Chapter 19: Water tank poisoning

　　...

　　Late at night, Jiang Xun prepared to climb over the wall and leave Baimei Courtyard.

　　Before leaving, he subconsciously looked at the main room of Baimei Courtyard. Shen Baiyu always turned on a dim yellow candle when he slept, and the light was hazy. Jiang Xun squatted on the wall and suddenly came up with a bold idea. What would happen if he extinguished the lights in Chen Baiyu's room?

　　He held a small stone and flicked it.

　　call out--

　　The candlelight went out.

　　Only the snow-white moonlight penetrated into the window, and a layer of hoarfrost fell on the room. Shen Baiyu, who was sleeping peacefully, seemed to be feeling something. His eyebrows were furrowed, his eyelashes fluttered as if he was haunted by a nightmare, and his palm-sized face was invaded by fear.

　　"let me out..."

　　"Don't lock me up...I don't want a marriage..."

　　"Mother..."

　　Shen Baiyu's tears wet the pillow, and Jiang Xun quietly entered the room and lit the extinguished candle. The dim candlelight dissipated the coldness, and Shen Baiyu finally calmed down.

　　Jiang Xun stared at Shen Baiyu for a moment. Shen Baiyu was as quiet as a baby in his sleep, half of his face was sunk in the soft quilt, and his whole body was curled up into a small ball.

　　Half of the quilt on his body fell off the bed. Jiang Xun stepped forward unexpectedly, picked up the quilt and covered it with Shen Baiyu. After all this was done, he himself was stunned.

　　What am I doing?

　　Jiang Xun couldn't understand, so he quietly climbed over the wall and left. He came to Qingtaifang quietly. The front yard of Qingtaifang was brightly lit, and the sound of silk and bamboo was vaguely heard in the backyard in the middle of the night. Meng Qingtai, the boss of Qingtai Fang, was still awake and was using a thin brush to draw bastards on Qingbai's face. His movements were very gentle and his eyes were focused.

　　Qingbai is asleep, seemingly ignorant.

　　"Master." Hearing the movement outside the house, Meng Qingtai greeted him respectfully.

　　Qingbai opened his eyes instantly and stood up to greet him.

　　Jiang Xun sat down and caught a glimpse of the strange look on Qingbai's face. Qingbai, a cold-faced killer with a serious expression, suddenly had a vivid bastard on his face. The scene was particularly funny.

　　Meng Qingtai was already rolling on the floor with laughter: "You are still a master. I painted a bastard on your face and you didn't even notice, hahaha."

　　He laughed so much that he coughed. Qingbai handed over a cup of tea. Meng Qingtai drank it in one gulp, wiped the water stains from the corners of his mouth and started talking about business: "Master, the East Palace has given up on chasing Qingbai. The Qingguo Crown Prince is shrewd and is afraid of continuing. Check it out, he can't hide his dirty little secret."

　　Jiang Xun nodded: "How is Hua Liulang doing?"

　　Mentioning Hua Liulang, Meng Qingtai's charming and handsome face was full of helplessness: "It's strange to say that Jiang Yan originally had a deep affection for Xiao Hua and wished she could run away with him right away. But yesterday Xiao Hua sent a letter to Jiang Yan, inviting her to go to the end of the world. Jiang Yan actually refused!"

　　Jiang Xun was slightly startled: "Refuse?"

　　Meng Qingtai played with the brush in his hand: "Prime Minister Jiang, the old tree has blossomed recently. He fell in love with a brothel girl, redeemed her body, and brought her back to the prime minister's house to raise her. The girl was eighteen years old, as beautiful as a flower, tsk tsk, Prime Minister Jiang intends to marry her. Jiang Yan suspected that the Prime Minister was bewitched by the vixen, and decided to leave Beijing with Xiao Hua after a while. She would stay in the Prime Minister's Mansion and drive out the vixen from the brothel..."

　　Jiang Yan is a very filial girl who cares about her father so much that she even temporarily forgets about her beloved Hanarokuro.

　　Jiang Xun was keenly aware of something strange... Prime Minister Jiang came from a poor family and had no regrets about his deceased wife. How could he be easily tempted by a brothel girl?

