Chapter 171 out of 513 – Poison that had been thrown away a month ago (2)
Four days later, Wen Wan’s poisoning was finally cured. However, her body was still very weak, and the doctor said that she needed to properly recuperate.
Sitting on the side of the bed and holding Wen Wan’s hand, Ning Yuxuan said, “For the time being, stay here until you get better. Once you’ve recovered, I’ll arrange for you to be my side.”
Joy could be seen in Wen Wan’s eyes. She bashfully nodded, then she glanced at Nie Sangyu and asked in an apprehensive voice, “Wouldn’t this be inappropriate?”
Ji Man put down her cup and seriously nodded. “It is somewhat inappropriate. My lord, you should reconsider this decision.”
“How is it inappropriate?” Marquis Moyu slightly frowned.
Ji Man sighed. “My lord, don’t think that this servant is feeling resentful. Over the past few days, you’ve seen that this servant doesn’t have any ill intentions towards younger sister Wan-er. If someone wants to frame this servant, then even if this servant has a hundred mouths, this servant won’t be able to successfully defend myself. This servant just wants to say a few sincere words to persuade you. Right now, younger sister Wan-er is a servant and also my lord’s favorite. While she’s in this servant’s courtyard, this servant can constantly watch after her and protect her. If she leaves here and goes to my lord’s courtyard, then as soon as my lord goes to the palace or leaves the residence to do something else, won’t younger sister Wan-er be left alone and unprotected?”
A servant girl could be bullied by anyone. Ning Yuxuan frowned. “When did this household become a lair with fierce wolves?”
“My lord, if you don’t believe this servant and insist on taking younger sister Wan-er away to be your personal servant girl, this servant can’t stop you.” Ji Man sighed. “We’ll do as you say.”
Wen Wan looked at Marquis Moyu. She wanted to leave with him. That way, the opportunities to be alone with him would increase. Nie Sangyu was only saying these frightening words to scare them because she didn’t want her to be close with the marquis. There were very few people that would dare to brazenly harm her in this household.
However, after Marquis Moyu considered Nie Sangyu’s words, he actually sighed and said, “Sangyu’s words are reasonable. Wan-er will continue to stay in Feiwan Courtyard. Besides, if I frequently come here to visit you, mother won’t say anything.”
Wen Wan said, “My lord…”
“Focus on getting better.” Ning Yuxuan stroked her beautiful hair. “We can talk about this again after you get better.”
Wen Wan lowered her eyes and her fingers slightly tightened their grip, but she could only respond, “Okay.”
As Ji Man watched this exchange between them from the side, she indifferently resumed drinking her tea.
—
That night, Marquis Moyu didn’t sleep in the side room. Instead, he came to Nie Sangyu’s room and looked rather fatigued as he rubbed the spot between his eyebrows.
Ji Man didn’t say unnecessary words. After assisting him with changing his clothes and washing up, she went onto the bed and massaged his back for a little bit. Then, she turned over to face the inside of the bed and prepared to sleep.
Ning Yuxuan glanced at her. “Why are you being so well-behaved?”
He wasn’t pleased if she stirred up trouble, but he wasn’t happy either when she accepted her lot. Ji Man rolled her eyes. This man was so difficult to serve.
“This servant is just feeling a bit sleepy.”
Marquis Moyu paused, then he said, “Once Wan-er is better, I’ll still carefully investigate the matter of her poisoning.”
“Alright.” Ji Man yawned. “Do a serious job with investigating. Don’t treat anyone unjustly, but don’t let off the guilty party too lightly either.”
Ning Yuxuan turned over to face her back. “Are you not afraid that if I find out it was you, I’ll take away your position as my wife again?”
Ji Man turned over to face him and looked at him as she said, “This servant has always thought that the marquis isn’t stupid. If you can be fooled by these women into wrongly accusing an innocent person, then this servant can only accept defeat and acknowledged that this servant has married the wrong person.”
Ning Yuxuan harrumphed. “Do you think that if you say these words, then I won’t suspect you?”
“Even if you suspect this servant, you still have to take out evidence of any wrongdoing,” Ji Man said, “That type of slow-acting poison is expensive and rare. My lord, it won’t take you much time to find out who has that type of poison. When that time comes, this servant will naturally have a way to prove my innocence.”
There was lit incense in the room, and the bed curtains were lowered. It should have been a scene of conjugal bliss, but the two people on the bed were staring at each other. One pair of eyes showed suspicion and the other showed forthrightness.
In the end, Ning Yuxuan was the one that gave up, closed his eyes, and said, “Go to sleep.”
“En.” Ji Man turned back to the face the other side again.
—
Pinching her nose, Dengxin walked over to the back garden. Looking at the dead fish in the container, she asked Gancao, “Why does Master want to keep these smelly things here? It’s been several days. They’ve already started rotting.”
Gancao shook her head, “Master said to not throw them out.”
The two of them could only cover up the container and keep their distance from this place.
—
Ji Man had already asked Old Madame about the slow-acting poison she had given her. This type of poison was only available to noble families. Whenever there was a shameful person that wasn’t fit to be seen in their households, the matriarchs or other women with high positions from those families would use this type of poison to kill that person.
This poison was created by a highly skilled doctor that specialized in selling his creation to aristocratic families. And so, Marquis Moyu sent over people to ask this doctor. He found out that only one bottle of this poison had been sold to his household and the person that had possession of this bottle of poison was Old Madame.
When Ning Yuxuan went over to ask Old Madame to show this bottle to him, Old Madame pursed her lips and stayed silent. Old Madame was almost about to erupt into anger from embarrassment.
Fortunately, Ji Man had rushed over here as soon as she heard this news. It would have been a disaster if she had arrived later.
Ji Man asked, “My lord, are you sure that Old Madame only bought this one bottle of poison in the past several years?”
Marquis Moyu nodded. He was somewhat familiar with that old doctor and believed that he wouldn’t lie to him.
“Then, this servant will have to ask my lord to scoop around in the pond,” Ji Man said, “A month ago, this servant asked for this poison from Old Madame to give to Errong to play around with. But, this servant accidentally dropped the bottle into the pond. A lot of the fish in the pond had recently died because of that poison. My lord, if you want to examine the fish, this servant can show you them. This servant had left them in the back garden.”
After casually using Errong as an excuse, Ji Man frankly said, “This servant only had access to one bottle of poison and this servant can explain how it was used. My lord, shouldn’t you be moving the direction of your investigation to elsewhere now?”