Zhen'er and Suhe both ran to the kitchen to see, saying that they had never seen a mouse die of overeating in their lives.
Xie Nanjia was disgusted by those long-tailed things, so she stayed in her room and did not leave. While combing the fourth young lady's hair, she reminded her not to forget to ask her husband for leave tomorrow.
Zhao Lanzhi looked a little listless and said that she didn't seem to sleep well last night. She felt sleepy and her eyelids were heavy.
Just then, Nanny Li came in and heard what was going on. She said that since he was not feeling well, he might as well not go today, but rest at home and recuperate so that he could go out tomorrow.
Zhao Lanzhi refused, fearing that taking too much leave would displease her husband, so she forced herself to go, saying that at worst she could just go to bed early tonight and make up for the sleep.
After she and Suhe left, Zhen'er assisted Nanny Li in taking care of the chores in the yard, while Xie Nanjia went to the Fourth Aunt to discuss tomorrow's trip with her.
When they arrived at Qingfeng Courtyard, Fourth Aunt was still asleep. Qinghong said that maybe she was too excited about having a new daughter the night before and couldn't sleep at night.
Xie Nanjia didn't let Qinghong disturb her and said she would come back in the afternoon.
When I returned to Yilan Courtyard, I didn't see Zhen'er, so I asked Li Ma'am. Li Ma'am said that she was in the fourth young lady's room ironing the clothes she would wear tomorrow.
Logically speaking, these tasks should have been done by Xie Nanjia, but she had hardly ever stayed in the yard properly, so Zhen'er took the initiative to take them on.
Xie Nanjia thought that there might not be another maid as incompetent as herself in the Manchu mansion. Fortunately, the staff in Yilan Courtyard were simple, united and friendly, otherwise she would not be able to survive.
Thinking of this, she went to the fourth lady's room to help Zhen'er.
As soon as I entered the room, I smelled a burning smell. When I looked over, I saw that Zhen'er had fallen asleep on the ironing table. The charcoal iron had burned a hole in the hem of her clothes.
Xie Nanjia was startled and hurried over to wake her up, then picked up the iron and put it on the ground, but the clothes were no longer usable.
Zhen'er was awakened and found that she had ruined the young lady's clothes. Her little face turned pale with fright and tears came out.
"You still have the nerve to cry. If I hadn't arrived in time, I'm afraid you would have burned down the house. It's a dry day. If this room catches fire, the whole mansion will be affected. By then, you won't have enough heads to chop off even if you have a hundred. I'm afraid your parents will be implicated." Xie Nanjia did not comfort her immediately. Instead, he frightened her with a stern face so that she would remember it in the future.
Zhen'er didn't even dare to cry, she shrank her head and said, "I was wrong, I know I was wrong, Sister Xiu'er, please don't tell Mammy, she will scold me to death if she finds out!"
Xie Nanjia said, "Mammy knows Miss's clothes very well. Do you think you can hide it? Besides, this dress was specially chosen for Miss to go to burn incense. How can you hide it?"
Zhen Er was completely desperate. She fell to the ground and murmured, "I'm dead, I'm dead..."
Just at this time, Nanny Li finished her work outside and came in with a plate of spiced broad beans, saying that she wanted to comfort Zhen'er.
When Zhen'er heard this, she burst into tears.
Nanny Li was so frightened that she almost spilled the beans. She hurriedly asked what was going on. Zhen'er crawled to her, hugged her legs and cried for mercy.
Just as Zhen'er had expected, Nanny Li grabbed her ears and pulled her up from the ground, scolding her in anger.
Zhen Er grimaced in pain, but she didn't dare to break free. She just begged for mercy: "Mammy, please forgive me. I didn't mean to fall asleep, but my eyelids keep drooping for some reason..."
"You little bitch, you make it sound so light. It's not a big deal that your eyelids are drooping, but you've ruined a nice dress. The young lady doesn't have many nice clothes to begin with. What are you going to wear tomorrow? Are you going to wear your skin off?" Nanny Li gritted her teeth in anger.
As Xie Nanjia listened, she suddenly felt that something was wrong. The Fourth Miss was sleepy, the Fourth Aunt was sleepy, and Zhen'er was also sleepy. Why were they all sleepy today
"Madam, please stop scolding me. I can mend the clothes." She called out to Madam Li.
