Chapter Ninety-One: Was today’s bird’s nest freshly delivered?

The question made Madame Zhou tremble. She knew what Madame Di was asking, but she did not dare answer.

“What now? Even that cannot be spoken of? Does he go every day to that temptress to dally with her? Truly shameless! To think he would cuddle up with a widow!” Madame Di ground her teeth until they seemed ready to bite into her flesh, her venomous eyes fixed on Madame Zhou as though the woman before her were Shui Ruolan herself.

“Madam... Madam, this is only temporary. Once we reach the capital, on the one hand we can pressure the marquess’s manor, and on the other we can send beautiful women to the general. By then his ardor will have cooled. How could he still stand against you for her? Besides, the eldest miss is the general’s only daughter,” Madame Zhou hurriedly soothed her.

“Fine, I will endure it! I do not believe that once we are in the capital, that wretch Shui Ruolan will still have any good fortune, or that Qin Huaiyong can truly keep me confined for a lifetime!”

Madame Di’s eyes seemed ready to drip poison. Once they returned to the capital, with the support of the Ever-Safe Marquis’s manor behind her, she would have every means at her disposal.

“Please rest assured, Madam. News will arrive within these next few days. The steward at the old dowager’s side already sent word before,” Madame Zhou comforted her. These past few days she had feared Madame Di would not be able to endure it. They were in Jiangzhou now; if anything truly happened, the capital could not reach them in time.

Seeing that her mistress still retained a measure of composure, she finally let out a breath.

“Madam, should we send more tonics up the mountain to the old madam? The other side has been sending them all along,” Madame Zhou suggested after a moment. Though Madame Di was under confinement, sending some nourishing gifts to honor her mother-in-law was, in any case, a proper thing to do. The general could hardly stop it.

“Send nothing!” Madame Di refused at once. Her expression grew even colder, and she smiled faintly. “That side has been sending medicinal herbs all along? Where did she get so many?”

“She bought them from the apothecaries. Whenever she saw good ones, she had them purchased, sorted through them, and then sent them up the mountain. I heard the old madam was very pleased,” Madame Zhou reported. Though the household was now managed by Madame Shui, Madame Di still had many of her own confidants in the manor, so it was not hard to inquire after things.

“They had to be sorted through first?” Madame Di fell into thought. “Take a little of the powder in my sachet and sprinkle it onto those herbs, then have Shui Ruolan send them up the mountain.”

Madame Zhou was so shocked she nearly changed color. Her voice dropped even lower, trembling faintly. “Madam means to scatter the powder of green-withering herb into the medicines?”

“Yes. I had originally been thinking how to get near that old woman. Since Shui Ruolan is willing to deliver them, let her. If anything happens afterward, it will not be traced back to me.”

“But... but Madame Shui has no reason to harm the old madam!” Madame Zhou felt it was improper and cautiously reminded her. One never did anything without a reason. Clearly the old madam was Shui Ruolan’s firm support; why would she put into her medicines the very powder that could bring on the old madam’s illness?

“Perhaps she was careless herself. Once something happens and everything descends into chaos, who will still notice such details?” Madame Di said indifferently, pointing in one direction. “If someone truly dislikes that old woman, did not that overbearing girl from the prefectural governor’s household also run into trouble in the general’s manor and likewise dislike the old woman?”

She meant Qi Rongzhi, and Madame Zhou understood.

“Then... shall we do it?” she asked after hesitating a little.

“Do it. Slip it in quietly. Be careful, and no one will notice. Shui Ruolan has only just begun managing the inner quarters—what does she know? Aside from the maidservants at her side, who else is her confidant? She does not even know medicine. Even if she inspected the herbs one by one, she would never discover anything.”

Madame Di spoke with finality, then added one more warning. “Remember to be careful. It does not matter if it is not discovered in the manor, but watch out for the general’s people!”

Shui Ruolan’s people were not the danger. The danger was Qin Huaiyong’s people. If Qin Huaiyong discovered that she had tampered with the herbs, he would never spare her lightly.

“I will be careful. Madam, please rest assured!” Madame Zhou said anxiously.

Madame Di thought for a moment longer, then instructed, “Find a way to get that arrogant girl to the Quiet Mind Nunnery once. If she can stir up some trouble, even better. Then even if the matter of the herbs is exposed, others will only suspect her!”

Qi Rongzhi was not only overbearing, but vicious as well. She had suffered such a great loss in their own manor before, and now that Yu Ru was not here, she would surely vent that resentment on Qin Wanru. Rumor had it that her engagement had been ruined; if someone merely provoked her a little, would she not come to hate that wretched girl Qin Wanru to the bone?

The two households had enjoyed friendship for many years. Madame Di was usually excellent at handling people, and Madame Zhou had also drawn over a few from the prefectural governor’s household. It would be easy enough to make things happen.

“Yes, this old servant understands!” Madame Zhou assented, then took a sachet from the lowest drawer of the dressing table. Madame Di had always worn this sachet before, but now that the old madam was not in the manor, wearing it served no purpose, so it had been put away.

By the time Qin Wanru came out of the old madam’s room, the sky had already darkened. She had come so late because she had heard the old madam’s health had grown somewhat worse again.

With the cover of Abbess Mingqiu’s instruction, Qin Wanru was now able to treat the old madam herself. After personally administering acupuncture, the old madam finally settled down and fell asleep more peacefully.

“Stewardess Duan, did the old madam come into contact with anything today?” Qin Wanru had even asked Stewardess Duan to come out, and she stood at the doorway as she spoke.

