Chapter 8: No One’s Getting Out Alive!
Nanny Li didn’t let Rong Yue Tang idle, leading her to He Hui’s bedroom and telling her some unspeakable matters.
Second Mistress had gotten hold of household management, so Nanny Li could lord it over in the inner quarters from now on.
No one dared disobey her; those who had made her put on a false smile before would have to grovel at her feet and obey her orders from then on!
And once she accomplished today’s task, Grandmother had promised to promote her son to steward, and that would surely be fulfilled.
Mother and son both becoming people of authority in the mansion—how could the Li family’s share of the profits be small in the future?
Nanny Li thought of this and couldn’t help but be arrogant: “Don’t think that just because you’ve become Second Master’s person, you’ve become a master from now on.
“In front of Grandmother, you’re still just a servant. When you need to serve tea and water, you serve tea and water. When you need to kneel and yield, you kneel and yield.
“If I see you disrespecting Grandmother, I’ll still teach you the rules.
“Do you understand?”
Yue Tang glanced toward the courtyard gate and said, “Whether I understand or not isn’t important. Why don’t you first think about how to escape with your life?”
Nanny Li’s expression turned furious upon hearing this, but before she could erupt, a large group of servants and old women burst in from outside the door, rushing toward the room: “Seize her! Seize this lowly slave who killed Eldest Young Master!”
Nanny Li jumped in fright: “What are you doing?!”
The arrivals were from the main house, more precisely, He Jianzhong’s people.
They rushed up without a word and in a few moves pinned her—who had just been putting on airs—to the ground.
Nanny Li’s face pressed to the ground, painfully twisting around, met face-to-face with the stewardess’s ferocious visage: “Take this true culprit who killed Eldest Young Master to the front courtyard!”
The leading stewardess was the one who had often received Nanny Li’s bribes; when taking her benefits, she called her “elder sister” so affectionately, but now she was like a vicious fiend, as if she didn’t recognize her at all.
She pinched Nanny Li’s nape and repeatedly ordered the crowd to shove her toward the door!
Nanny Li panicked into incoherence: “What true culprit? I’m Second Mistress’s person—how dare you treat me with such insolence?!”
The stewardess slapped her aged face, then spat at her: “Still pretending to be innocent on the brink of death? Save your words for Master! —Take her away!”
Nanny Li grew even more afraid, shouting at Yue Tang behind her: “Quickly notify Second Mistress for me! Have her come save me!”
Yue Tang curved her lips: “Nanny just said Second Mistress instructed me to serve Second Master tea and water here, and I mustn’t act improperly. I wouldn’t dare move about carelessly.”
The stewardess heard this and slapped Nanny Li’s face again: “Vile thing! This is the medical woman the mansion invited to serve Madam herbal medicine—when did she become someone from the second house to serve tea and water? Eldest Young Master’s bones aren’t even cold yet, and you send her to Second Young Master?
“—Take her away!”
Nanny Li was hauled away amid a whirlwind.
Yue Tang turned and walked back to the antique shelf, picking up that porcelain cup from Prince Jingyang’s Mansion and looking at it.
……
The government officials were temporarily invited to the flower hall to rest.
Here in the main courtyard, the doors were closed for the court hall.
The poison was found in Nanny Li’s room, and Nanny Li was her confidante.
Who seemed more like the mastermind was obvious.
Liu Shi had long been kneeling before He Jianzhong and had taken several slaps from the old women.
Her cheeks were bruised and swollen, her whole body disheveled—worse off than Zhang Shi who was accused last night!
But she was indeed a bit more decorous than Zhang Shi, not going mad or throwing a tantrum, just staring wide-eyed at the ground in a daze, shaking her head and muttering nonstop. Or her eyes would flash with malice, suddenly glaring viciously at the He father and son.
He Hui’s heart was no longer on Liu Shi; with this sudden twist, fearing implication, he had long distanced himself from her, joining He Jianzhong in berating her harshly and condemning her treachery.
Even though Yue Tang was just staying with Madam He and not showing her face, these messages still reached her ears through Madam He’s maidservants.
Madam He certainly hadn’t gone truly mad so easily.
But Yue Tang’s previous actions had indeed stimulated her. Now, she would become uncontrollably agitated at the sight of Yue Tang. These successive upheavals made it hard for her to stay calm. Even without Yue Tang before her, she had no energy toward the servants.
Yue Tang once again carried the medicine into the room.
As expected, Madam He pointed at her and cursed angrily: “Why haven’t you left yet?”
Yue Tang said: “Soon. At most, just one more day.”
The medicine bowl was knocked over again; when the cursing started, someone by her side, at a loss, sent word to the front courtyard to inform He Jianzhong: “Madam has completely lost control of her emotions—nothing can soothe her; she insists Lin Niangzi is abnormal…”
He Jianzhong was already at his wits’ end; hearing this, he had Liu Shi locked up as well and ordered: “Lock all front and back gates, call more people over to surround and guard tightly! Keep a close watch at all times—when Liu family members arrive, no mistakes!”
This was to prevent Liu Shi from meeting the same accident as Zhang Shi.
Liu Shi was quickly dragged away.
Yue Tang glanced from the back of the crowd at her and Nanny Li who had been tied up, then returned to the small side courtyard with Hua Lin.
Ahead of the courtyard was the main chamber where Madam He was.
After He Jianzhong entered, Madam He was still shouting, nearly every sentence mentioning “Lin Shi.”
Facing the dim room, he drank two cups of tea, then sat facing the gradually changing sky for an unknown long time before Hua Lin returned.
“After I gave her two needles, she quieted down and spoke smoothly. He Jianzhong is now firmly convinced she’s gone mad. He hasn’t grown suspicious yet.”
Yue Tang poured a third cup of tea and pushed it toward him: “He will eventually.”
Hua Lin nodded, then said: “Later, He Jianzhong took people to interrogate Liu Shi, but she never admitted guilt. Just now the Liu family members arrived, and she still cried injustice.
“The Liu family members are more guilty than the initial Zhang family, but because of Zhang Shi’s matter before, they also refused to yield, wouldn’t admit guilt, and demanded to go to the government officials.
“The He family originally didn’t want family shame to spread outside, but with Zhang and Liu families insisting not to settle privately and determined to send Liu Shi to the government officials for conviction, He Jianzhong could only agree.
“So after the dispute, Liu Shi and Nanny Li were both sent to Shuntian Prefecture; they should have entered the prison by now.”
After finishing, he wiped his washed hands and asked her: “How are you? Can you endure the fatigue of these two days? I told you early on you didn’t need to come personally…”
Yue Tang turned over the cup, gripped the pot and poured another cup of tea, interrupting his nagging: “Father King has managed the Imperial City Department for years; that batch including Wei Zhang were all cultivated by him, and Xiao Huo has followed his father in and out of the major prisons in the city since childhood, so he should still remember the way to enter Shuntian Prefecture prison.”
She handed him the token she had shown Zhang Shi: “Give this to Xiao Huo and have him check Liu Shi’s exact whereabouts before nightfall and report back to me. Next, it’s time for our Marquis of Guangling to take the stage.”
Hua Lin opened his mouth: “Are you going to the prison personally? Are you going to take risks again?”
“You guessed right.” Yue Tang shoved the tea at him.
Hua Lin huffed: “I won’t drink it!”
“Qin Niang’s tea leaves.”
Hua Lin turned his head, resentfully taking the cup.
