The next day, the Fourth Prince was on leave, and also because of the matter concerning Lady Uya, he did not go to the palace. Children who die at birth are not entitled to any grave or funeral. Therefore, the stillborn child born to Lady Uya was immediately buried.
On this day, the Fourth Prince remembered what Lady Nian had said to him the day before, so he immediately sent someone to summon Lady Nian.
"This concubine greets Your Highness!" Lady Nian wore a plain white dress and no jewelry, as a way of mourning the deceased young princess.
"Get up. I summoned you here today to ask about what you mentioned the other day. Do you have any leads?" Fourth Master said.
"Your Majesty," said Lady Nian, "I currently have no leads, but I believe that whoever wants to harm Princess Wuya must deeply hate her and be able to command people to move freely in the kitchen. Think about it, that person almost always puts an appetite stimulant in Princess Wuya's tonic water; it must be someone from the kitchen. Otherwise, such a thing would have been discovered sooner or later. If other servants went to the kitchen so frequently, it would have aroused suspicion long ago."
Upon hearing this, the Fourth Master fell into deep thought. What Madam Nian said made sense; she must have been instigated by the kitchen staff. But what about those dozen or so people in the kitchen? Should he lock them all up and interrogate them?
Lady Nian wiped her nose with a handkerchief, stealing a glance at the Fourth Master. He saw that the Fourth Master's face was ashen, and he seemed to be engaged in a fierce internal struggle.
“Actually, this matter is both complicated and simple. Since the substance was placed in the water, the man in charge of the water should be the prime suspect. Why not arrest him and interrogate him?” said Madam Nian.
Her words made the Fourth Prince raise an eyebrow, and sure enough, he said, "That's right, first arrest the servants in the kitchen who are responsible for all the food and water and question them."
The Fourth Prince quickly ordered the head nanny to send men to arrest the servant in the kitchen who was in charge of the entire household's water supply. The Fourth Prince went to question him personally. At first, the servant cried out that he was innocent and refused to say anything, but when the Fourth Prince used whipping on him, the servant could not withstand it.
"I'll talk, I'll talk! Please spare my life, Master!" The servant in charge of the water supply for the entire household was surnamed Zhao. He was promoted after Lanqin took over the kitchen. After Lanqin took over the power of the inner quarters from the Fujin (princess), she suppressed some people who did not work hard and then personally promoted a few people to fill the vacancies, including this Zhao Mingcai.
"So it really was you, you lackey!" Fourth Master roared. "Speak, who ordered you to do this?"
Zhao Ming hesitated for a moment, then revealed an extremely ugly and bitter expression on his blood-stained face. He trembled as he said, "Master, I've told you, please spare my life!"
The Fourth Prince's already sinister face instantly contorted with rage, his gaze fixed on Zhao Mingcai as if he were a dead man. A mere servant dared to plot against the Prince's princess, and now he dared to negotiate with him? He was utterly courting death!
“If Your Highness doesn’t agree, then this servant cannot speak. I’m going to die anyway! That man has been kind to this servant, and since this servant is going to die anyway, I might as well take this secret to the afterlife.” Zhao Mingcai said through gritted teeth when he saw that the Fourth Prince was unwilling to agree.
"What if I make you wish you were dead?" Fourth Master stared at Zhao Mingcai and said.
Zhao Mingcai shuddered, as if he could feel the excruciating pain that those tortures would inflict upon him. He trembled violently, staring at Fourth Master in terror.
"So, are you willing to accept those punishments, or reveal who instructed you? Think it over carefully first. I'll give you an hour to consider," Fourth Master said. "Don't torture him anymore."
Meanwhile, Lady Nian had already taken Cui Ling's hand to visit Lady Wuya, and other masters from various places had also come to express their condolences. However, Lan Qin had not gone.
“Sister, even though you came in later, I still have to call you ‘sister’!” Nian Shi sat on the edge of Wu Ya Shi’s bed and said, “Cui Ling, take out the five-hundred-year-old ginseng that my brother gave me and stew it for you to nourish your body.”
Uya leaned against the large pillow, her face pale. After all, her condition yesterday—the heavy bleeding and the delivery of the child—had taken a toll on her energy.
"Thank you, Consort Wuya," said Lady Wuya.
“How could my sister have a miscarriage? I remember our agreement wasn’t like this. I feel so bad for my sister.” Madam Nian said, pretending to wipe away a few tears with her handkerchief.
“Consort, there is no one else here, so why do you have to do this? I thought about it for a long time yesterday and felt that only in this way could I remove the South Courtyard from the Master’s heart, and only in this way could I save my life, right?” Although Wuya spoke to Nian Shi calmly, she had already cursed her ancestors for eighteen generations in her heart.
Lady Nian was slightly taken aback, knowing that it wasn't very common for someone to risk their child's life for their future. This Lady Wuya before her looked gentle and frail, but her ruthlessness was no less than that of the Fujin (the wife of the deceased princess).
"Sister, now it all depends on what the Master thinks. Anyway, I've already said everything I needed to say to him. Sister, you need to hurry up too. This time, you must make sure that the South Courtyard disappears completely from the Master's mind!" said Madam Nian. She had been scheming to make Lanqin fall out of favor, and her child fall out of favor, so that her Hongsheng might be valued by the Fourth Master!
"I wonder what Consort Nian has prepared for the South Courtyard?" Uya asked, suppressing her disgust.
"Haha, naturally I've prepared a grand gift for her. This time, I, the concubine, will leave her speechless. Plus, you can put in a little effort and whisper some sweet nothings in the master's ear, and that should be enough," said Lady Nian.
A faint smile appeared on Wuya's pale face as she said, "The concubine has a good plan. It's no wonder I sacrificed my own child to gamble on her this time!"
Cuiyun stood to the side, a chill running down her spine. The princess had actually bumped her own stomach, causing yesterday's disaster. How dangerous! What if it had gone wrong, resulting in the death of both mother and child!
"Alright, I won't disturb your rest any longer. Just rest and recuperate. When the master tires of the South Courtyard, that will be the time for us to be favored." With that, Lady Nian left, supported by her maid.
"Cuiyun, go and prepare some tonics for me. Don't be stingy. Use everything that Nian sent. She wouldn't dare to harm me now." A cold glint flashed in Wuya's icy eyes. "Although the South Courtyard is my greatest enemy, I will never let Nian, who killed my daughter, get away with it!"
Cuiyun's heart skipped a beat. It was clearly you who caused your own miscarriage by hitting yourself!
"What are you standing there for? Do you think I'm too cruel?" said Uya.
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