"What?! This is sheer nonsense!" Wu Chunzhe jumped off the couch and trotted all the way to Jin Qiao'er's room in the North Courtyard. Before he could even steady himself, he urgently asked his mother, "Mother, what on earth is going on? Is Jin Qiao'er dead? If not, I'm going to ask her to clarify this."
"You child, you have no manners at all. Don't keep saying the word 'dead'. It's inauspicious," the old lady scolded in a low voice, though there was no real blame in her eyes.
"Grandma, what exactly happened? What does this have to do with Miss Yu Shu?" Wu Chunzhe grabbed the doctor's collar. The doctor was stunned: "The wine... the wine was poisoned. It's a very rare and highly toxic substance. Fortunately, Miss Qiao'er only drank a small amount. Otherwise, she would surely have died."
"Wine? What wine?" Wu Chunzhe was taken aback.
The maid quickly replied, "Young Master, this afternoon, Miss Yu Shu from the Grand Tutor's Mansion sent over a bottle of wine. Miss Qiao'er was curious and secretly took a sip. Fortunately, you didn't drink it. Miss Qiao'er took the disaster for you." The implication was that Jin Qiao'er had indirectly saved Wu Chunzhe.
Wu Chunzhe turned to look, and in the maid's hand was the bottle of Qionghua Wine that he had given to Liu Yushu. He never expected that Liu Yushu would send it back.
"It's the daughter of the Liu Grand Tutor who wanted to harm you. Fortunately, Qiao'er helped you block the disaster today. Otherwise, it would have been you in bad luck," the old lady Wu angrily scolded. "That girl is truly a heartless snake. She actually wanted to harm my only grandson. Zhe'er, from now on, you're not allowed to get involved with her. A fickle woman like her can't defile our noble military family."
The old lady Wu had always disliked Liu Yushu. Now that this incident had happened, she was even more厌烦 of her.
Both the old lady Wu and Wu's mother firmly believed that Wu Chunzhe should marry an ugly woman from a small family and have seven or eight children. A delicate and precious woman like Liu Yushu, with her frail body, would usually only be willing to have one or two children.
"Grandma, you've misunderstood. How could Liu Yushu possibly poison me? I gave this wine to her. She didn't want it, so she sent it back to me," Wu Chunzhe anxiously defended. He definitely didn't believe that Liu Yushu would poison him.
"Brother Chunzhe..." Jin Qiao'er on the couch woke up. Her lips were deathly pale. She said vainly, "Don't drink that wine. It's poisoned." Then she coughed violently and vomited a mouthful of blood.
"Good child, you should rest well," the old lady Wu said lovingly. She glared at Wu Chunzhe and scolded, "Look at what's happened to your younger sister Qiao'er. You're still defending that witch." She gently slapped Wu Chunzhe on the arm. "Hurry over and see your younger sister Qiao'er. Thanks to her discovering it early today, otherwise, you would have lost your life."
Wu Chunzhe frowned, looking extremely reluctant. But because the old lady was there, he had to walk to the couch and casually glanced at Jin Qiao'er. "Are you okay?"
"Brother Chunzhe, I'm so happy that you still care about me," Jin Qiao'er's eyes turned red, and tears streamed down her face. But the corners of her mouth tried hard to turn up, showing a happy yet aggrieved expression.
"Zhe'er, look how obedient your younger sister Qiao'er is. She truly has feelings for you," Wu's mother said, her voice choked with emotion.
Wu Chunzhe didn't appreciate it and turned to leave. He just couldn't stand Jin Qiao'er's act. Strangely enough, the more his family liked Jin Qiao'er, the more he disliked her. The more his family wanted him to take Jin Qiao'er as a concubine, the more he refused.
"Come back here!" the old lady Wu called out to him. "Are you going to find that witch from the Liu family again? She tried to kill you. Are you crazy?"
"Grandma, Liu Yushu won't harm me. This wine is not poisoned at all," Wu Chunzhe said. To prove that Liu Yushu didn't poison him, he opened the bottle cap and took a big gulp.
This scared everyone in the room. Wu's mother fainted on the spot. The old lady almost fell and shouted in panic, "Someone, quickly save my grandson. This child is crazy. He's been bewitched by that woman."
Wu Chunzhe only felt that the wine tasted terrible, as if it had been watered down. He didn't feel any discomfort at all.
He left gracefully. A look of disappointment flashed across Jin Qiao'er's eyes.
After everyone left, the maid stayed to serve Jin Qiao'er. "Miss Qiao'er, what does Young Master Chunzhe see in Miss Liu? Why does he trust her so much?"
These words hit Jin Qiao'er hard. She smiled sweetly, "Miss Liu is a beauty. What a beauty says must be more convincing than what I say. Everyone loves beauty. It's only natural for Brother Chunzhe to like Miss Liu." But she meant the opposite.
Jin Qiao'er was not willing to be just a concubine. She came to the capital and moved into the Wu family with the intention of becoming Wu Chunzhe's main wife. She would find a way to get rid of any obstacle in her way.
But no matter how hard she tried, using both soft and tough methods, Wu Chunzhe just didn't take a fancy to her. She was really helpless.
However, this time she did make the two elders of the Wu family more repulsed by Liu Yushu. They also believed that she was Wu Chunzhe's lucky star who could help him ward off disasters.
After the maid left, Jin Qiao'er took out a yellow kraft paper packet from under her pillow. When she opened it, there was a dried mushroom inside. It was purplish - red all over and extremely poisonous.
She scraped off a little bit of the poisonous mushroom powder with her fingernail and put it into her mouth. Soon, the poison took effect. She hid the remaining poisonous mushroom and knocked over the soup bowl on the bedside table. The maid rushed in when she heard the noise, and Jin Qiao'er fainted.
After the doctor examined her, he said that Jin Qiao'er was severely poisoned and the toxins had gathered in her legs. She might not be able to get out of bed for the rest of her life.
The old lady Wu and Wu's mother were talking in the room. From afar, they could hear Jin Qiao'er crying pitifully.
The old lady Wu told Wu's mother, "This child suffered for Zhe'er. Our Wu family will take care of her. But since her legs are disabled, it will be inconvenient for her to have children. We still need to find another healthy concubine for Zhe'er. We don't need to be picky about her appearance. Just find someone who can have children."
Wu's mother nodded obediently, "Mother is right. I'll do as you say."
Wu Chunzhe wanted to go out, but the servant at the door stopped him. "Young Master, the mistress has ordered that you're not allowed to go out."
"How boring," Wu Chunzhe said and turned back. Not allowed to go out? No way!
He changed into the servant's clothes and slipped out through the back door. He took out the map that Kan Ning had given him from his waist and walked away following the direction marked on it. He was going to give Liu Yushu a surprise. This time, he was determined to make Liu Yushu willing to marry him.