“Do you really not want me to go back to sleep there? What if Grandmother urges you again…”
“It’s fine. I think I can handle Grandmother’s side.”
Pei Huaian immediately regretted it and wished he could slap his own face for rejecting her yesterday.
Three days passed in a flash.
Shen Youran had finished taking Wen Gong San Han and still needed to drink four more days of Danggui Sinisan.
Her lower abdomen no longer hurt at all.
For these days, Pei Huaijin had been urging her to rest in her room, with all meals served to her, as if she were seriously ill.
But the meals these days tasted quite good.
She asked Danruo if the kitchen had a new cook.
Danruo shook her head, saying the meals were all brought by Qingjian lately.
She hadn’t been to the kitchen, so she didn’t know if the cook had changed.
Speaking of Qingjian, as Pei Huaijin’s attendant, he should have left with Pei Huaijin after his rest period, but he remained in the mansion, arms folded, guarding under the eaves of the main room, hawk-like eyes watching everyone who entered and left the courtyard.
These days, whenever Shen Youran needed medicine, Qinghe would buy some preserved fruits outside, only for Qingjian to confiscate them.
Qinghe, annoyed, came to complain to her.
She went out to ask for the fruits, but Qingjian refused: “Langjun instructed that the things Missus takes must be personally delivered by me. Nothing else can be eaten.”
“Qinghe is my personal maid. Why can’t I eat what she buys?”
“Langjun said Missus’ food and medicine must be personally…”
“Enough. Don’t say anymore. If I don’t eat, then I don’t eat.” She wasn’t going to listen to the same repeated lines.
She understood that Pei Huaijin must suspect someone had tampered with her food before, causing her body to have cold symptoms.
She was eager to find out who was behind it.
At dusk, when Pei Huaijin returned, he placed the packet of preserved fruits Qingjian had taken away earlier on the table and said to her, “The culprit has been caught. Grandmother asked me to come to Chunxuan Hall. How are you feeling? Want to come with me?”
Someone in the mansion had really tried to harm her?
And it had already reached the Grandmother’s ears — this would surely be entertaining.
Shen Youran wouldn’t miss the chance to watch the drama unfold.
She grabbed a handful of preserved fruits from the table and eagerly headed out: “My body is fine. Let’s go.”
Pei Huaijin called after her: “You just recovered. It’s cold outside. Put on a cloak before going out…”
Shen Youran stopped in her tracks, clutching two handfuls of preserved fruits, and turned around.
Pei Huaijin glanced at her tightly clenched hands, then went to the wardrobe, took out a cloak, and draped it over her shoulders.
The cloak’s collar was trimmed with a ring of pure white fox fur, making her delicate face even more translucent and adorable.
Her clear and pure black eyes looked at him and curved into a smile as she said, “Thank you.”
“Want some?” she raised a handful of preserved fruits.
“No, thanks.”
These were the little treats young girls liked, but he didn’t.
Shen Youran promptly stuffed the preserved fruits into her mouth, chewing them with big rolling eyes.
As they left the room, they met Qingjian standing guard outside.
Shen Youran deliberately walked up to him and ate another preserved fruit in front of him, then looked at him triumphantly.
Good.
Qingjian turned away expressionless and looked at Pei Huaijin beside him: “Langjun, Missus is teasing me again…”
Shen Youran was startled and nearly bit her tongue.
“Shut up, shut up…”
“Teasing? Again? What nonsense are you talking about, saying this outside?”
Pei Huaijin’s lips twitched: one was a straightforward young girl, the other a servant with his own twisted thoughts.
He didn’t know whom to side with.
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her away: “Enough, let’s go.”
A few days ago, after a light rain, the weather suddenly turned cold — almost winter solstice.
At Chunxuan Hall, the two of them ran into Shen Yunshu and Pei Huaian, who had also been summoned by the Grandmother.
In recent days, Shen Yunshu hadn’t left Pei Huaian’s side while he read, but she hadn’t forgotten her own sister either.
Every day she sent Tinglan to check on her at Yunzhi Courtyard.
Today, seeing her sister’s complexion looking better, she thought she had fully recovered.
“Sister,” Shen Youran happily ran over when she saw her, snuggling up as she teased, “You haven’t come to Yunzhi Courtyard to see me these days…”
“No choice. I have to watch Seventh Young Master read.”