Nanny Li was stunned, let go of Zhen'er's ear, and asked, "How can we repair such a big hole?"
Xie Nanjia said, "This plain brocade skirt is too plain to begin with. Find a piece of bright red silk and make some flowers on the hem. Also, patch up the hole and embroider two butterflies on it. When you walk, the flowers and butterflies will flutter. It will not only not affect the overall elegance, but also add some liveliness and brightness. What do you think, Madam?"
Upon hearing this, Nanny Li immediately relaxed her brows and praised her for her cleverness and kind heart. She also tapped Zhen'er's forehead and told her to learn more.
Zhen'er didn't dare to say a word and obediently followed Xie Nanjia's instructions to find fabric and help.
Nanny Li had been doing needlework all her life and was an excellent embroidery worker. She immediately took out the needle and thread basket and started working with Xie Nanjia.
While Xie Nanjia was working quietly, he was thinking about the fact that several people were sleepy at the same time. Combined with the fact that he had run into Yun Yan and Mrs. Wu talking in the kitchen yesterday, he felt that there was some connection between the two.
She felt a little regretful. She shouldn't have let her guard down just because Aunt Cai said they were from the same hometown. Although it's not good to be paranoid, it's better than being careless.
She thought again, if Yun Yan really did something wrong, judging from the condition of the Fourth Young Lady and Zhen'er, it should not be a highly poisonous substance. Compared to the risk of suddenly killing a young lady, a step-by-step approach would seem safer.
So, could this poison that makes people sleepy be the same poison that Hua Lou was poisoned with
It’s a pity that Hu Qianshan went to southern Xinjiang, otherwise we could ask him to help.
But then again, why are Nanny Li and Su He okay
Could it be that they both have stronger physiques
Xie Nanjia was full of doubts. When it was lunchtime, she did not let Zhen'er go to get the meal. She used the excuse that her neck was sore from sitting for too long and went to the kitchen herself.
After arriving there, she first talked to Aunt Cai for a while, and then carried the food back to Yilan Courtyard.
When she arrived outside the courtyard gate, she looked around to see that there was no one around. She used the silver hairpin she had specially prepared to test the food one by one, but found nothing unusual.
She couldn't help but wonder if she was overthinking, and maybe it was just a coincidence that the Fourth Young Lady and the others were sleepy.
After lunch, the three of them worked for the whole afternoon until it was almost dark, when they finally finished altering the clothes.
When the fourth young lady came back and saw the dress, she was stunned on the spot. She took it in her hands and looked at it over and over again, and couldn't let it go.
She didn't know that her clothes were burned. She just thought that Xie Nanjia was creative in making her look more beautiful. She was so moved that she generously took out her meager savings to reward the four loyal servants.
Xie Nanjia was still the one who went to get dinner. Although she didn't find anything unusual at noon, she still tried it again carefully. This time, she really found something. The silver hairpin changed color when it touched the plate of crystal tofu.
Xie Nanjia knew what was going on, so she took the dishes back calmly. When she put them on the table, she pretended to accidentally knock over the crystal tofu.
She was a great hero today, so Nanny Li made an exception and didn't say anything. She just told her to get the broom and sweep out quickly.
Xie Nanjia swept away the broken plates and tofu and quietly poured them into the corner of the courtyard wall. He got up early the next morning to check and found that another mouse had died.
In order to prevent them from panicking, she didn't disturb anyone and buried the rat while suppressing her nausea.
After finishing these things, they returned to the house. After a while, the others woke up one after another and busily helped the Fourth Miss to change clothes and wash up. They first went to pay their respects to the lady, then came back to have dinner. After dinner, they went out with the Fourth Aunt to burn incense at the Fanyin Temple.
When paying respects, the Fourth Aunt talked to Qin about going to burn incense. Qin did not stop them, but only asked her and the Fourth Miss with concern whether they had eaten well and slept well in the past two days.
Both of them said that they ate well and slept well. Qin was very pleased to hear that. She told them to be careful on the road, go early and come back early, and also told the fourth aunt to light a perpetual lamp for the fourth young lady's biological mother, and the money for incense would be paid from the account later.
