Chapter 159

Su Wanrou bit out the four characters "white plum jar" heavily, this being the unspoken agreement between her and her servant.

Hongyu and Su Wanrou had practically grown up together; Su Wanrou led Hongyu to do those wicked deeds, the first time by threats and lures, the second time it was as if she had signed a pledge of allegiance.

Su Wanrou knew that as long as she dragged Hongyu into trouble, the two of them would be bound together like grasshoppers on a rope.

If Hongyu wanted to go tell Xiao Yin, she had plenty of evidence that Hongyu had poisoned those former Princess Consorts in the mansion for her.

As for poisoning, Su Wanrou never did it herself; every time it was Hongyu who did the deed, while she watched from behind.

The poison passed through Hongyu's hands, and it was Hongyu who administered it; she wanted to see how Hongyu would accuse her, and even if Hongyu did, she was the master of the mansion, while Hongyu was merely a servant.

Once the deed was done, she would be rewarded with a few melons and dates, and then she would have to be her dog.

The white plum jar—only she and her servant understood what it meant.

Jinzhi never expected Miss Wan to stare at her for so long, only to be rewarded with a cup of new tea; her heart instantly relaxed.

"Hongyu! What are you dawdling about? Could it be you don't want to give Miss Jinzhi the new tea we've been saving? Look at how stingy you are!"

Su Wanrou laughed teasingly.

Hongyu shuddered slightly, forced herself to pick up the teacup and walk to the corner of the table; no one would have expected that the jar of poison placed in the Warm Pavilion of Seeking Spring Pavilion would be sitting so conspicuously in the corner.

Those outside Seeking Spring Pavilion might not know, but those inside dare not touch anything in Su Wanrou's room, or they would be tortured to death.

Thus, the jar placed here went unnoticed by anyone for its shocking poison and secret.

Hongyu carefully opened the jar's lid, held a sheet of plain paper to the mouth, and poured out some gleaming tea leaves; at a glance they were fine silver needle tea.

"Bring it over so I can see; this new tea would be better if it were a bit stronger, full of tea fragrance. I see you're all thumbs and can't do anything right—hand it over, let me take a look!"

A layer of cold sweat appeared on Hongyu's forehead.

She had just received Jinzhi's kindness and favor, yet now she was about to poison Jinzhi.

Hongyu felt a rare surge of annoyance and resistance, yet she endured her discomfort, carrying the plain paper to Su Wanrou and smiling, "Take a look, have I poured too much or too little?"

Su Wanrou seized Hongyu's wrist, her fingers tightening slightly, pressing on the wound on Hongyu's wrist; Hongyu winced, almost crying out.

Su Wanrou said nothing, just gave her a light smile: "Just right, go brew tea for Miss Jinzhi to taste."

Hongyu turned and walked toward the teacup by the window; the short distance felt as long as years.

Her steps were especially heavy; following Su Wanrou was truly exhausting.

She carefully lifted the plain paper, brought it to the edge of the teacup, her hand trembling slightly.

At that moment, with her back to Su Wanrou, she didn't expect Su Wanrou to say, "Bring the teacup over to brew; let me see if you're doing it right—if not, it won't taste good."

Hongyu steeled herself and placed the teacup on the small table before Su Wanrou, then immediately poured hot water from the red clay stove into the cup; this tea need not be boiled, a splash of hot water is enough to drink.

The poison was a slow-acting toxin that wouldn't kill instantly, but obviously the master wanted Jinzhi dead tonight, so she used a full dose.

This poison is colorless and odorless, so even if one tried to investigate, there would be no way to detect it; even if the investigation reached Seeking Spring Pavilion, for the sake of a servant, the Prince would surely not make things difficult for his newlywed sister.

Even if worst came to worst and the Princess Consort's side couldn't be passed, she still had her to back her up.

She was the one who took the tea leaves, she was the one who brewed the tea; she was the scapegoat, and when the time came Su Wanrou would rely on the Prince's favor to always be able to remove herself.

But this time Hongyu didn't want to listen to Su Wanrou; she didn't want to harm anyone anymore, especially someone like Jinzhi.

She brewed the tea and brought it to Jinzhi, who hastily took it with both hands, tipped her head back and drank it down—after all, it was a gift from the master, not drinking it would be inexcusable.