　　Jiang Xun asked Meng Qingtai: "Did Prime Minister Jiang meet the brothel girl after the flower viewing party?"

　　Meng Qingtai held up his hand and said, "As expected of my master, what a wonderful plan!"

　　Jiang Xun narrowed his eyes. Prime Minister Jiang attached great importance to his own purity and never set foot in fireworks venues - could this be a strategy provided by Shen Baiyu to him? Let Jiang Yan stand from the perspective of an outsider and fully realize the reality that she was deceived by Hanarokuro?

　　Shen Baiyu, you are so witty!

　　Meng Qingtai looked solemn again: "Master, there is another particularly troublesome thing. Jiang Shi caught Xiaohong. Although Xiaohong is just an ordinary little chess piece and has no idea about our plan, her capture shows that Jiang Shi Shi has already noticed it. Among the guests who have come to Qingtaifang in the past few days, there are several spies from Dali Temple."

　　Jiang Shi was extremely smart and good at starting from the details. Over the years, Meng Qingtai was laying out his plans in the imperial capital of Daqing, and Jiang Shi was considered the biggest trouble.

　　Jiang Xun took a sip of tea and said, "Give up Xiaohong."

　　Qingbai: "Yes."

　　After a pause, Jiang Xun put down the tea cup, and a cold look flashed in his eyes: "Jiang Shi, I can't keep him."

　　Jiang Shi was too vigilant, and Jiang Xun had to send this restless chess piece off his chessboard.

　　The night was deep, and Jiang Xun didn't stay too long. Before leaving Qingtaifang, Jiang Xun suddenly thought of the candles in Jiang Baiyu's room. The candles were always extinguished at night, and Shen Baiyu often had nightmares.

　　So Jiang Xun stopped and turned around: "Qingtai, I remember you have a South China Sea Night Pearl."

　　Meng Qingtai said happily: "Yes, Master, the Night Pearl and the Jade Clear Pill are the two treasures I have collected. The Night Pearl was brought back to me by Qingbai when he went to the South China Sea to perform a mission. It is as big as a baby's fist, and the radiance at night is better than I love the bright moon!"

　　Jiang Xun: "Bring it."

　　Meng Qingtai: "What?"

　　Jiang Xun: "Give it to me."

　　Meng Qingtai: "..."

　　After a while, Jiang Xun took the box containing the luminous pearl and left gracefully. Meng Qingtai cried distressedly, with runny nose and tears: "That is my most cherished treasure! Wuwuwu, master, he didn't want anything, and he actually snatched my night pearl, Wuwuwu! This time he took the night pearl, Are you going to steal my Yuqing Pill next time?"

　　Qingbai patted him on the shoulder: "Go back to Nanhai and find another one for you."

　　Meng Qingtai's handsome face was aggrieved, and he stretched out his fist and gestured: "I want a night pearl as big as a fist."

　　Qingbai nodded: "Okay."

　　Meng Qingtai burst into laughter in an instant, and rushed over to hug Qingbai: "Brother, you are my half-brother! In the future, when I marry a wife and have a son, I will definitely let my son recognize you as his adopted father!"

　　Qingbai had no expression on his face and threw Meng Qingtai to the cold floor.

　　...

　　...

　　Jiang Xun returned to Baimei Courtyard late at night, and happened to see two groups of black figures running out of Baimei Courtyard in a hurry.

　　Listening carefully, two black figures whispered:

　　"Miss Third's yard is too small."

　　"Whatever, let's do what we're told."

　　Jiang Xun was hiding in the dark. What on earth were these two people doing in Baimeiyuan?

　　At dawn the next day, the two maids Feicui and Manchun yawned and got up to start the day's work. Since Shen Baiyu abandoned the housekeeper, Manchun and Jade have had a lot of leisure every day.

　　Manchun lit the stove fire, scooped two ladles of cold well water from the water tank, and began to prepare medicine for Shen Baiyu. After Jade cleaned the yard, she went to the dog house to hold Rhubarb.

　　"Woof woof woof!"

　　Rhubarb was raised to be fat and strong, and his tail swung happily. Jade smiled and patted the dog's head: "I will give you food later, let me give you some water first."

　　Jade scooped a ladle of water from the water tank and poured it into Dahuang's exclusive water basin. Dahuang buried his head and drank water. Jade smiled and said: "Drink slowly, there will be food later."

