Chapter 102: In A Great Mess

Comments:

Chau- I am fairly sure that “gold-dissolving water” is aqua regia, a powerfulhydrochloric-nitric acid, so… Even if there was no poison in the gold, thecorrosive acid probably would have killed the dog anyways. Uhh, so… I thinkthis might be a plot-hole or artistic liberty, but my knowledge of chemistry islimited, so feel free to update me on this. Main source: :)

This chapter is sponsored by Anita S., Amy N., Christine G.

Edited July 2, 2018

Stay tuned for the next release which will be very soon!

Notes:

1 -

Presumably referring to the acid known as aqua regia, Latin for king’s water

LaoFuren walked away with Min Zhi. Jiang Yue Lan felt her body go limp and had tolean against Rong Mama.

RongMama was puzzled. She couldn’t understand. Furen looked after the child withgreat care. How could this happen? She quickly helped Jiang Yue Lan sit downand brought a cup of tea over. She said softly, “The cold weather isunavoidable, Lao Furen misunderstood Furen. Don’t take it to heart.”

JiangYue Lan who was just shocked moments ago, had now returned to normal. Sheaccepted the cup of tea but didn’t drink it. She slowly asked: “What justhappened?”

Rongmama pondered over and guessed: “Was it San Xiaojie’s scheme to return thechild to Qi Yiniang?”

JiangYue Lan shook her head: “I believe that she wants to bring the child back, butI don’t believe she would use poisonous insects to hurt Li Min Zhi. Didn’t yousee her face earlier, there was surprise and anger!”

RongMama became even more anxious: “But even then, the first person Laoye and LaoFuren will blame is Furen! What do we do now?”

JiangYue Lan let out a sad sigh. She glanced at the pile of elaborate, newlyembroidered children’s clothes and said: “Now I am forced to suffer in silence,unable to voice my grievances. If something happened to Min Zhi, I’m afraid LiWei Yang and Qi Yiniang will resent me to death. I wanted to use the child tocontrol Li Wei Yang, but now I only ended up losing the rice used to lure thechicken I tried to steal.”

RongMama lamented: “Furen was wronged this time.”

“Ijust don’t understand. My servants were always careful with his food. What wasthe issue?” Jiang Yue Lan subconsciously caressed the children’s clothes andsaid, “I have to find out who acted behind my back!”

RongMama said: “Nubi also does not understand. Who would have the chance to harm SiShaoye?”

JiangYue Lan shook her head, her eyebrows furrowed: “Qi Yiniang is blessed with goodfortune. Her child is also hard to attend to.Even if there were more people taking care of him, they would not do agood job. With that many people around, someone may have used it as anopportunity to act. Relay my order to thoroughly investigate!”

Manypeople mean many hands and feet. Perhaps someone used it as an opportunity toact! Deliver my order, we must investigate thoroughly!”

RongMama quickly responded: “Nubi understands.” Seeing Jiang Yue Lan stand up, RongMama wondered: “Where is Furen going?”

JiangYue Lan frowned: “I must see Lao Furen!”

“Furen,Lao Furen is furious right now, if you go now——” Rong Mama was worried.

JiangYue Lan said: “Mama must be confused. If I’m not there right now, it will beeven easier for others to blame me.”

RongMama immediately understood and quickly helped Jiang Yue Lan reach He XiangCourtyard. When they arrived, they saw that not only Li Wei Yang, but even LiXiao Ran and the other Yiniangs had come. Rong Mama felt even more afraid. Itseemed that the situation had turned into a great mess.

WhenLao Furen saw Jiang Yue Lan, her anger immediately flared. She pointed at herand shouted: “What are you doing here!”

JiangYue Lan looked at Lao Furen and only shed tears in silence. She did say even aword to defend herself.

LiXiao Rat had originally intended to scold her a bit, but when he saw her likethat, he only said: “Lao Furen, Yue Lan is still young and cannot take care ofchildren well…”

“Ifyou can’t take good care of a child, then don’t pretend like you can!!” LaoFuren’s eyes were red. The only grandson by her side was Min Zhi. If somethinghappened to the child, wouldn’t she die of sadness? That year when Li Chang Leand Li Min Feng were born, Li Xiao Ran was away for business, so Lao Furen didnot witness their births. Her emotional ties with them weren’t as strong. Butfor Min Zhi, from the moment he was born, Lao Furen had held him in her armsand unconditionally doted on him. Of course, this was a different feeling.

Theold Imperial Physician was soon called in. He carefully examined the child’sinjury and then said: “It doesn’t seem like insect bites.”

LiXiao Ran frowned: “With such small dots, could it be a rash?”

