold it against me. As the lady of the house, I must always act with impartiality.”

With a slight smile, Peach Blossom remained silent. If both the good and bad roles had been played by Mei Zhaoxue alone, what else could she say? Should she thank her for the advance notice, giving her some mental preparation for the punishment to come?

Still best to quietly make a fortune.

Counting all the maids in the mansion, there were over fifty in total, gathered together in the courtyard. This sight gave Jiang Taohua quite a start.

The Prime Minister’s residence is truly rich.

“The roll call has been completed, and everyone is here,” the steward bowed to Mei Zhaoxue and said: “Madam, feel free to question them.”

Mei Shi nodded and was about to ask Peach Blossom to take a look when she heard a loud shout:

“It’s her!”