Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 11 One more person appeared out of nowhere?
Rong Wanyin frowned slightly, her eyes fixed on Master Wen, and she asked anxiously, "Master Wen, please think carefully. Is there anyone in this courtyard with mobility problems?"

Master Wen was stunned by this sudden question, with a look of confusion on his face. After hesitating for a moment, he slowly said: "This... I am usually busy with affairs and don't pay too much attention to the details of the servants, so I really don't know much." After he finished speaking, he immediately ordered the butler to gather all the servants in the hall.

Soon, the servants split into two groups and stood before the crowd. One group was the old servants that Master Wen had brought with him from the Wen residence, and they looked respectful; the other group was the servants who had originally served in Siyi Garden. They stood a little stiffly, appearing somewhat doubtful and uneasy.

Everyone was discussing the matter, and then a young servant in the crowd said timidly, "There's a gardener named Aqing. Everyone calls him Lame Qing. But he's taken leave today, saying he's going back to his hometown to visit relatives."

Upon hearing this, Yan Mingzhang looked at everyone with a sharp gaze and asked, "Is Ah Qing from the original courtyard?"

"Yes." A servant from the Wen residence answered without hesitation.

"No." Almost at the same time, a servant in the other courtyard gave a completely different answer.

Yan Mingzhang frowned and continued to ask, "Didn't you bring Aqing from the Wen residence?"

"No..." Everyone's answers fell into confusion again, and everyone insisted on their own opinion. The situation was a little out of control for a while.

Mo Yun stood aside, listening to these confusing responses. He felt a chill down his spine, his hairs standing on end, and his voice trembled unconsciously: "This is too scary. There's actually an extra person. Didn't anyone notice before?"

Master Wen was already upset by this series of strange events, and upon hearing this, he was furious. He turned around and shouted at the butler, "Butler! What on earth is going on? As a butler, how could you be so careless?"

The housekeeper was so frightened that his face turned pale, his legs trembling slightly, and he knelt on the ground with a plop, his voice filled with fear: "Master, please forgive me! At that time, I came to Siyi Garden to make arrangements first, and Aqing was the first to come forward to help. I saw that he seemed quite familiar with the situation in the garden, so I thought he was a former servant of Siyi Garden, so I didn't ask him any more questions..."

The former steward of Siyi Garden also knelt down with a plop, his voice trembling: "I saw the steward bringing Aqing in at the time, and I thought it must be someone brought by the steward..."

Master Wen was furious, his face livid. He gripped the armrests of the chair tightly, his knuckles turning white from the exertion, and his entire body was shaking violently. Seeing this, everyone assumed that he was furious because of what had just happened. Wen Xin quickly brought him some tea, trying to calm Master Wen down.

However, at this moment, Master Wen suddenly foamed at the mouth and fell straight to the ground. Everyone panicked and cried out in surprise. Yan Mingzhang hurried forward, trying to help Master Wen up, but found that his skin was cold and had a strange purple hue. "Oh no, Master, I'm afraid he's been poisoned!"

The crowd, who had been chattering and trying to comfort him, suddenly fell silent, their faces filled with shock and fear. Just now, they had thought it was just a simple anger, but who could have imagined it was a poison? What kind of villain had entered the mansion, and why would they attack Master Wen? And when was the poison administered? For a moment, the entire mansion was shrouded in a gloomy haze, and everyone felt insecure.

Yan Mingzhang supported Wen Yi and let him lean back on the chair to check his condition. His lips were blue and purple, and it seemed that he was poisoned. Could this symptom be caused by arsenic?
Yan Mingzhang frowned slightly and called out, "Mo Yun!"

Mo Yun then pried open Wen Yi's mouth, examined his condition, and nodded to Yan Mingzhang, "He's been poisoned, probably by arsenic." Yan Mingzhang then tried to grab the teacup Wen Yi had drunk from on the side table, but was disappointed. Wen Xin had already taken the cup. When Wen Xin reached for the cup, she accidentally brought it down with her own, spilling the tea and wetting a spot on her clothes. However, Wen Xin didn't care, and instead carefully sniffed the cup of tea her father had drunk from.

Wen Xin finished smelling it and handed the cup to Wan Yin: "Miss Rong, you have a sensitive nose. Smell it, is this cup of tea different from ours?"

Wanyin took it, sniffed it, and then sniffed her own teacup. She said, "Although the smell is slight, the two cups of tea do smell different. As to whether it's poisoned, we need to ask a doctor to take a look."

Yan Mingzhang naturally stretched out his hand and wanted the cup. Rong Wanyin rolled her eyes at him but still handed him the cup.

Yan Mingzhang sniffed it carefully and said, "I don't smell anything, but looking at Master Wen's condition, it seems like he's been poisoned. Mo Yun, who has some medical experience, thinks it's arsenic... No matter what, saving lives is the most important thing. First, have someone bring more milk! Everyone who was in the main hall just now, please stay put and go to the side hall to wait. Let Mo Yun prepare the things! Miss Rong, please help keep an eye on the people in the side hall, especially to make sure no one throws away paper or bottles! Everyone present is a suspect."

Wenrou was already at a loss, but Wenxin was calm and composed, helping to direct everyone.

The servants outside the main hall began to work in a panic.

"Brother Mo Yun, please wait a moment, let me go and get a doctor!" Wen Xin was calm and composed, and said to Mo Yun who was carrying milk.

After drinking several large bowls of milk and inducing vomiting, Master Wen's complexion finally looked better. Wen Xin changed several basins of warm water and wiped Master Wen's body with a handkerchief over and over again with warm water to clean the dirt on his body. Wen Xin's complexion was normal, and she didn't care about the stains on her body. After a long time, Master Wen's complexion finally became slightly rosy, and his breathing became stable. He was no longer in danger of death. Yan Mingzhang asked Changfeng to lead a few servants from the outer courtyard to take the man to rest and wait for the doctor to come.

Yan Mingzhang looked around, carefully observing the actions and expressions of everyone present.

Yan Mingzhang had the maids and servants in the outer courtyard search everyone. Rong Wanyin supervised the women, while Yan Mingzhang personally supervised the men. They did find snuff bottles, rouge cases, and other small containers, but no trace of arsenic. However, they did find a piece of kraft paper on the gentle maid, Yuzhan, with some powder stuck to it.

A thin layer of sweat appeared on Wenrou's forehead, her face was pale, and she covered her mouth with one hand, which was still trembling slightly. She frequently looked back at her personal maid Yuzhan.

All the servants in the side hall stood there trembling, not knowing what to do, especially the gentle personal maid Yuzhan, who was trembling like a sieve.

Yan Mingzhang slammed the table with a loud "bang". After scanning the crowd, he fixed his gaze on Wenrou and her maid Yuzhan. "How dare you! You actually poisoned someone! You were the only two who touched the teacups at the time! Why don't you just confess the truth!"

(End of this chapter)