By the time the physician arrived, the Old Madam had slowly regained consciousness, but her worry over Chu Chengyun was overwhelming. Despite the maids and servants trying to stop her, she insisted on going to Chu Chengyun’s room.
Chu Chengyun’s condition had worsened, red rashes on his face had begun to ooze pus, making him look terrifying.
The Old Madam hurriedly pulled the physician aside. “Physician, please examine my grandson.”
The physician, a man surnamed Wang, stumbled slightly as he was pulled forward and quickly said, “Madam, please do not worry. Let me take your grandson’s pulse first.”
Physician Wang was the resident physician of Baicaotang. He had been preparing to pack up and go home that day, but a frantic servant had rushed to fetch him to the Yongding Marquis’s residence.
Observing Chu Chengyun, he thought the symptoms resembled an allergic reaction, but he could not be certain from appearances alone. He placed his fingers on Chu Chengyun’s wrist, felt his pulse, and confirmed his suspicion. Bowing, he said, “Reporting to the Old Madam, this young master is having an allergic reaction. I will prescribe medicine, and after two days of treatment, he will recover fully.”
The Old Madam sighed in relief. “Physician Wang, there’s no need for formalities. I have complete confidence in your skills. Someone, escort Physician Wang back.”
Physician Wang dared not refuse. He knew family matters were not for outsiders to question, so he thanked her and followed the maid out.
After Physician Wang left, the Old Madam turned her gaze on everyone and asked Chu Chengyun’s servant, Song An, “What did your young master eat today? Speak clearly. If anything is left out, I’ll have you dragged out and beaten to death.”
Terrified, Song An knelt and stammered, “Young Master had crystal shrimp dumplings and eight-treasure porridge for breakfast, and lotus leaf chicken and spiced mandarin fish made in the kitchen for lunch. He stayed in the study and did not go out. At dinner, Young Master said he wasn’t hungry. He only ate a plate of pea cake, which he liked. He did not eat anything else.”
If the problem had been with breakfast or lunch, the reaction would have shown up earlier. Since Chu Chengyun had not left the house today, the issue had to be with dinner. All eyes immediately turned to the First Madam, as she had personally prepared the meal and oversaw the kitchen staff.
Everyone in the mansion knew that Chu Chengyun was allergic to osmanthus. As a child, he had eaten a piece of osmanthus cake and become unwell. From that point on, the Old Madam ordered all osmanthus trees in the mansion to be removed, and he was never to consume osmanthus again. Now, this had happened right under her nose, a blatant sign of negligence.
Furious, the Old Madam smashed a cup to the floor, shouting at the First Madam, “You’re in charge of the household now, yet you show me no respect! Is this how you ensure your husband has dinner? You can’t give birth to a son yourself, so you want to harm my Yun-ge’er? Is this how you act as a stepmother?”
These words were devastating. The First Madam immediately knelt, tears choking her, and said, “Mother, your words are truly harsh. Yun-ge’er is also my son, and he calls me Mother. How could I possibly harm him?”
Bai sobbed, turning to the First Madam. “I know the Madam has never liked me. If I’ve done wrong, I can kowtow and admit my sins. But why would the Madam harm my Yun-ge’er?”
The First Madam suddenly looked at Bai and snapped, “Who do you think you are? You have no right to speak here.”
Hearing this, Bai wept even louder and knelt directly before the Old Madam. “Aunt, I know my status is lowly, but I am still Yun-ge’er’s birth mother. Now he lies ill, and his birth mother has been humiliated, won’t he be unable to hold his head high when he wakes?”
Chu Muqing stood beside the Second Madam, watching the scene unfold. She observed them fighting like dogs, a spectacle indeed. In her past life, she had been the one kneeling there, powerless to defend herself.
At that time, she hadn’t known that Chu Chengyun was allergic to osmanthus. She had only overheard two maids chatting in the garden, saying that the young master loved osmanthus cake the most. On her way back from the Duke of Dingguo’s residence, she saw a shop selling osmanthus cake, so she bought some and sent it to Chu Chengyun when she returned to the manor, thinking it would help improve their relationship as siblings.
Unexpectedly, Chu Chengyun’s expression had immediately changed the moment he saw it. Later, the matter even reached the Old Madam. Bai had cried and wailed just like she was doing today, accusing Chu Muqing of trying to harm Chu Chengyun. She had knelt there, unable to defend herself. In the end, the Old Madam declared her vicious and demanded family punishment. She was forced to kneel in the ancestral hall for three days. That time, she had nearly lost her life.
She had suffered then, now it was time for her stepmother to experience the same. Once suspicion is planted, no matter how much you explain, no one will believe you. That is human nature, people only believe what they see. Now, even if this First Madam argued until her last breath, it would be useless. Everyone would still believe she had done it.
While Chu Muqing was silently thinking, Chu Shuran had already knelt beside the First Madam and pleaded to the Old Madam, “Grandmother, Mother has always treated my elder brother as her own son. She would never harm him. Besides, everyone in the manor knows that Mother personally prepared tonight’s dinner. If something went wrong, she would naturally be the one held accountable. How could Mother deliberately let anything happen? This must be someone’s deliberate framing.”
The Old Madam had actually calmed down by now. She knew the First Madam wouldn’t be foolish enough to do something like this openly. But her precious grandson had been hurt, and her heart was still full of grief and anger. Even if the First Madam wasn’t behind it, she was still guilty of negligence.
“Investigate it. Start with the old women in the kitchen. Tonight, I want to know who dared to do something so bold.”
She didn’t say whether she believed the First Madam or not, and the First Madam didn’t dare to stand up. Her knees throbbed with pain as resentment simmered in her heart. Who had framed her? She strongly suspected someone from the Third Branch, after all, she and the Third Branch had always been at odds. Unfortunately, Chu Chengyun had eaten all the pea cake, so she had no way to defend herself. If the culprit couldn’t be found, she would have no choice but to shoulder the blame.
And that wretched woman, Bai, how arrogant she was simply because she had given birth to a son and shared blood with the Old Madam. Once she bore a son of her own, what would Chu Chengyun amount to then? Sooner or later, Bai would be dealt with.
As these bitter thoughts swirled in her mind, Nanny Liu returned with her people, dragging along an elderly servant woman who had been tied up.
The old woman was plump, and even tied up she continued to shout, “How dare you tie me up! I am the First Madam’s dowry maid! Untie me immediately, or the First Madam will make you regret it!”
Nanny Liu slapped her hard across the face. “Shut up! How dare you behave so rudely in front of the Old Madam!”
Hearing this, the old woman instantly fell silent. When she lifted her head and saw the Old Madam sitting there with fury written across her face, with the First Madam and Second Young Lady kneeling beside her, she was so frightened that she quickly knelt and kowtowed. “This servant greets the Old Madam. I do not know what mistake I have committed. I beg the Old Madam to show mercy.”
Nanny Liu glanced at her, then stepped forward and whispered into the Old Madam’s ear, ” Madam, I searched carefully and found nothing related to osmanthus. However, this old woman was acting suspiciously, so I had her detained. When we searched her room, we discovered a large amount of silver, so I brought her here.”
After listening, the Old Madam’s expression darkened. “Whose servant are you? Where did you get so much money? If you don’t explain yourself clearly today, I’ll have you dragged out and beaten to death.”