Chapter 34 The Poisoner
But before the old lady could say anything, the abbot led two young monks into the room hurriedly.
"Amitabha," the abbot said solemnly, clasping his hands together in front of the old lady, and said respectfully, "A strange incident has occurred to me today, and I have no choice but to report it to you, old lady."
The old lady raised her hand and gestured for a seat. "The abbot is usually calm and composed, but he has hurried here now. I believe there is something important to discuss. Please sit down and discuss it in detail."
The abbot was seen holding a hollow silver ball in his palm.
"Two naughty disciples dug this thing out from under a tree. Thinking it was an ordinary object, they stuffed some yellow rice into it and fed it to a hamster in the backyard.
Unexpectedly, the hamster started convulsing after eating it for a few moments and died on the spot."
The abbot closed his eyes and sighed, "Amitabha, sins, sins." He continued, "I have studied it carefully and found that the outer layer of this object is carved with pure silver and the inner layer is lined with black iron. When the ball rotates, powdery substances fall out from the pores of the pistil.
I dissolved the powder in clean water and used a silver chopstick to probe it. The chopstick instantly turned as black as ink.
According to the two naughty boys, the person who buried this thing under the tree was a woman living in this guest house. I feel that this matter is of great importance, so I have come to ask the old lady for advice. I wonder if it is related to the marquis's poisoning?
The old lady was also shocked when she heard this. Her voice suddenly turned deep and said, "Did you see the woman's appearance clearly?"
The two young monks nodded heavily.
The little round-faced boy sobbed and wiped away his tears, crying, "That little hamster died so tragically." He clenched his fists, furious, "I'm going to settle the score with that person and make her compensate me for my hamster!"
Little Gaptooth, whose eyes were red from crying, echoed, "Yes, we must let the little hamster come back to life!"
The old lady glanced at the nanny and said, "Go and get the court doctor!"
Fu then asked the two young novices, "Young Master, since you have seen the person who buried this thing, is that person in this room now?"
The tear-filled eyelashes trembled, and the two bald heads looked around and shook their heads at the same time.
"No, not here..."
The girl with the round face gestured, "That sister is wearing a turquoise skirt, and the sachet hanging around her waist is embroidered with a butterfly."
Little Gap Tooth added, "She was also holding a sky-blue teacup. After burying the silver ball, she carried the teacup to the east living room."
The old lady's face changed suddenly.
How could the person who poisoned someone be Tangli!
The court doctor arrived in just a moment.
After listening to the nanny's narration, he took out some powder from the silver ball and placed it on a white porcelain plate, then touched it with a silver needle.
"Madam, I have carefully compared this poison with the poison in the Marquis's meal. They are identical, undoubtedly the Ice Marrow Powder."
Wen Ning secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
I didn't expect that my guess would be verified so quickly.
Upon hearing this, the old lady paused with the Buddhist beads in her hand, and her knuckles turned white from the force.
The old man's eyelids suddenly lifted up, "Go! Find Tangli immediately!"
About a quarter of an hour later, Nanny Zhou came back.
She hurried forward and reported, "Madam, that slave girl is missing. We've searched everywhere, both in the guesthouse and the temple. I'm afraid... I'm afraid she's escaped during the chaos."
The old lady slammed her trembling hands on the table, her chest heaving slightly with suppressed anger.
"I originally thought she was wronged, but now it seems that it is a done deal!"
Isn’t she kind enough to the Tang family!
Over the years, she thought that the mother and son were playing tricks on her under her nose. She turned a blind eye to it because of the old favor they had shown her, and just thought of it as repaying a favor.
She never expected that Tangli, who always pretended to be docile and well-behaved in front of her, almost killed her own grandson!
The old lady's eyes glared, and she said in a deep voice, "Madam Zhou, quickly send two teams. One team will search along the road, and the other team will take a shortcut back to the mansion. Make sure you catch her mother and brother before that bitch!"
Nanny Zhou bowed in agreement and walked out quickly.
After a while, everyone left, leaving only Wen Ning and Nanny Xue in the room.
The old lady's gaze fell on Wen Ning again, and the fierceness in her eyes gradually faded a little.
This girl, even when she was wronged, still wanted to save the Marquis. It's rare.
The old lady sighed, "It's not wrong for you to be pregnant, but since you are pregnant with the Marquis, this child has become a source of trouble.
If you continue to stay with the Marquis, I don't know how much trouble you will cause in the future.
I have been a Buddhist for many years and never advise anyone to kill or commit sin, so I will not order you to abort this child."
She changed the subject, her eyes suddenly sharp, "But the door lintel of the Marquis's Mansion cannot tolerate even the slightest stain.
Now, I can give you two choices.
Or I can follow the original plan and send you out of the capital tonight, and from now on you and the Marquis will be separated by mountains and rivers and you will never see each other again.
Otherwise, you can wait until the Marquis wakes up and let him deal with you personally. But by then, even if you want me to escort you out of the capital, I'm afraid it will be difficult to do so."
Wen Ning didn't dare to think too much about what would happen if Xie Jinglan knew that she was pregnant with someone else's child.
"This servant is willing to leave the capital. All arrangements will be made by the old lady," she kowtowed. "This servant has written down the method of sucking out the poison and the Marquis's daily medicinal recipes. I will present them to the palace physician before I leave."
The old lady fingered her Buddhist beads and said slowly, "You are kind, but your master should stay in the temple. I will send someone to take good care of him."
She paused, then said without hiding anything, "I had no choice but to let you leave the capital, but since the Marquis was poisoned, I had to prepare for the worst."
Wen Ning lowered her eyes, understanding something in her heart.
Keeping the master in the temple can, on the one hand, restrain her, and on the other hand, prevent the Marquis from suffering from a relapse of the poison in the future.
After all, she and her master are grasshoppers tied to the same rope.
If the old lady needed anything, she would have to turn back.
She knew that this was the best outcome and she couldn't dwell on these things anymore.
Wen Ning raised her eyes and said, "Thank you, old lady."
"Go and pack up. Someone will take you out of the capital soon."
Wen Ningfu bowed and slowly retreated.
Too many things happened today. The old lady, who had been holding on all day, now seemed to have all her strength drained away and sank into the armchair.
Upon seeing this, Nanny Xue hurried forward and massaged the old lady's chest and back.
"Old lady, you must take care of yourself!"
The old lady pondered and said, "I originally wanted to send that girl away and tell the Marquis that she ran away on her own. But now it seems that after he recovers, I will simply tell him that the girl is pregnant, so that he will give up the idea."
Madam Xue nodded, "Yeah."
"Do you think the Marquis will blame me?" The old lady said in a low voice, lowering her eyes to glance at the celadon teacup.
Nanny Xue stopped what she was doing and served tea to the old lady.
"Madam, you're worrying too much. The Marquis knows your painstaking efforts and wouldn't blame you. The girl also understands that if this happened in another mansion, she would have been drowned long ago. But for your kindness, she will definitely keep her promise."
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