Theold Imperial Physician shook his head: “Not a rash, but it seems to be poison.”

a.s.soon as those words were spoken, everyone’s faces changed. Everyone lookedtowards Jiang Yue Lan. Li Wei Yang suddenly stood up. Lao Furen coldly said:“Poisoned, who could be so heartless so as to poison a child?!”

QiYiniang held back her tears. She only held onto Min Zhi, afraid to speak.

LiWei Yang was genuinely conflicted. She suddenly wondered if her carelessnesscreated an opportunity for someone to poison Li Min Zhi! The more she thoughtabout it, the more she regretted it! But for the time being, she felt somethingwas wrong. She had people watching day and night when Min Zhi was at QiYiniang’s place, so they couldn’t have acted then, unless he was poisoned whenhe was at Jiang Yue Lan’s place… Her voice was low and solemn as a tollingbell: “Ask that Fuqin investigate this matter thoroughly and find justice forMin Zhi.”

LiXiao Ran’s eyes flashed, consumed in fury and coldly said to everyone:“Investigate! I want to see who is this daring, daring to harm my son!”

LaoFuren nodded: “Imperial Physician w.a.n.g, we will look to you.”

Thewhite-bearded, old Imperial Physician nodded: “Young Shaoye is blessed, thepoison is not severe. If he was old enough, he would be fine after two monthsof medication, but for a child, medication will be much more complicated! Inany case, it is not difficult, I will prescribe some detoxifying medicationthat can be mixed with milk for him to drink.”

LiWei Yang’s mind raced through many thoughts. She also said: “Does thedetoxifying medication contain toxic ingredients for adults?”

OldImperial Physician shook his head: “It does not.”

LiWei Yang let out a long sigh: “I’m afraid he may not be able to drink it evenwhen mixed with milk. Have the wet nurse drink it instead.”

Theold Imperial Physician nodded: “This is a good method but requires a littlemore preparation. Letting a wet nurse drink, it would also work, the smellwould not be as strong once diluted with milk.”

LiWei Yang glanced around. Min Zhi had fallen asleep, and Tan s.h.i.+’s tears hadfallen on his face. The child seemed to be dreaming of eating somethingwonderful, his little mouth twitching and cheeks red, not looking like he hadbeen poisoned. She subconsciously clenched her fists. Daring to touch her didi, someone truly wants to die! She looked at Jiang Yue Lan: “Muqin, when di diwas with you, who else was by your side?”

Sheknew there was no chance that Jiang Yue Lan would do something so foolish,because if Min Zhi was hurt, the first unfortunate person would be her, so itcould be someone else ——

JiangYue Lan carefully thought for a while and subconsciously glanced at Li ChangLe. She saw that Chang Le was surprised and worried. To tell the truth, thefirst person she suspected was Li Chang Le. Only she could freely go in and outof Jiang Yue Lan’s courtyard, but if this was brought to light, won’t the Jiangfamily bear a grudge? She thought and said: “Min Zhi only had milk. Nooutsiders were allowed in and out of his room on most days. I really cannotfigure it out, how could he have been poisoned? Could someone have poisoned himthrough the wet nurse?”

Theold Imperial Physician shook his head: ”This type of poison is easy to use onchildren, but it is very different on adults. If it was through the wet nurse,a significant amount must have been used, and that would be easy to discover. Isuspect that there is a chance someone by Si Shaoye’s side acted. I hope I maycheck and see.”

LiWei Yang got up and went to Min Zhi’s side. She carefully looked over him, fromhis diaper to his hands and feet. She gently took off his diaper and wrappedhim a small blanket. After that, she searched inside out again. Even the threadof his head covering was carefully examined, but still, nothing was found.

Hereyes finally fell on the gold collar necklace, gold bracelet, and gold anklet.She paused for a moment and personally took all of them off. Then, she turnedto the old Imperial Physician: “Imperial Physician, could you see if there’sanything wrong with these?”

LuoMama was the first to frown: “San Xiaojie, Lao Furen had people make thoseitems!”

LiWei Yang sighed: “I certainly do not suspect Lao Furen, but they have pa.s.sedthrough many hands along the way, what if they have been tampered with?”

LuoMama looked to Lao Furen. Lao Furen nodded and said through clenched teeth:“Indeed. To guard against thousands of thieves is easier than the thief inone’s home, investigate!”

Everyonein the room held their breaths, watching the sight that unfolded before them.Li Xiao Ran currently had one precious child. If something happened, no onewould be able to bear the consequences.

