Chapter 233 No one will have peace until the murderer is found.

Shen Chu suddenly turned around and looked in the direction from which the sound came.

Old Madam Shen stood up shakily from her chair, her aged face deathly pale.

"It wasn't the Marquis who poisoned me, it was me."

"Mother! What nonsense are you talking about?" Marquis Changning's expression changed drastically as he looked at Old Madam Shen in disbelief.

Old Madam Shen stepped forward, leaning on her cane, and waved to Marquis Changning.

"Now that things have come to this, you no longer need to cover for me."

"Shen Chu, isn't your goal to find the poisoner? It was me! Have someone arrest me!"

Shen Chu frowned slightly as she looked Old Madam Shen up and down.

Sun Yan said, "Madam Shen should speak with evidence and not make things up."

Madam Shen looked at Aunt Qiao, who was lying unconscious on the bed, with a face full of resentment.

“I’m not making this up. I’m the one who poisoned you. If you don’t believe me, you can send someone to search my room.”

In the second bedside table from the left in my room, there is a black box containing unused morning glory powder.

"I gave the morning glory herb to Steward Wang and instructed him to find a way to poison Madam Qiao."

Sun Yan raised an eyebrow and glanced at Chen Chu.

Shen Chu nodded slightly.

Sun Yan summoned a Flying Eagle Guard and said, "Go and check on Old Madam Shen's room."

The Flying Eagle Guard returned quickly, carrying a black box.

There was an oil paper packet inside, containing white powder.

Shen Chu asked Han Feng to help examine it.

Han Chu smelled it carefully, then dipped a little with her fingernail and tasted it on the tip of her tongue.

“That’s right, this is indeed the powder of the morning glory.”

Shen Chu rubbed her fingers together, her brows furrowed.

She instinctively felt that the person who poisoned her was the Marquis of Changning, and that Steward Wang had no reason to lie.

However, the remaining powder of the morning glory was found in Madam Shen's room.

What exactly happened?

She looked coldly at Madam Shen.

"But Steward Wang said that it was Father who gave him the Chaoyang Grass Powder? Besides, if Grandmother wanted to poison someone, she could have had someone in your courtyard directly find the maid in the concubine's courtyard."

Why go through the roundabout way of finding Xiuchun by going through Steward Wang?

Isn't this unnecessary?

Madam Shen let out a series of strange laughs.

"Mrs. Qiao is extremely wary of the people in my courtyard, and she doesn't allow them to have any private contact with my people at all."

Steward Wang's daughter works in my courtyard, so it's easy for her to spread rumors. That's why I gave the medicine to Steward Wang in the name of the Marquis.

I lied to Steward Wang, saying it was a tonic that the Marquis had found.

Butler Wang had no idea it was powdered morning glory.

Wang, who had been curled up on the ground, suddenly trembled and began kowtowing repeatedly to Chen Chu.

"Young Master, please spare me! I really didn't know the medicine was given by the Old Madam."

I always thought it was the Marquis's order, and I genuinely believed the medicine was for Consort Qiao to improve her health.

Shen Chu was so angry she laughed.

"Does a tonic need to be secretly added to scallion oil chicken? Butler Wang, do you think I'm a fool?"

Sun Yan kicked Butler Wang hard.

Butler Wang was in so much pain that he curled up into a ball, but he kept trying to explain himself.

"I really don't know anything. The medicine powder wasn't given to me directly by the Marquis. I really didn't know it was the old lady's idea."

Madam Shen chuckled, then turned to look at Aunt Qiao on the couch, her eyes filled with resentment.

"I've disliked Qiao for a long time. She's using her looks to seduce my son."

A few years ago, she used her own money to support our food and drink, and I could tolerate her to some extent.

Now she's stingy, guarding her vast fortune but not spending a single penny on me, yet she still tries to entice my son to take her on trips.

Bah! A lowly bastard from a merchant family, letting her become a concubine in the Marquis's mansion is already an honor for him.

She actually overestimated herself and tricked my son into making her his official wife?

My son is a noble first-rank marquis, how could he marry a merchant's daughter?

