170 Power
◎Different taste◎
Dead?
Li Yiqing paused after hearing this, and continued to obtain clues without changing his expression.
Gradually, she learned more information. Because the evidence was conclusive, Fu Cong was executed by firing squad shortly after being imprisoned, and some of his property was put up for public auction. This incident caused quite a stir at the time, and Mr. Li was said to have participated in the auction and bought back many collections.
Later, Mr. Li replaced Fu Cong's position and was successfully promoted.
"I don't know anything more..." The servant nervously lowered his eyes and fiddled with the corner of his clothes, not daring to look directly into Li Yiqing's eyes. "Miss, is there anything else? If not, I'll go and get busy."
"Go ahead." Li Yiqing nodded and agreed to the other party's request to leave.
“…”
At noon, Qi Qiuxue and Li Yiqing had a brief meeting.
Qi Qiuxue talked about what happened in the morning. She and several other players went to visit Mrs. Han. When they arrived at her courtyard, she was still sitting at the card table, but unlike yesterday, she was not as calm and composed as before. She was obviously very angry.
The servants who played cards with her all shrank their necks, allowing her to humiliate them as if they had committed some heinous crime. They didn't dare to look her in the eye or say a word back.
Qi Qiuxue stood at the door and observed for a few seconds before finally deciding to step in.
"Madam, good morning." She smiled and glanced at the servants. "What happened? Who made you unhappy?"
"Oh, good morning. Why are you here?" Mrs. Han raised her eyes when she heard the voice, as if she had just noticed them, and quickly switched to her usual generous and elegant appearance.
She raised her hand to push back her delicately tied hair and sighed softly, "What else could it be? Of course, it's because these idiots' card skills are so bad that I can't really enjoy myself at all."
"Why not end this card game early?" She raised her hand and pushed all the cards in front of her down. She stretched out her hand listlessly, ready to ask the servant beside her to help her up. "Take me back to my room to rest..."
Before she could utter the word "rest", she was interrupted by Qi Qiuxue.
As if suddenly in the mood, Qi Qiuxue smiled and said, "Why don't we play a few games with you?"
After she finished speaking, Madam Han looked up at her again and asked with interest, "Really?"
Qi Qiuxue nodded: "Of course it's true."
So after a few seconds, Mrs. Han withdrew her hand again: "Then please take a seat, everyone."
"Who of you wants to go on stage?" she asked.
"Shanyue, Shien." Qi Qiuxue opened her mouth and pointed at two people. She had known for a long time that Wu Shanyue could play cards. The two had even played a few rounds at the company's annual meeting. As for Bai Shien, she happened to know about her from the other party's information when she was conducting the membership review.
The three of them sat down around the table and began to shuffle the cards under Mrs. Han's gaze.
“…”
Playing cards was just a pretext; Qi Qiuxue's real purpose was to get information.
Qi Qiuxue felt genuine doubt and curiosity about what she saw that night, about Mrs. Han's life experience, her purpose, and the strange teacup.
——What exactly did she make Mr. Li drink that night?
The mahjong tiles collided with each other, making crisp sounds. Qi Qiuxue started with the simplest topic, praising Mrs. Han's temperament, appearance, and clothing style, and then talked about deeper topics. She asked her how to manage the household, how to train servants, and how to handle the relationship between family members.
She was like an ordinary traveler with a strong thirst for knowledge, who suddenly strayed into such a magnificent house one day and was dazzled by everything here. She was curious about everything she saw and heard, and showed a deep yearning and admiration for this place.
The other players obviously understood what she meant, and joined in the performance, performing this play together. No one disliked hearing praise. Mrs. Han's vanity was greatly satisfied, and she talked more and more.
"As you can see, it's not easy to manage this family, especially when dealing with three children. You have to be very patient."
"It's fate that they lost their mother so early in life." Just as Qi Qiuxue had guessed, Mrs. Han, the stepmother, finally revealed her true identity. "Others may not understand this kind of suffering, but I feel it myself."
Can you relate?
Qi Qiuxue grasped the key words: "Your mother..."
"She passed away from illness many years ago." Mrs. Han shook her head, a hint of sadness covering her brows. "Before I could get over the grief of losing my mother, my father collapsed from overwork and passed away within a few days."
"I'm the only daughter in my family, with no siblings, so I had to bear all this immense pain alone. Perhaps suffering makes people grow. Even though I was extremely sad, heartbroken, and in pain, I remained strong and arranged a dignified funeral for them both."
"I was born into a wealthy family. After losing my family, what meaning did this huge fortune have for me? But when I thought about how it was the result of my mother and father's years of hard work, I vowed to protect everything in the Han family."
