Time Travel: The Noble Family
Chapter 550 - 212 Poison

Chapter 550: 212 Poison

Before they knew it, February had arrived.

Yueyao, finding the weather agreeable, took Xiang Wei and Xi Yu for a walk in the courtyard. Gazing at the weeping willows by the pond, she recited softly, "Jade makeup forms a tree high, thousands hang their green tassels low, not knowing who clipped the green leaves, February’s spring wind like scissors."

Xi Yu exclaimed in admiration, "Miss, the poetry you write is beautiful."

Looking at the vibrant garden, Yueyao felt quite pleased, "This is a poem by the Tang Dynasty poet He Zhizhang. The lines are catchy and form a rare masterpiece. My favorite is the last line, where the ’scissors’ trim out the tender green and fresh red plants, symbolizing the earth dressing anew, returning to its vigorous vitality."

Just as Yueyao arrived at the entrance of Lanxi Courtyard, she heard Xi Juan say with a beaming smile, "Miss, Miss Luo has sent you some gifts." This time, Luo Mingzhu had sent a large box of items, including rouge and powder, fragrant bead strands, agate bracelets, an antique bronze engraved mirror, and seashells, among many other curious and quaint items. Besides these articles, Mingzhu had also written a letter. Furthermore, there was another letter from Bai Yi for Xiang Wei.

In her letter, Mingzhu mentioned that she had bought these items while accompanying the Princely Heir Luo Shao on a trip outside. She liked the items so much that she bought a double portion, one for herself and one for Yueyao.

After selecting quite a few, Yueyao told Xi Yu, "Tell Nanny Hao to distribute these among everyone."

Xi Yu responded with a surprised exclamation, "Miss, do you mean for us to divide these?" Habitually, Xi Yu always thought Yueyao would first share anything she received with the other young ladies, and then it would be their turn. Now that Yueyao had directly said to divide them among themselves, Xi Yu was taken aback.

Yueyao smiled and said, "Didn’t you mention that giving them so many return gifts wasn’t doing much good? Now I won’t send them, and you wouldn’t feel bad about that, would you?"

Xi Yu paused for a moment before quickly saying, "Miss, I only felt it unfair for you, not that you shouldn’t send gifts. In the past, whenever you received nice things, you always gave them to the three ladies first; it might look bad if we abruptly stop. Miss, let’s still send them, just maybe in smaller quantities."

Yueyao thought Xi Yu’s point was very good, if it were Hua Lei, she would definitely have wholeheartedly agreed with her not sending anything: "Then you and Xi Juan pick out a few items from what I’ve kept to send to the three young ladies. You can take the things in the box to distribute."

Xi Yu beamed with joy, saying, "Thank you, Miss." She really liked the fragrant bead strands, enjoying the faint scent they emitted. When choosing items, as a First-Class Maid, she ranked right behind Nanny Hao, so those fragrance beads were definitely hers.

Yueying received the gifts but was not pleased; instead, she furrowed her brow. What she was thinking exactly, no one knew, not even Cai Qing.

Cai Qing had sent Ruo Mi outside. Just as Ruo Mi reached the doorway, she heard Yueying shouting in the room, "Take all these things away."

Ruo Mi’s expression changed immediately.

With a sigh, Cai Qing thought of the troubled times since the Eldest Miss had lost three thousand silver, becoming increasingly irritable and prone to anger, which they all struggled to manage. She hurriedly explained, "Sister Ruo Mi, Miss has been in a bad mood lately, often getting angry. Please don’t take it to heart." Cai Qing was just short of saying she hoped Ruo Mi wouldn’t tell Yueyao about this incident.

Ruo Mi responded with a smile, "Of course not." Her lady had kindly sent gifts to the Eldest Miss, and it was unexpected that not only was there no appreciation, but there was also disdain for their lady’s gifts.

Yuebing let her mother accept the gifts and even gave a generous reward.

Yuehuan was the most gracious of the three, "Third Sister is really too considerate, never forgetting us sisters when she gets fine things. Every time I receive something from Third Sister, I feel both joy and guilt." The joy came from receiving nice things, and the guilt from not having nice things to return.

Ruo Mi found Yuehuan’s attitude very gratifying. Back at Lanxi Courtyard, Ruo Mi relayed Yueying’s words to Yueyao.

Yueyao smiled and said, "Since she doesn’t like it, from now on, I simply won’t send any." She had already been looking for an opportunity not to send out gifts, and Yueying had just given her a perfect excuse.

However, before Yueyao could receive any more gifts, an incident occurred—an incident that relieved her of any dilemma over whether to send gifts or not.

Xiang Wei entered the study, her expression grave, and said, "Miss, there is something I think I should tell you."

