Chapter 186 Mass Poisoning

Seeing Min Yuexi's pale face, Madam Min Qiao remained unmoved. She gave her a few words of advice and then sent her away.

The next day, Madam Min received news that after Min Yuexi returned from her place, she had someone write a complaint that afternoon and asked the steward of the mansion to go to the Jingzhou Prefecture government office to accuse Tang Yunxiu of bullying Min Yuerui.

Upon seeing that the visitor was the steward of the Marquis of Xuanping's residence, the minor official of the Jingzhou government office dared not delay and quickly led him inside. The petition was soon delivered to the prefect of Jingzhou.

Upon seeing the contents of the complaint, the prefect of Jingzhou nearly popped his eyes out.

After confirming repeatedly that the Marquis of Xuanping's mansion was not joking about the reputation of the second young lady, they finally began to file a case and sent someone to bring Tang Yunxiu back for questioning.

When Tang Yunshi returned from the Xuanping Marquis's residence, she was both shocked and frightened. Despite her injuries, she did not seek medical help and only waited for her beloved son to come home.

After Tang Yunxiu returned home and heard about what had happened to Tang Yunshi at the Xuanping Marquis's residence, he was furious but not intimidated.

He didn't believe that the Marquis of Xuanping's mansion would really do anything, and firmly believed that his mother had just been frightened.

However, before he could bring his mother to demand an explanation, officials from the Jingzhou government came knocking on their door.

Even after being taken away by the officials, Tang Yunxiu couldn't believe that the Marquis of Xuanping's mansion had actually filed a lawsuit against him.

This matter has caused a huge uproar.

Tang Yunxiu was the fiancé of the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Xuanping. However, because the eldest daughter wanted to postpone the marriage by two years, he harbored resentment and used underhanded means to take the virginity of the second daughter of the Marquis's family. He even wanted to use this as leverage to force her to become his concubine.

Although it sounds outrageous, considering Miss Min's reputation for breaking off her engagement and her frail health, and considering that Miss Min is not of the Min family bloodline but rather the orphaned daughter of a merchant...

Tsk tsk, it's not hard to understand why Tang Yunxiu would do something like this.

Especially Tang Yunxiu's mother, who is clearly just a country bumpkin, yet she thinks her son is better and more noble than anyone else, and her words and actions are even more arrogant than those of the ladies of wealthy and powerful families. She's obviously no good.

Of course, some people questioned the Xuanping Marquis's family. They said that perhaps Min Yuexi disliked Tang Yunxiu's poor family and wanted to break off the engagement, which was why she postponed the wedding and made false accusations against others.

Almost no one who says such things believes that Tang Yunxiu really defiled Min Yuerui.

On the contrary, they believe that Min Yuexi forced Min Yuerui to use her reputation to pave the way for her to break off the engagement.

This matter caused quite a stir for a time.

The Marquis of Xuanping's mansion has once again gained considerable notoriety. Tang Yunxiu has also been thrust into the spotlight.

Emperor Xiaozhao's desk was piled high with memorials. The memorials criticizing Tang Yunxiu for his lack of moral cultivation and those criticizing Marquis Xuanping for his poor household management were equally numerous.

Because of the impact of this incident, Tang Yunxiu was immediately expelled from the Hanlin Academy and sent home. Whether he can return to the Hanlin Academy depends on the outcome of the lawsuit.

Min Rong was also affected. Although his superiors did not send him home, he took the initiative to ask for half a month's leave and went back to his residence to recuperate.

Min Qiaoshi listened to these things but didn't take them to heart.

In her spare time, she would either visit Madam Zheng at the Duke of Jin's mansion or stay in Songhe Hall to paint.

Yes, drawing.

Recently, Min Qiaoshi had grown tired of operas, songs, and even playing cards, and suddenly developed a love for painting.

To be honest, this is all because of Hongbao's older brother, Yang Hongyuan.

Because Yang An was freed from slavery, Hong Bao's elder brother, Yang Hongyuan, was able to participate in the imperial examinations, so he returned to the academy to study.

A few days ago, Yang Hongyuan took advantage of the academy's day off to come with Granny Fang to kowtow to Madam Min Qiao.

