Upon hearing this, Madam Bai’s face brightened with joy. “Mother is always so thoughtful. I will definitely go back tomorrow.”
When she realized she had been targeted, Madam Bai had wanted to find a physician to examine her, but she worried that the physician she found might have been bribed by Madam Wang.
It wasn’t impossible to find someone else, but if she suddenly replaced the physician the Jingyuan Marquisate had long relied on, it would undoubtedly raise suspicions from Madam Wang and the second branch of the family.
So, Madam Bai had Nanny Li bring in a female physician disguised as a servant to check her pulse. The physician diagnosed that she was not in serious condition, which temporarily eased Madam Bai’s worries.
She had planned to find a proper physician to thoroughly examine her health after this matter was resolved. Now that her maternal family was offering help, Madam Bai naturally wouldn’t refuse.
After discussing some details, Nanny Zhang took her leave.
Madam Bai instructed Nanny Li to return the items previously sent back to her maternal home to their original places, keeping only the tampered cup.
Yan Tingbai was eager to take the cup to show the Old Master. “I must demand an explanation from the Old Master for you.”
Madam Bai stopped her impatient husband. “Don’t rush. What good will just taking the cup do?
We must first find out when it was tampered with. It definitely wasn’t tampered with before it was broken.
We need to investigate from when the cup was sent for repairs after it broke last year. To catch a thief, you need evidence and witnesses. You must present both to the Old Master so they have no chance to deny it!”
Yan Tingbai finally calmed down. He knew his wife’s words made sense, but he said, “It’s been months since last year.
Whoever did it has long erased all evidence and proof. How easy do you think it will be to investigate?”
Madam Bai and Swallow Holding Branch rolled their eyes simultaneously. Madam Bai said impatiently, “Just because it’s not easy, does that mean we shouldn’t investigate?
Don’t worry about it. Just lend me Fu Quan and Shou Quan from your side.”
The next day, Yan Tingbai accompanied Madam Bai back to her maternal home. Since they had serious matters to attend to, Swallow Holding Branch was not allowed to follow.
She could only wait anxiously at home. Fortunately, when her parents returned, they both looked well, indicating that nothing was amiss.
Seeing her daughter staring at them intently, Madam Bai proactively shared the diagnosis results. “Mother is fine. The physician said I just need to eat and sleep well.”
Of course, this was on the condition that she no longer came into contact with the source.
Swallow Holding Branch’s tense expression finally relaxed. Madam Bai affectionately pinched her daughter’s cheek. “Good child, go play!”
After saying this, Madam Bai asked the maids to take Swallow Holding Branch away. But Swallow Holding Branch had no interest in playing with a group of young maids. She stubbornly refused to leave, so Madam Bai had no choice but to let her stay while she managed the household affairs of the marquisate and investigated who had tampered with the cup.
As previously discussed, Madam Bai did not make a big fuss.
First, she had to investigate her own people. Only those close to Madam Bai would know which items she frequently used.
If the poison had been applied to something she rarely used, Madam Bai might never have been targeted.
So, the immediate priority was to uncover the mole. Madam Bai had been investigating for some time and had already found some clues, but she was in no hurry to expose them. She needed to uncover the entire chain of people and evidence behind this to definitively implicate Madam Wang and the second branch.
Swallow Holding Branch listened quietly as Madam Bai made systematic arrangements. Within just a few days, everyone who had handled the teacup was identified, and the mastermind behind boiling the cup with poison was also uncovered.
Interestingly, this person had no connection whatsoever to Madam Wang or the second branch of the family, as she was previously a maid serving in the Cloud-Grasping Pavilion.
She had ambitions of climbing into Yan Tingbai’s bed, but Madam Bai considered her restless and unreliable, fearing she would cause trouble if allowed into the inner courtyard. So, Madam Bai found an excuse to transfer her to tend the garden’s flowers and plants.
The maid targeted Madam Bai because she believed Madam Bai had cut off her path to advancement, and thus held a grudge, waiting for an opportunity to retaliate.
Coincidentally, the maid was born into the household, and her parents were minor overseers responsible for furniture repairs, which was how she managed to carry out this scheme.
