Although Yuzhu had known early on that the embroidery of "The Fairy Ma Gu Offering Longevity" was a birthday gift Miss had prepared for the senior ancestor of the Su family, that embroidery had already been shown to everyone. Miss said she wouldn't embroider it anymore. What should she do?
"What are you going to embroider if you don't do 'The Fairy Ma Gu Offering Longevity'?" Yuzhu asked.
It was a pity that although she had learned Yunjin embroidery from her mistress for a long time, she never got the hang of it. She wasn't as smart as Miss, who had learned it under the guidance of the senior ancestor of the Su family at the age of nine. If she could embroider well, she would never let Miss do it again!
Seeing Yuzhu getting anxious, Yunxi pulled her to sit down and winked at her with a smile.
"I'll tell jokes at Grandmother's birthday banquet. Isn't this birthday gift novel enough?"
This way, she could also stop her grandmother from always complaining that she didn't put enough effort into it and was just perfunctory.
"Ah?"
Yuzhu's face darkened. Just as she was about to say something, Hongluo knocked on the door and walked in.
After carefully closing the door, Hongluo walked to Yunxi's side and whispered.
"Miss, there's some progress on the matter you asked me to investigate recently."
"Oh?"
Yunxi's eyes flashed. She closed the book in her hand and put it aside, staring intently at Hongluo.
"Tell me."
"A few days ago, Miss asked me to secretly investigate the number of people in our courtyard and their interactions with people outside the courtyard. Now I've got it all clear."
"Besides Sister Yuzhu and me, there are three rough maids and two gatekeepers in our courtyard. The maid Dingxiang often communicates with people outside. Her mother is Cook Li, and she's on good terms with Mama Luo in Lady Jiang's courtyard..."
Listening to Hongluo's detailed report, Yunxi slowly tightened her fingers, with a half - smiling expression.
"Sure enough."
Yuzhu looked at the two of them, completely confused. With a shocked look on her face, she turned to Hongluo.
"Didn't we only have two rough maids in our courtyard? How come there's suddenly one more? And who brought this Dingxiang in?"
She always knew the number of people in the courtyard very well. How come she didn't know about this?
Just from what Hongluo had said, she instinctively felt there was something fishy about Dingxiang. As long as it had something to do with Lady Jiang, it must be a disaster!
And she had been so careless as to let such a danger stay by Miss's side...
"Miss, I'll drive that Dingxiang out of the courtyard right now!"
Seeing Yuzhu's self - blaming expression, Yunxi grabbed her hand to stop her actions.
"No need. Since she dared to send her in, I dare to use her!"
"But the incident with that maid just happened not long ago. Miss, don't be impulsive!"
Yuzhu still remembered clearly what had happened during the hunting trip.
She would never allow Lady Jiang to plant another spy in their courtyard!
"It's all my fault for not being able to judge people well. I'm not as good as Hongluo."
Yuzhu felt sad, but Yunxi smiled slightly.
"Hongluo didn't know either. I happened to catch a glimpse of a strange face that day, so I asked Hongluo to secretly investigate."
Although she said it was a strange face, that face was clearly engraved in her mind.
Because although the maid named Dingxiang was inconspicuous and deliberately rarely showed up, as soon as Yunxi saw her, she remembered the maid who had poisoned her in her previous life!
So, as soon as she saw Dingxiang, she arranged for Hongluo to secretly investigate. She knew that if she had asked Yuzhu to do it, Yuzhu would definitely have driven the person out directly. But what she wanted was more than that!
Just like this, in Yuzhu's uneasiness, Dingxiang thought she had successfully stayed in Yunxi's courtyard. She didn't know that there were two pairs of eyes secretly watching her, and every move of hers was under Yunxi's control.
The birthday banquet of the senior lady of the Su family was approaching as scheduled. Almost all the manpower and resources of the Prime Minister's Mansion were mobilized to hold a grand 60th birthday banquet for the senior lady.
However, just at this critical moment, the senior lady fell ill.
And she was bedridden!
The reason was that the begonia flower symbolizing "longevity and good fortune" that Lady Jiang had given to the senior lady had its flowerpot broken. When it was discovered the next morning, the flowers and leaves were withered.
It had died...
Such an ominous omen was undoubtedly a heavy blow to the senior lady, who had always believed in theology.
She immediately decided to thoroughly investigate this matter to vent her anger!
Except for Lady Jiang and her daughter, all the aunts and other relatives who had come to the mansion to celebrate the senior lady's birthday gathered together.
The birthday banquet was moved to the senior lady's courtyard and turned into an interrogation.
Since the senior lady was still sick and weak at the moment, Lady Jiang replaced her and sternly questioned the maid below.
"How did you take care of the senior lady's begonia? You knew how much the senior lady cherished it. Why were you so careless and let something happen at this particular moment?"
As Lady Jiang said this, she scanned the people in the room. Not seeing Yunxi, she frowned and threatened in a harsh tone.
"Tell me! Was someone instructing you to do this on purpose?"
As soon as Lady Jiang said this, there was an uproar in the room. Even the senior lady lying on the reclining chair couldn't help but frown.
Stared at by dozens of pairs of eyes, the maid knelt on the ground and quickly shook her head.
"No! My lady, no one instructed me!"
"I knew the senior lady cherished it and entrusted me with this important task. How could I be the least bit careless? I even checked it twice last night and found nothing wrong. But who would have known that when I got up this morning, the flower had become like this..."
The maid's voice was filled with sobs, but Lady Jiang still wouldn't let her off.
Lady Jiang suddenly slapped the table and shouted angrily.
"You still dare to argue! Mama Luo, slap her in the face!"
As soon as Lady Jiang finished speaking, the maid was immediately grabbed by two people. Mama Luo put all her strength into it and slapped the maid's face several times. After a few slaps, the maid's face was bruised and swollen, and the corner of her mouth was bleeding.
After all, it was a birthday banquet. The senior lady frowned while watching from the side and spoke up to stop it.
"Enough. I don't want to see blood on this day."
Hearing this, Lady Jiang quickly nodded.
"Forgive me, senior lady. I handled this inappropriately."
So, she immediately waved her hand at Mama Luo. The maid got a chance to catch her breath and quickly defended herself.
"Senior lady, my lady, every word I said is true. I wouldn't dare to lie at all!"
At this point, the maid suddenly paused and continued.
"Before I went to sleep last night, I saw the shadow of an animal scurrying around in the senior lady's courtyard. I don't know if it's related to this pot of begonia."
After the maid finished speaking, Lady Jiang immediately retorted.
"Nonsense! Everyone knows that the senior lady hates animal hair. I ordered early on that no animals should be raised in the Prime Minister's Mansion. How could you have seen an animal in the senior lady's courtyard?"
Seeing that she was being questioned, the maid quickly promised.
"My lady, it's true! I'm willing to stake my life on it! I did see the shadow of an animal last night!"