TRBDM -Chapter 158 Matchmaking

“Your Highness, the Four of Us sent by the Princess are essentially putting our lives in your hands. If anyone wants to harm you, they’ll have to step over our dead bodies first.”

Wei Qing’s eyes were resolute. From the moment he stepped into Qingfeng Hall, he belonged to Zhao Jingheng.

Zhao Jingheng lowered his gaze. Wei Qing could not read what he was thinking.

After a long pause, Zhao Jingheng said, “From now on, I’ll be relying on you all.”

Wei Qing, with a face utterly ordinary, smiled faintly upon hearing Zhao Jingheng’s words. “Wei Qing is willing to die in battle for Your Highness.”

A flicker of surprise crossed Zhao Jingheng’s eyes, but it quickly faded.

“I won’t let you die,” Zhao Jingheng said.

Now it was Wei Qing’s turn to be surprised.

“All right, you may step back.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Qingfeng Hall was currently without a single servant. Jianxi was still resting in bed, making many tasks inconvenient.

In her letter, Wei Zhaorong had mentioned that Nanny Ding from the Imperial Kitchen could be employed for their use, but since anyone in the Imperial Kitchen could be suspected of poisoning, Nanny Ding could not enter Qingfeng Hall at this time.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs dared not send anyone else to Qingfeng Hall, and Zhao Jingheng did not request it either, so the matter was temporarily put aside.

When Jianxi learned that someone had attempted to poison Zhao Jingheng again, he anxiously climbed out of bed.

“From now on, I, as Your Highness’s servant, will handle all your daily affairs. No one else can be trusted.”

That included Wei Qing and the others—they could not be trusted either!

In Jianxi’s heart, he alone was the only loyal servant worthy of the Tenth Prince’s trust; everyone else had ill intentions.

No one could snatch his position as the foremost loyal servant!

Zhao Jingheng personally pressed Jianxi back into bed. “Don’t make trouble for me. Recover your health quickly. Don’t be sickly and hold me back.”

Jianxi dared not resist and obediently slipped under the covers.

Thinking of the eighteen taels of silver given by the Tenth Prince, Jianxi’s eyes filled with tears: “Your Highness is so kind. I must get better and help relieve your burdens.”

Now Jianxi had a total of thirty-six taels of silver. He felt quite wealthy.

Unfortunately, his mouse hole was too small to hold all thirty-six taels. He would need to find another place to hide them.

While Qingfeng Hall was temporarily peaceful, elsewhere Jiang Yuelin’s investigation into the poisoning case was not progressing smoothly.

Everyone in the Imperial Kitchen under detention insisted they had no knowledge of the matter. No one knew exactly where the procedure had gone wrong; each claimed responsibility for their part had been flawless.

The Dali Temple’s interrogations and attempts at coercion yielded the same result multiple times.

As a result, the interrogations were temporarily suspended, and Jiang Yuelin focused on the poison itself.

After multiple examinations by the coroner, it was discovered that the poison was the rare and deadly “Death Scatter.”

Death Scatter was an extremely potent poison with no antidote.

The Death Scatter found in Zhao Jingheng’s meal was a replica. The poisoner, for various reasons, could not reproduce the real Death Scatter, so its potency was greatly reduced.

Otherwise, Jianxi would not have survived.

That someone could replicate Death Scatter indicated that they had access to its formula.

The coroner said: “Lord Jiang, I have a senior fellow apprentice who is a poison expert. He knows all poisons in the world. I want to bring this poison to him and see if we can find any useful evidence.”

Jiang Yuelin nodded. “Go quickly and return quickly.”

“Yes, Lord Jiang.”

The coroner left, and Jiang Yuelin resumed reviewing the interrogation files.

Someone here must be lying.

“Send someone—intensify the interrogations.”

After another full day and night of questioning, finally, a young eunuch could no longer hold back and confessed.

“When I was delivering the meals to Qingfeng Hall, I suddenly had a stomach ache. I placed the meals on the table and went to the privy…”

So, there it was—the trail could be traced.