The Fourth Aunt was extremely surprised. On the way to Fanyin Temple, she and Xie Nanjia said that the Madam seemed like a different person in the past few days, so good that it was frightening.
Xie Nanjia didn't want to alarm the fourth young lady for the time being, so he decided to find an opportunity to quietly remind her.
When they arrived at Fanyin Temple, Xie Nanjia used the excuse of going to the bathroom and asked Qinghong to accompany the fourth concubine and the fourth young lady to the main hall, while he himself took a walk outside the hall.
The Bodhi tree on the side of the main hall is hung with red silk ribbons tied with copper coins. These are thrown there by devout believers in the hope of finding a marriage partner. It is said that the higher the coins are thrown, the more effective they are.
Xie Nanjia found a black silk ribbon on the shortest branch of a tree, with a stone tied to each end. She couldn't help laughing, knowing that Zhao Jingyu and the others had arrived.
When they returned to the palace, the Fourth Aunt and the Fourth Miss had already finished burning incense. Xie Nanjia suggested going for a walk before going home.
The Fourth Aunt and the Fourth Young Miss had a tacit understanding and let her lead the way to the place they had agreed on in advance.
…
Princess Anping was really angry for several days at home because of her son's affairs. In order to prevent her son from going out, she followed him almost every step of the way. She locked him in the room at night and sent guards to guard outside the door.
Although Zhou Yuncheng did not dare to disobey her, he never spoke to her again.
Princess Anping had two sons in total. The youngest son unfortunately died when he was a few years old. Therefore, she paid special attention to the remaining son and treasured him like the apple of her eye. Now, because of a concubine's daughter from a marquis's mansion, the mother and son are about to become enemies. Princess Anping refused to admit defeat, but was secretly anxious in her heart.
The day before yesterday, Cheng Zhiye suddenly came to the door and said that on the fifteenth day he accompanied his grandmother to Fanyin Temple to burn incense and met Master Wuchen. Master Wuchen heard about the distress of the princess and Mr. Zhou, and asked the princess to bring Mr. Zhou to the temple. He would personally enlighten Mr. Zhou to let go of his obsession.
Princess Anping was a Buddhist and donated a considerable amount of money to Fanyin Temple every year. She was even more devout in her worship of Master Wuchen and treated him like a god. She believed every word that Master Wuchen said.
Therefore, after hearing what Cheng Zhiye said, she immediately went to discuss it with her son. Unfortunately, Zhou Yuncheng was still angry with her and refused to go no matter what. Princess Anping, on the other hand, put down her attitude and said nice things to him, and he finally agreed reluctantly.
Early this morning, Princess Anping brought Zhou Yuncheng to Fanyin Temple to pay a visit to Master Wuchen's meditation room.
Master Wu Chen said that he wanted to talk to Princess Anping alone first to understand the situation, and asked Zhou Yuncheng to wait outside.
When Princess Anping finished talking to Master Wuchen and came out to call Zhou Yuncheng in, they found that he was gone.
I asked the guard, and he said that the eldest master had gone to change his clothes and would not let me follow him.
Princess Anping had a feeling that something was wrong, so she took her guards to look for her son. They searched everywhere but couldn't find him. Finally, she heard her son's voice in a remote dormitory.
"Don't worry, I will marry you in this life. If my mother doesn't agree, I will die in front of her!" Zhou Yuncheng said in a firm voice.
Princess Anping outside the door almost went crazy. She was about to push the door open and get angry when she suddenly heard a crisp "slap" sound, as if someone slapped someone. Then she heard Zhou Yuncheng asked in surprise, "Why did you hit me?"
Princess Anping was stunned, her hand on the door didn't move, then she heard a clear female voice saying: "Your mother raised you with great difficulty, but you want to abandon her for a woman. Have you ever thought about her feelings? I lost my mother when I was young, and lived like a weed in the world. I dreamed of having a mother to love me, but you ignored the grace of raising me for the sake of love between men and women. You are such an unfaithful and unfilial person, and you have wasted my true love!"
Princess Anping's heart moved slightly and she slowly put down her hand.
(End of this chapter)