Chapter 155 Respect

Words : 1645 Updated : Sep 19th, 2025

Xingxing followed behind. She listened, somewhat bewildered. But she understood. She looked at Su Jin and said, "Miss, the Marquis wants you to show respect to the Old Madam." "I already respect her a lot," Su Jin said. "..." Indeed. Compared to how she treats the Empress Dowager and Princess Nanzhang, Su Jin is indeed respectful to the Old Madam. At least she hasn’t been so harsh as to step on the Old Madam’s face. The words of Marquis Dongxiang should be heeded. But Su Jin followed her heart, showing respect to those deserving of it. Even if she is a beggar, she would respect her. For those unworthy, she naturally reciprocates how others treat her. On the day of offering tea, after what happened at Qihao Hall, Su Jin lost all goodwill towards the Old Madam. But the Old Madam’s vomiting did bewilder Su Jin. Bad temper wouldn’t cause symptoms like vomiting. Qihao Hall, inner room. The Old Madam sat on the bed, her face pale and her body weak. The Third Madam stood by the bed, urging, "Where is the Imperial Physician? Why hasn’t he arrived yet?" "The Imperial Physician is here," a maid ran in and said. The Old Madam had taken medicine and suddenly vomited, so a servant hurried to bring Doctor Zhao, the closest Imperial Physician to Duke Zhen Mansion, into the residence. Su Jin and Xie Jingchen stood far away. Doctor Zhao sat beside the bed, taking the Old Madam’s pulse. "What happened to the Old Madam?" Princess Nanzhang asked. "The Old Madam has been poisoned," Doctor Zhao said truthfully. "Poisoned? How could she be poisoned?" The Third Madam’s face changed. Doctor Zhao took the Old Madam’s pulse again and confirmed, "The Old Madam has indeed been poisoned." "Who would dare to poison the Old Madam?!" The Third Madam’s gaze was icy. Doctor Zhao said nothing. For these dirty matters, the less he knew, the better. Doctor Zhao said, "The Old Madam’s poisoning is not deep; she will improve after taking a dose of medicine." "Please prescribe the medicine first, Doctor Zhao, and then we will investigate how the Old Madam was poisoned," Princess Nanzhang said. The maid led Doctor Zhao to write the prescription. The Old Madam’s face was extremely unpleasant. She probably didn’t expect that someone in Duke Zhen Mansion would dare to poison her. Doctor Zhao wrote the prescription, and the maid quickly went to fetch the medicine. Doctor Zhao returned and asked, "Let me see the previous prescription given by the Imperial Physician." The Old Madam had only become irritable previously, without vomiting, which happened after taking the medicine, so it must be related to the medicine. Doctor Zhao looked at the prescription and said, "There is nothing wrong with the prescription." He also examined the medicine residue. There was no problem with the medicine residue either. Mrs. Wang frowned and said, "If there are no problems, why did the Old Madam get poisoned and vomit?" Su Jin approached the table and glanced at the prescription. She twitched at the corner of her mouth. Not sure whether to say the Old Madam was lucky or very unfortunate. The poison in the incense was very mild, undetected by the previous doctor, who only prescribed some calming medicine for the Old Madam. Coincidentally, one herb in the prescription reacted with the toxin in the Old Madam’s body, exacerbating the poison, causing her to vomit uncontrollably. Doctor Zhao asked Mrs. Wang about the Old Madam’s condition, and Mrs. Wang said, "In fact, not only the Old Madam, but even my temper has been more irritable these days, though not as severe as the Old Madam’s." Doctor Zhao thought for a moment and asked, "Do Mrs. Wang and the Old Madam eat the same food?" Mrs. Wang nodded. "Almost the same, but Hongxiu and a few other maids ate it too, and they didn’t have such symptoms, so it probably isn’t the food." Doctor Zhao inquired carefully and then checked the Old Madam’s eating and living conditions. Finally, he noticed the incense. The Old Madam had just vomited, and the room was filled with a strong odor, so the maid opened all the windows. Sandalwood is precious, so the maid extinguished the sandalwood, and thus entering the room, the sandalwood was not smelled. There was a piece of unlit sandalwood on the table. Doctor Zhao picked it up, sniffed it, and said, "The problem lies within the sandalwood. Smelling this incense for a long time can make one irritable." Princess Nanzhang’s complexion changed. She quickly glanced at Mrs. Zhao. Mrs. Zhao’s back turned cold. She had tampered with the incense, but the incense was given to the Eldest Young Madam. Just after it was lit, the Eldest Young Madam said the incense reminded her of Qingyun Mountain and had the maid extinguish it. Doctor Zhao put down the incense and said, "The Old Madam probably did not inhale much, so the poisoning is not severe, and the Imperial Physician