However, Madam Bai did not believe the truth uncovered in the investigation. Appetite-stimulating herbs such as hawthorn, dendrobium, dried tangerine peel, atractylodes, and sweetflag inevitably leave color and odor in the decoction during boiling.
If the teacup had been boiled in the medicinal decoction, it would certainly have been stained, yet the cup returned to Madam Bai after repair was clean, without any strange discoloration.
Otherwise, Madam Bai would have grown suspicious much earlier.
Madam Bai recounted the findings to Yan Tingbai and sneered, “An appetite-stimulating medicine that is colorless and odorless—is that something a few servants could obtain?”
Even Madam Bai herself could not acquire such a medicine; it likely originated from the imperial court.
The more flawless something appeared, the greater the flaw. Once the source was identified, it would be easy to trace the holder.
Madam Bai did not investigate further, nor did she take action against the maid or her family. Since the medicine involved external sources, it was unclear how Madam Wang had obtained it.
Her resources were limited, and a single misstep could expose the family’s shame to outsiders.
Thus, Madam Bai chose to hand the teacup, the uncovered truth, and the clues to the Marquis.
Yan Tingbai held his eldest daughter, coaxing her, “Sister Yuan, what should you do when we go to greet Grandfather later?”
“Want Grandpa to hold, want Grandpa to hold.” Swallow Holding Branch had no idea how many times she had repeated this phrase, and after saying it, she huffed heavily to express her displeasure with her father.
Unfazed by his daughter’s cold expression, Yan Tingbai cheerfully carried Swallow Holding Branch and went with Madam Bai to pay respects to the Marquis.
As usual, they first greeted Madam Wang in the main hall of the Hall of Peaceful Longevity. Only when the Marquis summoned them did everyone enter the inner room to pay their respects.
After kowtowing, the family exchanged a few brief words before it was time to leave. Yan Tingbai gently squeezed his daughter’s hand, and Swallow Holding Branch understood immediately, reaching out toward the Marquis and saying, “Hold.”
Yan Tingbai and Swallow Holding Branch successfully remained in the inner room. Madam Bai took her leave from Madam Wang and departed, as she still had a host of matters to attend to.
Yan Linxiao and Wang Chenbi accompanied Madam Wang as they left. Halfway there, Madam Wang suddenly stopped, turned to look back in the direction of the Hall of Peaceful Longevity, her brow furrowed with worry, her face filled with contemplation.
“Mother, what’s wrong?” Yan Jingzheng asked, puzzled.
Madam Wang hesitated before speaking, “I don’t know why, but I feel a bit uneasy in my heart.”
Yan Jingzheng’s expression instantly darkened, thinking of the schemes they had secretly laid out. Could they have been discovered?
Standing nearby, Wang Chenbi noticed the servants watching and quickly tried to smooth things over, “Mother, there’s no need to worry about Father’s illness. As they say, good fortune favors the virtuous. Father will surely recover.”
Madam Wang and Yan Jingzheng were momentarily distracted, quickly masking their expressions. Yan Jingzheng picked up where his wife left off, “Yes, Mother, don’t overthink it. If you’re truly uneasy, I’ll accompany you to offer incense to the Bodhisattva and pray for Father’s recovery.”
“Ah, good.” Madam Wang chimed in, and the three gradually walked further away.
At the entrance of the Hall of Peaceful Longevity, Swallow Holding Branch, held in her father’s arms, watched Wang Caibing and the second branch walk away, raising an eyebrow. Panic was good!
Her mother had said that the more guilty a person felt, the more mistakes they would make. She was waiting for the second branch to dig their own grave.
Watching her enemies walk away, Swallow Holding Branch struggled free from her father’s embrace, ignoring his calls, and turned to run back into the Hall of Peaceful Longevity.
She had just seen someone enter through the back door of the Hall of Peaceful Longevity. Coincidentally, she recognized this person—it was the father of the steward Yan Tang.
Yan Tang was a house-born servant, and the position had been passed from father to son. So, the Marquis had called the old steward into the manor to verify something, hadn’t he?
Swallow Holding Branch wanted to know just how much evidence her grandfather had uncovered about Wang Caibing and the second branch.