Union

Chapter 51 Find out
Ruizhu wanted to be punished, and Aunt Ding felt she should be punished too.

After all, Ruizhu was in charge of managing the household under her orders, so she had to take responsibility if Ruizhu made a mistake; secondly, Ruizhu was in charge of managing the household, so she still had to supervise her, it didn't mean that she could just wash her hands of everything and hand over everything to Ruizhu.

She failed to detect the danger beforehand, almost leading to the Second Master's murder; this was her greatest crime. Therefore, she had to be punished.

Aunt Ding begged for forgiveness before the Second Master, but the Second Master only said, "We'll talk about Aunt's matter later. For now, let's keep the inner quarters under control to prevent any more trouble."

Chen Yanzhou seemed to want to say something else, but Mo Xue rushed over and whispered a few words to the Second Master.

Yunying was close to the Second Master and overheard Mo Xue's words.

For a moment, she couldn't help but look at the Second Master in surprise.

Oh Sehun was also arrested?

So it seems like it was all worth it for them to be so frightened today.

After all, Magistrate Fan was arrested, Wu Shixun was also captured, and Qi Sou and Zhao Xiong, who were already imprisoned, were left with only the madam of Xinfeng Tower among the "Five Evils" of Yungui County.

The five pests will be eliminated; this is a good thing.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, the Second Master's phoenix eyes gleamed. He said, "Very good! Let's go take a look!" and then led Mo Xue outside.

As they passed Yunying, the Second Master seemed to remember something and casually instructed, "Aunt Ding's body is still poisoned; please help her out if she needs anything."

Yunying dared not refuse at this moment, and quickly bowed and agreed, saying, "This servant will obey Aunt's orders."

Second Master strode away with a powerful stride and quickly disappeared from sight. Yunying walked to Aunt Ding's side and asked her what she was going to do next.

Looking at the mess on the ground and Mu Jin and Qiu Ning, who were exhausted from fright, Aunt Ding was sincerely grateful that Yun Ying was still there.

Fortunately, Yunying was exceptionally brave and remained calm in the face of danger; otherwise, they would all have lost their lives today.

Considering that she could say Yunying saved her life, Aunt Ding now finds Yunying particularly pleasing to the eye and feels even closer to her.

Aunt Ding first had Yunying take people to escort Mujin and Qiuning back to the backyard. However, Mujin and Qiuning were still afraid, fearing that some escaped remnants might be hiding in their yard and harm them. They trembled with fear. No matter how Aunt Ding told them that Suiyun and the others had searched the county government office thoroughly and that there was no more danger, they still didn't believe her.

Aunt Ding was very troubled, but seeing their pale faces, she couldn't say anything.

The key issue is that the residual poison on their bodies hasn't dissipated, and it's unclear whether moving them rashly will have any impact on their health.

Thinking of this, Aunt Ding stopped forcing the two to return to the backyard. She was about to give Yunying some more instructions when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest. For a moment, she collapsed onto the table, too weak to speak.

Seeing this, Yunying guessed that the antidote pills she had just taken had only temporarily stabilized the toxins in Aunt Ding and the others' bodies, but had not completely eliminated them.

That would be dangerous.

She immediately had someone help Aunt Ding to lie down on the chaise lounge, and then asked a maid to run to the front yard to find someone to fetch a doctor.

Unfortunately, the maids were all terrified and none of them dared to go outside at that moment.

Having no other choice, Yunying took Hesui, whose arm had been scratched, with her to the front yard.

Along the way, they saw guards patrolling, and when they saw Yunying and her servants, they all gave way.

Yunying breathed a sigh of relief and quickly walked to the front yard.

Second Master was naturally not there, but Lei Ting remained. After hearing Yun Ying's request, he immediately nodded and said he would send someone to invite her, and then dismissed Yun Ying.

Yunying returned to the backyard, went to the kitchen to find some mung beans, and cooked a pot of mung bean soup over a large fire.

When she returned to the flower hall with the mung bean soup, Aunt Ding and the others' eyes lit up.

Before they could say anything, Yunying spoke first: "The doctor has already been fetched. I was worried that the doctor would be slow to arrive, so I went to the stove to cook some mung bean soup. Aunt Ding, you should drink some first. Mung bean soup clears heat and detoxifies, so it will definitely have some benefits."

Upon hearing this, Aunt Ding and the other two naturally did not refuse. Each of them forced themselves to drink two bowls of mung bean soup, made two trips to the clean room, and then began to doze off.

It was at this moment that the old doctor was finally invited over.

The old doctor straightened his clothes, clearly having been urgently dragged out of bed. He had been feeling a bit tight in his chest, but once he saw that he had been brought to the county government office, he immediately dared not complain anymore.

