When the Master was in a bad mood, the servants under her also had a difficult time.
Nanny Gui walked while saying, "Tonight, the Second Young Lady will likely have a hard time. I wonder if she’ll be able to sleep peacefully…"
Mei Xiang couldn’t help but pause, her gaze drifting toward the room.
After seeing Nanny Gui off, as soon as she entered the room, a tray holding the Jade Cream and Spirit-Calming Incense was thrown directly at her feet.
With a crash, shards flew everywhere, and the incense scattered across the floor.
Mei Xiang was so frightened she nearly cried out, but quickly stifled the gasp in her throat.
Lady Miao had just finished dealing with the messy affairs earlier. As soon as she entered, she saw the mess on the floor and wearily rubbed her temples.
She steadied her emotions and said gently, "Wei'er, what’s wrong? Why are you so angry?"
Jiang Wei frowned. "It’s all because of that wretched Jiang Yu! She actually sent someone with scar-removing medicine!"
She slammed her fist onto the bed, pulling at her wound and immediately hissing in pain.
"Don’t move recklessly."
Lady Miao, heartbroken for her daughter, quickly supported her arm and looked at her with concern. "You’ve suffered such a serious injury, yet you don’t know how to be careful."
She sat beside Jiang Wei. "Besides, why are you so angry with her? If you don’t like those things, just have Mei Xiang throw them away."
She glanced at Mei Xiang. "Clean these things up and throw them away later."
Mei Xiang acknowledged the order and swiftly gathered the items, taking them away.
Jiang Wei looked worriedly at her arm and the back of her hand. "Mother, my wounds hurt terribly. Will they leave scars? I’m supposed to marry into the Marquis’s household, and I still need to play the zither. What if scars remain?"
Lady Miao chided her. "Don’t talk nonsense! How could they leave scars? I’ll find the best medicine for you, don’t worry."
Jiang Wei complained, "Mother, Jiang Yu must have done this on purpose! How could Lan Xiang have coincidentally drunk the Fusheng…"
Lady Miao quickly covered her mouth. "Don’t talk nonsense!"
Lady Miao cautiously surveyed the surroundings and ordered the door to be closed before sighing in relief.
Although she had managed the household for many years and had almost all of Jiang Yu’s attendants replaced with her own people, she had little control over the guards and servants in Jiang Yunze’s courtyard.
Those people didn’t have contracts of servitude, and many of them had martial arts skills. They couldn’t be dismissed easily, nor were they easy to control.
This was one of the reasons they couldn’t take action against Jiang Yu within the mansion.
Although they strictly followed the rules and never entered the inner quarters, too many things had happened today. With Jingzhaofu making a big show of arresting people, it was inevitable that they would be alerted.
Now, they couldn’t afford to give anyone a handle against them.
Lady Miao patted her hand. "Don’t speak of these things again in the future."
Jiang Wei understood the seriousness of the matter and pursed her lips, unwilling to accept it. "How could this happen!"
Jiang Yu should have remained forever beneath her feet!
But how had things turned out like this?
She looked at her arm, bandaged like a dumpling, and her expression grew even darker.
"Mother, we need to send a message to Brother Yanchuan. Now that the authorities are involved with the Fusheng…, there might be complications."
Lady Miao nodded. "You’re right, I almost forgot. I’ll send someone to inform him right away."
After Lady Miao left, Mei Xiang helped Jiang Wei settle down to sleep. Inside the bed curtains, Jiang Wei’s breathing was heavy, as if she couldn’t find peaceful sleep.
After hesitating for a moment, Mei Xiang quietly lit the Spirit-Calming Incense.
Soon, the faint scent of wood, mixed with a hint of sweetness, filled the room.
Mei Xiang kept watch in the outer chamber, but before long, drowsiness washed over her.
In the middle of the night, a scream came from the inner chamber.
Mei Xiang was instantly startled awake and hurriedly picked up a lamp to go inside.