The time the young eunuch spent in the privy gave the poisoner the perfect opportunity.

“Go check who entered the Imperial Kitchen that day.”

“Yes, sir.”

That day, Wei Zhaorong was invited by Lin Juehui to visit the Nanyang General’s Residence.

“Ah, Zhaorong! Wanrou! Please, come in.”

Lin Juehui personally came to the gate of the Nanyang General’s Residence, holding both Wei Zhaorong and Xie Wanrou’s hands, smiling warmly as she welcomed them inside.

Wei Zhaorong and Lin Juehui were close as sisters, often inviting each other over for a chat.

This time, when Lin Juehui invited Wei Zhaorong, she also made a special effort to invite Xie Wanrou.

Ever since Xie Wanrou’s divorce, she had stayed in the marquis’ residence and rarely went out. This was the first time anyone had extended such an invitation.

She had visited the Nanyang General’s Residence as a child, but at that time, she was too young to remember much.

“My, Wanrou, you look so radiant lately—your complexion has this natural rosy glow. Did you put on rouge?”

“No.” Xie Wanrou shook her head lightly.

“Then you truly are naturally beautiful—I can’t help but admire you.”

Lin Juehui’s praise was overflowing with warmth, and Xie Wanrou, unable to bear it, blushed subtly.

The more Lin Juehui looked at her, the more she liked her. “Wanrou, your temperament is really delightful—not like my own little wild girl, who’s stubborn and ill-tempered. I wonder who she inherited it from!”

“Who else, but you.”

“Oh! Zhaorong, you just exposed me!”

“Hahaha…”

Lin Juehui’s daughter was indeed lively and spirited, not nearly as intolerable as her mother had jokingly described.

She had recently heard that her daughter’s marriage had been arranged, and Wei Zhaorong felt happy for her.

Old friends reunited, they chatted at length and were unusually cheerful.

After tea, cakes, and fruit, Lin Juehui cleared her throat ceremoniously and finally got to the purpose of inviting Wei Zhaorong.

“Minister Zhu’s eldest son is now the Junior Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, twenty-eight years old, and widowed. Madam Zhu asked me to find a match for her son, and I immediately thought—Wanrou is just perfect.”

Lin Juehui turned to Xie Wanrou. “Although Zhu Shaoqing is a bit older, older men tend to be more caring—not like…”

Everyone understood the unspoken part—that he would not be like Lei Lieshan, who resorted to fists and harshness.

Her words fell, leaving a quiet pause.

Lin Juehui had thought Wei Zhaorong would be delighted by this news, but seeing her reaction, had she unintentionally made things awkward?

Outside, cicadas chirped, and the clinking of teacups filled the air. Wei Zhaorong smiled lightly. “Xiaohui, thank you for thinking of Wanrou.”

“Wanrou has only just returned to me. I want to keep her close a little longer. Marriage… is not something I’m considering right now.”

Lin Juehui immediately felt embarrassed. She had invited someone over without first consulting Wei Zhaorong—a presumptuous gesture that now felt awkward.

“Oh, you see, Zhaorong, look at what I’ve done! Old age clouds the mind—don’t take it to heart. Wanrou, don’t take my words seriously; just treat them as idle chatter and forget them as soon as I say them.”

“Mm, I won’t.”

Xie Wanrou still wore a faint smile, but inside, she was far from calm.

As a divorced woman, in the eyes of others, a widowed man like Zhu Shaoqing should already be a suitable match for her.

Yet why did she feel sad? Her chest ached, and a dull pain spread throughout her heart.

A figure appeared in her mind.

Tall, gentle, patient.

Jiang Yuelin, Junior Minister of the Court of Justice—no matter how she looked at it, he was far above someone like her, a divorced woman.

Yet, after all the days they had spent together, every meeting had drawn Xie Wanrou deeper.

Her heart had already been surrendered.

The pouch she had prepared for Jiang Yuelin had yet to be delivered.

Society’s judgment made Xie Wanrou doubt herself again.

Perhaps… she and Jiang Yuelin should keep their distance.