Chapter 140
Chapter 140: Hidden Motives
Luckily, Luo Jin arrived fast. After he inserted the golden acupuncture needles, Xia Meng Yan vomited up the food and soon woke.
But she was pregnant. After all that, she lay limp on the bed like a lifeless rag doll.
Luo Jin’s conclusion was simple: poisoning.
Duan Yi Chen flew into a rage, then ordered Song Mo to investigate.
So many people had visited Xia Meng Yan lately that everyone seemed suspicious at first. Luo Jin started with her meals and finally concluded this: the drug was put into the food. Once steamed or stir?fried, its power would be cut in half. A normal person would at most feel dizzy after eating it.
Because Xia Meng Yan was pregnant and weak, her reaction was much stronger.
When the Lin Family elders learned of it, they didn’t dare make a big scene. They weren’t afraid of the poisoner. They were worried because Xia Meng Yan would give birth soon. If they found the culprit, blood would be shed. If they failed, people in the manor might resent Xia Meng Yan, and how would she live here in peace later?
Hearing that, Duan Yi Chen kicked a low stool across the hall and said: “If the Lin Family isn’t safe, I’ll take Yan’er out to live elsewhere.”
Old Master Lin hurried to explain, speaking firmly: “This will not be brushed aside. The Lin Family will investigate in secret and give Xia Meng Yan a proper answer.”
After the uproar, Duan Yi Chen acted like a man granted amnesty. Anything that was going to pass Xia Meng Yan’s lips had to be checked by Luo Jin first, then tasted by Duan Yi Chen. Only if a quarter hour passed and he was fine was it placed before her.
Xia Meng Yan tried to soothe everyone, saying with a small smile: “Alright, I’m not that delicate.” In her heart, guilt pricked her: [I know medical arts. Because I was careless, I put the child in danger. If blame is handed out, I’m first.]
Duan Yi Chen dutifully tasted every dish, then glanced at the hourglass and said, gentle and stubborn: “Don’t worry. I’m doing this by choice.”
Xia Meng Yan teased him: “If you get poisoned, how will I explain it to the Eldest Princess?”
He brushed it off, brows lifting: “Explain what? What does it have to do with her?” In his mind, his mother could be angry if she liked; Yan’er’s life outweighed his own. He lowered his voice: “Do you suspect anyone?”
His good feeling toward the Lin Family had vanished the moment Xia Meng Yan was poisoned.
Staring at the dishes, Xia Meng Yan picked up a rib. Lately she had been craving meat, probably because the baby wanted it. She said evenly: “Aside from my maternal grandfather, grandmother, and uncle, everyone else is a suspect.”
Duan Yi Chen neither argued nor agreed.
He had his own view. The Lin Family had gained huge benefits because of Xia Meng Yan. Even if they meant to use her and cast her aside, they would wait. Doing it now would be too obvious.
He asked, cool and practical: “Then the servants below were bought?”
“It could also be a plant from the Huo Family,” said Xia Meng Yan. She chewed the rib. The soft, sticky meat soothed her whole body, and after a moment she set her chopsticks down. “I’ve been in the Lin Family long enough that any plant has likely sent all my moves back to the Huo Family. Once they learned the Lin Family got the port’s management rights, the Huo Family couldn’t sit still.”
Duan Yi Chen nodded: “Very likely. But the plant is buried deep. We cast bait for so long with no clues, and instead you got poisoned.”
Rubbing the rim of her teacup, Xia Meng Yan said calmly: “No rush. Right now Uncle and my maternal aunt are on cold terms, and I was poisoned. The Lin Family is already unsteady.”
[Time to fish in troubled waters soon.]
When Third Madam heard that Xia Meng Yan wasn’t feeling well, she came to visit. After confirming nothing was seriously wrong, she apologized again and again, speaking with shame: “Your Third Uncle scolded me for asking your help before. Now you’re unwell, so I don’t dare trouble you anymore.”
Then she set down what she had brought, saying with care: “I found a ginseng root. It can’t compare to the one Eldest Sister?in?law has, but it’s still top quality. Use it for soup and build yourself up.”
“Thank you for thinking of me, Third Maternal Aunt,” said Xia Meng Yan with a neat, innocent smile. “Once I’ve recovered, I’ll invite you over to play.”
