Chapter 165

Chapter 165 The Princess Consort took a couple of sips of tea and suddenly felt a bit nauseous. But she was always composed, never revealing her emotions on her face, and calmly handed the teacup to the person beside her. The first to arrive were the people from the main kitchen. Three people in total, standing in a row from the steward to the cook and the maid who washed vegetables. Steward Wu wiped the sweat from his forehead and hastily said, "On the way here, this old servant heard that the Fifth Young Master had an upset stomach, and was so frightened my soul was about to fly away. I hurriedly brought the woman in charge of the wet nurse's meals, Old Woman Deng, and the little maid Chi Yun here!" Old Woman Deng's face was pale, clearly having been frightened the whole way here: "This old servant truly doesn't know!" "The wet nurse's meals have always been managed by this servant. It was one way before, and it's still the same way now—nothing has been added or removed." The little maid responsible for washing vegetables and doing odd jobs also said the same thing. The Princess Consort gave Steward Wu a faint glance. "Is this the reply you give this Princess Consort?" Although the main kitchen was under Fang Yuan'er's management, Steward Wu was the Princess Consort's man, and Fang Yuan'er wouldn't dare touch him. Now one word from the Princess Consort carried more weight than a hundred words from Fang Yuan'er. After hearing this, Steward Wu broke out in a torrent of sweat. He immediately said, "On the way here, this old servant specifically questioned these two. After thinking it over, I'm afraid the problem doesn't lie with our main kitchen." "Then where does it lie?" Steward Wu glanced at the two women and maids beside him, hesitating as if wanting to speak but stopping, and finally confessed: "I'm afraid it lies with Miss Qiu Lu." As soon as they heard a maid's name starting with "Qiu," everyone knew this person must be someone close to Fang Yuan'er. Xie Run felt a numb sense of despair. From the moment the wet nurse's meals had problems, she had anticipated it might be related to Fang Yuan'er. But precisely because Fang Yuan'er managed the main kitchen, she wouldn't do something so foolish—which instead clearly indicated there was someone else behind this. Layer upon layer of schemes, the most difficult to investigate. Especially in this princely household where talent abounded... who knew where it would ultimately land? After Fang Yuan'er moved into Songya Courtyard, she was actually not far from Chunshan Courtyard. But she was currently busy handling the household affairs of the princely residence, so she had delayed a bit. The moment she entered the main courtyard, she heard Steward Wu's words. Her smile remained unchanged—bright and profound. "Steward Wu speaks off the top of his head, splashing dirty water on the people in my quarters. Do you have any evidence?" Fang Yuan'er was dressed in striking, alluring attire, approaching with boundless grace and charm, saying with a smile, "Everyone knows the entire main kitchen speaks with one mouth—yours!" "If it's only the words of the main kitchen people, then I won't accept it!" She sat down, her presence not the least bit weak, and the whole room fell several degrees quieter. Xie Run slowly spoke up: "Sister Fang's words also make sense." "Steward Wu says it's related to Qiu Lu—do you have any evidence?" The little maid Chi Yun was scared out of her wits by this display and began sobbing, crying as she said, "Ever since Side Consort Fang took charge of the main kitchen, Sister Qiu Lu would take a stroll around the kitchen every time she came to pick up meals. She said she was supervising the kitchen's work, but in truth, she always took things—both food and otherwise—every time." "Other than her, no one else passes by the wet nurse's meals every single day." "Even when people from other masters' quarters come to pick up meals, they only pass by occasionally." As luck would have it, Qiu Lu had come along with Fang Yuan'er. Hearing these words, she shot a fierce glare and snapped angrily, "You black-hearted little slut! Splashing dirty water on me recklessly—watch out that your tongue doesn't get cut off!" "You say I put medicine in the Fifth Young Master's wet nurse's meals—has anyone seen it with their own eyes?!" "The main kitchen has so many pairs of eyes. If I were putting medicine in every day, then you'd all be blind, never seeing it even once?" "Then you all deserve punishment too! Every