Actually, Zheng Jin was fine; she hadn't drunk any poison. Liu Xiang'er wasn't particularly bright either.
He brazenly went to poison someone, but Zheng Jin saw right through him the moment he arrived.
However, she didn't waste the poison; she made Gu Xiao drink it.
The story begins with that day when Gu Ting gave Liu Xiang'er a sinister look.
Originally, Liu Xiang'er was standing there watching the commotion, but after receiving the message from the Third Young Master, she was filled with regret and fear.
But she really didn't want to be assigned to Aunt Yang's place after going to the countryside, because she knew better than anyone what it was like for Aunt Yang to torment people.
While she was still well-behaved at the Marquis's residence, she was suppressed by the Marquis's family and scolded by the Second Madam. Even Xiang'er almost lost half her life.
I have to find a way out for myself, so what can I do? Just go for it.
Didn't Gu Xiao get beaten up again and then come back to rest?
My ribs aren't broken, so I'll pack up and head to the countryside in ten days.
However, he was indeed feeling a bit unwell, and this was his own father, so Gu Ting had to try to appease him.
But he didn't do it himself; instead, he had Xu Shaoqing stew a soup so that she could fulfill her filial duty as a son and daughter-in-law.
Xu Shaoqing thought he was sick. She hated Gu Xiao for scheming to get 10,000 taels of silver from her!
Even if Gu Xiao were dead now, Xu Shaoqing would probably be secretly pleased. Making soup? Keep dreaming!
Even if she had a servant cook it and then bring it over herself, that was impossible.
Gu Ting was betrayed by Gui Xiang and kicked to the ground by Jiang Shiyi's men. He was still seething with hatred.
He naturally harbored resentment towards Xu Shaoqing, and seeing that she was unwilling to go, Gu Ting stopped trying to persuade her and simply turned and left.
Gu Ting doesn't dare to say much to Xu Shaoqing now, for fear that saying a few more words will reveal his deep-seated hatred.
After leaving, he instructed the old woman in the main kitchen to prepare two bowls of soup and have Liu Xiang'er take them with her.
"These two bowls of ginseng soup, one is for my father and the other is for my mother. My mother has been taking care of my father these days, which has been quite tiring for her. She should drink some soup to replenish her energy."
After saying this, Gu Ting sneered, "Do you think you understand what I mean? If you do, be careful when you take the soup over, don't spill it."
Liu Xiang'er really didn't want to take this risk, but when she thought of Aunt Yang, she felt a chill, stamped her foot, and decided to do it!
He carried two bowls of ginseng soup to the main courtyard, handed one of the bowls to the second wife, and then waited nervously on the side.
Zheng Jin noticed that she was trembling a little, but he didn't suspect anything. However, when he picked it up and smelled it, he realized that the soup tasted strange!
Thinking this, Zheng Jin put the soup in his hand on the table.
"Let the master drink it first. I'll let it cool down here. It's okay if it's cold before drinking it."
But the master is still injured; it's not good for him to drink cold soup.
Gu Xiao's nose was a little stuffy, and he couldn't smell anything good or bad. He only realized something was wrong when he tasted it.
But the second wife wouldn't allow any argument; before he could even speak, she forced a large bowl of soup into his mouth.
Gu Xiao wasn't stupid; how could ginseng soup taste like this? He kept spitting it out.
"Zheng Jin, you bitch, did you drug me?"
After saying that, he turned to look at Liu Xiang'er and the other servants standing to the side, "Quickly, go find a doctor!"
Zheng Jin also feigned extreme panic, "Master, what are you talking about? Why did you vomit? Quickly, go find a doctor!"
The doctor arrived quite quickly, since living on Xilou Street means it's close to clinics and other medical facilities.
The person was saved, and news of Gu Xiao's poisoning quickly reached the Marquis's residence.
Before the Marquis's mansion sent people over, Liu Xiang'er and Gu Ting had already been taken into custody by the Second Madam.
Then the Marquis's mansion was in complete chaos. At first, Gu Xiao thought that Zheng Jin had really harmed him.
But Liu Xiang'er was too useless; she was beaten and scolded, and during the trial, she said whatever came to mind.
The third young master was also implicated, and he was implicated without any hesitation.
Upon learning that it was his own son who had tried to harm him, Gu Xiao found it unbelievable.
"How could I have raised such a little beast like you? You actually murdered your own father! Come on, beat him to death with sticks!"
It was the second wife who stopped him, saying, "What's all this commotion? No one from the Marquis's residence has come yet. I heard from that maid that this medicine was bought when she was at the Marquis's residence."
"It's been so long, and they're still using it to harm people. It's truly unexpected."
Zheng Jin paused for a moment, then said, "Moreover, this matter also involves the Marquis's physician. The physician prescribing medicine that harms people? It's something I don't even want to think about."
You'd better behave yourself and wait for the Marquis's mansion to send someone to investigate and find out what happened before we talk about anything else.
And so, the Lady of the Marquis has been extremely busy these past two days.
He leads his men to the opera house street twice a day. They can't really let Gu Xiao die, can they? If Gu Xiao dies, the Marquis's mansion will be truly implicated!
Meanwhile, Granny Hua at home was still keeping an eye on things and interrogating the family physician about how many harmful medicines he had prescribed!
The masters are busy, and so are the maids below, spinning around like tops all day long.
This is where the advantages of being a third-class maid become apparent. They can take time off and do what they need to do, and these things don't concern them for the time being.
Of course, their leisure time was also related to Granny Hua.
