Chapter Nineteen: Who Is More Ruthless
“Mm-hmm! It’s not difficult—just freeze the cheese into shape, then carve and paint it. I learned it in just one morning,” Zhao Zhizhi said enthusiastically, though in truth she hoped this would be a chance to spend more time with her sister.
But as she spoke, her mood shifted. Pointing at the guqin the maid was holding, she said ruefully, “I wanted to perform a dance for sister, but the journey left me overheated and unwell, and my stomach is empty.”
Meng Zhenyue finally understood why Zhao Zhizhi had been in such a hurry to return to the residence that morning. Hearing this only confirmed her suspicions about the guqin’s purpose.
In her past life, Zhao Xianzhi had always told Zhao Zhizhi: her dance was beautiful, and when she danced, everyone was happy. To achieve one’s goals, one must first make the other person happy.
At first, Meng Zhenyue had found this strange, but when Zhao Zhizhi caught the eye of a lecherous general and was sent to the military camp, she realized how grave the situation was.
Zhao Xianzhi explained that this was to vent her anger; otherwise, Zhao Zhizhi would have framed her and sent her to the camp instead.
Meng Zhenyue had even had someone inquire into the maid’s attitude and learned that Zhao Zhizhi initially learned to dance because she loved food but feared gaining weight, and over time, she grew to truly enjoy it.
So she believed Zhao Xianzhi’s words.
Now, recalling it all, she could only curse her own foolishness.
Feigning surprise, Meng Zhenyue said, “Why dance on such a hot day? Are you trying to cheer me up?”
Zhao Zhizhi smiled and nodded.
“You really like dancing? Why?” Meng Zhenyue asked, suppressing her irritation but smiling nonetheless.
“Because it helps me lose weight,” Zhao Zhizhi whispered, afraid of being mocked. “I can’t control my appetite, but I’m afraid… afraid of getting fat.”
“Then why would you dance to cheer me up?” Meng Zhenyue asked, puzzled.
Zhao Zhizhi hesitated, then said, “But big brother said my dance moves…”
Before Zhao Zhizhi could finish, Meng Zhenyue cut her off patiently. “You don’t have to do that to please me or anyone else. Those who like you will be happy if you’re happy. Those who don’t will only use you for their own amusement, no matter how much you dance yourself to exhaustion.”
This time, she was determined not to let Zhao Zhizhi fall into the life of a military prostitute, but she needed her sister to understand that there were other paths, other choices.
Zhao Zhizhi was momentarily stunned, but before she could think it through, a thought popped into her head—
As soon as she mentioned big brother, her sister immediately interrupted. Clearly, she held some grudge against him!
Zhao Zhizhi thought she should speak well of big brother.
She hurriedly instructed the servants to lay out all the tools she had brought.
While talking with her sister, she taught her what she had learned that morning.
If Meng Zhenyue had merely suspected before, a quarter of an hour later she was certain that Zhao Zhizhi had been coaxed by Zhao Xianzhi.
During those fifteen minutes, Zhao Zhizhi had repeatedly and unintentionally mentioned how hard Zhao Xianzhi worked for the Hou residence, how she toiled in the Buddhist hall, and the crucial point was—she had gone to see him just last night!
Wasn’t that obvious?
Putting the pieces together, Meng Zhenyue tried to guess Zhao Xianzhi’s scheme.
That delicacy—if Zhao Xianzhi ate it, she would definitely be poisoned or appear to be poisoned.
If she died, Zhao Xianzhi could wash her hands of the blame.
Since Zhao Zhizhi had delivered it, if Zhao Xianzhi were poisoned, Zhao Zhizhi would feel guilty and her previous resentment over the deaths of two maids would fade away.
Now that she was still alive, Zhao Xianzhi must have received the news, which meant—
She could deny involvement in the antique vase incident or claim it was a counterattack to smear Meng Zhenyue.
