sbdcsierra Chapter 72 Who's Behind This?
Chapter 72 Who's Behind This?
Since arriving at the Duke's Mansion more than ten years ago, Sheng Yunzhu has never faced such an embarrassing situation.
The atmosphere inside the room also reached a stalemate due to the confrontation between Duke Sheng and Sheng Junyao.
“Father, elder brother, in my opinion, perhaps we should…” Sheng Junyi helped Sheng Yunzhu up and settled her in a chair, attempting to break the deadlock and discuss the matter later.
But before he could finish speaking, he heard Lan cough twice.
"Now that the first thing is over, let's talk about the second thing." Madam Lan was weak and could barely stand after sitting for a while. She gripped the armrest of the chair to support herself. "A few days ago, the Fairy Shangshan came to my house and said that my health was being harmed by Yangyang. In the end, it was proven to be the Fairy Shangshan's nonsense."
"Leaving aside why the Fairy of Goodness did this, it is all thanks to His Highness the Crown Prince that he invited the head of the Imperial Medical Academy to examine my pulse. The head of the academy said that my body was fine, just weak."
"After the Dean left, I was very puzzled. I know my own body well, so how could I have become so weak for no reason?"
Lan Shi's gaze fell on the Duke of Sheng's face. Seeing his tightly furrowed brows, she felt a chill in her heart, and her speech quickened. "I asked the nanny to check the dregs of the medicine I took a few days ago. Sure enough, she found a problem. I didn't know that someone had secretly tampered with my medicine, adjusting the dosage of two of the herbs. That's why my condition got worse and worse as I drank the medicine. In just over half a month, I was on the verge of death."
The most important thing in traditional Chinese medicine is dosage. Excessive use of any medicinal material can lead to serious consequences.
Moreover, this is especially true for someone like Lan, who is physically weak and has always relied on medicinal herbs for nourishment.
To tamper with her medicinal herbs is to kill her!
"what?"
As soon as Lan finished speaking, everyone looked at her in shock.
Even the Second Madam, who had only come to join in the fun, changed her expression.
Madam Li had only two sons and one daughter by her own birth, but in addition, she also had two sons and two daughters born out of wedlock.
After the old Duke passed away, although Madam Li did not separate her illegitimate sons and daughters, she did send them to the courtyard in the South Alley. They only came to pay their respects on the first and fifteenth of each month, and had no contact with her at other times.
Only the eldest and second sons lived in the Duke's mansion.
Therefore, the Duke's mansion has always been relatively quiet, and there are not many shady dealings.
The second wife has been in the household for many years. Apart from the first few years when things were not particularly peaceful due to various events, she has lived a relatively comfortable life ever since. At most, she has only engaged in petty schemes such as skimming profits, but she has never resorted to such despicable means!
Madam Li also looked at Madam Lan in disbelief.
She had never really liked her daughter-in-law, Lady Lan. Lady Lan herself came from a humble background; before the old Duke became wealthy, she was just a fifth-rank general in the army. Lady Li was also just the daughter of a seventh-rank official. It was already a stroke of good luck for her to marry the old Duke.
Who would have thought that during the subsequent war, the old Duke would advance with unstoppable momentum, and it turned out he had chosen the right path, thus becoming a first-rank Duke.
Originally, the title should have been demoted when it came to the son, but unexpectedly, the son lived up to expectations. He was handsome and married a noble lady from the capital. Later, due to his meritorious service, the title of Duke was preserved, and the wealth and honor of the Duke's mansion were also maintained.
Having enjoyed a life of good fortune and being pampered by others, Madam Li disliked women like Lan Shi, who were of noble birth but delicate and weak. In her eyes, Lan Shi was good for nothing except for her foxy face that had bewitched her son.
Over the years, I've secretly cursed Lan Shi, that short-lived wretch, countless times.
However, she did not actually wish for Lan Shi to die.
Upon suddenly hearing that Lan Shi's weakened state was due to being drugged, she panicked. A conspiracy theory flashed through her mind: Who was behind this? Why would they harm Lan Shi? What was their purpose? Besides Lan Shi, there was also the old lady herself—could she be the next target?
Madam Li was always one to put on airs and act pretentiously, but in reality, she was the most timid person.
The others were filled with doubt and uncertainty, but Sheng Junyao quickly walked up to Lan Shi and stood in front of her in a protective posture. Then he turned around and looked at everyone in the room.
When he first met with Madam Lan, their time was short. Madam Lan only had time to tell him many things about Lu Yangyang, but did not mention the matter of drugging him.
Seeing his mother so weak, he assumed that she had been only reporting good news and not bad news, and that her health had been deteriorating over the past few years without his knowledge.
But to my utter surprise, there was such a private matter.
His clenched fists were so tight that the veins were bulging. If it weren't for the inappropriate occasion, he would have loved to interrogate everyone in the room right now to find out what their true intentions were!
"Huixin, bring the person up!" Lan said.
As soon as Hui Mama responded, she went out. A moment later, a maid dragged a maid into the room and pinned her to the ground.
"Madam, spare me! Madam, spare me!" The maid knelt down and began desperately kowtowing and begging for mercy.
The maid behind her placed a packet of dregs on the ground. When the maid saw the dregs, she turned pale with fright.
"This is Xiao Huan, the little maid in charge of tending the fire in Madam's small kitchen. I had someone keep an eye on her for quite some time; she's the one who tampered with the medicine," the maid said.
Sheng Junyao looked coldly at Xiao Huan: "What else do you have to say?"
"It wasn't me, it really wasn't me! I didn't touch Madam's medicine, I really didn't..." Xiao Huan cried pitifully, kowtowing repeatedly: "Madam, please spare me! I really didn't know, I didn't know anything..."
"You brat, still trying to argue!" The maid slapped her on the back of the head when she refused to admit it.
Xiao Huan trembled, still sobbing as she shook her head: "It really wasn't me, I don't know anything..."
She kept repeating the same sentence over and over, and the servant woman's patience ran out. But with so many masters present, she couldn't very well openly yell at them, and for a moment she was at a loss.
At this moment, Lu Yangyang walked over and stepped on Xiao Huan's back.
"Move aside, I'll handle the interrogation."
The maidservant quickly moved aside.
Xiao Huan felt as if a huge mountain was pressing down on her back, and she collapsed to the ground with a cry of pain.
She pleaded pitifully, "Cousin, cousin, spare my life! Madam, Madam, save me! I've heard that you're particularly cruel to your servants. I... I really haven't done anything!"
"You didn't do it, did you?" Lu Yangyang bent down, grabbed her hair, and forced her to look up. "I hate being wronged the most. I just want to know who is behind this and framed me."