His gaze was icy and unfathomable, making it impossible to discern his thoughts. Anyone else would likely have been intimidated by his imposing presence, yet Zhu Changsheng met his eyes for a long while, her expression firm and unwavering.
Seeing this, Wei Jin’s stern face suddenly broke into a faint, almost imperceptible smile.
He had acknowledged Zhu Changsheng.
Turning to look at Wei Hu and Wei Jiangbai, he pointed at the young men. “Have them remain in the spirit hall to guard the bodies of the Wei Mansion’s masters. On the day of the funeral procession, they will bear the coffins for Old General Wei and Young General Wei.”
With that, Wei Jin walked past the young men and left the Wei Mansion.
Lady Xiang and the Wei Clan Leader were carried back to the ancestral residence.
Zhu Changsheng approached Wei Hu and removed the cloth gag from his mouth.
Wei Hu angrily exclaimed, “How could you lie? I never told you those things. How did you know?”
He glanced back at the young men behind him.
The young men quickly defended themselves. “Brother Hu, it wasn’t me. We were all locked up together.”
So how did she know what Lady Xiang had instructed?
Zhu Changsheng sneered coldly, pulling a string of copper coins from each of them and placing them on the tray held by Steward Feng. She addressed the young men, “Each of you has a string of copper coins. If I’m not mistaken, the total number of coins corresponds to the number of rats. One copper coin per rat. And the rats you released into the spirit hall were all plump and large. I suspect Lady Xiang must have told you that the bigger and more numerous the rats, the more coins you’d earn.”
“You… you guessed it!” Wei Hu was incredulous.
Zhu Changsheng nodded. “Yes, I guessed.”
Having practiced medicine, traveled as a peddler, and worked in corpse stitching and burial rites for ten years, she had honed her ability to read people. Coupled with her understanding of Lady Xiang and the clues from the young men, she could easily deduce what Lady Xiang had said and done.
Analyzing human nature allowed one to predict a person’s actions—a lesson imparted to her by a master.
What Wei Hu couldn’t believe was Zhu Changsheng’s cleverness. “But… those confessions and signatures—I never did any of that.”
“Hah!” Zhu Changsheng crouched down and chuckled softly. “Lady Xiang only cares about your martial training, not your studies. I simply scribbled your names and had a few servants press their fingerprints onto the confession. How would she know if it was your handwriting or fingerprints? At that moment, her attention was entirely on the confession itself. All she could think about was your betrayal, completely losing her ability to judge.”
“You…” Wei Hu was nearly speechless with anger. “You’re truly a despicable and shameless villain.”
“When dealing with a bunch of unruly brats like you, I don’t need to resort to honorable methods.” Zhu Changsheng patted Wei Hu’s shoulder. “Learn from this. Know yourself and your enemy, and you’ll never be defeated.”
She stood up and addressed Steward Feng and Ling Su. “As per the Old Clan Leader’s instructions, untie them and have them keep vigil.”
Bi Rui and Tao Xin followed Zhu Changsheng into the inner courtyard.
After this confrontation, the servants of the Wei Mansion regarded Zhu Changsheng with newfound respect.
“Young Madam, you were truly remarkable. I was worried the Clan Leader and Lady Xiang would cause a scene tonight, but you subdued them so effortlessly,” Tao Xin said, her eyes filled with admiration.
Fu Xin and Shui Yao exchanged glances.Their mistress was a tigress who didn’t even fear evil spirits—ghosts would flee at the sight of her. A few insignificant clowns were nothing.
Bi Rui suddenly reddened her eyes, wiping away tears as she said, “If the Young Master were still here, he would surely protect the Young Madam. Young Madam, you’ve truly been so good to our Young Master.”
As Bi Rui cried, Tao Xin followed suit.
Zhu Changsheng didn’t know how to comfort them. After all, she and Wei Yuan were merely a marriage of convenience, with no genuine affection.
At that moment, Steward Deng approached and respectfully said to Zhu Changsheng, “Young Madam, the dishes you instructed this servant to prepare are ready.”
