Chapter 15
Wang Ying ran out of the alley before Xiao Liuzi came out and found the brother and sister strolling on the street.
"Stop buying, come home with me now."
"What's wrong, sister-in-law?"
Wang Ying didn't answer, but urged them to leave quickly.
Qingyun and Qingsong were both sensible children. Seeing that his expression was not right, they did not continue to ask questions and hurriedly walked home.
Once inside, Wang Ying instructed the gatekeeper to lock the gate. "Qingyun, go and call your mother to the backyard. If anyone asks, tell her I bought her something and see if she likes it."
"Hey!" Chen Qingyun ran towards the main room.
Chen Qingsong followed him nervously to the backyard. At that time, Chen Qingyan was taking a nap inside the house, and Uncle Chen was sitting at the door twisting hemp rope.
"Young Master is back?"
"Uncle Chen, I need your help with something."
"Please speak, young master."
"You'll be responsible for guarding the gate to this courtyard later. Don't let anyone in!"
Uncle Chen's expression changed, and he immediately stood up and said, "Alright, young master, please rest assured, I will keep a close watch on the door!"
Wang Ying entered the room with a heavy expression. Chen Qingyan, who was lying on the bed, opened his eyes upon hearing the sound. "You're back so soon?"
"If you don't come back soon, you'll be poisoned to death!"
"What?" Chen Qingyan threw off the covers and sat up.
Outside, Chen Qingyun pulled Li Shi along. Li Shi genuinely thought Wang Ying had bought her something, and she entered the house with a smile, "What did you buy for me, child? Why are you being so mysterious?"
"Qingyun, go and close the door, and Qingsong, lock the windows too."
The two children quickly got to work, and Li noticed something was wrong, asking in confusion, "What happened?"
Wang Ying's voice trembled slightly, after all, she had never encountered anything like this in both her lives. It took her a while to calm down before she could tell what had happened to her today.
“I ran into Xiao Liuzi on the street today. I wanted to ask him to help look after Qingyun and Qingsong, but I saw him hanging out with Chen Biao’s two sons.”
Chen Qingyan frowned. "Your eldest cousin has been redeemed?"
Wang Ying nodded, "I followed them secretly, and I overheard... I overheard Chen Biao's family plotting to poison you!"
"Ah!" Li was so frightened that her legs went weak and she almost fell to the ground. Chen Qingyun and Chen Qingsong quickly helped her sit down on a chair next to her.
"Did you hear me clearly?"
“It’s crystal clear! Chen Biao gave Liu Zi a packet of arsenic and told him to find an opportunity to put it in your food. After you die, they will seize your family’s land and give half of it to Liu Zi.”
"It's true! Cough cough cough..." Chen Qingyan was so angry that he coughed.
Wang Ying quickly poured him a glass of water and handed it to him. "I never expected to encounter something like this. I was so scared that I rushed back."
"What should we do..." Li was at a loss, holding a handkerchief and just crying. The two children were too young, and Chen Qingyan was still not well. Everyone's attention was focused on Wang Ying.
"Now is not the time to cry. Luckily, I discovered this in time. Let's quickly think of a solution."
Upon hearing this, Li quickly wiped away her tears and said, "You're right."
Chen Qingsong said, "Let's report this to the authorities. Tian Xiaoliu is plotting to murder our master. We can't let him live!"
The crime of murdering one's master is no small matter; at best, one is exiled, and at worst, one is sentenced to a hundred strokes of the cane, a punishment that can kill a person with its weight of several tens of kilograms.
Li said weakly, "What can we do, Aunt Tian? She only has one son..."
"You're truly a living saint! They're about to kill your son, and you're still thinking about what to do with your enemy?"
Li shrank back after being scolded by Wang Ying. She realized that she had not thought things through. However, Tian Mama had served her for more than ten years, which had long exceeded the bond between master and servant. She thought that she could just let it go on the surface and turn a blind eye. She never expected that Tian Mama would betray her and do such a harmful thing.
"It's not wise to report this to the authorities right now. If Liu Zi denies it and says he bought the arsenic to poison rats, there's nothing we can do about it."
And then there's Chen Biao's family. Your second uncle is determined to seize our family property. If he doesn't succeed this time, he'll try again. You can't expect to guard against thieves every day if you're always stealing. If we don't resolve this once and for all, it could lead to endless trouble!
Chen Qingyan strongly agreed with his point of view, "Aying, what do you think we should do?"
Wang Ying was taken aback by his address. In her past life, only her maternal grandparents had called her that. She never expected that someone would call her that in this life. A sudden thought struck her.
"Don't act rashly these next few days. Try to stall Xiao Liu and Mama Tian and prevent them from making a move so quickly. Secondly, be extremely careful with food; test it with silver utensils before using it!"
"Okay." Everyone nodded in unison.
"Mother, especially you, don't let Granny Tian see through anything. Tian Xiaoliu dared to do this without Granny Tian's instigation."