Her grandmother’s condition had clearly improved and seemed to be recovering well. How could she suddenly become gravely ill again at such a time?

“In the morning she was perfectly fine. When Second Miss was here, the old madam hardly coughed at all. But after lunch, she slept for a while, and then she was not well again. Earlier she had not eaten anything unusual either, only a bowl of bird’s nest tonic for strengthening the body. After that, she stayed in her room, and this old servant kept her company for a while,” Stewardess Duan said in confusion. The old madam’s activities had not differed from usual at all, yet after waking from her nap she began coughing badly. In truth, it was only a little worse than before and not comparable to the earliest onset of the illness, but Qin Wanru had instructed them clearly that if the old madam’s condition changed, they were to report immediately.

“Could it be that she kicked off the covers in her sleep and caught cold?” Stewardess Duan guessed.

Qin Wanru shook her head. If she did not understand medicine, she might have guessed the same. But she had just examined her grandmother, and this worsening did not look like a chill. It seemed more like some kind of stimulus had triggered it.

“Was the bird’s nest the same kind Grandmother uses normally?” Qin Wanru’s suspicion deepened.

“It was the same bird’s nest the old madam always uses. It was all sent down from the mountain by Madame Shui. The previous supply was almost used up, so this time Madame Shui sent over more to nourish the old madam’s body,” Stewardess Duan said after thinking for a moment. The reason she remembered so clearly was that the maid who simmered the bird’s nest had even come specially to tell her that the earlier supply was nearly gone and not enough to make a bowl, so she had told the maid to look through the newly delivered herbs, and sure enough, more had been sent.

She still trusted Shui Ruolan’s things.

“The bird’s nest today was newly delivered?”

“Yes, it was delivered today, but most of it was from the previous batch. Only a little was newly added today,” Stewardess Duan confirmed.

“Bring it to me and let me see!” Qin Wanru’s heart gave a sudden jolt, and she said urgently.

“Yes, this old servant will fetch it at once. Second Miss, please wait a moment!” Stewardess Duan’s face went pale. If this really had to do with the medicines, then she herself had been careless. Having said that, she hurried back into the room.

She had heard that the Second Miss had been studying medicine under the abbess and Abbess Mingqiu, and that her skill was already quite remarkable. On matters of diagnosis, what the Second Miss said must surely be true.

Not long after, she brought out a packet of bird’s nest.

Qin Wanru opened the wrapping and let her eyes fall on the bird’s nest. After looking it over and finding nothing at first glance, she picked up a small piece and brought it to her lips. The abbess had said that normal people could not smell the scent of green-withering herb, but they could distinguish it by tasting.

A faint bitterness beneath her tongue.

Her hands and feet suddenly began to tremble. It was indeed green-withering herb. They truly meant to harm her grandmother. Without her grandmother, and without the restraint of her status and name, Madame Di would have the advantage in dealing with her and her mother, which was why she had acted so eagerly!

Qin Wanru could now be certain that the reason her grandmother had fallen ill every year, and in the previous life had even died from it, was all due to Madame Di. The substance hidden in Madame Di’s old sachet must have been green-withering herb. Now that she could no longer get near her grandmother, she had devised such a vicious method, sending the powder of green-withering herb here to her.

How foolish she had been in her past life, believing that her grandmother had died of depression and illness because of her. Only now did she realize it had been Madame Di. Madame Di had wanted sole dominance over the inner quarters, so she had used such an evil scheme to kill her grandmother.

And now she had even used it in the herbs sent by her mother. Even if it were discovered, it would not be traced back to her. Madame Di truly had a vicious hand!

And with Madame Di’s methods, this could surely not be all there was to it.

“Stewardess Duan, send all the herbs Mother has delivered up the mountain this time to my quarters. First use the herbs sent previously to prepare medicine for her body. If anything is still lacking, I will trouble you to make a trip down the mountain yourself and find suitable herbs at the apothecary,” Qin Wanru said after setting down what was in her hand.

“These herbs... there is a problem?” Stewardess Duan was aghast.

“There is a problem, but it could not be Mother. I fear someone tampered with them before they were sent,” Qin Wanru said tactfully, lowering her gaze.

Stewardess Duan immediately understood the meaning behind her words. Shui Ruolan had only been managing the inner quarters for a short while, and the old madam was up on the mountain. During this time, how many people could she really have won over? Most likely someone had deliberately taken advantage of the confusion, using Shui Ruolan’s things as a cover to harm the old madam.

Stewardess Duan naturally thought of Madame Di, but she also knew that even if the matter were exposed, it would have little to do with Madame Di and would not affect her much. At once, her expression grew grave, and she nodded, knowing that Qin Wanru’s handling of the matter was the best possible course.

Her admiration for this seemingly childish Second Miss deepened as well. She was still so young, yet she was so sensible. Thinking of how carefully the old madam had once protected the Second Miss, and then seeing how the Second Miss now guarded the old madam, Stewardess Duan felt her eyes grow red.

After Qin Wanru had arranged everything on the old madam’s side, she left with Qingyue and headed back. By now night had fallen, and lanterns had been lit in the Quiet Mind Nunnery, though not many—only one at each bend in the path to light the way.

As Qin Wanru walked, she was thinking about whom Madame Di would drag into the matter next to muddy the waters, when something suddenly struck the top of her head. The pain made her clutch her head instinctively. Looking up, she saw on a high branch a bright, radiant face breaking into a smile.