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When it was getting late and the dew was heavy, Jiang Si suddenly woke up from his dream, and a fishy and sweet taste surged in his throat.

She struggled to stand up, and a dazzling red plum blossom had already bloomed on her handkerchief.

"Girl!" Ah Man, who was on night watch, was so frightened that he knocked over the copper basin, and the cold water splashed all over the floor.

"Don't make a sound..." Jiang Si grabbed Ah Man's wrist and quickly wrote a few words on the maid's palm with his fingertips.

Ah Man's pupils suddenly shrank, and he immediately nodded in understanding.

The next morning, the sound of teacups breaking was heard from the main courtyard.

"Old Madam, you're right!" Ah Man rested his forehead against the blue brick. "The fourth young lady drank the ginger soup that the third wife sent her last night, and this morning she coughed up blood!"

"What?" The military book in Jiang Ancheng's hand fell to the ground with a bang, and Jiang Zhan had already rushed out the door.

Xiao's hand holding the Buddhist beads shook, the string suddenly broke, and the sandalwood beads rolled all over the floor.

"Nonsense! What do you mean, brother?" Xiao pressed the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief embroidered with honeysuckle patterns. "I saw that Sijie got caught in the rain, so I asked the kitchen to add some old ginseng..."

Old Madam Jiang's mind moved and she slammed the dragon-headed cane hard: "Come here! Drag Ah Man away and slap him in the face! Such a traitorous servant..."

"Mother!" Jiang Ancheng, standing by, immediately stood in front of Ah Man. The military commander's pressure frightened the women so much that they dared not step forward. "Si'er was able to draw a three-stone bow the other day. How could he suddenly become seriously ill?"

"This..." Old Mrs. Jiang was speechless for a moment, mainly because what Xiao did was too obvious.

At this moment, Mrs. Xiao suddenly snatched the medicine bowl and drank it all in one gulp: "Since you suspect I poisoned you, I'll drink it right away for everyone to see!"

She turned and threw herself at the old lady's knees. "I've been managing the household for years. Even if I haven't made any contributions, I've worked hard. How could I be framed like this?"

"Enough!" Jiang Zhan kicked over the low table and glared at Xiao fiercely. "Since Third Aunt wants to prove her innocence, why not ask the imperial physician to test whether there is safflower in this ginger soup?"

His eyes fell on Xiao's nails stained with ginger soup.

There is no substantial evidence at present, so it is impossible to sentence Xiao to death.

In addition, although he seemed confused on the surface, he actually sided with the old lady of the Xiao family in his heart, so the matter was left unresolved.

Then everyone was driven out of the Buddhist temple by Old Lady Jiang, and suddenly it seemed that the Dongping Marquis's Mansion was becoming more and more noisy.

“Old lady, Xiao’s behavior this time is too much.”

"Ah! How could I not know that? But a harmonious family is the foundation of everything. If you want a harmonious family, someone will always suffer."

"Old lady, I'm afraid that the fourth girl is unwilling to endure the grievance."

"Yes! Si'er has changed a lot recently. She seems to have become even more hateful and vengeful."

……

Jiang Zhan was worried that Jiang Si would be assassinated by someone else next time, so he invited Lu Chuchu over and asked Lu Chuchu to stay with Jiang Si and provide some protection.

When Lu Chuchu rushed into the inner room holding a soft sword, Li Ma was pouring the medicine into the flowerpot.

"stop!"

"The young lady from the General's Mansion is so arrogant!" However, Nanny Li stood in front of the bed and refused to move away, her hands still moving. "Don't forget, this is our Dongping Marquis' Mansion, not your family's General's Mansion. Besides, our Fourth Young Lady is also very ill, so I advise Miss Lu not to get close."

A cold light flashed, and a strand of gray hair fell.

Lu Chuchu pressed the tip of her sword against the old nanny's throat. "You cunning slave! When my father was guarding the southern border, he used this sword to behead a spy."

"Ah...Miss Chu, don't get too excited."

"Cough cough cough..." A weak cough came from behind the bed curtain.

At this moment, Lu Chuchu quickly put away her sword and walked towards the bed, "Jiang Si, are you okay?"

At this time, Jiang Si's pale fingers lifted the gauze curtain and winked at Lu Chuchu secretly.

At this moment, Lu Chuchu immediately understood and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

……

Soon Jiang Zhan found Yu Qi, and with Yu Qi's reminder, he found the antidote.

Sure enough, Jiang seemed to feel much better after drinking the antidote. In fact, she had no problem in the first place, so she just continued to pretend.

Under the moonlight, Jiang Si checked the wound on A'man's face.

"Why do you have to put yourself in danger, girl?" Ah Man choked with sobs, holding the bronze mirror.

"Mrs. Xiao wouldn't dare use poison." Jiang Si threw the blood-stained handkerchief into the incense burner. "She just wants me to stay in bed. It's obvious that she hates me so much."

The cuckoo's call came from outside the window.

Jiang Si pushed open the window and Suning stood on the wall.

"Jiang Si, your method is too weak. Just kill these noisy people directly."

"No! I want to make them suffer."