　　Unexpectedly, Dahuang only took a few sips, and his fat body began to shake.

　　Dahuang twitched all over and foamed at the mouth.

　　Jade was startled and stood up in confusion: "Dahuang, what poison did you eat-" Suddenly thinking of something, Jade turned around and saw the large water tank outside the small kitchen.

　　In an instant, a terrible thought hit Jade's mind.

　　Jade hurriedly rushed into the room, where Shen Baiyu had just gotten up, holding a small medicine bowl and was about to drink medicine. Jade was so frightened that she screamed: "Miss! Don't drink the medicine! The water may be poisonous!"

　　The medicine bowl clattered to the ground.

　　The bitter concoction spread all over the floor, and the air was filled with a strong medicinal smell.

　　Shen Baiyu understood the cause and effect, and immediately asked Jade to give Dahuang water to induce vomiting, and sent Manchun to find the doctor. Dahuang didn't drink much water, so he was barely rescued after inducing vomiting, and he lay sickly in the kennel.

　　The doctor checked the water in the tank and found some black residue among the impurities in the water tank. After careful inspection, he handed over his hand and said: "Miss Third, there are aconite residues in the water tank. Aconitum is highly toxic. Fortunately, there is a lot of water in this tank. Toxic neutralization."

　　Jade turned around and asked Jiang Xun: "Jiang Liu has been the one fetching water lately. Did you put aconite in the water?"

　　Jiang Xun: "Never."

　　Jade: "I don't believe it, follow me to the government office!"

　　Shen Baiyu stopped him: "Jade, it's not him."

　　The water in the water tank in Baimei Courtyard is changed every three days. Jiang Xun fetched the water yesterday morning, and everyone in the courtyard found no abnormalities after drinking it. Something suddenly went wrong this morning, which means that the aconite was put in by someone with intentions last night after everyone fell asleep.

　　Shen Baiyu asked Jiang Xun: "Did you see anyone sneaking into Baimei Courtyard last night?"

　　Jiang Xun thought of the two black figures outside Baimei Courtyard last night: "Last night when I was ugly, I was patrolling outside Baimei Courtyard at night. A man and a woman passed by on the path outside the courtyard. As for whether they entered Baimei Courtyard, I don't know."

　　Shen Baiyu: "Who are those two people?"

　　Jiang Xun told the truth: "I didn't see the appearance clearly, but I heard the voice. The man is Xiao Mo, the book boy of Liu Anju, and the woman is Zhu Sha, the maid of Heng Wuyuan."

　　Liu Anju, that is Shen Anxing's yard.

　　Hengwu Courtyard, that is Shen Shuer's courtyard.

　　After Shen Baiyu resigned as housekeeper, almost no servants came to Baimei Courtyard. The book boy and the maid sneaked into Baimei Courtyard in the middle of the night and put highly poisonous aconite into the water tank. Shen Baiyu was not in good health to begin with. If he drank water mixed with aconite, who knew what the consequences would be?

　　"Miss, we must tell the general about this! The fourth young master and the fifth young lady actually want to poison our entire courtyard!" Jade felt a chill on her back and trembled all over.

　　A tank of water can kill the entire Baimeiyuan.

　　Shen Baiyu thought deeply, the fourth brother and the fifth sister were indeed bad-tempered, but they were not bad enough to poison her.

　　Shen Baiyu thought for a while and came up with a countermeasure.

　　"Manchun, go to Tantai Hou Mansion and ask Mrs. Tantai to come."

　　"Jade, please bring the small charcoal stove in the courtyard."

　　"Jiang Xun, you are good at tying up the book boy Xiao Mo and the maid Zhu Sha and taking them to the main house."

　　After Shen Baiyu finished giving instructions, he put on a thick jacket and took Jade and Jiang Xun to the main room of the General's Mansion.

　　It was already broad daylight, and Shen Zhenshan returned to his mansion early in the morning and had breakfast with Shen Shuer, Shen Anxing and Tantai. Mrs. Tantai has been in a bad mood recently, and she only had two sips of hot porridge for breakfast. Shen Zhenshan saw her thin face and said distressedly: "Madam, please have some more."

