Mad Queen Leaves the Palace

She prided herself on being a connoisseur of expression, but in her past life she was truly blind and insensitive, failing to notice the most beautiful white lotus right beside her. Turning to Madam Jiang, she said, "Grandmother, Jasmine was just being kind to me because of my poor health, probably thinking of giving me something to eat. However, I definitely didn't eat all six catties of the prescribed amount; the difference is significant. We should investigate thoroughly. But everyone in the kitchen is from the Jiang family, and Granny Qian is an elder, so we shouldn't wrongly accuse Jasmine."

Hearing Xiao Lan say this, Jasmine was overjoyed. Without solid evidence, the Jiang family wouldn't dare touch the Xiao family. And Xiao Lan was her greatest asset. But her joy lasted only three seconds before Jiang Xiuzhi said, "That's easy. They all claim to be innocent, so we can just search them and find out."

Jasmine knew something was wrong and immediately kowtowed to Xiao Lan again, saying, "Miss, I'm truly innocent." She thought to herself, "May I see if you'll take pity on me and stop the search? Although it's well hidden, it might still be discovered."

Jiang Xiuzhi spoke up again: What's wrong with you, girl? I'm afraid of wrongly accusing you, so I'm searching you. After searching, won't it clear your name?

Since things had come to this point, Madam Jiang ordered the head maid to lead a search party to all the rooms. After a short while, the head maid returned with her men.

"Reporting to Master and Madam, we found 100 taels of loose silver in Granny Qian's residence, but... but..."

"But what? Tell me quickly!" Jiang Yaoshi was a straightforward person who disliked speaking in half-heartedly.

“But she probably didn’t steal the money, because three taels of it was borrowed from me, and it seems that several other maids also lent her some,” the head maid quickly said.

At this moment, Granny Yu, who was serving Madam Jiang, spoke up: "Madam, this old servant knows about this. Granny Qian's son used to be an apprentice at a winery in the western suburbs. Later, he fell in love with the winery owner's only daughter. The two families have met, and they are preparing for the betrothal next month. Therefore, she borrowed some money from us. Since the winery owner only has this one daughter, he will definitely pass the winery on to the young couple in the future. Granny Qian is afraid that if the betrothal gift is too light, her son will be looked down upon. She originally wanted to sell the small courtyard and land in the mountains left by her parents-in-law after their passing to get some money, but that place is too remote and it is not easy to sell in a short time. So when we old sisters discussed it together, we lent her some money for the time being."

At this moment, Granny Qian also spoke up, "Master and Madam, I'm doing this for my son's sake. Given our family's circumstances, we shouldn't be involved in this marriage, but my future daughter-in-law is truly a first-rate girl. We've finally found a girl we like, and we can't let him be gossiped about just because our dowry is too low, with people saying he's after the woman's family's wealth, which would affect our future marital relationship. My husband and I have saved 100 taels over the years for the dowry, and we borrowed another 30 taels from our sisters to make some decent jewelry for my daughter-in-law. Even if we sell the courtyard and land in the mountains cheaply, it's worth at least 20 taels. I think even if we sell it cheaply, with our monthly allowances, we can repay the debt. That's why I dared to borrow money from my sisters. But no matter what, I would never dare to covet Miss Lan's food!"

"So it seems there's nothing suspicious about Granny Qian. Did you find anything suspicious on the others?" Jiang Huangshi asked the head nanny.

"Yes, Madam, we have indeed received it, but..." The head maid looked at Xiao Lan as she spoke.

Xiao Lan smiled and said, "It seems this has something to do with me. Granny, don't worry. I have so many elders here, including my maternal grandfather, maternal grandmother, uncles, aunts, and maternal aunts. They can all make decisions for me. Please speak freely."

"Yes, this old servant understands." The head maid beckoned to the two maids who had followed her, and said as she presented the items: "We found one hundred taels of silver notes, two catties of fish glue, and two pieces of beaded jewelry in the servants' quarters of the young lady's courtyard. These two pieces of jewelry look to be worth no less than fifty taels, which is not something a maid should have. So we brought them along as well."

Jiang Huangshi looked at the object and asked, "Very good. Where did you find it?"

The head maid immediately replied: "The jewelry was found in the crevice of the bed board near the south end. Because of finding the jewelry, the maid, fearing something might have been lost, searched through everything in the room. She also found fish glue and silver notes wrapped in a quilt in the luggage cabinet. That thief was quite clever; he wrapped the fish glue in small oiled paper packets and concealed them in the quilt. If I hadn't found the jewelry, I might not have bothered searching the luggage. I just don't know whose quilt it was."

At this moment, Xiao Lan asked: Is there any pattern on the corner of the quilt?

"Yes, a small white flower," the head maid replied immediately.