After taking the pulses of Aunt Ding and the other two, it was found that the poison in their bodies had not been cleared. Unfortunately, the old doctor's medical skills were mediocre, and he could not prescribe a good antidote.

For a moment, the senior doctor could only sheepishly recommend another doctor and prescribe emetics for vomiting and diarrhea, telling him to try them first.

This recipe isn't anything special, but it's definitely foolproof.

After seeing the old doctor off, it was already broad daylight.

Qiu Ning and Mu Jin were either exhausted from the ordeal or they felt that it was dawn and all the evil spirits would not dare to come out and do evil anymore. When Yun Ying offered to take them back to their rooms, they did not refuse this time and readily accepted being helped down.

Aunt Ding couldn't hold on any longer and went back to her room to rest.

Yunying was left alone in the backyard. She sent people again to invite the doctor recommended by the old doctor, as well as the doctor she had met once before. She also had people register the doors, windows, tables and chairs that had been damaged the night before, check for any missing valuables, and clean and tidy the flower hall and courtyard.

After finishing all that, Yunying finally managed to find time for breakfast, but before she could even pick up her chopsticks, she felt a shadow fall over her.

She looked up and, sure enough, it was Second Master who had returned.

The second master was somewhat surprised to see her preparing for breakfast, and asked in a deep voice, "Have you been busy until now?"

Yunying nodded slightly, rose to greet the Second Master, and politely asked, "Have you had breakfast yet?"

"I've been so busy until now, I haven't had time yet."

"Would you like some too?"

"Alright, have someone serve the meal."

Upon hearing this, Yunying gave a few instructions, and the maids rushed off to the kitchen.

While waiting for someone, Yunying felt uncomfortable eating by herself, so she told them what she had done the night before.

Finally, she said with difficulty, "I don't know what kind of poison Aunt Ding and the others have been poisoned with. If we knew the name of the poison, perhaps it would be easier to find an antidote. Otherwise, just waiting for the doctor to take their pulses and prescribe a medicine, I feel that the chances of finding an antidote are slim."

Chen Yanzhou said, "It's been investigated. The drug that was put in the banquet last night was a synthetic drug made up of two poisons. The doctors in Yungui County probably can't cure it. I've already sent someone to the prefectural city to find a doctor, and the doctor will be here in a few days."

"Is that doctor highly skilled?"

Chen Yanzhou glanced at her lazily and said nothing more. But even though he didn't say anything, it was as if he had said everything.

Yunying understood the Second Master's meaning and awkwardly touched her nose. That's right, why would he go to so much trouble to find a doctor if his skills weren't good? Why would he create trouble for himself out of boredom? Then she thought, since they even know the poison is synthetic, they must have found out who put it in, right? Are they sure there's a mole within the household?

That's what Yunying thought, and that's what she asked.

Chen Yanzhou didn't hide anything from her and told her the information about the matter that he had found out yesterday.

To be fair, it wasn't that there was a traitor within the prefecture, but it was indeed someone within the prefecture who provided convenience to Magistrate Fan and his associates in this matter.

The one who unintentionally helped Magistrate Fan was none other than Ruizhu, who kept crying foul!

To talk about this, we have to mention that Ruizhu became greedy and secretly accepted gifts from various families.

Respectful gifts are not received for nothing; once you receive them, you are naturally obligated to do something in return.

In order to keep more money in her own hands, Ruizhu first accepted the dried goods from the Qi family and sent them as gifts to the Rongguo Duke's Mansion in the capital... This was not a big deal.

The key point is that because of her softened attitude, some people seized the opportunity and began to scheme and plot in the mansion.

For example, those who deliver slaughtered pigs, cattle, sheep, vegetables, fruits, rice, and flour to the mansion.

The merchant wasn't malicious; he could be considered an honest businessman. At most, he was just a bit more cunning than others, managing to secure a big order by spending a little money.

But who could have imagined that someone had anticipated their regular delivery of food to the county government and had planned ahead? As a result, several types of meat in the ingredients they specially delivered yesterday noon for the Second Master's birthday banquet had been laced with drugs.

The poison was naturally administered by someone sent by Magistrate Fan. In addition, the head chef they hired was threatened and dared not taste the food while cooking. As a result, until Aunt Ding and the others were poisoned, no one noticed anything wrong with the dishes at the banquet.

To say that Ruizhu is innocent at this point would be pure nonsense. But to place all the blame on Ruizhu would seem to make her somewhat unjustly accused.

Yunying was somewhat conflicted, so she asked the Second Master, "Now that everything has been investigated, let's put aside how you will deal with Magistrate Fan, and just talk about Ruizhu. Second Master, what are your plans for dealing with Ruizhu?"

