Chapter 34: Someone, drag Nanny Zhao away and administer twenty strokes.

Fang Mei gritted her teeth. "It has been so long that, naturally, the Madam would never admit to it. But the Master has always cherished me and often kept me by his side to serve him; what is so strange about me becoming pregnant?"

Lady Qiao pressed her lips into a thin, tight line. Matters without evidence like this depended entirely on whom the Old Madam chose to believe. Unfortunately, the matter of children was the Old Madam’s absolute taboo, and she would undoubtedly favor Fang Mei.

The Old Madam glared fiercely at the guilty-looking Nanny Zhao and commanded, "Someone, go and search Nanny Zhao’s room!"

Nanny Zhao cast a worried glance at Lady Qiao. However, Lady Qiao was helpless at this moment; the events had unfolded far too suddenly. She had never expected that a concubine who had remained silent for over a decade would suddenly stir up such trouble.

Before long, the servants returned from Nanny Zhao’s room with a small bundle containing several paper-wrapped medicinal packets, clearly measured out for daily doses.

Old Madam Jiang pointed a finger at Lady Qiao, showing no regard for her status as the mistress of the house. "You wicked creature! You couldn't even tolerate a mere concubine. Could it be that because she was a gift from me to my eldest son, she was an eyesore to you?"

Lady Qiao could not possibly admit to it. "The Old Madam misunderstands me. She is just a concubine; why would I go to such lengths?" She had never thought that after all these years, this matter would be unearthed. Now that this old hag was pressing the issue, she had no choice but to provide an explanation. "Nanny Zhao, the items were found in your room. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Nanny Zhao realized she had no choice but to take the blame. Knowing the Madam would eventually find a way to spare her life, she confessed, "It was this servant acting on her own accord... Years ago, when the Madam first entered the household, I feared that if Fang Mei became a favored concubine, she would become too arrogant. Yet, I dared not truly eliminate her, so I came up with this scheme..."

Lady Qiao took a deep breath. "Nanny Zhao, how could you be so foolish!"

Nanny Zhao lowered her head. "This servant is willing to accept punishment."

Old Madam Jiang snorted coldly. "Vile slave, how hateful! Someone, drag Nanny Zhao away and give her twenty strokes with the heavy staff!"

Lady Qiao remained silent. The First Branch was staffed by her own people, so they would naturally not strike Nanny Zhao with lethal force; twenty strokes would certainly not be fatal.

Just as the servants were about to drag Nanny Zhao away, Jiang Yan spoke up. "Grandmother, this Nanny Zhao is a repeat offender. When Chunfen and Dongzhi were being interrogated in my courtyard, Nanny Zhao came in the middle of the night and brought them several poisoned steamed buns. Fortunately, the two girls were cautious and tested them with silver hairpins."

Jiang Yu looked at Chunfen and Dongzhi in disbelief. Nanny Zhao had brought them food in her own name, and they had actually tested it for poison?

Nanny Zhao’s heart skipped a beat. She watched as Jiang Yan’s maid brought out the poisoned buns from that day. They had been kept in the ice cellar; although frozen hard, they remained intact.

Jiang Yan continued, "Nanny Zhao, these 'flowered' buns are your unique specialty. No one else in the manor knows how to make them. Do you still wish to deny it?"

Nanny Zhao’s face changed. That day, she had happened to make the flowered buns for the Madam, so the cooks in the small kitchen hadn't made any other flour-based food. Fearing that going to the main kitchen would draw attention, she had taken a few of the flowered buns to give to Chunfen and Dongzhi. She had never imagined that the two would refuse to eat them, nor that the Fifth Young Lady would have saved the poisoned evidence!

The Third Madam raised an eyebrow. "If those two girls had committed a fault, the masters would have dealt with them accordingly. Why did Nanny Zhao feel the need to sneakily poison them to death?"

Jiang Yan sneered, "It must be because she had a guilty conscience! It seems that at the Holy Light Temple, it was not Chunfen or Dongzhi who helped Xue Shoucheng sneak into the women’s meditation quarters, but Nanny Zhao!"

