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Dong Enbo’s expression faltered for a moment before quickly returning to normal. With a hint of worry in his brow, he explained, “I was supposed to go, but the steward who was traveling with me, Mr. Tong, happened to eat something bad and has been suffering from diarrhea. He needs to rest in the city for a few days before we can set off. I’m free because of that, so I’m taking this opportunity to see if I can make a few deals for the family in Xingzhou. Ah, thankfully, the goods for Qingzhou are not urgent, otherwise, I’d be delaying things.”
At first glance, his words seemed harmless, but Dong Enbo’s explanation seemed forced to Manager Dong.
Dong Enbo pretended to be casual, sighing before asking with concern, “Why are you here, Uncle? What happened to you? Why are you alone? Where are Wen Zhu and Wen Mo?”
Wen Zhu and Wen Mo had been serving Manager Dong since they were young. Later, Manager Dong had trained them to handle some business matters; they were not only servants, but also his most capable assistants. Sadly, one was already dead, and the other was clinging to his last breaths.
Thinking of the two, Manager Dong felt a pang of heartache and hatred for the person who had wronged him.
Due to his suspicion of Dong Enbo, he wasn’t willing to say much. He simply replied, “Something happened on the road,” before leaving the inn to find a medical clinic and a funeral parlor to arrange for care of the two survivors and the three bodies.
Dong Enbo was staying at the same inn where the Wei family had settled.
The conversation between the uncle and nephew at the inn’s entrance had been overheard by them.
The subtle tension in their words wasn’t hard to discern, but it was none of the Wei family’s business. They had encountered them on the road, offered assistance, and saved their lives—a simple act of kindness. Getting involved in anything else would be meddling.
The Wei family always maintained a sense of propriety, and the Tianshu Pavilion personnel following them were not the type to pry into other people’s affairs.
No one bothered to think about Manager Dong anymore. They unloaded their belongings from the carriages and quickly settled into their rooms.
Just one floor apart, in his room, Dong Enbo asked his servant, “Did you find out? They really came out of that cursed land?”
“Yes, Master. Second Uncle came out with them.”
“Alright, you can go,” Dong Enbo said, a slight frown on his brow as he played with a small paper packet in his hand. A cold and ruthless smile curled up on his lips. “Tsk, he’s quite lucky to be alive.”
That evening, after arranging for the bodies, Manager Dong returned to the inn with the two surviving employees.
The two had regained consciousness but were still weak and needed to rest in bed for a few days.
Manager Dong didn’t plan to leave immediately. He sent several letters home explaining the incident and then began to investigate.
The Wei family did not pry into Manager Dong’s family matters, but they hadn’t expected trouble to find them anyway.
Ning Shuang and Tingxue entered the room carrying the freshly prepared dinner.
“Miss, these dishes were made by Gui Xiang and Granny Wang using the inn’s kitchen. They just came off the stove, still warm; you should try them!” Tingxue’s voice was light and cheerful, enjoying the rare opportunity to have a good meal on the road.
Wei Yunlan couldn’t help but smile at their excitement, pointing to the round stool across the table. “You all sit down and eat together.”
After facing challenges together on the journey, they had long surpassed the typical master-servant relationship. Ning Shuang and Tingxue didn’t hesitate, quickly laying out the dishes and taking their seats at the table.
The food looked quite good.
There was glossy soy sauce chicken, fragrant wine-steamed lamb, and two vegetarian dishes: stewed black fungus and pickled mustard sprouts.
Even Heiyun, who had been lying by the bed, opened his eyes and came over, sniffing the air eagerly.
“I’ll get you a bowl of lamb; the chicken can wait,” Wei Yunlan said, just as she was about to pick up her chopsticks when Heiyun suddenly widened his eyes, raised his front legs, and pushed hard against the table, flipping it over entirely.
“Woof, woof!”
The soup splattered everywhere, and Heiyun bared his teeth at the scattered dishes on the floor, looking fierce.
Ning Shuang and Tingxue were both startled.
“Heiyun, what are you doing?”
“What a shame for the food we worked hard to prepare…”
Neither of them dared to scold Heiyun; they merely lamented quietly.
However, after a moment of shock, Wei Yunlan’s expression suddenly tightened. She pushed open the door and rushed outside, urgently instructing, “There’s something wrong with the food! Quickly, you two go find Mingxuan and the others, tell everyone not to touch tonight’s dinner!”
As she spoke, she dashed out of the room and forcefully opened the door to the neighboring room.
Wei Maolin, Madam Gao, Cheng Yue’e, and Little Jiarong were all preparing to eat. Madam Gao had just helped Jiarong pick up a piece of soy sauce chicken when he said, “Thank you, Grandma,” and was about to put it in his mouth.
Wei Yunlan’s heart leaped into her throat as she shouted, “Don’t eat!”
Jiarong’s hand trembled, and a piece of chicken fell onto the table.
Madam Gao quickly asked, “What happened? What’s wrong?”
Seeing that everyone had yet to touch their food aside from that one piece of chicken, Wei Yunlan felt a bit relieved. “The food might be poisoned; Heiyun sensed something was off.”
“What?” Both Madam Gao and Wei Maolin were shocked.
They had encountered many dangers on this journey, but this was the first time they faced the possibility of being poisoned in their food.
Who would want to harm them?
“Miss Wei,” Qi Xu and Feng Ping appeared at the doorway.
“Mr. Xiao, please come in,” Wei Yunlan stepped aside to let them pass.
Several members of Tianshu Pavilion entered the room, followed by Wei Mingxuan and Wang Gui, who rushed over in a panic.
They had been preparing to eat with Granny Wang and Liu Quan when Tingxue stopped them. Only Dong Da had managed to put a piece of lamb into his mouth and was now downstairs inducing vomiting.
The Tianshu Pavilion personnel hadn’t eaten the same dinner as the Wei family, but the commotion caused by Tingxue and Ning Shuang had alerted them to the situation.
“I’ve already ordered someone to investigate who had contact with these dishes. We’ll have results shortly,” Qi Xu said without hesitation, clearly confident in his subordinates’ abilities.
And indeed, it didn’t take long.
Two Tianshu Pavilion guards escorted Dong Enbo and his servant into the room.
“When we went to investigate, these two were trying to escape with something,” the guard holding Dong Enbo said, reaching into his collar and pulling out a small paper packet, which he presented to Wei Yunlan and the others. “This is what they put in the food.”
“What are you doing?!”
“I don’t even know you people, why would I put something in the food?”
“I’m staying at this inn, so I can come and go as I please. Why would I need to run away? You’re wrongly accusing us! Let us go!”
Wei Yunlan and the others naturally didn’t believe a word he said.
They opened the paper packet on the table, revealing finely ground powder.
“What is this?”
“I don’t know!”
He was putting up a tough front.
But lying in front of Tianshu Pavilion personnel was akin to an old man hanging himself—a blatant disregard for one’s own life.