Zhu Changsheng gently stroked the jade ring on her index finger and said to Fu Xin, “As soon as day breaks, deliver the dishes prepared by Uncle Deng to the Concubine of Prince Jing.”
What she had experienced tonight was what Zhu Yuanshu had gone through in her previous life. However, in that past life, Zhu Yuanshu had failed to properly guard the Wei family’s coffin, allowing the corpse inside to be gruesomely gnawed by rats.
She had received a task to enter the mansion with her master to help Wei Yuan restore the corpse. This was also the last corpse she had restored in her previous life.
It was during this mission that she caught Prince Jing’s attention and fell into his trap.
After becoming involved with Prince Jing, she performed the golden basin hand washing ritual and never returned to her old profession.
Regardless of whether tonight’s events were related to Zhu Yuanshu or not, she had to retaliate. She couldn’t allow Zhu Yuanshu to repeatedly bully her.
Steward Deng returned to the kitchen and divided the prepared dishes into two portions. One was sent to Prince Jing’s Mansion, while the other was naturally delivered to Lady Xiang and the Wei Clan Leader.
At the break of dawn, in Prince Jing’s Mansion.
“How did the investigation go?” Zhu Yuanshu had not slept all night.
She had just returned from Princess Consort Jing’s courtyard.
Last night, Princess Consort Jing had coughed up blood and fainted. She had accompanied Prince Jing to Princess Consort Jing’s courtyard and then stayed by her side, attending to her illness throughout the night.
During this time, she had also sent her trusted confidante, Nanny Min, to keep an eye on Wei Mansion.
Nanny Min reported, “This servant learned from the Wei Mansion servants that there was a rat infestation in the spirit hall last night.”
Zhu Yuanshu’s eyes lit up. “Has Zhu Changsheng been confined now?”
In her previous life, because she had failed to guard the coffin and allowed rats to damage the corpse inside, she had been suppressed by Lady Xiang and neglected in the rear courtyard, no longer permitted to handle the Wei family’s funeral affairs.
In this life, with her ability to foresee future events, she believed Zhu Changsheng must have similarly failed to guard the coffin and been suppressed by Lady Xiang.
“No.”
“No!” Zhu Yuanshu frowned, her face filled with disbelief.
Nanny Min relayed the truth and mentioned the Old Clan Leader being invited out of the encircling dragon house. After hearing this, Zhu Yuanshu’s expression changed drastically. “Impossible! How could she have managed that? Those rats…”
“Concubine Zhu, Young Madam Wei has sent you a wedding gift.” Ye Wan placed an exquisite gift box on the table.
Zhu Yuanshu’s face turned cold, her features subtly contorted with a hint of ferocity. It was unclear whether she was jealous of Zhu Changsheng for placating Lady Xiang and the Wei Clan Leader or resentful that Zhu Changshad hadn’t suffered any losses at Wei Mansion. In any case, this was not the outcome Zhu Yuanshu desired.
For her, only Zhu Changsheng’s death could prevent Prince Jing from having any interaction with her.
“Who told you to bring her things?” Zhu Yuanshu rushed to the table, irritably scolding Ye Wan.
Ye Wan knelt on the ground and replied, “Your Ladyship the Concubine, the sister who delivered the gift box said that if this servant did not present the gift to you, she would take it to His Highness Prince Jing’s courtyard.”
Zhu Yuanshu’s face instantly paled.
That wretched Zhu Changsheng must not think she can seduce His Highness Prince Jing.”Open it,” she ordered Ye Wan.
Ye Wan stood up and opened the gift box.
Inside lay a white porcelain tureen filled with a cloudy soup, its aroma wafting through the air.
Yet Zhu Yuanshu’s brows furrowed even tighter, unsure of what Zhu Changsheng meant by sending soup so early in the morning.
She reached for the spoon beside it, stirred the tureen a few times, and soon fished out a sharp-nosed, rat-like head.
Seeing the rat head in the spoon, its eyes still open, Zhu Yuanshu recoiled in fright, flinging her hand away as she screamed, “A… a rat soup!”