"There's no point in doing this! If I just ran to the Princess's Mansion and killed everyone there, haven't you noticed that since the Ji and Cao families were wiped out, the noble children of Ling'an have become much more obedient?"

"Humph! Suning, I'm not you. Don't impose your ideas on me."

"Alright! We still have some time, so go ahead and do whatever you want."

"What do you mean? You're leaving?"

"This world is too weak and cannot match my powerful abilities."

"then what do I do?"

"If you want! I can get you out of here."

"..."

……

However, after hearing the news, Xiao became nervous, worried that her affairs would be exposed.

"I heard that Zhan'er got some Snow Mountain Ganoderma?" Xiao paced back and forth in the Buddhist hall and suddenly broke off the coral bracelet on her wrist. "Fangqin, go make a bowl of bird's nest porridge for the old lady."

The little maid trembled and said, "Ah? But my cousin said that the old lady should not eat seafood while she is taking medicine..."

"Idiot!" Xiao stuffed the medicine bag into her arms, "Just say this is the snow lotus that the young master brought back from the northern border!"

"Yes!"

That night the courtyard was brightly lit.

Before Fangqin could take out the medicine bag hidden in her sleeve, Jiang Zhan held her down on the spot.

The powder was sprinkled on the silver chopsticks, and instantly turned a strange blue-black color.

Soon the doctor from the Dongping Marquis's Mansion was called over, and after a careful examination, he discovered something abnormal.

"This is the Western Region Heartbreak Powder!" The court doctor's face suddenly changed as he trembled as he picked up the medicine residue and said, "The late Madam..."

At this moment, Jiang Ancheng suddenly drew his sword and put it to Xiao's neck: "Tell me! Was it you who caused Ayuan's death?"

"It's unfair!" Xiao slumped to the ground. "That slut Fangqin must have been bribed!"

"Third Madam has a good memory." Jiang Si came slowly, wrapped in a plain brocade cloak, with a gilded button lying in her palm. "This button fell in my yard. It was the new dress that Fangqin sewed for you the day before yesterday."

Old Madam Jiang swung her dragon-headed cane at Xiao's back: "Evil woman! How could our Jiang family marry you..."

"what……"

After being exposed, Xiao's face turned pale and she suddenly screamed, "Why are you pretending to be so noble! I did this for this family! When my eldest sister-in-law was pregnant, everyone in the mansion was obsessed with her. I just wanted to be in charge for a few more days..."

Jiang Zhan laughed in anger: "Aunt San means that you poisoned my mother for our own good?"

Xiao gritted her teeth: "If I really wanted to harm her, why would I wait so long?"

She lowered her voice and said, "Until a few days ago, someone came to me... That medicine was given to me on purpose!"

Jiang Si's eyes darkened: "Who is it?"

Xiao trembled and said, "That person... is from the royal family."

"What?!" Jiang Zhan clenched his fists.

At this moment, Jiang Ancheng unexpectedly interrupted with a sharp voice: "Enough! This matter ends here!" He looked at his daughter, "Some things are beyond our ability to investigate."

"..."

Then, under the bewildered gazes of everyone, this drama targeting the Xiao family came to an abrupt end.

Late at night, Jiang Ancheng sat alone in his study, holding his late wife's sachet in his hand. "Master..." the old housekeeper said from outside the door, "The third master is here."

Jiang Anmou pushed the door open and walked in: "Brother, I..."

Jiang Ancheng raised his hand: "No need to say, I know you are here to plead for the Xiao family."

Jiang Anmou smiled bitterly: "She is my wife after all... But if it is true as she said, there is someone behind this..."

Jiang Ancheng was silent for a long time: "If someone from the royal family interferes, we will only implicate the whole family if we continue to investigate."

"Are we going to let the Xiao family take the blame like this?"

"Humph! Is it unfair for her to be blamed?"

"This……"

"Third brother, if you don't seek death, you won't die! I have been tolerant of your family all these years, and now this situation has come to this, it is all the fault of the Xiao family."

"..."

"If you don't want your whole family to suffer, then let Xiao commit suicide with dignity."

"yes, Sir."

……

Jiang Si stood in the courtyard, digging his nails into his palms. "Why doesn't father dare to take revenge?"

At this time, he walked closer to Jiang Si, put his arm around her shoulders and whispered, "Because you are his weak spot."

Jiang Si looked back with tears in her eyes: "My mother died in vain?"

Su Ning's eyes were dark. "If you want, you can kill everyone in the Princess's Mansion right now."

"I……"

"Jiang Si, you're afraid! You're still afraid of bringing trouble to the Jiang family."

"I'm sorry! Suning, I still can't meet your requirements to be a witch."

At this time, Xu Ma's nephew came to the Princess's residence and found Xu Ma, telling her that what happened that year was exposed, because Xu Ma was worried about telling the Princess.

If the matter were exposed, it would affect his status in his mind. He wanted to solve the matter personally, so he followed his nephew to see Xiao.

After meeting Xiao, Nanny Xu actually told her about the poison directly. At this time, Long Dan pushed the door open and grabbed Nanny Xu.

At this time, Nanny Xu was taken into a dark room by Long Dan.