　　Tantai was frustrated: "I have endless account books every day. The two stewards sent by my mother guard me like a prisoner. Can I eat it?"

　　Shen Zhenshan stopped talking.

　　There was a noise outside the yard, and Mrs. Wang ran in.

　　"Is Brother Chen Wang here?" Shen Shuer stood up happily. She received a letter from King Chen yesterday. King Chen said that he had made a spring dress for her and sent it to her today.

　　Mother Wang said: "General, madam, the third lady is here."

　　Shen Shuer was instantly disappointed.

　　Tantai frowned and said unhappily: "If she isn't recuperating in her own yard, why is she here?"

　　Shen Shuer smiled and said, "Maybe I'm here to admit my mistake to my mother."

　　Tantai family suddenly felt happy, this girl was finally willing to take the initiative to admit her mistake. However, Mrs. Wang said: "The third lady asked the nursing home to tie up a book boy and a maid. I don't know what to do."

　　Shen Zhenshan and Tantai were confused and got up to go to the yard. On the other hand, Shen Shuer and Shen Anxing looked at each other with a flash of panic in their eyes.

　　The courtyard of the main house was spacious and the sun was bright. Jiang Xun tied up the book boy and the maid, and they knelt on the floor in fear, whining with thick strips of cloth stuffed in their mouths.

　　Tantai's sharp eyes recognized the identity of the book boy and the maid: "Third girl, you have become more and more bold recently. You actually kidnapped your brother's book boy and your sister's personal maid."

　　Shen Zhenshan was still reasonable: "Third girl, what happened?"

　　Shen Baiyu: "Father and mother, please watch."

　　Jiang Xun pulled the cloth from the mouths of the maid and the book boy, and they immediately started screaming. Shen Anxing clenched his sleeves, and the fear in his eyes deepened: "Third Sister! Why did you tie up my book boy! I still want him to study with me in the morning!"

　　Shen Baiyu turned a deaf ear.

　　Jade immediately put down the charcoal basin and picked up a bright red charcoal stone with an iron clip. With a cold face, Jiang Xun used his fingertips to force the book boy's mouth to open uncontrollably.

　　The red-hot charcoal was about to be stuffed into the book boy's mouth.

　　The book boy was so frightened that he shouted: "Master, help me!"

　　The maid Zhusha next to her was also so frightened that she burst into tears.

　　Shen Zhenshan frowned and shouted in a low voice: "Third girl! You humiliate a slave for no reason, I'm afraid you are sick!"

　　Shen Baiyu said to the two book boys and the maid: "Whose instructions did you receive when you sneaked into Baimei Courtyard late at night to poison?"

　　Shen Shuer suddenly screamed: "Third sister! What are you talking about? Mother, father, third sister must be sick and confused, and started talking nonsense."

　　Shen Baiyu glanced at Shen Shuer coldly: "Shut up."

　　The emerald was sandwiched with red charcoal. The book boy Xiao Mo could already feel the heat at the corner of his mouth. He was so frightened that he shouted loudly: "I say, I say! It was the young master and the fifth lady who ordered it! They said they couldn't stand the third lady's yard. That dog, let me and Cinnabar throw aconite into the dog bowl!"

　　It was quiet all around.

　　Shen Baiyu said: "Why did you put it in the water tank?"

　　The book boy was covered in hot sweat, and his two breasts were trembling: "We have never been to Miss San's Baimei Courtyard... It was dark at night, and I happened to see the water tank, so I thought about throwing the aconite into the water tank. Anyway, there are aconite The poison is not very harmful to humans, and is more than enough to kill a dog... These are all orders from the young master and the fifth lady, we are just following orders!"

　　Jade put down the charcoal stone, gave Shutong a hard sip, and cursed: "My young lady is not in good health to begin with. After drinking water mixed with aconite, she might be dead now!"

　　The book boy and the maid were trembling and bowed their heads deeply.

　　Shen Baiyu turned around. Shen Zhenshan, Tantaishi, Shen Shuer and Shen Anxing were standing on the high steps. There was a long distance between Shen Baiyu and them.

　　Shen Baiyu said nothing, his eyes as cold as water.

　　She is waiting for Shen Zhenshan's trial.