So Xiao Lan called out softly, without any emotion: Jasmine

Jasmine realized there was no way to deny it. Her face turned deathly pale, and she immediately knelt down before Xiao Lan, tears streaming down her face: "Miss, I was confused for a moment. Please forgive me this time. I will repay your great kindness." She then proceeded to kowtow repeatedly to Xiao Lan.

At this moment, Jiang Xiuzhi immediately said: "Lanlan, don't listen to this little bitch. If I remember correctly, she is a slave you bought, right? You still have her indenture, right? She's too bold. She dares to steal her master's things to exchange for money. If she dares to steal your things today, what if she dares to kill you while you're sleeping tomorrow? We absolutely cannot keep this kind of person around anymore."

Jiang Yaoshi also spoke up: "Yes, we must not keep a servant like Lanlan. You must not be soft-hearted."

Madam Jiang also spoke up: "Lanlan, if you're reluctant to deal with this girl, Grandmother will take care of it for you."

Xiao Lan had been waiting for these words, so she stood up and bowed to the elders: "It's my fault for not disciplining the servants properly, causing you all unnecessary worry. This girl is, after all, someone I brought here; I'll handle it myself. I won't trouble you any further."

Having said that, he turned around, his humble and polite demeanor gone, and looked coldly at Jasmine.

"Jasmine, the item was found in your luggage. Do you acknowledge it or not?" Xiao Lan turned to look at Jasmine, her face devoid of any emotion.

Jasmine knew she had been caught red-handed and couldn't deny it, so she said, "Miss, it's my fault, I...I was wrong..."

Xiao Lan interrupted her explanation, saying, "I'm only asking if you admit it or not. Just answer."

Jasmine saw an expression on Xiao Lan's face she had never seen before—the chilling aura of someone in a position of power. Her heart pounded with panic, but she managed to utter, "I admit it."

"Was that one hundred taels of silver from the proceeds of your theft of fish maw? Who did you sell it to? How much did you sell it for? Don't lie. Every deed leaves a trace."

Jasmine knew she couldn't make up lies at this point, so she truthfully confessed that she had sold one jin to each of the two shops, as well as the contact person's information.

After getting the answer she wanted, Xiao Lan turned to the head nanny and asked, "Do you know the owners of these two shops?" After receiving an affirmative answer, Xiao Lan continued, "May I ask how much fish maw costs per pound in our household?"

The head maid glanced at Madam Jiang, and seeing that she remained silent, she truthfully replied: "Fish maw on the market costs between 20 and 50 taels per catty. Because it's for Miss Lan's household, the master and madam specifically instructed us to buy the best, so we bought a premium grade that's not commonly seen on the market, costing 60 taels per catty." After speaking, the head maid looked at Xiao Lan, wondering why she had asked this.

"That means just the two jin of fish maw and jasmine that were found so far, totaling four jin and 240 liang, is already worth."

After speaking, he turned to look at Jasmine. "When you were little, your family suffered a great flood, and your parents sold you to my Xiao family as a maid. My mother took pity on you and offered you only twenty or thirty taels, but she insisted on giving your family fifty. After you came to the Xiao family, she never deprived you of food or drink. I don't expect you to be grateful; I only hope you can at least keep to your duties and serve your master well. But you are cunning and deceitful, outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant. You always buy more rouge, powder, and food than you need, hoping to use and drink them yourself. I could understand that, but I didn't expect you to come to the Jiang family with me this time. Knowing that my maternal grandmother favors me, I will naturally be provided with plenty of food and drink. Because of this, even if my household goes over budget, the servants won't report it to their masters. So, you, this wicked servant, dared to resell valuable items from the mansion. We absolutely cannot keep you here."

Turning to Madam Jiang, he said, "Grandmother, because I brought the servant girls' contracts with me while I was studying, and this happened, I could have actually given her to the Jiang family. But she's so young, yet so cunning. Who knows what she might do in the future? I wouldn't dare bring trouble to your family. Please help me sell her off. You don't need to tell Mother about this; I can make the decision."

"Then let's do as Lanlan says," Jiang Huangshi nodded and said to the head maid, "Lock this girl in the woodshed and have someone keep a close eye on her. Go to Lanlan's place later to get the slave contract and help her sell her off."

The head maid received the order, found two servants to gag Jasmine, and dragged her away.

Watching Jasmine being dragged away, Xiao Lan thought to herself, "Who says you have to settle a score on the spot? Sister can settle a score in advance too. She avenged her brother in her past life, and this time she's avenging herself."

There's also Cui Jiuhan, who poisoned herself the following year when she returned home for the New Year. Now that Cui Jiuhan has lost Jasmine, she'll definitely think of other ways to harm her brother, so she needs to plan carefully.