After being caught, Nanny Xu confessed everything that had happened.

Only then did Jiang Si realize that his mother had a relationship with Cui Xu.

Jiang Si said coldly: "Who ordered you to kill my mother back then?"

"I...I..." Aunt Xu still wanted to deny it.

Long Dan, standing by, ripped off the jade pendant from her waist and said, "This is the mark of the Princess's Mansion. Do you still want to deny it?"

When the eldest princess learned that something had happened to Nanny Xu, she took people to secretly break into Prince Yan's mansion and tried to rescue her.

"Shut up!" The princess rushed in with her guards. "Yu Qi, Jiang Si, who gave you the right to touch my people?"

Jiang Si refused to give in. "The princess broke into Prince Yan's mansion, intending to kill and silence her?"

"Humph!"

At this moment, the Prince Consort Cui Xu also hurried over, holding the imperial edict: "Rongyang! Are you crazy?"

The eldest princess sneered: "Cui Xu, you want to help this girl too?"

"..."

At this moment, Jiang Si looked at Cui Xu with a sneer on his face, "Master Cui, do you know that my mother was poisoned by someone?"

Cui Xu looked at Jiang Si: "What? Jiang Si, you said... your mother was poisoned by someone?"

Jiang Si looked straight at him: "Yes! The murderer is right in front of you."

Cui Xu grabbed the princess' wrist and said, "Rongyang, how dare you..."

The princess shook him off: "What? Are you heartbroken? What a pity! That bitch died a long time ago!"

"You...you've gone too far."

……

Soon Cui Xu took Yu Qi and the eldest princess away, and Jiang Si also returned to the Dongping Earl's Mansion in anger.

At the same time, Yu Qi spread out the star map in the secret room.

The constellations on that night twenty years ago were clearly visible: the Purple Star was bright, a sign of an emperor.

"So they had to turn me into a disaster star." He sneered and crushed the teacup, blood mixed with tea dripping onto the star map. "This time, it's their turn to taste the backlash of destiny."

Thunder roared outside the window, and a storm was coming.

In the Dongping Marquis's Mansion, in the ancestral hall where candlelight flickered, Jiang Ancheng inserted the incense into the incense burner in front of him.

"Kneel down!" he croaked.

Jiang Si straightened his back and asked, "Father wants us to forget how Mother died?"

"I want you alive!" Jiang Ancheng ripped open his shirt, revealing a hideous arrow wound. "Back in the battle of Northern Frontier, this arrow should have gone into my heart! How did you survive? Because your mother used a forbidden technique to extend my life!"

Then he pointed to the tablet and said, "Now you want her death to be in vain?"

Jiang Si's pupils suddenly shrank.

"Pa!" A slap interrupted her words.

Jiang Ancheng's hands were shaking: "From today on, you are no longer my Jiang family's daughter."

"..."

In the west wing of Jiang's house, Jiang Si found a yellowed letter from the interlayer of his mother's dressing table. It turned out to be the love poem Cui Xu wrote to his mother, with a private seal at the end.

"I see..." Her fingertips trembled.

The mother did not die of illness, and her death was not simple, but because of the discovery of evidence of the eldest princess's dealings with Nan Wu!

……

In the imperial study room.

Emperor Jingming looked at his son Yu Qi and said, "Prince Yan, the Imperial Astronomical Observatory calculated that if Yu Qi marries Lu Chuchu, the country and family will be in jeopardy. Cui Mingyue and Jiang Si complement each other perfectly. If Yu Qi marries them both, the disaster will be averted."

"Father, you've been deceived! In fact, this is all the fault of the Princess and the Imperial Astronomical Bureau for deceiving the emperor."

"What? That's impossible."

"Father, it's actually not a big deal to let me marry another woman, but you're using such foolish means to deceive us. You're treating both me and you as fools."

"This……"

Yu Qi then spread the astrological chart on the dragon table and explained, "Your Majesty, please look, this is the original record."

Emperor Jingming narrowed his eyes: "Auspicious sign? Then why..."

"Because someone tampered with the records." Yu Qi pointed his finger at a spot of ink. "When Cui Xu was defeated, the princess needed a scapegoat."

The emperor slammed his hands and said, "How courageous!"

"There are even more daring ones to come." Yu Qi presented a letter. "This is the confession of Madam Xu's nephew. Back then, when Consort Xian was about to be promoted to Imperial Consort, the eldest princess wanted to stop it..."

"Enough!" Although Emperor Jingming was also very angry after realizing what was happening, he still interrupted Yu Qi's relentless pressure for the sake of the overall situation. "This matter... requires further consideration."

Yu Qi sneered: "Father, are you afraid of shaking the Queen's position?"

"How dare you!" The teacup smashed at Yu Qi's feet.

"Father, if you execute the astronomical officials who deceived the emperor by slow slicing, remove the eldest princess and Cui Xu from all power, and forbid them from interfering in state affairs, and if you confine the eldest princess to the princess mansion and prohibit her from leaving, I will agree to marry Cui Mingyue and give the Cui family a chance to survive."

"This..." However, Emperor Jingming hesitated again.

……

(End of this chapter)