Although the entire Yang family had kowtowed to her at Songhe Hall when she freed them from slavery, Yang Hongyuan was still extremely excited about being able to escape slavery and even cross social classes by participating in the imperial examinations. He was especially grateful to Madam Min Qiao.

Therefore, he specially prepared a gift for Madam Min Qiao, and then had Granny Fang bring him to see Madam Min Qiao.

Little Hongbao also came along.

Upon meeting, Yang Hongyuan respectfully kowtowed to Madam Min. After Madam Min and Granny Fang exchanged pleasantries for a while, Yang Hongyuan then presented his gift.

It is a painting personally drawn by Yang Hongyuan.

The painting depicts a beautiful scene of the sun rising in the east, the clouds dispersing, and the light shining on the green pines.

Min Qiao was good at making money, but not at appreciating art. However, the content of the painting was so simple and straightforward that she understood its meaning almost effortlessly.

Is Yang Hongyuan trying to tell her that he will protect her from now on?

Min Qiaoshi found it both funny and touching.

However, aside from his dedication, Yang Hongyuan's paintings have almost no redeeming qualities.

Painting skills? None. Composition? None. Artistic conception? Absolutely none.

Even someone like Min Qiaoshi, who doesn't understand painting, felt that Yang Hongyuan's paintings were really unremarkable.

However, Madam Min still had Yang Hongyuan's painting framed and hung in her study.

Perhaps because she looked at the painting a few more times, Min Qiaoshi found it quite pleasing to the eye and even thought that she could paint a few of such simple paintings herself.

So she began her painting career.

Since I've never studied painting before, I plan to hire a female teacher who is skilled in it.

Unexpectedly, Qiao Yuanyao heard about this and volunteered to teach Min Qiaoshi how to paint.

Only then did Madam Min realize that her niece was actually a remarkable painter. Not only was she skilled in painting, but her academic knowledge was also first-rate.

Unlike Min Qiaoshi, who was also a daughter of the Qiao family, Qiao Yuanyao disliked doing business and had no interest in abacuses; she preferred reading from a young age.

He was proficient in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. His calligraphy and painting skills, in particular, were exceptional.

According to Qiao Yuanyao, during the years she spent at Qiushui Nunnery, she spent most of her time painting and reading.

Min Qiaoshi recalled that when she helped Qiao Yuanyao pack her bags on the way down the mountain, she didn't see any of her paintings.

Qiao Yuanyao then revealed that she had sold all her paintings for money.

Although she cannot go down the mountain, a female pilgrim would come up the mountain regularly under the guise of offering incense to give her the money from the last sale of her paintings, and then take away the paintings she had just finished.

Upon hearing this, Madam Min was utterly dumbfounded.

What astonished her even more was that in the nearly one month since she arrived in Beijing, Qiao Yuanyao had secretly sold her paintings twice right under her nose. She was completely unaware of this.

So, after Min Qiao was shocked and impressed, Qiao Yuanyao became her teacher to teach her to paint.

It's unclear whether the Qiao family members were born with a talent for painting, but after Qiao Yuanyao's guidance, Min Qiaoshi was able to paint a better picture than Yang Hongyuan's painting a few days later.

However, Yang Hongyuan's painting had a different meaning, and Madam Min Qiao did not mind at all and still hung it in her study.

Having confirmed her talent for painting, and with her maids constantly praising how well and how skilled she was, Lady Min Qiao fell completely in love with painting.

Painting also ranked first among all her hobbies.

Of course, this first place is only temporary.

Who knows if she'll develop a liking for something else in a few days?

That morning, after breakfast, Madam Min Qiao was strolling in the courtyard to digest her food when she saw a budding daisy. On a whim, she decided to go back to her study and paint it.

Just then, Ajiu rushed over in a panic.

"Madam, something has happened!"

Madam Min was startled and quickly asked, "What happened?"

Ah Jiu said anxiously, "All the children in the village have been poisoned! It's been three days! Children are starting to show symptoms one after another."

“Only a couple of children were showing symptoms of the virus in the first two days, but last night a dozen or so children suddenly showed symptoms.”

"Two of the children, being young and physically weak, couldn't withstand the pain of the poisoning...and died!"

At this point, Ajiu's eyes reddened.