could not detect it. The prescribed medicine was to soothe the Old Madam’s mind, but coincidentally, one ingredient in the prescription aggravated the poison in the Old Madam’s body, causing her to vomit uncontrollably. As long as she takes the medicine and avoids the incense, she will be fine." The Old Madam’s eyes were icy as she said, "Thank you, Doctor Zhao." Doctor Zhao gave a few more instructions and then left with his medicine box. After Doctor Zhao left, the Third Madam looked at Princess Nanzhang and said, "The Rouge and incense are all managed by the eldest sister-in-law. This time, it was thanks to the Old Madam’s great fortune that it was discovered early; otherwise, who knows what could have happened." "This time, it was my oversight. I will investigate this matter thoroughly and give the Old Madam an explanation," Princess Nanzhang said. The Old Madam leaned against the large pillow, weakly saying, "Everyone, leave." Princess Nanzhang bowed and left. Upon leaving the room, Princess Nanzhang’s face was long. These days, not a single thing went smoothly for her. "Investigate thoroughly for me, find out exactly where the problem occurred!" she said coldly. ... Agarwood Pavilion, inner room. Su Jin lay lifelessly on the Imperial Concubine’s Couch. Xingxing sat next to her, fanning her. Outside the beaded curtain, a maid came in and, upon seeing the Eldest Young Madam’s shapeless demeanor, quickly lowered her head and said, "Eldest Young Madam, the Commandery Princess is concerned that not only the Old Madam’s incense had issues, so she sent me to have the incense checked by the Imperial Physician." "Send it," Su Jin waved her hand. The young maid bowed and handed the incense to the maid sent to deliver the message. Doctor Zhao did not leave; he was led to Peony Garden by the maid. The maid handed over the incense, and after checking it, Doctor Zhao said, "This incense has no issues." Princess Nanzhang’s face darkened. She endured until Doctor Zhao left before turning on Mrs. Zhao, "The one that should have had issues didn’t, and the one that shouldn’t did—how exactly are you handling matters?!" Mrs. Zhao fell to her knees with a thud. Joining her was Nanny Chen, the steward in charge of purchasing incense. "Commandery Princess, calm your anger. I don’t know how things got messed up either," Nanny Chen said aggrievedly. Mrs. Zhao said, "Could it be the Eldest Young Madam?" Nanny Chen reacted immediately, "It must be the Eldest Young Madam. She came to me asking for incense, she touched the Old Madam’s sandalwood, and even wanted me to buy her some." Princess Nanzhang’s face was icy as frost, "Are you saying the Eldest Young Madam poisoned the sandalwood right under your nose?" Nanny Chen, "...." Saying so made her seem incompetent. If the Eldest Young Madam were truly that formidable, couldn’t she murder invisibly? How could such a young woman have that kind of skill? But the fact that she could make wasps faint with a casual wave of her hand was undeniable. Instinct told her that this matter could not be unrelated to the Eldest Young Madam. But— There was no evidence. Outside, a maid rushed in, "Commandery Princess, the Third Madam went to the embroidery room and captured all the maids in charge of the incense for interrogation." Nanny Chen’s face changed. Princess Nanzhang hurriedly headed to the embroidery room. At the courtyard gate, she happened to bump into Third Madam coming out. The Third Madam looked at Princess Nanzhang and said, "Eldest sister-in-law, you came at the right time. Let’s go to Qihao Hall together." Qihao Hall, inner room. The Old Madam was leaning against the large pillow; after taking the medicine, her complexion improved somewhat. Third Madam entered and said, "Old Madam, the matter has been cleared up." The Old Madam said nothing. Mrs. Wang asked, "Who poisoned the incense?" Third Madam glanced at Princess Nanzhang and said, "I interrogated several maids, one of whom saw Nanny Chen secretly pouring powdered medicine into the incense. It happened that Nanny Chen had drunk some wine that day." "If I’m not mistaken, the eldest sister-in-law intended to teach the Eldest Young Madam a lesson, but alas, her subordinates were unreliable and mistakenly administered the wrong medicine in their drunken haze, causing the Old Madam so much suffering." The Old Madam was furious. Princess Nanzhang, overwhelmed with anger, felt that now, if she claimed the female bandit was behind the poisoning, it would seem as if she were using Nanny Chen as a scapegoat. The Old Madam closed her eyes tightly, suppressing her anger, "Nanny Chen will be lashed thirty times and sent to the manor. From now on, the embroidery room will be managed by the Third Madam." Third Madam beamed with joy. Princess Nanzhang almost bit her silver teeth to pieces.

Chapter 155 Respect

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