Su Wanrou watched as Jinzhi drank the tea, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly, she waved her hand: "Forget it, Hongyu, send her back first; remember to come tomorrow morning to do embroidery."

"Yes!" Hongyu hurriedly led Jinzhi out of Seeking Spring Pavilion.

Hongyu walked ahead in a hurry, Jinzhi could barely keep up.

Yet she noticed Hongyu wasn't taking the usual route to Peach Blossom Pavilion; instead, she led her along a side path, and when they passed the banana grove, Hongyu suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her into the woods.

Jinzhi was nearly toppled by Hongyu's sudden yank, but Hongyu instead snapped off a stalk of dog-tail grass and fixed her with a stare.

"Open your mouth!" Hongyu's face turned cold, making Jinzhi feel she was looking at a stranger.

Jinzhi instinctively opened her mouth; Hongyu shoved the grass into her throat, stirring it, and even roughly poked with her finger.

Jinzhi instantly felt nauseous and bent over to vomit.

"Hurry up and vomit! Get it all out! Get it out!!"

Hongyu's voice sounded like it came from hell, hoarse and urgent; Jinzhi was pressed by her, almost kneeling on the ground, nearly vomiting so hard she couldn't catch her breath.

Hongyu didn't know whether she was cursing herself or Jinzhi, her voice tinged with sobs.

"Wretched creature! Wretched creature!"

"They told you to drink, so just drink!"

"Who are you? You're someone who serves the Princess Consort, how can you be as lowly as me? I can't make decisions for myself, do you think you can either?"

"What is she even? If you don't drink, just turn and leave—what could she possibly do to you?"

"Don't come tomorrow! Who do you think you are? If you don't come to embroider the wedding dress, what can she possibly do to you?"

"You're someone who serves the Princess Consort—if you accidentally hurt your finger, couldn't you just say you're ill, feeling terrible, couldn't you fake sickness? Tell the Princess Consort you can't come to Seeking Spring Pavilion—couldn't you? Do I still need to teach you that?"

"Idiot! You great idiot!"

"Get lost! Hurry up and get lost!"

Jinzhi never imagined that the formerly polite Miss Hongyu would suddenly turn hostile and deny her—could the tea have been problematic?

Unable to speak, she frantically gestured at Hongyu, but Hongyu shoved her, staggering her; by the time she recovered and wanted to give chase, Hongyu had already turned and walked out of the banana grove, vanished without a trace.

Jinzhi stood dazed in the banana grove, her whole body already soaked in cold sweat.

She stumbled back to Peach Blossom Pavilion; before even entering, she heard the laughter of the master, Ninth Sister Jiu Yue, and Little Sister Yun Duo coming from the Warm Pavilion.

Perhaps the master had brought back something fun and shared it with everyone.

Having come from Seeking Spring Pavilion to Peach Blossom Pavilion, she felt as if she had walked from hell to heaven, and for a moment she felt somewhat dazed.

Jinzhi wandered in a daze into the courtyard; only after taking a few steps did she realize she had just been made to vomit by Hongyu, her reeking sour odor truly foul—better to return to her own room first, change into clean clothes, then go pay respects to the Princess Consort.

The Princess Consort's pregnancy was advanced, so she must not jostle her.

Who would have known that just as she was about to turn, Ninth Sister Jiu Yue, who had come out, spotted her.

Jinzhi? Where have you been?

Just now the Princess Consort was asking about you; she brought back quite a few snacks, specially saved a portion for you—come in quickly, the Princess Consort really is partial, she saved the biggest portion for you!

Jiu Yue laughed heartily, grabbed Jinzhi's wrist in one swift motion, then froze, hurriedly touched her forehead and exclaimed in surprise: "Are you sick? Why are you sweating so much?"

Jinzhi gestured, pointed at the stain on her sleeve, then pointed to the side room, indicating she wanted to change clothes first.

Unexpectedly, Gu Jiu Ling heard the voices outside, after all, Jiu Yue has a loud voice.

She laughed and asked: "Who is sick?"

"Come in, let me take a look!"

"The divine physician is here—who dares to get sick?"

Gu Jiu Ling laughed, she is a doctor; the little maids in the courtyard see patients without needing to summon an imperial physician.