It could even sow doubt in Meng Zhenyue’s mind about whether her sister had deliberately harmed her.
Most importantly—Zhao Xianzhi had come up with this plan!
He had voluntarily placed himself under house arrest, surely not wanting to leave casually, as doing so would ruin his image in front of everyone.
But if he were poisoned, forcing Meng Zhenyue to petition the Marquis to release him, and if he had to be cared for in the residence afterward—
Given all this, Meng Zhenyue thought for a moment, then excused herself to go out.
When she returned, she still pretended to be clumsy, unable to carve the delicacy properly.
Not until nightfall was the jade dew dumpling finally delivered to Zhao Xianzhi by Zhao Zhizhi.
Zhao Xianzhi sat cross-legged at the table, smugly pinching a delicately crafted, pure white jade dew dumpling and savoring it slowly.
He ate two in a row, then grabbed a third only to toss it to the ground, pretending to have dropped it accidentally.
Then he picked up the prepared poison pill, looking at it as if it were a treasure, murmuring, “Meng Zhenyue, I want to see who’s more ruthless—you or me…”
His words were cut off by a sudden wave of dizziness.
He clutched his head, eyebrows shooting up in alarm—
Then he looked at the poison pill in his hand, confirming he hadn’t swallowed it yet, and realized he had indeed been poisoned!
What kind of poison was this?
To set the trap, he had already sent Beilie out with an excuse!
“Come…” He tried to call for help but felt nauseous and about to vomit.
He attempted to make a scene but soon began convulsing.
As the discomfort worsened, he had no choice but to destroy the poison pill.
Meng Zhenyue—how dare she… how dare she try to poison him!
Was he going to die just like that?
He hadn’t yet secured the heirship, nor proved to the late Marquis underground that the Chengwu Marquisate would flourish under his hand.
He shouldn’t have had the thought of gaining an extra sister to create alliances through marriage!
He shouldn’t have revealed Meng Zhenyue’s identity!
Then Zhao Xianzhi started convulsing violently, thrashing about and vomiting continuously, collapsing onto the floor covered in his own vomit.
Half an hour later—
The sound of objects clattering to the ground echoed through the Buddhist hall, followed by the frantic cries of a woman.
“Ah—”
“Doctor! Quickly, call the doctor!”
The lady of the house had heard from the maids that Zhizhi and Zhenyue had made pastries to send to her son. As a mother, she could not be left out, so she had also brought some food.
Unprepared for the sour stench that hit her even before she entered, she soon saw her dashing son convulsing spasmodically on the floor covered in vomit.
“Where is Beilie? How is there not a single person here?”
The lady waved for the servants to come clean up. She intended to ask after Beilie but found no one.
Suddenly, she remembered her son’s words from earlier and her gaze fell on the jade dew dumplings on the table.
“Bring Meng Zhenyue here!”
Hearing the commotion, Zhao Zhizhi arrived with Meng Zhenyue right behind her.
By the time they arrived, Zhao Xianzhi had been cleaned up and was lying on a couch at the back of the Buddhist hall, with a doctor attending to him.
Behind the screen, Beilie, his face bruised and his left hand hanging limply, was sobbing as he explained to the lady of the house.
“Madam, I was originally out to get the equipment the young master needs for his training. On the way, I ran into a group of maids from the eldest lady’s residence and slipped, which delayed me a bit. I didn’t expect—didn’t expect the young master to…”
Hearing this, the lady of the house became even more convinced that Meng Zhenyue was responsible.
Hmph! How ridiculous. She even suggested changing maids—now the real reason was clear!
Anger surged in her heart just as Meng Zhenyue entered.
She grabbed the nearest steaming teacup and hurled it at Meng Zhenyue.
Meng Zhenyue dodged just in time; the teacup shattered crisply on the floor, the sound filling the entire Buddhist hall.
The maids fell silent, inwardly sighing at how frequently the lady’s anger had flared these past few days.