"The little young master has caught a cold and is running a fever. I am prescribing a few doses of medicine now. Madam, please have your servants brew it immediately; he should start to improve after a few days of treatment."
Shortly after arriving, Doctor Yue finished taking Si Tianque’s pulse and spoke.
Meng Yihuan’s expression was grave. She thought to herself that, as expected, even Doctor Yue had failed to detect the poison.
While Doctor Yue might not be the top physician in the capital, he was at least among the top five practicing outside of the Imperial Medical Bureau. However, Meng Yihuan naturally could not reveal her own medical knowledge in public, so she simply ordered the staff to follow his instructions and fetch the medicine. As for the poison in Si Tianque’s system, she would deal with it privately.
Xue Wanrou, seeing that the doctor had discovered nothing unusual about Si Tianque, felt an almost imperceptible sense of relief. So, it was true—the poison Huilang had used was indeed beyond the detection of even a doctor! This little bastard Meng Yihuan had given birth to was already this sharp at only six years old; if he were not held back, he would surely threaten her own son’s future. This was the last favor she and Huilang had done for Zheng'er before they left.
Meng Yihuan assigned one of her own maids to care for Si Tianque and Si Mengchu, then left the second branch after delivering a stern reprimand to Xue Wanrou.
"Lan You, go out yourself and spend whatever it takes to investigate the background and current residence of the doctor who has been treating the Second Madam."
Once she returned to Hanyi Residence, she immediately gave the order to Lan You. Since Si Yunhui and his circle had dared to poison her son, she would have to send them a "great gift" in return.
*
The next morning, Xue Wanrou went to Old Madame Si’s courtyard at the crack of dawn to complain.
"Mother, that silver was all I had saved for when Huilang and I could finally be together. Now that she has snatched it away, Huilang and I will surely suffer in the days to come!"
"How audacious! What madness has overcome her? Huilang has been pampered since he was a child; how could he possibly endure a life without silver? This won't do! We must find a way to get that money back from Meng Yihuan! And we should demand even more from her; her dowry is substantial, and you will have many expenses once you are living outside the Earl’s Mansion." Old Madame Si pounded the table in anger.
Xue Wanrou looked at her, tears welling in her eyes. "But Mother, I am certain I cannot get it back. You are the only one who can find a pretext to request the funds from her. She has already declared today that she will not allow me to use her silver again, but you are her mother-in-law—she surely wouldn't dare refuse you."
"She dares to refuse me? Rest assured, I will find an excuse to get that silver from her. Once I have it, I will have it sent directly to Yunhui. You—"
Just as Old Madame Si was giving her confident assurance, a servant rushed in, panic-stricken, and fell to his knees with a thud.
"Disaster, Old Madame! Word has come from the estate—they say the Earl has gone missing!"
"What is this about? What has happened to Yunhui?" Old Madame Si stood up abruptly, her body beginning to tremble.
Xue Wanrou also asked, pale with shock, "How could the Earl just go missing? What kind of nonsense are you spouting?"
The servant explained with a pained expression, "Thieves broke into the estate. They were ruthless, relentlessly hunting the Earl to kill him. Everyone at the estate has been knocked unconscious or wounded. The Earl fled, and when our men chased after him, they lost his trail! Old Madame, please, send men to find the Earl!"
"Yunhui, my Yunhui..." Old Madame Si felt as if the sky were collapsing. Her eyes rolled back, and she stumbled backward.
Xue Wanrou was frantic, but lacking the power to do anything else, she hurriedly summoned a doctor to revive Old Madame Si.
"Mother, the most urgent thing is that we must send men to save Huilang," Xue Wanrou urged anxiously after Old Madame Si came to. Si Yunhui was her only reliance; she could not let anything happen to him.
Old Madame Si gradually steadied herself and nodded repeatedly. "You are right. We must find people to save Huilang. Someone, go to the authorities and report that thieves have broken into my estate—"
"Mother, have you lost your mind? Given Huilang’s current status, how can we go to the authorities?" Xue Wanrou interrupted.
"If we don't report it, how are we supposed to find him?" Old Madame Si was frantic, momentarily forgetting that Si Yunhui was officially supposed to be dead.
Xue Wanrou said, "Mother, we can only pay people to search for him secretly. If we report it to the authorities, won't Meng Yihuan find out?"
Old Madame Si finally realized her mistake. "I was muddled. You are right; we must search for him in secret. But do you know who we can hire?"
"Mother, I know of an underground organization, but it will cost quite a bit of silver."
"Then go arrange it immediately! No amount of money is more important than Yunhui’s life," Old Madame Si urged.
Xue Wanrou looked troubled. "Mother, it is not a small sum. The minimum cost to hire them is one thousand taels of silver."
"So expensive!" Old Madame Si’s voice rose.
"Mother, expensive or not, we must do it. We cannot let Huilang come to harm. If we are too late, I fear Huilang will be in danger."
"You are right. Find him, quickly! I will make that wretch Meng Yihuan pay for it now! Someone, go to the First Madam and tell her I am ill and need to draw two thousand taels for my treatment!"
Old Madame Si pondered for a moment and, without hesitation, concocted an excuse to command her maid. She reasoned that by using her own illness as a pretext, she could squeeze two thousand taels out of Meng Yihuan today, and then use her "worsening condition" to demand even more in a few days. Regardless, she was determined to swindle more silver out of Meng Yihuan for her son.
*
Hanyi Residence.
Meng Yihuan had naturally already received news about Si Yunhui. The Moon Shadow Pavilion had sent word that Si Yunhui possessed martial arts skills and, during their struggle, had fallen into a turbulent river. They had yet to recover a body, so they would not be taking the remaining payment for now. They would continue the search, and if the mission remained unfulfilled, the initial deposit would be refunded in full.
"Wicked people really do live for a thousand years!" After burning the letter, Meng Yihuan let out an annoyed sigh. She had not expected Si Yunhui to be so difficult to kill.
Just then, a maid from Old Madame Si’s courtyard arrived.
"First Madam, the Old Madame is ill and needs to withdraw two thousand taels for her medical expenses." The maid walked in and made her demand without a hint of hesitation.
Meng Yihuan snapped back to reality. Connecting this to the events of the day and the news she had just received, she quickly guessed what was going on.
She sneered, "If the Old Madame is ill and needs silver, she can go to the treasury to withdraw it. Why come to me?"
The maid was stunned. "This was the Old Madame’s order. Are you saying you won't provide it, First Madam?"
"I won't," Meng Yihuan said, lifting her chin coldly.
She was not the treasury; why should she pay? In her past life, she had viewed the Old Madame as her mother-in-law and was willing to use her own dowry to subsidize the Earl’s Mansion. But now that the Old Madame had conspired with her son and Xue Wanrou to harm her, why would she spend another cent on her? Besides, her dowry belonged to her; there was no logic in using her own dowry to fund her in-laws.