Old Madam Huo and Mammy Li hurried away, and Xu Junjun and three other imperial physicians went to the estate to take Jiang Wumei and the other two's pulses one by one. Only after confirming that their lives were no longer in danger did she truly let out a sigh of relief.
Although everything had been arranged long ago, now that the moment had actually arrived, Xu Junjun was still afraid a mistake might happen.
Fortunately, Niaoniao had taken the antidote pill beforehand, so everything was fine; otherwise, she never would have allowed Niaoniao to test the poison in person.
With this side settled, Xu Junjun turned her thoughts to Old Madam Huo's side.
Instructing Qingzhi and the others to take good care of their respective mistresses, Xu Junjun stepped out of the room to find Old Madam Huo and see how things stood.
As soon as she stepped outside, Xu Junjun turned to Chunlan and asked:
"Who has the Old Madam arrested?"
Acting on Xu Junjun's instructions, Chunlan had kept a close eye on the guards making arrests, and at Xu Junjun's question, she blurted everything out:
"Everyone in the kitchen has been arrested, and the servant girls who delivered the meals have been tied up. I heard that Yinshui from our courtyard and the two servant girls who serve the Cousin Miss went to the kitchen today, so the guards have detained them as well, and are preparing to interrogate them."
Satisfied that the crucial witnesses were all detained, Xu Junjun nodded and strode outward.
Today's incident had thoroughly enraged Old Madam Huo. The moment she struck, the entire General's Estate was thrown into turmoil.
Guards rushed back and forth across the estate tying people up, while the terrified and panicked pleas of servants for mercy echoed from time to time.
In the main hall, Old Madam Huo sat in the seat of honor, her face murderous and her brows crackling with thunder, looking as she had thirty years ago when she first entered the General's Estate.
You could have heard a pin drop in the entire hall.
Mammy Li stood behind Old Madam Huo, watching as the guards dragged servant after servant inside for separate interrogations.
After a round of questioning, the suspects were quickly identified.
The meals in the estate had always been handled by designated staff, and with guests in the estate today, the food entering their mouths had been closely watched.
Aside from Yinshui, a second-class maid from Xu Junjun's courtyard, and Chen Yue'er's two personal maids, Xiaocui and Xiaohong, no other suspicious persons had entered the kitchen.
Upon discovering this, Old Madam Huo nearly bit her teeth to pieces and flew into a rage, smashing the teacup in her hand. Once she finished smashing the cup, her whole body trembled, and the fury in her eyes blazed and churned endlessly.
"Good, very good! I actually thought some political enemy of the Huo Family had sneaked into the estate to commit such a heinous crime, but it turns out to be an ungrateful wolf we raised ourselves biting us back! Chen Yue'er, what a wonderful Chen Yue'er!"
"Should this servant go and bring the Cousin Miss over?"
Mammy Li stood behind Old Madam Huo, her expression also growing dark.
Old Madam Huo swallowed the surge of blood rising in her throat and said fiercely:
"Not yet. You take people and interrogate Chen Yue'er's two personal maids yourself. Not until both of them have pressed their thumbprints on their confessions should you go after Chen Yue'er. When the time comes with black on white, I'd like to see how she tries to quibble!"
Mammy Li instantly understood Old Madam Huo's intention and nodded in assent.
At last, Mammy Li glanced at Yinshui, who was kneeling on the floor and shivering like a leaf in the wind, and frowned:
"I don't know what methods the Cousin Miss used to actually bribe the Young Madam's maid into taking action. If it weren't for the Old Madam's immense good fortune, plus Noble Consort Jiang and the others shielding you from disaster, I'm afraid this time would have been hanging by a thread. If you were to fall, the Young Madam probably wouldn't escape culpability either. The Cousin Miss's poisonous scheme was treacherous indeed, but had it succeeded, there would no longer be anyone in the General's Estate able to keep her in check."
Having served Old Madam Huo for decades, Mammy Li had long since honed a pair of discerning eyes. With just a slight clue, she and Old Madam Huo immediately straightened out the cause and effect to seize upon the most critical point.
The Old Madam's gaze was cold and sharp as she finally understood Chen Yue'er's motive for poisoning her:
"It seems I stood in Chen Yue'er's way, which is why she grew so impatient to poison and murder me. Today, Noble Consort Jiang and the other two were completely implicated by me and suffered an undeserved disaster."
As the saying goes: a bowl of rice breeds gratitude, a peck breeds enmity!
Chen Yue'er was originally an orphan who had lost both parents. Because her mother was the biological sister of Huo Qiming's mother, after her parents passed away, Madam Huo pitied her loneliness and hardship, and took it upon herself to bring her along to raise her.