Before the Second Master could answer, two maids came over, each carrying a food box.

The food box was opened, and inside were shumai, steamed dumplings, buns, and pies, as well as lean meat porridge, seafood porridge, wonton noodles, and three or five side dishes to accompany the porridge.

Yunying wanted to serve the Second Master his meal, but Chen Yanzhou waved her hand and told her to just use her own food.

Yunying didn't know whether to sit or stand, but in the end, she sat down under the Second Master's cold gaze and obediently ate her breakfast.

To be honest, this was Yunying dining at the same table with the Second Master.

Last night's incident doesn't count, since she didn't even touch her chopsticks last night.

Besides, Yunying is not used to dining with the Second Master right now.

The key issue is that she doesn't know if the Second Master has a rule of not talking while eating. If she were to ask about Ruizhu's fate now, she might offend the Second Master.

Fortunately, Yunying didn't ask, because the Second Master didn't gossip at all during the meal.

After the meal, the maid cleared the table, and only then did the Second Master speak, mentioning Ruizhu.

"He's incredibly audacious. In less than a month, the steward has already accepted over three thousand taels of silver as tribute."

More than three thousand taels?

so much!
Yunying was stunned. She never expected Ruizhu to be so audacious, collecting over three thousand taels of silver in just one month. Had she lost all her courage?
Although those in charge will inevitably receive some bribes, and the lady of the house will usually turn a blind eye to it, isn't it too much for you to receive three thousand taels a month?
On the other hand, Yun Gui County is so poor that even if there are a few people doing business, they must not have earned their money easily. Could these people really be so generous as to give Rui Zhu such a large sum of money?
Yunying asked the Second Master, "This...is it fake? Could it be a miscalculation?"

The second master chuckled, revealing a sarcastic smile.

Upon seeing the Second Master's ambiguous smile, Yunying immediately dared not nag any longer.

But Ruizhu… I'll say it again, she really, really didn't expect Ruizhu to be so audacious.

Yunying: "She accepted money she shouldn't have, and given what happened yesterday, she's not entirely innocent either. How does Second Master plan to punish her?"

"Punish her?" Chen Yanzhou scoffed. "Do I have to manage the maids and servants in the back courtyard? Aunt Ding will handle this matter later. Whether to kill or beat her is entirely up to Aunt Ding. If she can survive, send her back to the capital to be returned to her master."

Should she be sent back to Kyoto and returned to her master?

Yunying silently pondered these words, realizing that this punishment was truly deadly.

Why do I say that?
This is because Ruizhu was, after all, the second madam's head maid; even when beating a dog, one should consider its owner.

Even if Aunt Ding were to consider the Second Madam's feelings, she wouldn't actually take the maid's life. As for selling the maid... that was even more impossible, since the indentures of all four of them, including Ruizhu and Yunying, were in the Second Madam's hands.

Since they couldn't kill her or sell her, the other punishments would be insignificant to Ruizhu.

But if Ruizhu is returned to the Second Madam...

Think about it, Ruizhu's trip south must have been to make some promise to the Second Madam. Whether she's there to monitor the other three or simply to win over the Second Master, she has a mission.

But now, after only a few months in the south, she has been sent back. And the reason for her being sent back is that she did something foolish because of her insatiable greed, which almost cost the Second Master his life.

The second wife has completely lost face. Even if it's just to show her stance in front of the Duke and Duchess of Rong, she has to severely punish this girl.

Beatings and scoldings are the least of it; the most likely outcome is that they'll be sold off on their feet.

Thinking of this, Yunying couldn't help but sigh, lamenting once again how foolish Ruizhu was, daring to dabble in any kind of money.

As she pondered, Yunying felt drowsy and quickly turned her head to cover her mouth, letting out a big yawn.

When she turned around, she saw the Second Master looking at her.

The second master was imposing and radiant, even the strands of his hair seemed to be sparkling. In short, he was so full of energy that it was hard to believe he had stayed up all night.

On the other hand, her eyelids were drooping, and she was so sleepy that she could barely keep her eyes open.

The Second Master had intended to give Yunying some instructions, but seeing her listless appearance, reddened eyes, and glistening tears, he swallowed his orders and instead asked Yunying, "Are you sleepy?"

Yunying nodded, "I really can't take it anymore."

Upon hearing this, the Second Master's voice seemed to soften slightly.

He said, "Then I'll go back and get some sleep."

Yunying was still thinking about Aunt Ding and the others, so she said, "But I'm a little worried."

“There are plenty of maids and servants in this courtyard. If they can’t make decisions, can’t they even serve someone?” Second Master said, “Tell them to go to the front courtyard to find Lei Ting if they have any problems. You go back to your room and rest.”

(End of this chapter)