Jiang Zhaoxue walked at the very front.
Behind her, Laifu and several sturdy old maids were huffing and puffing as they carried three heavy boxes, along with several large sacks of high-quality medicinal materials. Their walk was so confident and arrogant that they looked as if they owned the place.
The moment they entered the courtyard, Jiang Zhaoxue raised her hand and ordered the three large boxes to be placed directly under the eaves outside the main hall of the main courtyard.
“Please go and call everyone over.” Jiang Zhaoxue grinned at Granny Cui beside her with her hands behind her back.
Granny Cui responded and immediately sent someone to call out.
“Everyone in the courtyard—anyone who is still breathing, get out here!”
The main courtyard was already in a state of panic because the prince was critically ill.
Now that they heard the new Princess Consort’s command, dozens of servants gathered in the courtyard trembling.
Granny Cui stood beside Jiang Zhaoxue, her palm still sweating.
She had endured too much from the Dowager Consort over the years and had long grown accustomed to swallowing her grievances. She had never seen such a bandit-like way of doing things. Now, she only wanted to see what this new Princess Consort planned to do.
Jiang Zhaoxue looked at the nearly dozens of people gathered in the courtyard and clicked her tongue inwardly.
Good heavens. So many people had been serving one person who was on the verge of death, yet they still could not take proper care of him.
Now that she was here, things would be different.
“Open the boxes.” Jiang Zhaoxue lifted her chin.
At this moment, Laifu practically regarded Jiang Zhaoxue as a living immortal. Without saying a word, he stepped forward and lifted the lids.
The three boxes full of gleaming golden ingots dazzled the eyes of everyone in the courtyard. Jiang Zhaoxue continued standing with her hands behind her back, pacing a few steps before loudly announcing.
“Look carefully. This is the life-saving money for your prince that I just took back from the Dowager Consort.”
Granny Cui’s eyelids twitched when she heard this.
That was hardly “asking for it back.” It was clearly robbery!
Jiang Zhaoxue paced a few more steps and stood on the stairs, looking down at the people in the courtyard with their various expressions. A cold smile appeared on her lips.
“From today onward, the food, clothing, and daily expenses in this courtyard no longer need to depend on anyone’s mood, nor do you need to beg the Dowager Consort.”
“The money is right here.”
As she said this, her voice suddenly turned cold.
“Listen carefully as well! This money is the prince’s life-saving money. Whoever dares to reach a finger toward it and take it for their own benefit\…”
She paused for a moment, her gaze sweeping across several people in the crowd whose eyes were shifting uneasily.
“I guarantee you won’t even know how you died. Because I really will kill you.”
She said these words while still wearing a sweet, smiling expression.
Hearing such words from someone with such a soft, delicate, and fair face was truly chilling.
Jiang Zhaoxue smiled even brighter.
“Did you understand?”
One after another, people fell to their knees.
“This servant would not dare! This servant would not dare!”
“Good. If you don’t dare, then that’s good.”
Jiang Zhaoxue turned around decisively.
“Granny Cui.”
“This old servant is here!”
Granny Cui quickly stepped forward.
“In this main courtyard, how many people were originally working in the small kitchen and the medicine room?”
Granny Cui thought for a moment and quickly answered.
“Reporting to the Princess Consort, the small kitchen had one head cook, two assistants, and two maids responsible for tending the fire. The medicine room had one manager in charge of preparing medicine and three old maids who boiled it.”
Jiang Zhaoxue nodded.
“Immediately drive them out of the main courtyard.”
Granny Cui froze, her face full of difficulty.
“Princess Consort, isn’t this inappropriate? These are all people sent by the Dowager Consort to take care of His Highness.”
Jiang Zhaoxue touched her chin, pretending to think.
“Then send them all back to the Dowager Consort.”
The moment these words came out, the crowd exploded.
“Princess Consort! What do you mean by this?”
A slightly plump old maid suddenly stood up from the crowd. She was none other than Madam Li, the manager of the small kitchen.
Relying on the fact that she was a relative of Aunt Sun, she usually even dared to talk back to Granny Cui in the main courtyard.