Xiang Wei, wearing a semi-new but not old jacket and with her hair done up in a Flowing Cloud Hairbun adorned with a pair of auspicious gold hairpins and several Gold Filigree Beaded Flowers pinned at the corners of her bun, was a peculiar and indolent person—always lazy in her actions. Yet, such a woman in everyone’s eyes could spend an hour or two just arranging her hair. Unlike Yueyao, who rarely wore jewelry and, when she did, preferred jade and pearls, Xiang Wei favored jewelry made of gold, silver, and jewels. However, this person who could spend hours on her hairstyle did not have the same affection for clothes; she preferred wearing old clothes, with garments that were eighty percent new being her favorite.

Setting down her pen, Yueyao looked up and asked, "What is it?" It must be no small matter if Xiang Wei said there was something to discuss.

Before speaking, Xiang Wei did not forget to touch the gold hairpin on her hair bun, "Miss, take a guess."

Yueyao wasn’t in the mood to guess. She wasn’t one to torture herself with the unguessable. "Just tell me, stop beating around the bush."

Seeing Yueyao’s expression unchanged, Xiang Wei found it dull and brought up the serious topic, "I’ve been observing the kitchen maid these past few days and found her quite odd. Her gaze flickers uncertainly, as if she’s feeling guilty?"

Yueyao’s expression became tense, "Guilty? What did you find?" She had always been worried about the Lian family making a move against her, so she paid close attention to her food, clothing, and housing, especially the kitchen since it was the easiest place to tamper with food.

Having been betrayed in her past life, Yueyao had developed an instinctual wariness towards people. In other words, she couldn’t completely trust anyone, let alone the kitchen maid who was a family-born servant of the Lian Mansion, with her husband and grandson also living on the estate.

Xiang Wei didn’t tell Yueyao how she had discovered something was off about Chef Yang—it was a secret, and secrets were not to be revealed. Xiang Wei directly shared her findings, "After I noticed something was off about that kitchen maid, I took the opportunity to search her room and eventually found a packet of poison in her pillow. This poison was likely intended for you."

Yueyao’s heart chilled, "Poison? Is it that type of poison that’s colorless, tasteless, and leaves no trace of the cause of death?" That type of poison was the most frightening, leaving no clue as to how the death occurred.

Xiang Wei burst into laughter, "You’ve read too many miscellaneous books. Do you think such a poison that’s colorless, tasteless, and untraceable is as common as cabbage, available everywhere on the streets? That kind of poison isn’t something you can buy with money. Even the people of the Lian family don’t have the capability to acquire such sophisticated things."

Yueyao’s lips twitched, "Sophisticated things?" To consider something that kills a person a ’sophisticated thing,’ just what did this woman do before? She’s so fierce.

Xiang Wei shook her head, "You really don’t understand. To be able to die without any pain or suffering, silently, is a blessing. If you don’t consider such a thing good, then what is? Heh heh, you might not know, but death isn’t the scary part; the terrifying thing is living a life worse than death."

Yueyao abruptly became silent. Indeed, dying wasn’t frightening; what was terrifying was being unable to live or die, which was the true hell. She looked at Xiang Wei, who talked about death as if it were a daily meal, and felt curious for the first time, "What exactly did you do before?" Yueyao didn’t believe the words Bai Yi had said—an individual couldn’t be this ruthless without being shaped by experiences.

A sharp gleam appeared in Xiang Wei’s eyes, "Are you sure you want to know?"

Yueyao wasn’t afraid, she said proudly, "As long as you are willing to tell, I am not afraid to know." It was a secret, how could Xiang Wei possibly reveal it?

Xiang Wei found Yueyao unamusing and not cute at all.

Their conversation turned crooked as it went on.

Eventually, Yueyao brought the conversation back to the main topic, "Who do you think is behind this? I don’t think it’s Lady Mo; poisoning me so blatantly, if I really were to be poisoned to death, Lady Mo would definitely be ruined as well." Yueyao felt there was something strange about this whole affair, but besides Lady Mo, who else would want her dead? Could it be—

Yueyao thought of this possibility and couldn’t help but shudder, then shook her head to deny herself, "Impossible..." Though she said it was impossible, deep down, Yueyao was inclined to believe this speculation.

Xiang Wei frowned deeply, "Are you saying Lian Dongfang? Impossible, Lian Dongfang still thinks the list isn’t with you, why would he poison you then?"

It struck like thunder, leaving Yueyao stunned, "My uncle thinks the list isn’t with me? What’s going on?" She didn’t know about this.

Xiang Wei asked puzzledly, "Didn’t I tell you? Oh, I might have forgotten because of other matters. But it’s not a big deal, forgetting is forgetting."

Seeing Xiang Wei’s indifferent attitude made Yueyao’s teeth grind. Xiang Wei always found Yueyao’s methods incomprehensible, and similarly, Yueyao found Xiang Wei just as baffling. What seemed very important to her appeared trivial in Xiang Wei’s eyes, much like how casuall...