Old Madam Huo never expected that by keeping a benevolent hand to raise an orphan, the Huo Estate had actually been harboring a venomous snake spitting its forked tongue within the household.
Old Madam Huo dared not imagine what fate would have befallen the Huo Family had Noble Consort Jiang and the two old sisters lost their lives in the General's Estate today.
The Emperor would demand accountability, the Crown Prince would pursue the blame, and the two-rank official clans at court would develop a rift with the Huo Family and become mortal enemies. Whichever of these disasters came true would shake the Huo Family, affect its foundation, and even implicate her son, daughter-in-law, and grandson far away on the frontier.
Thinking of this, Old Madam Huo was consumed by rage, every word dripping with blood:
"You have people surround Chen Yue'er's courtyard. Once I've settled Noble Consort Jiang and the others, I'll come back to deal with her."
When Xu Junjun came looking for Old Madam Huo, she happened to run into Mammy Li leading men and dragging Yinshui, Xiaocui, and Xiaohong out like dead dogs.
Seeing this scene, the heavy stone in Xu Junjun's heart settled firmly into place, knowing that today's play could be considered a perfect conclusion.
"Young Madam."
Seeing Xu Junjun stride over, Mammy Li's expression softened slightly as she lowered her head in a bow.
Xu Junjun nodded and looked behind Mammy Li:
"Is Grandmother inside?"
"She is. If the Young Madam is looking for the Old Madam, you may go right in."
Mammy Li finished speaking and prepared to lead the people away.
The three people behind her trembled like quails, seemingly understanding that the torture worse than death awaited them next. Catching sight of Xu Junjun, a burst of hope flared up in Yinshui's eyes. She suddenly broke free from the servants restraining her, threw herself at Xu Junjun's feet, and wailed in grievance:
"Young Madam, I beg you to save this servant! This servant only poisoned the Old Madam on your orders. Now that the matter has come to light, you cannot let this servant bear the punishment all by herself!"
Clutching the hem of Xu Junjun's skirt for dear life, Yinshui cried bitterly with a hoarse voice, tears and snot streaming down her face.
Xu Junjun looked down at her and sneered repeatedly:
"I ordered you to poison her? Am I leading too comfortable a life, or have I lived too long, that I would order you to murder Grandmother? Use that brain of yours filled with sewage to think carefully: if something happens to Grandmother, would I have any path of survival left in this estate? A fool like you is the only one Chen Yue'er would be willing to use. If it were me, I would have kicked you eight zhang away long ago to keep you from being an eyesore right in front of me."
Xu Junjun said it like that, and she did it too. Seeing that Yinshui still dared to cling to the hem of her skirt and refuse to let go, Xu Junjun raised her leg and kicked her hard in the chest. With a dull thud, she kicked her sprawling backward, leaving Yinshui clutching her chest and groaning in pain.
Impatient to entangle herself with a minor minion, Xu Junjun nodded at Mammy Li and entered the room to find Old Madam Huo.
"Grandmother."
Old Madam Huo was just about to come out and crossed paths with Xu Junjun, asking anxiously:
"Why have you come over? Have Noble Consort Jiang and the others' conditions stabilized?"
Xu Junjun supported Old Madam Huo and nodded in response:
"Noble Consort Jiang and the others are favored by fortune. With the imperial physicians present, they are already out of danger and are in no major trouble."
Old Madam Huo let out a slight breath of relief, patted Xu Junjun, and a weary expression appeared on her face:
"That's good, that's good. Junjun, accompany Grandmother to the study. With such a major event having occurred, Grandmother must personally write three letters and have people deliver them to their respective estates. Once the true culprit is unmasked, I will escort the perpetrator to make a personal apology at each estate."
Noble Consort Jiang had yet to regain consciousness from the poison, and the old madams from the two second-rank officials' estates were also weak from the poison.
Not daring to delay, Old Madam Huo went to the study to write letters asking for forgiveness, and sent the steward of the Huo Estate to run errands to each residence personally.
Before long, sons and grandsons from the two old madams' estates came in person to pick them up and take them back.
Upon seeing the arrivals, Old Madam Huo led Xu Junjun through another round of apologies, guaranteeing that within three days she would surely give both families an account.
With her present, the two families who came to fetch them naturally said nothing more, but how they would discuss it upon returning to their estates was no longer something Old Madam Huo could control.
After sending off the two old madams, only Jiang Wumei remained in the General's Estate.
Because of her special status, Old Madam Huo dared even less to neglect her, staying right by her bedside and waiting anxiously for her to wake up.