Third Madam’s mouth twitched. She said two more polite lines and left with her people.
She had just reached the garden when she ran into Second Madam.
Second Madam lifted her chin with a laugh and said: “Isn’t this my younger sister?in?law? What, you went to Meng Yan’s courtyard again?” After taking over the household, she had tasted power at last. In the Lin Family, she chose first, and Third Branch took what was left. She loved the feeling.
Third Madam didn’t want a fight. She smiled and dipped her head: “Meng Yan was unwell. I went to check on her. Where are you headed, Second Sister?in?law?”
“Where else but the meeting hall,” said Second Madam, eyes bright with pride. “It’s my first time seeing how the Lin Family has endless business every day. I truly wonder how Eldest Sister?in?law managed before.” She flicked her handkerchief across Third Madam’s sleeve and added, falsely kind: “When you have time, learn how to manage household affairs. Don’t keep bothering Meng Yan. She’s still young. Some things were just luck; don’t take them too seriously.”
Third Madam knew she meant the time Xia Meng Yan helped Eldest Brother read the accounts. Keeping her tone mild, as if she didn’t get the jab, she answered: “I visit Meng Yan as an elder caring for a junior. I don’t understand this ‘luck’ you mentioned. Do you mean getting close to Meng Yan brings good luck?”
“You—” Second Madam’s pose cracked at once. She snorted: “Stop pretending. Don’t think I don’t see your scheme. The elders dote on Meng Yan, so you want to cozy up to her. Don’t forget, Eldest Brother is her real uncle. What are you in comparison?”
Third Madam stepped back and looked her up and down, voice like a knife wrapped in silk: “Whatever I am, you’re the same.”
Second Madam gnashed her teeth. Third Branch pressed Second Branch everywhere, and now they didn’t even bother to hide it. She spat: “Don’t be proud. Godfather values character. Sooner or later he’ll see through your branch’s plotting.”
“Likewise. You go on ahead; I have things to do,” said Third Madam, then left with her people.
Second Madam stomped in place, choking on anger. She dared to mock me? Just wait.
That night, Second Madam summoned the steward of the weaving workshop and, in secret, set out to trip up Third Branch.
By lunchtime the next day, Xia Meng Yan heard that people from the second and third branches had already come to blows.
Chun Yue reported what was happening outside, speaking quickly: “They say Third Madam’s maid went to the weaving workshop for materials, but was given only one bolt of cloth. The workshop said the Lin Family is opening a new shop, so the budgets for all branches are cut in half for now. They’ll adjust later. Third Madam’s maid refused, they argued, and I heard the two sides even fought.”
As Chun Yue spoke, her eyes kept darting to the bowl before the young miss.
A small bowl had been piled into a little mountain.
Duan Yi Chen added bamboo shoots to the bowl. Xia Meng Yan frowned at the heap and thought, annoyed: [Am I a pig? Who could finish this much?]
Guilty under her glare, Duan Yi Chen pushed half back into his own bowl.
Chun Yue’s eyes went round.
“Keep going. How did the other branches react?” asked Xia Meng Yan, lowering her head to eat and ignoring Duan Yi Chen.
Chun Yue blinked and said: “No movement from the First Branch. Old Madam only sent someone to ask about it. The branches living in the West Wing didn’t react either.”
Xia Meng Yan’s chopsticks paused. No reaction at all? [Did I guess wrong?]
Looking across the whole Lin Family, she asked herself: If I were planting a spy, where would I put them?
She had suspected Third Branch at first. The reason was simple. Zhou Yuan had been a bookkeeper. He kept a low profile. People like that, when they finally make a move, usually cut like a knife.
As folks say, the quieter one is, the worse they can be.
Second Branch, by contrast, bared its teeth and showed holes everywhere, not worth fearing.
The two small branches living in the West Wing were too well?behaved. That was odd too.
“Tell our people to watch Third Branch,” she said.
Chun Yue answered and slipped out.
Night fell, cool wind stirring the leaves. A dark figure stepped out from behind the rockery, dodged the Lin Family’s patrols, and came to a courtyard.
Seeing the candle inside had gone out, the figure vaulted the wall, took out a prepared packet, and sprinkled powder beneath a tree.
“Who’s there?”