"What did my sister see?" Madam Song bent down and picked up a fragment from the ground.
Lanqin squatted there looking at the fragments, and picked up a slightly larger one to examine it.
"This medicine pot actually has a double layer?" Lanqin exclaimed in surprise, looking up at Song's porcelain-white face with delight.
“If these bottles and jars have any hidden meaning, they must have been designed during the firing process. What can you tell just by looking at the surface?” said Madam Song.
Lanqin picked up the porcelain shard, stood up, and examined it closely. She discovered that the porcelain jar actually had a double-layered inner liner. The innermost liner had many tiny, pinhole-like holes in its wall. These holes would have been impossible to spot without breaking it open. Behind the inner liner was a narrow space containing something, which was now exposed.
Lanqin pulled out some of the whitish substance from the narrow compartment, examined it closely, and asked in confusion, "Is this ginseng slices?"
Madam Song also stood up, carefully examined the item in Lanqin's hand, took it from her, smelled it, and exclaimed in surprise, "It really is ginseng slices!!"
A sense of disappointment settled on Song's face. Who would use ginseng to harm others?
Similarly, Lanqin was so surprised that she couldn't speak. She had a hundred questions in her mind: Why, after all this trouble, was there ginseng slices mixed in instead of poison?!
“Impossible. There might be something wrong with these ginseng slices. If they weren’t meant to harm people, why would they do it so secretly?” Madam Song said, unwillingly pulling on Lanqin’s hand.
Lanqin nodded, but still couldn't understand what she was seeing.
"Why don't we call Madam Yin over and ask her? This jar was switched in her courtyard. Let's see what she has to say," Madam Song suggested.
Lanqin couldn't think of a way to explain the porcelain jar in front of her, so she instructed Nianxue to personally summon Madam Yin.
When Cui Niang met Yin Shi, she saw that Yin Shi had only asked about the Third Prince's illness and there was nothing else of note, so Cui Niang briefly explained the Third Prince's condition and left.
After seeing Cui Niang leave, Madam Yin followed her to the door and looked towards Wu's room. Sure enough, she saw Wu standing by the window, nodding at her.
Madam Yin was pleased and felt much more at ease, thinking to herself: Even if the person in the South Courtyard discovered that pottery jar, how could they possibly understand the secrets inside? Even if they accidentally discovered it, those were just some ginseng slices, which are not only harmless to the human body, but are actually very good tonics.
Thinking of all this, Madam Yin, who had been on edge for the past two days, finally calmed down a little and smiled as she nodded to Madam Wu.
Just as she was about to turn around to rest, Nianxue, who was going to see the South Courtyard, had already stepped into the gate of the West Courtyard and was heading towards her.
"This servant greets Lady Yin. Our mistress requests that Lady Yin come to the South Courtyard." Nianxue walked to the front of Lady Yin's house and said to Lady Yin, who was standing in front of the house seemingly admiring the snow scene.
"Alright, I'm tired of staying in the room. I'll go to the south courtyard to pay my respects to the concubine." Madam Yin turned to Yuhen and Yulu and said, "Is this all you two do when you come to my place? Go get me a cotton cloak. Do you want me to freeze to death?"
When Nianxue saw that Madam Yin was scolding the two maids, she acted as if she hadn't heard it and stood respectfully by the house waiting.
As Madam Yin stepped into the South Courtyard, she could faintly hear the laughter and chatter of Madam Song and Madam Geng coming from Lanqin's main house. She couldn't help but take in the entire South Courtyard; it was serenely furnished, luxuriously decorated, and meticulously planned in every detail.
When will I be able to own such a secluded courtyard, with kindred spirits to befriend, and the favor of my master?
As Yin walked, she pondered. When she reached the doorway, she saw Lanqin wearing a casual silver-pink cheongsam. The moon-white shoulder straps with fur trim accentuated her delicate, translucent face. Beside her, Song wore a light blue cheongsam and held a gilded enamel hand warmer. She was talking to Geng, who was dressed in a light green cheongsam.
"This humble servant greets Consort Lanqin and all the elder sisters." Madam Yin bowed respectfully to Lanqin and then to Madam Song and Madam Geng.
"Sister Yin has arrived, please have a seat," Lanqin said casually, pointing to a spot.
Madam Yin slowly walked to the right and sat down.
"Sister, there's something I don't understand, so I asked you to come and ask me about it," Lanqin said with a polite smile.
"I wonder what is puzzling you, Consort Yin. If I know, I will tell you everything without reservation," Lady Yin replied with a faint smile.
“Alright, then sister, can you tell me why the porcelain pot used to decoct medicine for the Third Prince is double-layered? And why is the inner pot covered with tiny holes, and why is there a layer of ginseng slices mixed in?” Lanqin said all her questions in one breath, and then winked at Xicha.
She knew? She actually knew everything?
Lady Yin was greatly surprised, but she still maintained a humble and cautious expression, as if she were hearing Lanqin's words for the first time, and said: "This concubine does not understand what Consort said, please explain."
Lanqin couldn't help but exchange a glance with Song and Geng, thinking to herself: As expected, they're going to deny everything to the death!
“Mrs. Yin, you don’t need to deny it anymore. This medicine pot was obtained from the Third Prince. Linghua has already said that the medicine pot was switched, and now it seems that’s true. So, where could the medicine pot have been switched, isn’t my sister the most likely person to be involved?”
Madam Yin smiled faintly and said, "As my sister just said, it's only a possibility. The Third Prince's room is right behind mine, and I'm not the only one who can go there. Sister Geng, Sister Wu, even Sister Song and the Consort can all go. Why do you say that I switched the medicine pot?"
Lanqin paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "It doesn't matter if you don't admit it, sister. I can easily investigate when your personal maid went out. Once we find out her whereabouts, it will be easy to find out the origin of this medicine pot. Isn't that right?"
Lanqin's words finally made the confident Madam Yin gradually lose her smile, and she simply remained silent and stopped talking.
“Sister Yin, I never imagined that you would repeatedly act as a pawn for others, only to have them escape unscathed while you remain nothing more than a pawn. I wonder why you do this, sister?” Madam Song said, seeing that she was not lying.
“My sister is dull-witted and does not understand what my sister is saying,” said Madam Yin.
“Sister Yin is not stupid at all, she’s just too trusting. Even if you don’t say it, I believe that as long as the concubine goes to the master and tells him, he will most likely believe that you switched the medicine pot,” Madam Song added.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