“This servant and the others have served His Highness in the main courtyard with all our hearts. Even if we have no great achievements, we still have worked hard! It is only the first day the Princess Consort entered the manor, and in the middle of the night you summoned us here. Without even asking about the situation, you want to drive us away. Even if this matter is brought before the Dowager Consort, this servant and the others will not accept it!”
As Madam Li spoke, several people from the medicine room immediately echoed her. They clearly had the attitude of: if you dare touch us, you are disrespecting the Dowager Consort.
Granny Cui was so anxious that sweat appeared on her forehead. She lowered her voice and said,
“Princess Consort, this Madam Li is one of the Dowager Consort’s people. If you punish her without solid evidence, the Dowager Consort will definitely use this matter against you tomorrow\…”
“Solid evidence?”
Jiang Zhaoxue let out a cold laugh. She did not even look properly at Madam Li. Instead, she turned to Laifu.
“Laifu.”
“T-this servant is here!”
Laifu was startled when his name was called, and his scalp tightened.
“Tell them, after your prince woke up, what were his exact instructions?”
Jiang Zhaoxue looked at him with a half-smile.
Laifu swallowed nervously. He wanted to avoid answering but did not dare. Various possible explanations quickly flashed through his mind.
Putting on a show of borrowed authority, he stepped forward and pointed at the troublesome servants, shouting angrily.
“Have you all gone blind?! His Highness has already given his order! Everything in the main courtyard is to be decided by the Princess Consort!”
“Whoever the Princess Consort tells to leave, must leave! Whoever dares to refuse will be beaten to death with sticks!”
Jiang Zhaoxue narrowed her eyes, and the corner of her mouth twitched.
“Is that really what your prince said?”
Laifu gave an awkward chuckle.
Jiang Zhaoxue looked at everyone again. Forget it, that was more or less the meaning anyway.
When Madam Li heard this, she slapped her thigh and shouted with her neck stiffened.
“You’re talking nonsense! His Highness is so ill that he couldn’t even speak. How could he possibly give such an order? You must be falsely claiming your master’s intentions! I want to see the Dowager Consort!”
“Fine, go.” Jiang Zhaoxue finally walked down the steps and stopped in front of Madam Li.
She did not have the elegance of a noble family’s young lady. Instead, she looked like a bandit who could pull out a knife at any moment.
“You want to see the Dowager Consort? Perfect. While you’re at it, take a message for me.”
Jiang Zhaoxue leaned closer and lowered her voice.
“Why did the prince vomit blood and nearly die? Because the food he ate before and the medicine he drank were all contaminated with something filthy! As for what happened, don’t you all know in your hearts?”
Madam Li and the people from the medicine room instantly turned deathly pale, looking at her as if they had seen a ghost.
The tampering done to the medicinal ingredients had been extremely subtle. Even the Chief Physician of the Imperial Hospital had failed to discover it. How could a Princess Consort who had only just entered the manor know about it?
Seeing their ugly expressions, Jiang Zhaoxue let out a cold laugh. Her tone was filled with the mocking expression of someone who had seen through everything.
“I am not killing you, not because the Dowager Consort’s reputation is so important. I simply do not want to create bloodshed here and bring more bad luck. Consider it my way of praying for the prince’s fortune!”
“Anyone who is still unwilling to accept this can stay. But let me make this clear first: if even the slightest trace of anything suspicious is found in the main courtyard tonight, those who remain will be the murderers who attempted to harm the prince.”
“By then, it will not be the Dowager Consort who decides your punishment. It will be the execution blade of the Ministry of Justice that takes your lives first as an offering to heaven!”
“Now, does anyone else still want to stay and prove their loyalty?”
Madam Li, who had just been shouting that she wanted to see the Dowager Consort, now only felt a chill around her neck.
Attempting to murder a prince was a crime punishable by the execution of the entire clan!
The Dowager Consort ordering them to tamper with things was one matter. But if they were truly exposed, the Dowager Consort would definitely be the first person to push them out to take the blame.