It would be cleaner to kill her; that way, all her assets would become the property of our Marquis's mansion.

"No, those things originally belonged to our Marquis's residence. I'm simply reclaiming what rightfully belonged to our Marquis's residence."

Shen Chu was so angry at her utterly shameless theory that she laughed.

"Things that originally belonged to the Marquis's mansion? My concubine was a noble concubine; her dowry was her own. How could it be yours?"

Madam Shen spat fiercely onto the ground.

"What do you mean 'her own'? Once she enters the Marquis's mansion, she belongs to my family. It's hateful that she still wants to use this money to coerce my son into making her his official wife?"

A merchant's daughter dares to dream of becoming the wife of a first-rank marquis? Bah! She should take a piss and look at herself in the mirror to see what kind of person she is!

As Madam Shen spoke, a strange and ruthless look appeared on her face.

"Alright, now we have all the witnesses and evidence. I was the one who poisoned you. Arrest me if you want."

"Shen Chu, I'll show the whole capital how you, young Master Shen, will deal with your own grandmother."

"Mother, no."

Marquis Changning rushed over and grabbed Madam Shen's dress, his face full of anxiety.

"Mother, you mustn't be foolish! How can you just admit to something like this?"

Madam Shen looked down at the Marquis of Changning kneeling at her feet, and two lines of tears streamed down her aged face.

She patted the Marquis of Changning's shoulder with trembling hands.

“My son, your mother is an old woman, she can no longer bear the torture of the Flying Eagle Guard, and she does not want to be sent to the Flying Eagle Guard again.”

It would be better to just admit it outright.

I've disliked the Qiao family for a long time. I thought I could kill her quietly this time, not only to get her money but also to make your life easier from now on.

Unfortunately, Shen Chu ate a scallion chicken, ruining my plan.

Now that things have come to this, I confess my guilt and accept my fate. Let them take Mother away.

Marquis Changning held Madam Shen tightly and wouldn't let go.

"Mother, with me here, no one can take you away."

"My son, let them take your mother away, so as not to implicate the entire Marquis's mansion."

The mother and son embraced and wept bitterly, displaying a deep bond between them.

Shen Chu clenched her fists, barely managing to suppress the anger in her heart.

Old Madam Shen was always prone to crying, making a scene, and threatening suicide; the more she acted this way, the more afraid she was of death.

Now, however, he seems to be ready to die for his cause.

She could only think of one possibility: Old Madam Shen was taking the blame for Marquis Changning.

Sun Yan said, "Young Master Shen, Madam Shen's chain of evidence is complete. What should we do now?"

"Should I take them all back to the Flying Eagle Guard?"

Before Shen Chu could answer, Marquis Changning suddenly jumped up, looking at Shen Chu with a face full of anger.

"So what if your grandmother poisoned her? Qiao Shi didn't die, did she?"

Aren't you here jumping around like a baby? Since nothing happened to you, can't you just pretend this never happened?

Do you only feel at ease when you cause chaos and unrest in the whole family?

"You are the eldest son of the family. If the Marquis's mansion falls into disrepair, you will suffer as well, and your future will be completely ruined."

Shen Chu was so angry at his utterly shameless words that her hands trembled.

"Me, meddling? You poisoned my aunt first, and now you're blaming me for meddling?"

I'm putting this out there right now: until the real mastermind is caught, none of us will have peace.

Marquis Changning glared at Shen Chu, veins bulging on his face.

"What do you mean by the real mastermind? You unfilial son, are you never going to stop?"

Do you intend to have your entire family arrested and interrogated by the Flying Eagle Guard?

Shen Chu did indeed want to.

But she knew she couldn't, which is why she was filled with grief and indignation.

A smug look flashed in the eyes of Marquis Changning.

"Don't forget, the duty of the Flying Eagle Guard is to monitor all officials, not to get involved in other people's private squabbles."

Even if the Sixth Prince is favored, he can't just trespass into other people's private quarters, can he?

If you dare to let anyone take your grandmother away today, then you'll have to step over my dead body.

"Even the Sixth Prince might not be able to shoulder the responsibility of driving a first-rank marquis to his death, would he?"