The Grand Madam’s eyelids twitched upon hearing this. “So, Imperial Physician Du, are you implying that someone has poisoned our master?”
At this moment, her thoughts were occupied solely by the Sixth Concubine, with no room for anyone else.
Imperial Physician Du still hesitated to speak definitively and looked towards Fan Jiangyue.
Fan Jiangyue picked up where Imperial Physician Du left off. “It appears to be a Mandarava incense from the Western Regions. Such a thing is rarely seen here. The symptoms are very similar, wouldn’t you agree, Imperial Physician Du?”
“Yes, yes, precisely.”
Following Fan Jiangyue’s lead, Imperial Physician Du dared to address the now furious Grand Madam. “I believe… Grand Madam, you should search the estate thoroughly. As for whether someone administered this medicine to Lord Song, we cannot say for sure. What if Lord Song needed it himself?”
“Hmph!”
Knowing that Imperial Physician Du was a fence-sitter who wished to remain uninvolved, the Grand Madam let out an even colder laugh. “Our master is hardly at that point, is he? To ruin his own body, even to die for a peony? Our master is not that kind of person; he has always been diligent. It must have been done intentionally by someone!”
With that, she stormed out and roughly pulled the Sixth Concubine, who was kneeling outside, to her feet. “You seductive creature! What medicine did you give the master?!”
Before the Sixth Concubine could even react, the Grand Madam’s other hand delivered a fierce slap. “Bitch! If anything happens to the master, I will not spare you! Speak, where did you put that medicine?!”
The Sixth Concubine was dazed by the slap and didn’t even understand what the Grand Madam was saying. “What medicine? I didn’t give the master any medicine!”
The Grand Madam slapped the Sixth Concubine again and then angrily ordered the retainers and servants behind her, “Guards! Tie this bitch up and administer the family law until she reveals the location of the item!”
“Grand Madam!”
The Sixth Concubine was not one to be easily bullied. She struggled for a moment, then looked at the Grand Madam with fury. “If Grand Madam believes I have done something wrong, she must have evidence, right? And I must see the master! If the master wishes to apply the family law to me, I will not utter a single word! But if this is merely Grand Madam wanting to apply the family law out of resentment towards me, then I absolutely will not comply! I want to see the master!”
“The master hasn’t woken up yet, so you likely don’t have the right to see him, do you?”
Hearing the commotion outside, even Old Madam Song couldn’t help but come out with Song Chaoyu.
She looked down at the Sixth Concubine from her superior position. “You are merely a concubine in this household. If you have done something wrong, does the lawful wife, the Grand Madam, not have the right to punish you? Before you wished to see the master, did you ever consider that it was you who caused the master to be in this state? Resorting to any means to gain favor – I fear only women like you would do such things!”
The Sixth Concubine had been in the household for some time and knew that the Old Madam had always been just. She couldn’t understand why the Old Madam was suddenly attacking her today.
Therefore, the Sixth Concubine still wanted to argue, “Old Madam, please investigate fairly! I would never dare to do anything detrimental to the master!”
“Nonsense!”
The Old Madam didn’t listen to a single word and sternly ordered the surrounding female servants, “What are you standing around for? Tie her up and hand her over to the Grand Madam for disposal!”
“You!”
She then pointed at a group of servants and maids. “Go to the Sixth Concubine’s courtyard and search! You must find that vile thing that harmed the master! If you are late, and the master’s health truly deteriorates, none of you will escape responsibility!”
The Sixth Concubine looked up and stared blankly at the Old Madam, her mind filled with a thousand unanswerable questions.
The Old Madam, however, nodded to Song Chaoyu. “Fourth Girl, you go and watch them. Don’t let anyone, seeing the Sixth Concubine’s favor, go easy on her. You personally oversee it. If anyone disobeys your instructions, they are disobeying my old woman’s wishes. Let’s see then, in this Song household, who truly has the final say!”
Normally, if the Grand Madam heard these words, she would likely be jumping with rage.
But now, her entire focus was on dealing with this Sixth Concubine, and she had no intention of paying attention to Song Chaoyu.
She allowed Song Chaoyu to go, and even unusually said to Song Chaoyu, “That’s right, Fourth Girl, you just go and keep an eye on things! Such matters must not be tolerated in our Song family. If anyone dares to defy you, just tell them to come find me! I refuse to believe that I, the Grand Madam, have been too lenient with them all along, that they would dare to allow this Sixth Concubine to run rampant in the household!”
It was a rare moment of family unity, and Song Chaoyu understood that the Sixth Concubine was likely doomed today!
——
As the female servants tied up the Sixth Concubine, Song Chaoyu followed them to the back courtyard.
The Sixth Concubine held a low status and could not even enter the ancestral shrine. The servants threw her into the courtyard outside the woodshed and then went to fetch the family law rods and whips.
At this moment, the Sixth Concubine seemed to realize something. She looked up and suddenly stared at Song Chaoyu. “It’s you?! Or who?! Who wants to harm me? I never gave the master any medicine, nor do I need to do so! Yet, before you’ve even searched my courtyard, you’re going to apply the family law to me. It’s you, isn’t it? You want to harm me, don’t you?”
Song Chaoyu smiled slightly, inwardly praising the Sixth Concubine for her intelligence.
She moved closer to the Sixth Concubine and, leaving only two maids behind, said to the Sixth Concubine with a smile, “What are you talking about, Concubine? Why would we want to harm you? If you hadn’t tried to harm someone first, how could you have ended up in this situation? In our Song household, we place the utmost importance on the purity of lineage and family tradition. Since Concubine has arrived, she should abide by the rules of the Song household and serve Father well. But you have stirred up so much trouble, and naturally, you cannot remain.”
The Sixth Concubine immediately understood. “It’s the Old Madam’s intention, isn’t it? You told the Old Madam about the matter? So you want to deal with me, don’t you?!”
Song Chaoyu nodded, implicitly confirming the matter.
Then she sighed, “Concubine has the bloodline of the Hu people. Imperial Physician Du and Physician Fan both said that the medicine that harmed Father was from the Western Regions. In the vast Song household, only the Sixth Concubine has the motive and the opportunity.”
“You cannot touch me!”
The Sixth Concubine was clearly panicked. “I was sent to Master by the Duke of An. Even if you want to touch me, shouldn’t you ask the Duke of An’s opinion first? If you kill me like this, how will Master explain it to the Duke of An?”
She still had the nerve to mention that?
Song Chaoyu sneered, “Sixth Concubine, I address you as ‘Concubine,’ but don’t forget your status. What does it mean to be someone who is ‘sent’? It is a gift, a gesture of goodwill between two families.”