Wu Caiwei knew it was impossible to bring down Madam Mu over such a trivial matter. However, this maid had caused trouble for the original owner plenty of times in her past life, and she intended to settle the score today. She directly ordered her people to escort the maid to Madam Mu’s presence.
“Madam, this maid dared to tamper with my food. I request you summon a physician to thoroughly investigate,” Wu Caiwei said, fixing her gaze on Madam Mu.
The recent events in the manor had not escaped Madam Mu’s notice. She had initially thought this stepdaughter was the easiest to fool and dismiss, but everything had exceeded her expectations. Sending her back to her maternal family – was it fortune or misfortune? She had originally intended for this maid to subtly poison her food, weakening her until she couldn’t resist, and then let her waste away in the Bai family within two to three years.
Unexpectedly, she was so sharp-eyed that she saw through the deception at a glance. Madam Mu had no intention of letting Wu Caiwei have her way, but this maid was incompetent and prone to blunders. Moreover, she knew too much, and only by silencing her completely could Madam Mu feel at ease.
Madam Mu smiled and ordered the person beside her, “Find a few men to beat her to death with clubs. Daring to harm our eldest miss? She must be tired of living.”
Upon hearing this, the maid’s face turned pale with terror. She tried to speak but was quickly silenced by the quick hands of the matrons.
That wasn’t all. Madam Mu gathered all the maids and servants to witness the maid’s miserable end. Wu Caiwei couldn't help but twitch her lips, thinking Madam Mu’s tricks were rather predictable. After this open and covert struggle, no one would dare associate with her anymore. In everyone's minds, she was now a cruel, spoiled, and willful young lady who would kill at the slightest provocation. However, Wu Caiwei didn’t mind. After all, for so long, she had stayed within the confines of her chambers, living quietly in the manor.
“Mother, you punished her without even having a physician examine her. Isn't that a bit hasty? Outsiders will say we are cruel and disregard human life,” Wu Caiwei deliberately challenged Madam Mu in front of everyone.
“As Eldest Miss says, Mother trusts you a hundredfold, a thousandfold. Whatever you say is true without any investigation,” Madam Mu replied, then turned to the maids and servants. “No one is allowed to bully our Eldest Miss. If you dare, be prepared to lose your heads.”
Wu Caiwei, wanting to cultivate a fearsome reputation, did not waste Madam Mu’s effort and nodded with satisfaction, expressing her gratitude. This had a benefit: from now on, these maids and matrons would have to be more respectful and less likely to gossip behind her back.
If Wu Caiwei had shown unwillingness or despair, Madam Mu might have been pleased. But seeing her satisfied expression, Madam Mu felt as if she had fallen into a trap. Had Wu Caiwei come to confront her today just to establish her authority?
Madam Mu couldn’t help but grumble inwardly, feeling that her stepdaughter was becoming more troublesome. She probed, “How did you detect that she was poisoning you?”
“Mother, you may not know, but my sense of smell is more acute than others. As soon as the food was served tonight, I detected a scent that didn’t belong to the dishes. I questioned her, and surprisingly, she confessed. Wu Caiwei looked at Madam Mu with a hint of triumph, as if mocking her inability to deal with her.”
Madam Mu was relieved by her own unrealistic thoughts. She had imagined that Wu Caiwei had met a master in the countryside and learned pharmacology. She hadn't expected it to be merely a keen sense of smell. Next time, she would use a less aromatic poison, and she was confident Wu Caiwei wouldn't be able to detect it.
After a perfunctory exchange of pleasantries, they parted ways. As soon as Wu Caiwei left, everyone instinctively kept their distance, looking at her with fearful eyes. Wu Caiwei merely smiled, unconcerned, and walked back to her own courtyard.
Once away from the crowd, Yan’er said anxiously, “Miss, the situation is very unfavorable for you. We must think of a solution quickly.”
“Don’t worry, your young lady has it all figured out. I don’t take these petty tricks to heart,” Wu Caiwei said nonchalantly. Some people spent their entire lives fighting within this small courtyard, which was too boring. Wu Caiwei desired a more expansive world.
Hearing her young lady speak like this, Yan’er fell silent. After being with her for so long, she knew that when her young lady said this, it meant she had a plan. She would trust her wholeheartedly.
That night, Bai Yexuan was fast asleep when he suddenly felt something crawling on his face. He quickly opened his eyes and the next moment, touched something cold, startling him awake. He lit a candle and saw a snake on the bed, almost frightening the soul out of him.
“Ah!” The scream in the quiet night disturbed the birds in the trees, and they took flight. His personal attendant, suppressing his fear, trembling, removed the snake.
Once bitten by a snake, one fears a well rope for ten years. From then on, Bai Yexuan refused to sleep there. The attendant had no choice but to let his young master share his bed. The next morning, Madam Mu heard about it and was furious. How could such a thing appear in her courtyard? Fortunately, the physician said it wasn't a venomous snake. Otherwise, she might have been looking at her nephew's corpse.
Her nephew was the sole heir of the Bai family. If anything happened to him in her home, she and her brother would never forgive her. She couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. Women without a supportive maternal family usually lived very miserable lives. Although the master seemed dependable, hearts could change, and who could guarantee things would always be this way?
What angered her was that despite dispatching numerous people, they couldn't find the source of the snake. Suddenly, Madam Mu thought of her stepdaughter, then shook her head, thinking herself foolish. Given her disposition, if she had such capabilities, why would she have stayed in the countryside for so many years? It was probably just a coincidence.
Even more exasperating was that the reputation of the Eldest Miss of the Mu family as a jinx spread through every street and alley, making Bai Yexuan recall his own encounter and feel uneasy.
Let alone him, even Madam Bai hesitated. Nothing was more important than her son; he was her only offspring, and no harm could befall him.
Madam Mu understood her sister-in-law's concerns, but the thought of Mu Yan succeeding made her unable to eat or sleep.
To vent her anger, Wu Caiwei found that apart from Yan’er, all the other maids and servants in her courtyard had been driven out. The courtyard gate was locked, and a sack of grain and a few rotten vegetables were thrown in, leaving them to fend for themselves.
The mistress and maid calmly packed these meager provisions. The matron who locked the gate was stunned. Any other young lady in such a situation would have cried or begged the Madam for mercy. Instead, Wu Caiwei seemed unconcerned. Did she have a backup plan, or was she confident in her own abilities?
Without the surveillance of the other maids and servants, Wu Caiwei felt she could have more fun. She altered Yan’er's appearance and dressed her in men's clothing. The two swaggered through the streets, and even if they encountered members of the Mu family, they wouldn't be recognized.