The muscles around Nanny Zhao’s eyes twitched uncontrollably. She began to sense that something was wrong. Everything today seemed aimed directly at her!

"It wasn't me! I didn't do it!"

"If it wasn't you, why did you try to kill Chunfen and Dongzhi to silence them?"

"I..." Nanny Zhao was rendered speechless; she could not implicate the Madam or the Young Lady.

Old Madam Jiang was suddenly enraged! "You disaster! What benefits did you take from the Xue family to stir up such unrest in the Jiang household and try to kill my son? Someone, drag her away! Punish both crimes together! Add another twenty heavy strokes!"

Nanny Zhao panicked. Another twenty meant forty strokes in total! Even with the most skilled executioner, she might not survive. "Old Madam, have mercy! Madam! Madam, save me!"

Lady Qiao’s expression also shifted. "Mother, Nanny Zhao is elderly; how could she endure forty strokes? Perhaps we should choose a different punishment."

A flicker of malice appeared on the Old Madam’s withered face. She had long wanted to discipline this daughter-in-law from a prominent family who refused to be managed. "A different punishment... Very well. Take Nanny Zhao out, gouge out her eyes, and cut out her tongue!"

Lady Qiao stumbled back a step. "This... how can this be..." A Nanny Zhao like that would be useless even if she survived.

The Old Madam looked at her coldly. "What? Are you dissatisfied that I am sparing her life? Perhaps you would like to take my place as the mistress of this house?"

Lady Qiao’s face turned ghastly. Knowing the Old Madam would not let Nanny Zhao go, she immediately changed her tune. "The staff... let it be the staff..." Forty strokes—if handled carefully, there was still a sliver of hope.

Nanny Zhao dared not beg for mercy again, fearing the Old Madam would change her mind and opt to gouge her eyes and cut her tongue. She was dragged away just like that.

Soon after, Nanny Zhao’s shrill, agonizing screams echoed from outside. Upon hearing the cries, Lady Qiao felt something was wrong. She rushed into the courtyard and saw that the people carrying out the punishment were from the Third Branch!

The heavy staff fell blow after blow, without the slightest hesitation! At this rate, Nanny Zhao would not only fail to survive, she would be beaten to a pulp!

Fang Mei suddenly stepped to her side and murmured, "This is true retribution."

Almost instinctively, Lady Qiao raised her hand and slapped Fang Mei across the face. "You lowly wench!"

Fang Mei, frail and sickly, went black in the vision from the blow and collapsed to the ground. The crowd gasped.

"Mother, are you dissatisfied with Grandmother’s decision?" Jiang Nian asked, her face full of disapproval. "She is, after all, Grandmother’s old servant and a woman in Father’s chambers. If you don't even consider the face of the Buddha, is it not a bit too heartless?"

Veins pulsed on Lady Qiao’s forehead. "What right do you have to speak here!"

Jiang Nian glanced at a figure approaching from the gate, her expression one of grievance. "Mother is right. Since you do not hold Grandmother in your eyes, you would naturally not hold me in yours either..."

"You!"

"Enough!"

Jiang Ping’s voice rang out. Lady Qiao turned abruptly. "Master, how did you return?"

Jiang Ping’s gaze lingered on the fallen Fang Mei for a long moment before shifting to Lady Qiao. "If I hadn't returned, wouldn't this manor have been turned upside down?"

Jiang Nian lowered her eyes to hide a smirk. This manor was not Lady Qiao’s world alone. Especially in the Old Madam’s courtyard, which was now like a sieve full of holes; as long as one was willing to put in the effort to leak information to her father and bring him back, it was incredibly easy.

"Father, please do not be angry. It was my fault for speaking out of turn..."

When Jiang Nian looked up again, her expression was even more aggrieved than before. Lady Qiao’s temples throbbed violently! It was no wonder that Jiang Nian, who had been silent for so long, had suddenly jumped out to make a scene—she had seen Jiang Ping return! This little vixen!