That set of gold jewelry was worththousands. Adorned with radiant pearls, the golden locket had exquisitecraftsmans.h.i.+p, especially on the collar. The shape of a four-petal begonia wasdesigned on the collar. Each petal was adorned with precious and pricelessstones. The one petal at the neck was inlaid with an opal, another with a ruby,and the two on the left and right were etched and engraved with pearls. LaoFuren had specifically taken pieces from her dowry jewelry to craft it. Thelocket was made from a stunning ingot and four words were engraved: hundredyears of longevity. One could see how much thought Lao Furen had put in itsmaking.

[1]

Theold Imperial Physician took the gold from a yatou’s hands, examined it overonce and frowned: “This——” It was obviously difficult to say.

LiWei Yang scoffed. It was not difficult to say, but it was not something hedared to casually say! She thought for a moment and said: “Bring out thegold-dissolving liquid.

[1]

”

Everyonewas taken aback and looked at one each other in horror. Lao Furen frowned andraised her voice: “Have you all gone deaf! Didn’t you hear what San Xiaojie?”

Gold-dissolvingliquid was not a common good, but there was indeed some in the Li familywarehouse. The frightened yatous quickly responded: “Yes.” Shortly later, theyreturned with a porcelain vase. Li Wei Yang poured out its contents into abowl. She subtly declined Luo Mama’s a.s.sistance, who had offered to help, andpersonally cut a small piece from the gold collar. She dipped it into the bowl.In less than an hour, the original gold piece had turned into liquid.

LiWei Yang raised her voice: “Go bring a dog here.”

Theyatou obeyed immediately. She went and quickly brought a hunting dog from theservants’ quarters. The dog was tall and fierce, snarling and baring its teethat Li Wei Yang, loudly barking. Li Wei Yang gave the bowl to the yatou, so shecould give it to the dog’s handler and said: “Let it drink it.”

Thedog’s handler hesitated, then let the dog drink the liquid in the bowl. Everyoneunblinkingly stared at that dog.

Momentslater, the large, fierce hunting dog fell down, rolled on the floor and bled.Soon it was dead. Li Chang Xiao subconsciously took a few steps back. Seeingthe dog’s tragic death, she almost vomited.

SiYiniang hastily covered her mouth with a handkerchief, revealing a look ofdisgust.

LaoFuren bluntly said: “To have despicable thoughts such as harming a young childis unacceptable. This person is truly heartless.”

Theold Imperial Physician carefully examined the dog’s corpse and nodded: “I wasnot wrong, so it was aconite. It seems this person used raw aconite in gold.There is nothing strange when a child first wears it, but over time, the toxinswill seep into the body and it will worsen. I fear, they may eventually evenlose their life.”

LaoFuren was still in disbelief: “I gifted this gold collar. This person evendared to take advantage of my good intentions. This is an intolerable crime!”

EvenLi Xiao Ran’s body shook. The cup of tea in his hands fell to the ground. Hestood up, about to explode and angrily shouted: “Who dares to be so bold!”

Everyonein the room looked at each other.

Tans.h.i.+ could not hold it in anymore and almost fainted. Bai Zhi and Zhao Yuequickly supported her. She could not believe it and was unable to hold back hertears. She suddenly pointed at Jiu Yiniang: “You were the only one to come incontact with this gold collar! It was you, it must be you, why did you want toharm Min Zhi!”

JiuYiniang was terrified to see everyone looking at her. She could not help butfall to her knees and say: “Laoye is fair, I truly didn’t know. I just… I just…I just touched this beautiful collar and wanted to make one just like it forJing er, how can this be… How could I tamper with it…”?

AfterLi Chang Jing was born, Lao Furen never spared her a glance because she was adaughter. Jiu Yiniang had sent someone to craft the longevity locket. Sheadmired Min Zhi’s exquisite gold chain and grew envious. She quietly borrowedit from Qi Yiniang for two days, so someone could copy it and make oneidentical to it for Li Chang Jing. However, there was no way to replicate theprecious jewels, so she had to switch them. Now, that it came down to this, thefirst person to be suspected was naturally her!

Atthat moment, Li Xiao Ran furiously said: “You still refuse to admit it? Onlyyou have touched this gold collar!”

JiuYiniang was absolutely terrified. She didn’t know what he was talking about anddesperately cried out: “Laoye, I didn’t do it. I really didn’t do it, how couldI harm Si Shaoye. I also have a child, how could I do something so heartless!”

JiangYue Lan looked at her: “Jiu Yiniang, things have come down to this. Yiniangshould be honest and explain yourself!”

JiuYiniang cried out: “Laoye, I would certainly admit to it if I did it, but Iwill never admit to something I have never done!”

LiChang Le, who had yet to open her mouth, now scoffed: “Jiu Yiniang, you resentSi Di for having Lao Furen’s favor, so you used such a vicious scheme to harmSi Di! I advise you to be honest and avoid having to suffer!”

