Red Chamber 28

Nanny Lai had never imagined that Zhao Yiniang would poison her. Completely unsuspecting, she drank all the tea.

A few days later, word came that Nanny Lai had fallen ill with a cold.

Half a month later, word came that Nanny Lai had passed away.

Lady Jia Shi was deeply saddened for quite some time.

Zhao Yiniang was both happy and afraid. She became even more wary of Wang, terrified that Wang would give her and Jia Huan that kind of drug.

During those days, Zhao Yiniang was so jumpy that she fetched all her food from the main kitchen herself.

She even boiled her own hot water on a small stove.

Her behavior made people think she had gone mad, and Jia Zheng scolded her for it.

Only then did Zhao Yiniang rein herself in.

Now...

Zhao Yiniang slipped into Lady Wang's room and once again opened the secret compartment, taking out the powder.

Three days later, Lady Wang and Jia Zheng both fell ill.

The imperial physician diagnosed them with colds and prescribed medicine.

But after taking it, they didn't get better. Instead, their condition grew worse and worse.

Half a month later, both of them died of their illness.

Lady Jia Shi couldn't bear the news. She fainted, then fell ill herself and became too weak to get out of bed.

Jia Yuanchun returned to Rongguo Mansion with Liu Zhong and the children to keep vigil for her parents.

Liu Jiaying looked utterly bewildered. Lady Wang and Jia Zheng were dead? They'd died so quickly? How had things taken such a surreal turn?

Neither Jia Yuanchun nor Jia Zhu could believe that Jia Zheng and Lady Wang had died so easily.

They had both been in excellent health. How could a mere cold have taken their lives?

The people caring for them had been attentive, and the medicine they took had been of the highest quality.

How could they have died just like that?

Both of them sensed that something was amiss. When Jia Hu heard them discussing it, he also found it suspicious.

Jia Hu then asked an Imperial Medical Academy physician to examine their bodies, of course with Jia Zhu and Jia Yuanchun's consent.

As for Jia Baoyu and Jia Huan, they had never been ones to make decisions for themselves.

The physician was highly skilled. He discovered that the two had been poisoned and identified the drug's effects as well.

The physician said, "This is a secret palace drug from the previous dynasty. Few people know of it or possess it anymore."

After seeing the physician off, Jia Zhu said in alarm, "A secret palace drug? Could the emperor have sent someone to do this?"

Jia Hu pressed a hand to Jia Zhu's shoulder and rebuked him. "What nonsense are you talking? You can't go around slandering the emperor!"

Jia Zhu said, "B-but..."

Jia Hu said, "If the emperor wanted to move against Rongguo Mansion, he would target the master of the mansion, our eldest uncle, and me, the heir. Why would he go after our second uncle and second aunt?"

Jia Zhu thought it over. That made sense.

He finally put his mind at ease.

Jia Yuanchun bit her lower lip until a bead of blood appeared.

Seeing this, Jia Hu asked, "Elder Sister, do you know something?"

Jia Yuanchun looked at Jia Hu, then at her elder brother, who was watching her closely, and slowly nodded.

Jia Zhu hurriedly asked, "Elder Sister, do you know who gave Father and Mother the drug?"

Jia Yuanchun quickly replied, "I don't know who administered it. I only know who the drug belonged to."

Jia Zhu pressed her. "Whose was it?"

Jia Yuanchun fell silent for a moment, then uttered two words: "Mother's."

Jia Zhu's eyes widened in disbelief, and he staggered back two steps. "How could that be?"

Jia Yuanchun sighed softly and said, "Mother had some drugs with unusual effects. They were obtained by our Wang Family ancestors when they invaded the previous dynasty's imperial palace. When I married, Mother gave me some. But I didn't want to use them, so I hid them away. I'm certain no one has touched the portion I have."

"So..." Jia Hu said, "Second Uncle and Second Aunt died from their own drug powder? Did someone close to Second Aunt administer it?"

"I'm not sure," Jia Yuanchun replied. "Mother was very careful. She wouldn't tell anyone about the drugs, not even her closest confidants."

Jia Hu said, "Then could Second Aunt have accidentally gotten the powder into the food, and both she and Second Uncle ended up eating it?"

Jia Zhu was silent.

Jia Yuanchun was silent too.

Though they were reluctant to believe it, that was quite likely.

After all, even the servants in Lady Wang's courtyard didn't know about the secret compartment, let alone the powder or its effects.

In the end, the three of them didn't investigate the matter any further.

Jia Zhu and Jia Yuanchun concluded that Wang had accidentally poisoned herself and Jia Zheng.

Jia Hu felt something was amiss. He secretly sent people to investigate, while publicly letting the matter rest. He simply had all the drug powder and pills disposed of.

Zhao Yiniang breathed a sigh of relief and let down her guard.

She had no idea that Jia Hu's people had already traced the investigation to her and found the remaining powder there.

Jia Hu had his people mix all the powder into Zhao Yiniang's meals.

He repaid her in kind.

Although he understood why Zhao Yiniang had acted against Jia Zheng and Wang for her daughter's sake, he didn't approve of what she had done.

Besides, Jia Zheng was Jia Hu's own second uncle. Zhao Yiniang had killed him, and Jia Hu refrained from handing her over to the authorities only out of consideration for Tanchun and Jia Huan.

If anyone else learned what Zhao Yiniang had done, Tanchun and Jia Huan would be in an extremely difficult position. They would have no place in Rongguo Mansion.

It was better to keep the matter concealed.

He would simply send Zhao Yiniang on her way to join Jia Zheng and Lady Wang.

So, a month later, Zhao Yiniang died as well.

After learning how Zhao Yiniang had died, Jia Zhu and Jia Yuanchun began to suspect something.

But they assumed Zhao Yiniang had taken her own life out of guilt. For Tanchun and Jia Huan's sake, they didn't pursue the matter any further.

Jia Zheng and Lady Wang's deaths counted as little more than a minor incident in the capital.

The major news was that Nan'an Prince Mansion had found a suitable young woman and adopted her as their daughter. Before long, they would send her to the border.

That young woman was none other than Xia Jingui.

The Xia family had originally wanted Xia Jingui to marry into a family that would take her as its heir, but when she heard that becoming Nan'an Prince Mansion's adopted daughter would make her a princess of high standing—and that the noblewomen who had once looked down on her merchant-born status would have to bow to her—Xia Jingui was tempted.

So what if it was a political marriage?

She was marrying the ruler of another country. She would become a princess consort, then a queen, and everyone would have to kneel and bow to her. She could do whatever she wanted!

No one told her what became of women sent off in political marriages.

Nor did anyone in her social circle have any way of finding out.

Xia Jingui and Mother Xia set off full of hope, dreaming of the privileged lives they would lead.

They didn't know that Xia Jingui's title of princess was merely what people in Nan'an Prince Mansion called her. The emperor had never actually granted her that title; Nan'an Prince Mansion had simply deceived her.

And just as the political marriage procession set out, the army chosen by the emperor also departed.

Liu Xianglian, Feng Ziying, and even Jia Lian were among the troops.