The mistress has no feelings, why do you provoke her?

The two maids screamed and begged for mercy on their knees after being beaten.

Jiang Miaoyin, still furious, summoned the steward and ordered, "Sell those two lowly maids off."

The steward looked troubled: "Madam, please calm down. These two have indeed offended you and deserve to be punished. Why not hand them over to the young mistress for her to deal with, so that you can vent your anger?"

If you hand someone over to Song Wenjun, you have to explain the whole story. It's unacceptable to betray someone based on a single gossip.

She will also earn a reputation for being mean.

Jiang Miaoyin saw the consequences clearly. She waved her hand and said, "Forget it, I'm magnanimous and won't hold a grudge against them. I'll let them off this time."

After saying that, she glared fiercely at the two maids and walked away.

"Respectfully seeing off the lady," the steward said respectfully.

The two maids were extremely aggrieved. They hadn't said a word and yet they were beaten for no reason.

The butler looked at the two of them and sighed: "You two better watch your mouths from now on. You only got a few slaps today, but if you keep talking nonsense, you might lose your life."

"I will never dare to do that again."

It wasn't a big deal to begin with; a few curses would have been enough to make it go away.

Although the two maids dared not say it out loud, they were both resentful in their hearts.

It's often said that a woman's temper becomes increasingly eccentric after she becomes a widow, and that's absolutely true.

I used to think Jiang Niangzi was very kind and gentle, but now she seems to be acting more and more like a mean old woman.

Jiang Miaoyin became angrier the more she thought about it after returning home. Her son was calling other people "Mom," and now her child was not close to her at all.

If this continues for a long time, the child will completely disown her as his mother.

Song Wenjun, you truly deserve to die.

She remembered the two paths Zhou had suggested to her and made up her mind.

Since I'm going to hurt myself anyway, I might as well drag Song Wenjun down with me.

Just yesterday, Song Wenjun had someone send her a box of peach shortbread, which came in handy now.

Jiang Miaoyin's gaze fell on the potted oleander in the room. She hardened her heart, picked off a tender leaf and put it in her mouth, then picked up a peach shortbread and ate half of it.

Then, quietly wait for the poison to take effect.

She didn't understand the properties of medicinal herbs; she only knew that oleander was highly poisonous.

Fearing that one leaf might not be toxic enough, he simply found some arsenic and licked a little with the tip of his tongue.

The medicine took effect in less than fifteen minutes.

Jiang Miaoyin felt short of breath, had unbearable abdominal pain, and felt nauseous and churning in her stomach.

She pounded on the bed frame, crying for help: "Help! Help!"

The maid outside heard her voice and hurriedly ran in.

Seeing Jiang Miaoyin's pale face and cold sweat on her forehead, they were all startled: "Wife, what's wrong? What happened?"

"My stomach hurts so much, it hurts so much..."

Both maids were extremely anxious when Jiang Miaoyin suddenly began to vomit violently.

After vomiting, he also vomited blood.

"D-Doctor..." Jiang Miaoyin managed to say those words before fainting from the pain.

The two maids were terrified; everything had been fine just a moment ago, and suddenly it was like this.

One of them was quick-witted and said to the other maid, "You stay here and watch over things. I'll go find the young mistress. She recently brought a female physician into the manor. Maybe she can save the lady's life."

The younger one, frightened, could only nod and say, "Sister Hong'er, hurry up."

"understood."

Hong'er ran all the way to Qiufeng Courtyard, and knelt down at Song Wenjun's feet as soon as she entered. She said in a panic, "Young Madam, please save me! Madam Jiang suddenly had a terrible stomachache and has fainted from the pain."

Song Wenjun was somewhat shocked, but her expression remained calm: "What happened?"

"This servant doesn't know either. You were perfectly fine when you came back, and then suddenly this happened." Hong'er said, then suddenly remembered something and added, "When I came in, I saw half a peach shortbread next to you. Could it be that you ate the peach shortbread?"

Hong'er didn't know who sent the peach shortbread, so she blurted it out without thinking.

Xiao Tao angrily rebuked, "How dare you! Those peach cakes were a gift from the young mistress. They're available in every courtyard. Everyone else is fine, but Jiang Niangzi is the only one who's in trouble. What kind of logic is that?"

Hong'er was so frightened that she kowtowed repeatedly: "Young mistress, please spare me! I was just talking nonsense."

Song Wenjun stopped Xiao Tao and said to her, "Go and invite Mother and the old Marquis. Such a big thing has happened. If I go alone, I won't be able to explain what's going on. It would be better to call everyone over so that there can be witnesses."

"Also, go outside the mansion and fetch a doctor."

"Yes, young lady."

Xiao Tao sent two people to inform Zhou Shi and the old Marquis respectively.

Then they followed Song Wenjun to Jiang Miaoyin's courtyard, accompanied by Qin Qing.

Song Wenjun walked quickly and was the first to arrive.

Upon entering, one sees Jiang Miaoyin lying on the bed with her eyes closed.

Qin Qing glanced at Jiang Miaoyin's face and then lowered her voice to say to Song Wenjun, "She's been poisoned."

"You knew it was poisoned without even looking?" Song Wenjun looked at her with admiration. She knew Qin Qing's medical skills were not bad, but she did not expect her medical skills to be so superb.

"Is there even a need to look? It's obvious on the face, the complexion is bluish and the lips are black. If it weren't for poisoning, I would wash my hair upside down."

Song Wenjun: "..."

"Is there any danger to his life?" Song Wenjun asked again.

Qin Qing shook her head: "It's not that bad, I'm just feeling unwell right now."

Reassured, Song Wenjun said to her, "Don't worry about it for now. Let's wait until Madam Zhou and the old Marquis arrive before we talk about it, so that people won't accuse us of tampering with things."

"Okay, it's up to you."

Before long, a commotion was heard outside.

However, the old Marquis did not come to the Zhou family.

Jiang Miaoyin doesn't need the old Marquis to worry about her; she doesn't have that much influence.

They only sent a mother to check on things. What's going on?

Zhou, on the other hand, looked panicked and asked as soon as she entered, "How did things get like this? Have you gone to fetch a doctor?"

Seeing Song Wenjun standing to one side, Zhou Shi became even more agitated: "What's the use of you just standing here? Go and fetch a doctor! This is a matter of life and death; she's your sister-in-law. Are you really going to just stand by and watch?"

"Mother, your daughter-in-law has already sent someone to fetch a doctor. Don't worry, wait for the doctor to arrive and take a look."

Song Wenjun spoke so kindly and gently that no one could find fault with her.

On the contrary, Zhou seemed rather ungrateful.

She sat down and gave a cold snort: "People who were perfectly healthy have become like this. No one can escape responsibility today. If I find out who did this, I'll skin you alive."

Everyone knew that her veiled criticism was aimed at Song Wenjun, and none of the maids and servants in the room dared to utter a sound.

Others might be able to tolerate it, but Song Wenjun could not. She immediately said, "That's right. If it is found out who committed this sin, even dying ten thousand times would not be enough."

Zhou was taken aback; what a sharp tongue she had.

Who is this person referring to?

The idea was given to Jiang Miaoyin by her, but Song Wenjun seemed to think that she already knew about it.