Chapter 57

TRANSLATED BY MYPEN_22

Just as Hua Ling left, Xu Yuanjiao came over with the young master in her arms.

Xu Yuanjiao smiled and said, "It has been a long time since I have eaten with my aunt."

Mrs. Zheng did not say anything else, but looked at Yan Shi and Qu Liujing and said, "Two gentlemen, I wonder when my master will get better?"

Previously, he had not told Xu Yuanjiao that Zheng Lin had been poisoned for fear of alerting the snake. But with Yan Shi's spying on the maid and the fact that Madam Zheng had invited them to dinner, Yan Shi decided to change his strategy and make a quick decision on Zheng Lin's case, after all, he was here to find his future minister, not to investigate the poisoning case for an ordinary decapitator. One of the ways to get a quick fix is to lure the snake out of the hole, and as for what happens later, let's see what happens later and then improvise.

Qu Liujing said, "To be frank, Master Zheng has been poisoned." Then, he told them all about Zheng Lin's situation.

Madam Zheng showed a flash of shock, and her eyes subconsciously looked at Xu Yuanjiao. Xu Yuanjiao was holding the young master on her lap and was feeding him spoonful after spoonful of rice, when she heard Qu Liujing's words, her hand shook and almost dropped the spoon to the ground.

"Poisoned? How can this be? Who poisoned the master?" Madam Zheng asked incredulously.

Qu Liujing said, "Master Zheng is indeed poisoned, but I don't know who poisoned him. Madam Zheng, why don't you report it to the police?"

"Report it to the police?" Madame Zheng mumbled and repeated, her face seemed to lose its glow, and then her words became fierce again, "No, you can't report to the officials, you can't report to the officials."

Xu Yuanjiao became anxious, "Auntie, how can we not report this to the authorities? Let's report it to the government!"

"What do you know!" Mrs. Zheng's voice rose slightly, and after a glance at Xu Yuanjiao, she quickly looked away as if she had seen something disgusting, and instructed one of the sisters standing at the side, "Mother Wang, leave this matter to you."

"Aunt!" Xu Yuanjiao also shouted, the young master in her arms was frightened by her cry, Xu Yuanjiao hastily hugged him gently and coaxed him, when he stopped crying, he was handed over to the servants to carry him down, only then did Xu Yuanjiao continue, "Aunt, the poisoning of aunt father is not a trivial matter, why can't we report it to the official and let us handle it in private?"

"That's enough." Mrs. Zheng put her chopsticks down heavily on the table, "I am in charge of this family."

No one could eat well at this meal because of the quarrel between these two, and Yan Shi and Qu Liujing only ate a few bites hastily before they left.

When Yan Shi returned to his room, Hua Ling was also there, looking like he was in a good mood.

"Brother, you're back, why did you eat so quickly?" It was only a short while ago that Hua Ling jumped into his arms as if he hadn't seen Yan Shi for a long time.

Yan Shi smiled and rubbed his head, "What have you eaten?"

Hua Ling broke his fingers and reported what he had eaten, Yan Shi smiled and said "Not bad, are you full?"

Hua Ling patted his stomach, "Yes, I ate a lot, my stomach is bulging a bit."

Afterwards, Yan Shi and Hua Ling talked for a long time about which of the Zheng House's dishes were better, until Qu Liujing knocked on the door.

The door opened and Qu Liujing slipped in like a loach and said to the two people inside, "Guess what I just overheard?"

Hua Ling shook his head, "I don't know, but I know you were freezing outside for half a day listening to people's corners."

Qu Liujing let out a deep breath, desperately telling himself that this person was the princess and had to be treated with courtesy. He didn't want to sell his case, he just said what he saw when he peaked on the roof, "I saw Madam Zheng and Miss Xu arguing."

"How could they be arguing?" Hua Ling asked.

Yan Shi then told him what had happened at the dinner table today, and then looked at Qu Liujing and said, "What were they fighting about again?"

"That's right." Qu Liujing nodded, "But the argument was much more heated than in front of us, Madam Zheng dropped the vase, the scene -"

Qu Liujing tsked a few times and continued

she said that she was ungrateful and that she had nothing to do with the Zheng family's business. She was probably furious and her words were incoherent, saying one thing in the east and one thing in the west, and I only got this useful information after listening for half a day."

"Do you think that everything in the Zheng House is strange?" Yan Shi said, "Take tonight's meal for example, the young master was carried in by Miss Xu, which can be explained by the fact that Mrs. Zheng is too busy to care for her young son, but she hasn't even taken a look at him since he came in. Mrs. Zheng is also nearly forty years old and she has had a son, as a rule, she should hold this child in her heart, so how could she be so cold to him?"

Hua Ling nodded in agreement, "What brother said is reasonable."