Shen Youran frowned at Pei Huaian: “You’re not a kid anymore. Why do you need someone to watch you read?”
“Then tell my big brother. Who told him to hire such a strict Fuzi? If it were you, you’d want to run away too…”
“That’s because your foundation is too weak.”
“Easy for you to say! If you hadn’t fainted from stomach pain that day and I mistakenly thought I hurt you, I wouldn’t have agreed to come back to study and suffer this misery…”
Just then, Pei Huaijin walked by and overheard the last sentence.
His brows lifted slightly.
He had thought Shen Yunshu was the one who convinced Seventh Young Master to return, but it turned out that he came back to study because of her.
It seemed Seventh Young Master’s heart was still lingering on someone he shouldn’t.
Shen Youran was about to argue with Pei Huaian when suddenly she felt a tight grip on the back of her neck and was pulled back.
Pei Huaijin’s voice was calm: “Go inside. Don’t keep Grandmother waiting.”
Inside Chunxuan Hall, the elders were already seated.
Pei Laofuren sat at the head of the hall, the Eldest Young Master and his Missus on the east side, the Second Young Master and his Missus on the west side.
Behind them sat their children and daughters-in-law.
Four stools were placed behind the round chairs on the east side.
Four younger family members arrived late, greeted everyone with a bow, and sat quietly on the stools.
Pei Huaijin took a seat on the foremost stool, Shen Youran sat beside him, Pei Huaian was on the other side, and Shen Yunshu sat at the very end.
Everyone in the hall wore serious expressions.
The Second Madam’s face betrayed her panic, while Pei Laofuren’s expression was as cold as ice.
Before entering, Shen Youran had thought this wasn’t a big deal.
After all, she’d only been sick for a few days, and the doctor said it was just eating cold-natured food by mistake.
It shouldn’t have caused such a stir.
But she hadn’t expected it to alarm everyone in the mansion.
She stuffed another preserved fruit into her mouth, waiting to see the upcoming drama.
Pei Huaian noticed her and nudged her with his elbow, silently asking what she was eating.
Shen Youran gestured for him to share, generously offering half her preserved fruits.
He tossed one into his mouth.
Pei Huaijin’s brows furrowed even deeper.
Once everyone had arrived, Pei Laofuren ordered those involved to be brought up.
“Our Pei family may not be a clan with strict rituals, but our family style is rigorous. When the old master was still healthy, how did he educate you? ‘Clear, Upright, and Chaste.’ Only by guarding these three words can the family prosper. In the past, you had minor grievances and small disagreements.”
“As long as they weren’t serious, I’d turn a blind eye. Life could go on. But I never imagined someone would dare to do such a filthy thing…”
By now, two people had been brought into the hall.
One looked familiar.
Squinting, Shen Youran recognized her as a rough servant from Yunzhi Courtyard.
The other, judging by her clothes, seemed to be from the kitchen staff.
The old madam was clearly furious and slammed the table.
“Speak! Who ordered you to put poison in the Eldest Young Master’s and Eldest Missus’s breakfast?”
Facing the harsh questioning, the two knelt and initially trembled, protesting innocence.
Then, Jiang Momo called witnesses in, and a packet of seized powdered medicine was thrown before them.
The kitchen servant bowed her head and confessed.
“Grandmother, have mercy! The medicine was given to me by Cai Wei…”
Jiang Momo immediately ordered Cai Wei to be brought in.
“Who is Cai Wei?”
Shen Youran asked quietly, still chewing a preserved fruit, to Pei Huaian.
“She’s the daughter of the head cook,” Pei Huaian answered with his mouth full, reaching out for more preserved fruits.
Shen Youran had only a few left and didn’t want to share, but he was still opening his hand to ask when suddenly her hand went empty.
She looked back and saw Pei Huaijin had taken all the preserved fruits from her hand.
Hadn’t he said he didn’t eat these?
Cai Wei was quickly brought in.
Seeing no way to hide, she bitterly admitted, “It was Sister Chun Lan who made me do it…”
The Second Madam Feng Shi immediately stood up, furious, pointing at Cai Wei.
“Wretched thing! How dare you make such false accusations?”
Chun Lan was the Second Madam’s most trusted maid.