"Young Lady, what’s wrong?"
She lifted the bed curtain to see Jiang Wei, face filled with terror, curled up in the corner of the bed. The white cloth bandaging her wound had already been torn loose, now bloodied from her frantic scratching.
Yet Jiang Wei continued to claw wildly.
"There's a centipede… ah… the centipede crawled inside!"
Mei Xiang gasped in alarm and rushed forward to restrain her: "Young Lady! There's no centipede, please stop scratching."
Jiang Wei shoved her away, screaming hysterically.
Terrified, Mei Xiang hurried out to call for help: "Someone, come quickly!"
Amidst the clamor, lights turned on in the Orchid Courtyard.
No one enjoyed a peaceful sleep that night.
Jiang Yu draped a robe over her shoulders and stood by the window, listening to the screams from the nearby courtyard and the hurried footsteps outside her own.
It seemed the Dream Fragrance had taken effect.
The Fusheng Powder used by the second branch could make a person violent and deranged, driving them to madness and death.
And the Dream Fragrance could amplify one's deepest obsessions, twisting them into nightmares.
She had accidentally created this while developing Spirit-Calming Incense, and now it had come in handy.
How interesting.
In the Orchid Courtyard, Jiang Wei's hands and feet were bound, her wounds freshly re-bandaged.
The household doctor was currently taking her pulse.
Lady Miao looked tense, her hands clenched and sweating: "Doctor, what is happening?"
The doctor pondered for a moment, then hissed through his teeth: "The Second Young Lady's pulse shows no abnormalities."
Lady Miao cried out sharply: "If there's nothing wrong, how could she become like this!"
Baffled, the doctor carefully examined Jiang Wei's complexion: "She is likely trapped in a nightmare."
He took out silver needles and inserted a few into Jiang Wei's hands. Jiang Wei closed her eyes, calmed down, and fell into a deep sleep.
Wiping the sweat from his brow, he found this condition quite peculiar, but if he admitted he didn't know the cause, he would likely be criticized for his poor medical skills.
Thus, he only said: "The Second Young Lady is probably suffering from excessive worry, which led to the nightmares. I will prescribe some calming and soothing medicine for her."
Mei Xiang hid in a corner, her face pale.
After the Madam and the doctor left, she cautiously glanced at the sleeping Second Young Lady, then secretly took the remaining Spirit-Calming Incense to the backyard.
She dug a hole and was about to bury the items.
A voice came from behind her.
"What are you doing?"
Startled, Mei Xiang stumbled and fell to the ground. Turning around in horror, she saw Jiang Yu standing behind her, holding a lantern.
Jiang Yu's gaze fell on the hastily buried items, and she said calmly: "You dare to harm Second Sister."
Mei Xiang's eyes widened: "No… I didn't, this was clearly you…"
"What?" Jiang Yu tilted her head slightly. "What about me?"
The flickering light from the lantern reflected in her eyes: "You've served Second Sister for quite some time. If they were to find out, do you think, given Second Aunt and Second Sister's temperaments, you would survive?"
From the moment Mei Xiang decided to light the incense, she had already stepped onto a path of no return.
Mei Xiang slumped to the ground in despair, then quickly came to her senses. She prostrated herself before Jiang Yu, kowtowing: "Eldest Young Lady, please spare this servant. I will say nothing."
Jiang Yu smiled: "Of course you won't say anything…"
Mei Xiang thought of something and knelt on the ground: "Eldest Young Lady, I am willing to serve you. Please spare my life."
Jiang Yu looked down at Mei Xiang.
It was almost impossible to overlap this timid little maid with the arrogant woman who would later throw food at her in the Marquis' mansion.
Jiang Wei's temper was not the best, and the servants attending her had been replaced time and again.
Yet Mei Xiang had stayed the longest.
She became the most capable maid by Jiang Wei's side and secured her footing in the Marquis's household not by her skill in serving others, but by…