JiuYiniang wept pitifully and refused to admit anything.

LiWei Yang’s eyes swept over Jiu Yiniang and at last, fell on Li Chang Le.

LiChang Le was frightened by Li Wei Yang’s cold stare: “Sanmei, what’s wrong withyou? Why are you looking at me like that? I am speaking up for Si Di! First ofall, Jiu Yiniang resents Si Di and Muqin as well because Fuqin often visits FuRui Courtyard. She felt uneasy and did this to frame Muqin with Si Di’sincident, wanting Fuqin to punish someone!”

LiWei Yang’s eyes were solemn. At that moment, even she was unsure who theperpetrator was! Jiang Yue Lan, no, she would not do this to herself, but whatif she wanted to pa.s.s the blame to Jiu Yiniang? Then, not only would she beable to get rid of Min Zhi, she could also eliminate Jiu Yiniang’s currentfavor! However, in this manner, it would be too dangerous especially when LaoFuren could closely watch her. If Jiang Yue Lan wanted fame and fortune and tosecure her position as Da Furen, she would not have these kinds of thoughts!

Whatabout Jiu Yiniang? She had harmed Qi Yiniang before and was even manipulated bySi Yiniang. Her motives were very clear, like Li Chang Le said! What about SiYiniang! Wasn’t she suspicious too? She resented Jiang Yue Lan the most and JiuYiniang. After this, both will fall out of favor! However, Li Chang Le suddenlyspoke up to help Min Zhi, which was strange, so she was more suspicious than anyone.However, she had ordered Zhao Nan to pay close attention if Li Chang Le came incontact with Min Zhi. Zhao Nan kept watch outside Jiang Yue Lan’s room all day.If Li Chang Le tampered with the gold locket, Zhao Nan would surely know! Butbased on Zhao Nan’s reports, Li Chang Le never touched Min Zhi when he wa.s.still at Fu Rui Courtyard.

AfterLi Min Feng left, Min Zhi became the only child under Fuqin. Lao Furen alsodeeply cherished him, something that would definitely make others resentful andwish they could make Min Zhi disappear from the Li family… In this case, ifothers had used Min Zhi to provoke Li Wei Yang, it would be no different thandragging Min Zhi to the Li family’s internal struggles. Whether it was becauseof his status as a male child or Jiang Yue Lan adopting him, it was verytroublesome!

Beingaccused in such a manner, Jiu Yiniang rushed forward and fiercely slapped LiChang Le twice. She still wanted to strike again when Jiang Yue Lan loudlyordered: “Quickly stop her! Quickly! Hurry and stop her!”

Theyatous rushed to seize Jiu Yiniang but, she would not stop cursing: “DaXiaojie, I have no grudge against you. What allows you to wrongly accuse me!How could you be so cruel and evil!”

LiChang Le did not expect the weak and obedient Jiu Yiniang to lunge and strikesomeone. She felt lightheaded, her vision beginning to blur as a hot sensationspread over her face. She felt something warm running down her face and broughther hand up to find blood. Jiu Yiniang had struck her fiercely and had evendrawn blood. She suddenly cried out: “You hit me! You dared to hit my face!”She resented not being able to go over and slap Jiu Yiniang. A tall womanbehind her immediately pulled her back: “Da Xiaojie, let Laoye judge forXiaojie!”

LiChang Le suddenly calmed down and turned her face full of tears towards Li XiaoRan, crying despairingly. Li Wei Yang looked over at the tall, stern woman andremembered this was someone the Jiang family had left behind, Zhou Mama. In abrief moment, she reminded Li Chang Le that if she also lunged forward andslapped Jiu Yiniang, wouldn’t others think she was unreasonable? After all, JiuYiniang was still Li Xiao Ran’s concubine! It was not in her power todiscipline Jiu Yiniang!”

LaoFuren frowned and coldly said: “Why have you still not seized Jiu Yiniang!”

JiuYiniang resisted as if she had lost her mind. Li Wei Yang noticed Jiu Yiniang’sface was a bit off: “Lao Furen, Jiu Yiniang seems a bit abnormal.”

Forsome reason, Jiu Yiniang’s flushed face and pale lips resembled Li Chang Xi’swhen she was caught, but still resisted despite being held down! Si Yiniangfearfully retreated a few steps, terrified. But why? Jiu Yiniang seemed normalmoments ago, did she suddenly go crazy? Li Wei Yang looked at the people firmlyholding Jiu Yiniang down, frowning. This matter kept becoming more and morechaotic!

LaoFuren coldly said: “Jiu Yiniang, there’s no need to pretend anymore!”

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Translator: Chau

Editor: s.h.i.+ara

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