She also deliberately gave them leave to reassure them. She wanted everyone to calm down and feel that nothing was happening, since things were still peaceful on the surface.
That's why Chunye and the others were able to take a normal vacation and even find time to visit Wang Yan.
However, at the Marquis's residence, although Granny Hua had tried to control the flow of information, gossip spread incredibly fast.
Especially with Lady Hou going out so frequently, everyone could tell something was wrong.
However, rumors are never very accurate, and the rumors in the mansion have now spread to the point that the second wife has been poisoned to death!
This caused Wang Yan to be quite startled while listening, and it also made Wang Ying feel very uncomfortable.
"What?! The Second Madam was such a good person, how could she just die like that?"
Chunyu sighed, "Alas, who can argue with that? If you ask me, those maids in the Gu household are really bold; they even dare to poison their masters!"
After a few people lamented there, Wang Yan went back and brewed tea for them.
Fuling followed her and, while they were brewing tea, gave Wang Yan the dividends she had received for the past three months, which totaled about seventy or eighty taels.
"How come there's so much? Didn't we say we'd split it equally among the three of us?"
Fuling gestured for her to put the money away, saying, "This time it doesn't count. You keep it for now, and we'll split the profits equally next time."
Wang Yan was genuinely puzzled. "Why?"
"I know you feel bad because you feel you're doing less work after leaving the manor and still getting paid so much."
But even if you're going to share, you should take one first. After all, you provided the prescription, so you should get something good out of it.
It symbolizes that after you leave the mansion, you will continue to receive your share of money smoothly and evenly.
"You insisted on giving it to me last time, so I didn't return it. This time, you and Aunt Sun will divide it together, and then we'll divide it equally among the three of us."
Wang Yan's heart was pounding with emotion. Aunt Sun and Fuling were such kind people!
Logically speaking, it would be acceptable not to give Wang Yan a share of the profits after she left the manor, but Aunt Sun never intended to keep her share.
The same goes for Poria cocos; even if you want to bring good luck, you can include the previous dividends from it.
But this time it's the Lunar New Year, so the rewards will definitely be much greater.
That's why Fuling accepted the money from last time and sent her half of this time.
"Don't do that again next time! Next time, the money absolutely has to be split equally among the three of us!"
Fuling smiled happily and nodded in agreement.
After Wang Yan made the arrangements with her, she asked, "Has the old lady developed any new dishes recently?"
Fuling shook her head. "No, but what you left behind is enough."
But Aunt Sun really asked me to ask you if you have any prescriptions that you can share. If so, you can send two more back to me.
The main problem is that Madam is getting tired of eating bird's nest lately. But our small kitchen just received a new batch, and Aunt Sun doesn't want to switch.
"Besides, the old lady has gotten quite skilled at making bird's nest over the years, so she asked me if you have any new methods?"
"A new idea!" Wang Yan thought for a moment, "Let's make it into a dessert, like bird's nest and osmanthus jelly."
Boil agar and osmanthus flowers in water, then add some coconut wine, add the stewed bird's nest, and then take some ice from the freezer and freeze it for half an hour.
Half an hour later, the bird's nest jelly will be ready. Find a white jade stemmed glass, cut the bird's nest jelly into large pieces, put it in, and drizzle a layer of osmanthus honey on top.
It's fragrant and sweet when you scoop it up with a spoon, and its chewy texture is no different from modern jelly.
Fu Ling carefully noted down the recipe, planning to try it out with Granny Sun after returning home.
After explaining how to make bird's nest, I also made milk tea for my friends.
Wang Yan put the money into her purse, put it inside the house, and then took out the empty purse and returned it to Fu Ling.
The two of them carried the milk tea to the table set up on the shore.
This time, Wang Yan made caramel milk tea for everyone. First, add white sugar to the pot, then turn the heat up high and then down.
Continue cooking until the sugar in the pot turns a glassy color and starts bubbling. At this point, add boiling water.
Do not add too much boiling water; just enough to melt the caramel.
Add boiling water and simmer for half an hour. Once the caramel has melted, add tea leaves and stir-fry over low heat until the caramel turns amber.
Then add an appropriate amount of milk, crack in two pieces of yellow rock sugar, bring to a boil over high heat, and then pour into a teapot to drink.
Wang Yan carried the teapot to find her friends. Every time she saw her friends, Wang Yan was very happy.
Chunchao asked her, "Chunyan, I heard you're making banquet dishes now?"
"Yeah, but not many people are buying. We have no choice but to think of other ways. Once we've built up a reputation, we can switch to serving more expensive banquets."
Chunque chimed in, "Definitely! Let's not talk about those cooks who charge three hundred taels per meal, but five or ten taels of silver, Chunyan, I think you can do it!"
Chunye clicked her tongue. "Why can't we compare to those cooks? I've always thought Chunyan's cooking is delicious. She's given us so many ideas around the manor. Have you forgotten about those scallion pancakes?"
Chunyu chimed in, "That's right, who knows, maybe our Chunyan will end up like the He family's cheese noodles, selling a single serving for five hundred taels of silver!"
Wang Yan was so frightened that she waved her hands repeatedly to stop them from exaggerating further.
"No, no, there's only one He family in the whole city. I can't even sell a banquet for one or two taels of silver right now. Let's all keep a low profile for now."
Wang Yan looked nervous, her voice trembling as she tried to stop them from blowing.
We're sitting on the shore, and there are people on both sides of us with tables set up. It would be so embarrassing if they heard us.
After she finished speaking, the group burst into laughter again, and everyone was laughing together. Wang Yan's nervous expression after being startled was hilarious.
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