"Perhaps my experience in managing a household was accumulated from that time." As she spoke of this, her tone suddenly changed to pride. "I managed the Han family well from top to bottom. Later, I married Ru Hai (Master Li) and took on the responsibility of managing the Li family."
"You are such an outstanding woman." Qi Qiuxue smiled and gave praise at the right time.
Mrs. Han was obviously very pleased with this statement: "I can't say I'm excellent, I just hope to do my best to protect my home and my family, so that everyone can live a happy life."
The game continues.
During this time, servants came in twice. The first time, they brought news that Master Li was coming. Madam Han nodded and said, "As usual, prepare Ru Hai's favorite snacks."
The second time, the servants brought what she mentioned. No matter the style and workmanship of the snacks, the plates for the snacks, or the teapots and teacups for brewing tea, everything was exquisite and beautiful.
Qi Qiuxue coughed twice upon seeing this, her eyes involuntarily drawn to the aroma of tea: "Excuse me, Madam, I'm a little thirsty right now. Could you please have someone pour me a cup of tea as well?"
"Of course." Madam Han nodded and quickly called the servants over, "What are you standing there for? Go make tea for Miss Qi."
"No, no need to bother." Qi Qiuxue shook her head, a little embarrassed, "This tea smells so good, can I try it?"
After she finished speaking, Mrs. Han paused, her expression seeming somewhat reluctant.
The atmosphere in the room turned cold.
Qi Qiuxue did not back down. Like a rude person who lacked knowledge and could not read other people's expressions, she continued to look at the other person with expectant eyes.
It seems that there must be something wrong with the pot of tea prepared in advance for Mr. Li.
That's what she originally thought.
But after a few seconds, Madam Han snorted and laughed under her gaze, praising her with a subtle hint of disdain, "Well, Miss Qi has really good taste. This tea is indeed extraordinary."
She opened her mouth and asked the servant to pour tea, saying, "Then you can try it together."
Qi Qiuxue stood up at the right time, and without waiting for the servant to bring it to her, she took the initiative to move over and pretended to casually pick up Master Li's teacup.
When you lift the lid of the cup, even though it contains tea that is indeed delicious in color, aroma and taste, when you smell it carefully, the taste seems a bit strange.
"Hey." Mrs. Han immediately stopped him. "You took the wrong cup. That's Ru Hai's usual cup. He has a strange temper. If he knew someone else used his cup, he would definitely be angry."
"Yours is right there." She raised her lips and pointed her index finger lightly to the side. "Look carefully before you take it."
"Sorry." Qi Qiuxue hurriedly and carefully put the cup back after hearing that, and picked up the tea beside her and took a sip as if at a loss, but accidentally burned her tongue with the scalding tea inside.
When Mrs. Han saw this, a hint of scorn flashed across her eyes. She quickly called the servants to bring some ice.
"Are you okay?" Li Yiqing couldn't help but feel worried when she heard this. Even though she knew that Qi Qiuxue had done all this on purpose, she still couldn't help but feel distressed. "Axue, stick out your tongue so I can see it."
"It's okay." Qi Qiuxue responded by opening her lips and letting her see the slightly red tip of her tongue. "I only drank a little bit. It wasn't seriously burned. I was just pretending to let her down."
She recalled the taste of her cup of tea. Both the color and the aroma were exactly the same as Master Li's. The only difference was that it lacked that faint, strange scent.
"It's the same tea, but it tastes different when poured into two different cups. There must be something wrong."
"I didn't feel any discomfort after drinking that cup of tea. Whether the tea was poisonous or not is still unknown. What is certain is that Master Li's cup must have had something more added to it than mine."
"Perhaps the mechanism is in the teapot, or perhaps in his teacup." Qi Qiuxue paused and suddenly said, "You just said that Master Li was not in a good state today?"
"Yes." Li Yiqing nodded.
Qi Qiuxue recalled Madam Han's words and couldn't help but sneer: "That's really a coincidence."
Li Yiqing understood what she wanted to say: "It's very strange, isn't it? Whether it's Madam Han's mother or father, or Master Li, why are all those close to her feeling unwell?"
"That's not all." Qi Qiuxue shook her head, "There's one more thing."
"Have you noticed?" She looked at Li Yiqing beside her, "These people who are ill are all the people who truly hold power in the Han or Li family."
"Perhaps Madam Han has been planning this move for a long time." Qi Qiuxue said softly, "It's all about taking over the assets of both families and becoming the sole person in power."
【Author’s words】
Coming
There is still a thousand left. I will continue to update more tomorrow. There is also a small red envelope in the comment section of this chapter, which will be posted before the next chapter is updated~
Thank you all for your overlord tickets and nutrient solution, thank you for leaving comments and reading, love you all, mumumumumumumu
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