one of you blind?!" Chi Yun was so frightened she kept backing away, crying with tears and snot running together: "But this servant isn't lying either!" "These past days, only you have been lingering around the main kitchen all day. Even if this servant's words can't be trusted, then all those girls who came to pick up meals passing by must have seen it too." "Miss Qiu Lu holds a noble status—don't frighten this little maid. We're lowly people with timid hearts and can't withstand such scares." Old Woman Deng, kneeling beside her, was also a seasoned old hand. She was wary of the masters, but not the least bit afraid of Qiu Lu, and immediately retorted: "These past days, you've been throwing your weight around relying on Side Consort Fang's authority, bullying everyone. Whenever you were unhappy, you'd make trouble for the main kitchen staff." "The moment you said you wanted to inspect the masters' meals, who would dare stare at you? Everyone wished they could shrink their heads, terrified that the meals they prepared would be nitpicked by you!" "You—" Qiu Lu was fuming. "I was indeed inspecting the masters' meals!" But her words weren't spoken with much confidence. In truth, as Fang Yuan'er's senior maid, taking advantage of Fang Yuan'er's management of the main kitchen to skim some benefits was a perfectly normal thing. Fang Yuan'er had sent her to oversee the main kitchen with the implicit intention of indulgence. These were matters that no one below would report and no one above would investigate. But among the maids around Fang Yuan'er, Qiu Lu was the least able to keep her composure. After strutting around for a few days with her tail in the air, she became a bit carried away and drew the resentment of the kitchen maids and women. Now that someone was using this matter to make trouble, she really couldn't explain herself clearly. Fang Yuan'er also furrowed her brows: "Qiu Lu, is what they said true?!" Qiu Lu's face had lost its initial confidence, and she quickly said, "Mistress, of course not! How could I possibly poison Fifth Young Master's wet nurse?!" "First, you're in charge of the main kitchen—if anything went wrong with Fifth Young Master's food, you couldn't escape responsibility no matter what. Second, they've also said that I go to inspect the meals every day. If any master had a problem, I'd be the first one suspected. Even if I were stupid, I wouldn't do something like that!" Fang Yuan'er's gaze darkened as she too realized she had been set up. She had prepared a full speech on her way here, but the fact that her own people had been targeted and framed caught her off guard, leaving her unable to clear herself now. "Kneel!" Fang Yuan'er suddenly snapped. Qiu Lu knelt on the ground without a second word. Fang Yuan'er said, "What the people in the main kitchen said isn't wrong. These past days, you've been the only one hovering around the main kitchen every day, so you had the most opportunity to administer the drug—naturally, you're the prime suspect!" With that, Fang Yuan'er bowed to the Princess Consort and said, "This girl got carried away and let others get a hold of something to use against her... Alas, I find myself unable to defend against these accusations. I can only beg the Princess Consort to pass judgment!" Fang Yuan'er's words condemned Qiu Lu at every turn and begged the Princess Consort to mete out punishment, yet she never once admitted to any involvement herself. If she hadn't done it, then someone must have framed her? But if she cried "framed," no one would believe her anyway. By offering this ambiguous admission of guilt, she instead threw the dilemma back at the Princess Consort. Without conclusive evidence, should the Princess Consort convict her or not? Just then, Consort Li arrived in haste with her wet nurse. She bowed to the Princess Consort and said, "I came in a hurry upon hearing the news of Fifth Young Master's discomfort." "These past few days, Princess Duanmin has also been suffering from bloating and waking in fright at night. I originally thought it was normal, but now that I've heard about Fifth Young Master's situation, I realize something is amiss. I've brought my wet nurse along specially, and I'd like to ask the manor physician to take her pulse as well." After Prince Jing returned, he had also petitioned for a title for the Third Miss—that being the name Duanmin. Fang Yuan'er suppressed a surge of anger and said with a smile, "Oh? Could it be that someone has also drugged Princess Duanmin's wet nurse's meals?"