Chapter 15: Bribery

“First, send the person out and handle it properly,” Old Madam Xie frowned tightly.

“Handling it properly” meant sending him to a brothel…

He had to be detoxified; he couldn’t die in the manor.

The steward received the order and went to the guest room to carry Shen Wenyuan away.

Old Madam Xie’s face was very grim, “What exactly happened?”

“Grandmother, Caiwei doesn’t know,” Chen Caiwei knelt down, her eyes glistening with tears.

She should address Old Madam Xie as “Tai Fei Niang Niang,” but Old Madam Xie doted on her and treated her as a adopted daughter of the manor, giving her the same treatment as Xie Ruojiao and allowing her to call her grandmother.

Jiang Rong glanced at her, “The banquet you hosted, there was a mistake with the food and drinks, and you actually don’t know?”

“Caiwei truly doesn’t know. At today’s poetry gathering, there were many people and things were chaotic. The wine was placed on the table early, and anyone could have taken the opportunity to act. Caiwei really doesn’t know who the person was who poisoned Elder Cousin-in-law…” Chen Caiwei said, her eyes brimming with tears:

“Caiwei has always been close to Elder Cousin-in-law, why would I harm her! Caiwei is truly innocent!”

“I heard that this was originally the seat reserved for the Heir Apparent’s wife…” Concubine Li had been watching the show for a long time and interjected at the right time:

“Someone is trying to harm the Heir Apparent’s wife? Fortunately, the Heir Apparent’s wife and Qiao Shi switched seats.”

Concubine Zhao became even more angry upon hearing this. It should have been Jiang Rong who was unlucky, but instead, it was her daughter-in-law who was embarrassed, and by association, she also lost face. She said sarcastically:

“The Heir Apparent’s wife suddenly wanted to switch seats with Qiao Shi, that is, quite a coincidence.”

Jiang Rong looked self-reproachful, “If I had known this, I wouldn’t have switched seats. I’ve implicated Elder Sister-in-law in suffering on my behalf…”

“Rong girl, don’t blame yourself. You didn’t know there was poison in the wine. Neither of you should have suffered at the hands of wicked people. This matter should be blamed on the person who acted, who can blame you?” Old Madam Xie defended her.

Concubine Zhao could only swallow her anger.

“Since they wanted to harm me and also harmed Shen Wenyuan, someone wants to make a fool of me and the Heir Apparent,” Jiang Rong’s thin lips curved into a cold smile:

“So, who doesn’t want me to marry the Heir Apparent?”

Instantly, the eyes of everyone in the manor simultaneously fell on Chen Caiwei.

Old Madam Xie also frowned. She had once wanted to marry Chen Caiwei to Xie Lingxi. Could it be that this child was thinking irrationally for a moment?

“Then there are many people. The ninth daughter of the Duke of Dingguo’s manor, who came to the banquet today, has been infatuated with my cousin for a long time, everyone knows that. Then there are the daughters of the Vice Minister of Rites, the daughter of the Hanlin Academy’s Compiler, and the daughter of the Left Assistant Minister of the Dali Temple, all of whom participated in the manor’s selection of a consort last year,” Chen Caiwei listed a bunch of candidates as if she knew them intimately.

Last year, when the Northern King’s Manor was selecting a consort for Xie Lingxi, countless officials sent portraits to the manor, hoping to latch onto the big tree of the Northern King’s Manor.

However, Xie Lingxi didn’t choose any of them.

Chen Caiwei had kept a trick up her sleeve.

In case it was truly found that Jiang Rong was framed, she wanted to muddy the waters and create more suspicious candidates.

Jiang Rong said lightly, “Someone, bring the person up.”

Yingxia led the maid Xiaotao in.

It was she who had led Shen Wenyuan to the guest room and served him the spiked tea.

“This maid is yours,” Jiang Rong said.

If the wine on the table in the front hall was mentioned, perhaps guests had a chance to act. But in the guest rooms in the backyard, no guest had been there.

Chen Caiwei’s face didn’t change much when she saw Xiaotao.

As long as someone wanted to investigate, they would definitely question Xiaotao. Therefore, she had, of course, arranged everything in advance.

“Xiaotao, why did you do this? Who bribed you? How dare you do such a thing!” Chen Caiwei feigned a look of disbelief, pointing at Xiaotao and questioning her angrily.

Xiaotao’s body trembled, and she knelt down and kowtowed: “This servant was momentarily confused and accepted money. When this servant went out to buy rouge the day before yesterday, I met a masked steward who gave this servant a large sum of money…”

“This servant doesn’t know who bribed me. This servant… this servant is willing to die.”

She was a maid born into the Chen family, and the lives of her entire family were in Chen Caiwei’s hands.

It was better for her to die alone than for her whole family to die.