Chapter 87 This is slander
"In spring, everything is growing and the liver fire is strong. The soups I made are all light and nourishing."
At dinner time, after the Ji family sat down, Qi Yuyao pointed to the soup she had stewed on the Eight Immortals Table and introduced it.
"Five-black soup nourishes the kidneys, replenishes blood, and nourishes the hair. It's specially made for my aunt. Fennel and crucian carp soup warms the kidneys and dispels cold, regulates qi and soothes the stomach. It's specially made for my eldest cousin's wife. My second cousin uses his eyes a lot, so the leek and pork liver soup is just right for him because it clears the liver, improves eyesight, strengthens the spleen, and replenishes qi."
Qi sighed, "It's hard for you to be so attentive. It's really hard work."
Qi Yuyao smiled brightly: "What's so hard about this? My second cousin works hard for state affairs day and night, that's what we call hard work."
Ji Changqing had no expression on his face.
"Let's eat, let's all try Yuyao's cooking."
As Qi spoke, she scooped a spoonful of soup and was about to put it into her mouth.
Feng Qingsui, who was sitting on her right, held her arm and said, "Mom, wait a moment."
Qi paused and gave him a puzzled look.
Feng Qingsui looked at Qi Yuyao and asked, "Who did you learn this soup-making skill from, cousin Yao?"
"I learned it from a cook from the south in the mansion." Qi Yuyao replied, "Cousin-in-law, do you want to learn it too? I can ask someone to go back to the mansion tomorrow and borrow the cook."
Feng Qingsui smiled slightly: "I'm afraid your chef is a former killer who changed his profession."
As soon as these words were spoken, Huamei, who was standing not far behind Qi Yuyao, narrowed her eyes and her face suddenly tightened.
Qi Yuyao's face darkened.
"What do you mean, cousin? We haven't even had the soup yet, so why are you complaining about my cooking? Doesn't the appearance of my soup be so bad that it would kill you?"
Feng Qingsui looked at her quietly. "It's not that the soup doesn't look right, but I just can't understand why a light and nourishing soup would need to be added with something as poisonous as Gelsemium."
Ji Changqing: “…”
Qi: “!!!”
Qi Yuyao was stunned at first, and then became furious.
"How did I offend you, my cousin? I was so kind as to make soup for you, and you actually suspected me of poisoning you?!"
She turned to look at Qi: "Aunt, I have never been humiliated like this in my life. How could my eldest cousin's wife treat me like this..."
As he spoke, he began to sob.
Qi was silent for a moment, then asked Feng Qingsui, "Does this soup really contain Gelsemium elegans?"
Feng Qingsui chuckled, "It may not be Gelsemium elegans, but it was definitely added. Someone saw Cousin Yao's maid secretly adding it to the stewing pot."
Huamei's face turned pale in an instant.
"I didn't! This is slander!"
What's the difference between questioning her maid and questioning her!
Qi Yuyao's face flushed with anger. She put down her hands and said, "If you want to accuse someone, you can always find a pretext! If my cousin wants to kick me out, just say so. Why slander me like this?"
Feng Qingsui had already figured it out and said with a smile, "Cousin Yao, don't rush to defend your maid. You may not know what she has done."
After saying that, he turned to Wuhua who was waiting beside him and said, "Bring me a few mice for my drug testing."
Wuhua took the order and left.
After a while, he came back with a cage of mice.
Feng Qingsui placed the rat cage on the table and said to Qi Yuyao, "Look carefully, these are all alive."
Then four mice were caught and each was fed a portion of soup, including the portion that Qi Yuyao wanted to drink.
After the mouse was forced to drink the soup, it started screaming in pain and twitching after just a few breaths, and soon became silent.
"No, this is impossible. How could it be..."
Qi Yuyao couldn't believe it.
She asked Huamei to buy the ingredients for these soups and cooked them herself. From the time they were put into the pot to the time they were served on the table, they were not touched by anyone else. For this reason, she didn't even go back to the guest house to change clothes.
She was determined to let Qi and Ji Changqing see her ingenuity, diligence and ability.
How can it be poisonous?
She turned around suddenly and looked at Huamei: "Did you poison her?"
He even poisoned her soup. Did he want to poison her too?
"How have I wronged you? Why are you taking revenge on me like this?"
Huamei had already been frightened by the dead rat on the table. When Qi Yuyao got angry, she fell to her knees with a plop.
"I didn't give you poison, I gave you laxatives..."
Qi Yuyao’s eyes went dark.
It turned out to be his own maid!
“You, you—”
She was so angry that she couldn't speak.
It was Feng Qingsui who took over the conversation: "Why did you drug us? Where did your medicine come from?"
Huamei trembled as she spoke, "On the third day after my young lady and I moved into the Ji Mansion, my family came to see me. They said my brother had gotten into a fight with someone in the garden and had broken someone's leg. That person had someone kidnap my brother, cut off a finger, and sent it back to my family, saying they would kill him if I didn't agree to his terms."
"He said he had embarrassed himself in front of Lord Ji and wanted to embarrass Lord Ji as well. He asked me to put some laxative in Lord Ji's food so that he would have diarrhea when he went to court."
"I was afraid that Master Ji alone would be suspicious because of diarrhea, so I gave it to everyone..."
Qi Yuyao wanted to faint.
"How could I have such a stupid servant like you! You drugged me when I asked you to? Why don't you take a bite yourself first to see if it's a laxative?"
The thrush prostrated itself and kowtowed.
"I was afraid something might happen to my brother, so I didn't think too much about it. I only have this one brother..."
Qi Yuyao closed her eyes and looked at the three members of the Qi family: "I'm sorry, aunt, eldest cousin's wife, second cousin, I didn't manage the servants well and almost killed you. I..."
She covered her face and cried.
Ji Changqing ordered Baifu: "Go to the government office and report the case."
Qi Yuyao's crying suddenly stopped.
"Second cousin, is this matter going to be reported to the government?"
"otherwise?"
"It's a capital crime for a slave to kill his master. Why not just beat this slave to death? I'll make it up to you for scaring you."
Ji Changqing said calmly, "I will not abuse lynching in the palace. She violated the law and should be punished by the law. Besides, if we don't report the case, how can we catch the culprit?"
Qi Yuyao was speechless.
She didn't want this matter to be leaked and ruin her reputation, but every word Ji Changqing said made sense and left her with no room for rebuttal.
The bailiffs came quickly and took Huamei away for interrogation.
We went to look for the man who was jealous of her brother as she said, but we couldn't find him. The people in the flower garden said that he was a traveling merchant who came to their place for a drink for the first time and had his leg broken and he never showed up again.
Brother Huamei's body was found in a dilapidated temple in the eastern suburbs.
There is no doubt that this was a trap set up to murder Ji Changqing.
When Huamei confessed, Ji Changqing knew this would be the result, and was not at all surprised by the results of the yamen's investigation.
The same is true for Feng Qingsui.
After such a disaster happened, Qi family naturally would not keep Qi Yuyao anymore.
"You've been away from home for several days. It's time to go back and honor your grandmother. Otherwise, she'll be bedridden and there won't even be anyone around to talk to her."
Qi Yuyao didn't want to give up halfway, but was interrupted by Qi before she could open her mouth.
"Changqing has been ransacking homes all day long, and he's offended countless people, many of whom want his head. If you stay in the Ji Mansion, you might get implicated and lose your life one day. I won't be able to explain to your grandmother and parents then."
Qi Yuyao bit her lip: "I can stick with you."
Qi: "I can't."
Qi Yuyao: "..."
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