Li hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay, I understand."
"Qingyun and Qingsong, you two just act as usual. Go to school or do your embroidery as usual, and pretend nothing happened."
"Okay, we'll listen to our sister-in-law!"
Chen Qingyan asked, "Have you already decided what to do?"
"I plan to fake your death."
"A fake death?" everyone exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes! I'm going to hold a funeral for you."
Chen Qingyan's lips twitched. He was about to say that this was outrageous when something suddenly occurred to him. "Are you planning to turn the tables on them and expose their conspiracy?"
“Smart! If we don’t play the whole act, how can we make the Chen family reveal their true colors? We can’t do this by ourselves. You should write a letter to your fourth uncle quickly…”
*
When Li returned to the main house from the backyard, she happened to run into Tian's mother coming in from outside.
"Where have you gone, Madam? I couldn't find you anywhere."
Li was startled and clutched her chest for a long time before calming herself down. "I went to the backyard to check on Qingyan... The child was fine a few days ago, but he's not feeling well today. He hasn't been eating anything."
Seeing that her eyes were red as if she had been crying, Madam Tian rolled her eyes and said, "See what I told you? Before, when Madam went to the mountain to pray to Buddha, the young master's health gradually improved. Now that he can't stop going, he won't be able to recover. No matter how small statues you bring, they are not as effective as those in the temple!"
"Is...is that so?" If she hadn't known that her son was going to poison her own son, Li might have actually believed it.
"Definitely! Young Master Wang is too young to understand anything. How can he only worship Buddha on the first day of the month and not on the fifteenth? If Buddha punishes him, I'm afraid the young master's life will be in danger!"
Li's heart trembled, and her gaze suddenly turned sharp. She had previously been mindful of the bond between mistress and servant, but now, seeing her like this, she felt extreme hatred.
“You’re right. I’ll trouble you to accompany me up the mountain to chant sutras these next few days, Mother Tian.”
"Oh!" Mother Tian couldn't hide her joy. She knew that the money had already been sent from the estate. She would ask Madam to donate a few more strings of cash for incense money this time she went up the mountain!
Li walked wearily into the bedroom, and Tian's mother skillfully helped her remove her hairpins and change into a silk dress for sleeping.
"Sumei, how long have you been serving me?"
When Madam Tian was suddenly called by her maiden name, she was taken aback. "It's been seventeen years. I was sent by Madam to take care of you the year you gave birth to the eldest son."
"Yes, seventeen years." Madam Li sighed softly.
Madam Tian's eyelids twitched suddenly, and she asked with some unease, "Why did Madam suddenly bring this up? Did you hear something from somewhere?"
"It's nothing, I just feel like we've known each other long enough."
"As long as Madam doesn't mind that I'm old and useless, this old servant will continue to serve Madam."
These words sounded so sweet, but who would have thought they were actually hypocrites? Li dared not continue the conversation, fearing she would lose control of her emotions and question her about why she did this.
He waved his hand and said, "I'm sleepy. You don't need to stay here tonight. Go back and rest."
"Sigh." Granny Tian closed the bedroom door and hurried home.
Her residence was not far from the Chen family mansion. Walking west out of the alley, there was a neat two-courtyard house. This was also purchased with the help of Li a few years ago. If you count carefully, Li had given her quite a lot of things over the years. It's just a pity that some people are hard to tame and can't be satisfied.
"Mom, you're back!" Little Liu excitedly greeted her as soon as she entered the door.
"Old woman, come and see what this is!" Old Man Tian, his face flushed from drinking, handed her the contract.
Granny Tian took it and examined it carefully. "This was given to you by Chen Biao?"
"Yes! Today, Young Master Qingfeng invited me to his house to discuss that matter. He said that if it's done, half of the Chen family's land will be given to us, and then we'll be landlords!"
Is it a safe bet?
"The fingerprints are all in black and white; they can't deny it even if they want to!"
Granny Tian was secretly delighted. "Good, good, what does he want us to do?"
Tian Xiaoliu took out the packet of arsenic, "Find an opportunity to pour this medicine into the young master's food or medicine, so that he won't be the first to know..."
"Oh dear, I wouldn't dare!"
"Mother, I don't have much access to what's happening in the inner courtyard from the outer courtyard. If you don't help, this matter probably won't work out!"
"This is murder..."
Old Man Tian slammed his fist on the table and said, "Do you intend to make Xiao Liu a servant for life? Besides, the Chen family is now in charge, how will they live if they can't get any benefits?"
Granny Tian gritted her teeth. "Madam asked me to accompany her to the mountain to worship Buddha tomorrow. I reckon we can make some money again. Should we wait a few days?"
Tian Xiaoliu said, "Second Master isn't in a hurry. As long as we get things done, that's fine!"
Granny Tian then took the poison and hid it in the pocket of her undergarment.
A note from the author:
We're about to retaliate against these people.
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