Yan Shi said, "I don't know if you still remember, when we first entered the house, when I asked Miss Xu where Master Zheng's son was, what she called him. When Mingting asked her about the young master in her arms, what did she call him?"

I remember that she addressed the youngest master as cousin and the youngest as Yun'er."

Hua Ling glared at him, but Qu Liujing pretended not to see.

Yan Shi nodded "Doctor Qu is right, indeed. Although this is a title, it reveals one thing. Miss Xu has grown up in the Zheng Mansion since she was young, which means that she and the youngest master are childhood friends, and they should be closer to each other than the youngest master, yet they seem less intimate than the youngest master in terms of address."

Hua Ling cocked his head "Brother, what does this mean?"

The youngest master left the house more than a year ago, the servants in Zheng House were changed a year ago, and the youngest master was born a year ago. And, Miss Xu is not young, according to the Zheng family's wealth and power, they should have married her off to a good family long ago, but why does she still stay in the house? Judging from tonight, Miss Xu doesn't seem to have a good relationship with Madam Zheng."

Hua Ling's eyes suddenly widened and his mouth opened as wide as an egg "Brother is saying that the young master may not be born to Madam Zheng? He was... he was born to Miss Xu?"

Yan Shi smiled faintly "Mingting is really clever, he guessed it right away."

Hua Ling laughed heatedly twice, a little embarrassed "Brother-"

He wanted to put his hand on his face, "We're talking about business, can you and your husband stop showing affection?

Hua Ling said, "Then brother, who did you say Miss Xu's child was born to?"

The first thing we need to do now is to cure Zheng Lin as soon as possible so that we can leave here as soon as possible."

Yan Shi nodded, "But how long do we have before Zheng Lin is cured?"

Qu Liujing replied, "Three more days."

"That's good." That wasn't too long.

Hua Ling asked again, "Brother, who do you think could have poisoned Zheng Lin? Could it be Madam Zheng or Miss Xu?"

Yan Shi said, "Judging from Madam Zheng's refusal to report to the police, she is indeed very suspicious, but the Zheng family is full of secrets, so it is not easy to say now."

"So, do we care about this?" Hua Ling asked.

Yan Shi said, "We have to wait until Zheng Lin's poison is removed."

Although Zhao Chunhai and Cao Dejin stayed at the inn, they didn't do nothing. Yan Shi ordered them to investigate the Zheng family and the local officials, in an attempt to clean up a few more corrupt officials here.

The next day, after breakfast, Miss Xu came to see Yan Shi again with a hint of surprise on her face "The medical skills of these gentlemen are really excellent, my uncle woke up again this morning and after feeding him some porridge he fell asleep again."

Yan Shi asked "Did Master Zheng say anything?" He was referring to the speculation about the murderer of the poison.

Xu Yuanjiao shook his head "Although uncle woke up for a while, perhaps because he had been asleep for a long time, he didn't say much.

He only shook and nodded his head when asked. But this is good enough, I believe it won't be long before uncle will be back to his old self."

As they were talking, a servant came to report, "Miss Cousin, Mistress is here."

Xu Yuanjiao did not show any special expression, she only ordered, "Please come in." Then she said to Yan Shi, "Excuse me," and hurriedly left.

Qu Liujing encouraged him, "Your Majesty, shall we follow her secretly?"

Auntie, could it be Madam Zheng's sister?

Yan Shi also had this intention, so he took Hua Ling's hand and followed her secretly. It was daytime and there were many people in the Zheng Mansion, so they didn't dare to get too close. After a short while, they saw a woman who looked somewhat similar to Madam Zheng following Xu Yuanjiao in, talking and laughing.

Although they were a little far away, Yan Shi was a martial arts practitioner and had clearer ears than normal people, so he could clearly hear their conversation.

He heard Xu Yuanjiao holding the woman's hand, calling her "Mother" warmly and telling her that Zheng Lin's condition had improved. Yan Shi and Qu Liujing both glanced at each other, this Xu Yuanjiao had a mother? They had thought she was an orphan without a father or mother, and that was why she had been raised in Zheng's house since she was a child, but now...

It seemed that there were quite a few things going on in this small Zheng Mansion.

The two of them entered the lobby in the blink of an eye, and Yan Shi did not want to follow them any further, so he and Qu Liujing exchanged a glance and went back to the room where they were staying.

Hua Ling pretended not to hear anything and asked Yan Shi what the two people had said just now, and Yan Shi patiently said it again.

Hua Ling frowned, "Brother, what is going on in this Zheng Mansion? Why is there some confusion."

Yan Shi said comfortingly, "Mingting, don't be anxious, let's see what happens."

T/N: Welcome to the Manshion of Confusion, just sip a little confusion and you will be alright