Chapter 6: Permission
When several unfamiliar maidservants entered, Lin Lin prepared to knock them out and escape.
But when she saw that they were also carrying a door plank covered with bedding, she held back her attack.
If they truly intended to drag her out for a beating, they wouldn't go to such trouble.
She pretended to struggle weakly and sob as the maidservants lifted her onto the door plank. Once outside, she saw Huang Qin, Qiao Man, and Zhang Yalan also present.
"The Princess Dowager has prepared a separate place for you to recover," Zhang Yalan said. "These sisters will look after you."
They were actually replacing her attendants? Lin Lin was somewhat surprised. She had thought she would be thrown out—perhaps sent back to the capital to some Imperial Medical Academy, or back to the influential Lin Family.
That way, she could find an opportunity along the way to fake her death and escape, living freely ever after.
"It was Sister Yalan," Qiao Man said crossly from the side. "She argued with Secretary Chen on your behalf and nearly got thrown out herself."
Lin Lin, lying on the door plank, looked at Zhang Yalan.
Zhang Yalan turned her head away, refusing to meet her gaze: "It wasn't me. I didn't do anything. It was the Commandery Prince of the Northern Garrison's doing."
The Commandery Prince of the Northern Garrison? Lin Lin naturally remembered that man. Back in the hall, he was the one who pointed out that Yao Ying had been poisoned, which stopped her beating and saved her from having to consider taking the Princess Dowager or the Heir Apparent hostage.
However, he hadn't said she wasn't the murderer at the time. On the contrary, he had sarcastically remarked that she remained a suspect.
And now he was actually speaking up for her?
"The Commandery Prince of the Northern Garrison traced where the poison in Yao Ying came from," Huang Qin said, her expression still carrying a hint of shock.
Qiao Man was clearly shocked as well, but since she hadn't been qualified to express her shock at the time, she couldn't help but cut in now: "It was Yao Ying's own rouge."
Rouge? Lin Lin put on a surprised expression, though she wasn't actually all that surprised. Cosmetics were indeed a very common method of administering poison.
"It was the rouge she always used."
"That's right. She loved it, said it was very expensive and all that. Hmph, once I asked to borrow some and she wouldn't even part with it. Good thing I never used it, or else..."
"Don't make such a fuss. The Commandery Prince of the Northern Garrison said it only becomes poisonous with long-term use. Using it once or twice is harmless."
Hearing this, Zhang Yalan stopped their rambling and looked at Lin Lin: "In short, Yao Ying's long-term poisoning caused her to die of toxin exposure."
Lin Lin, who had remained silent throughout, finally spoke, her voice angry: "I told you, it had nothing to do with me!"
Qiao Man and Huang Qin were about to say something, but Zhang Yalan stopped them again.
"We were careless in our judgment, and we owe you an apology," she said, bending her knees in a bow to Lin Lin, then looking at her again. "We have no face left to continue serving you. The Princess Dowager, in her mercy, has bestowed these maidservant sisters upon you."
She then bowed to the maidservants.
"I've troubled you sisters."
The maidservants returned the gesture with smiles: "You're too kind."
"I'll deliver her medicine daily," Zhang Yalan added.
The maidservants smiled and nodded, then looked at Lin Lin: "Miss Lin, we'll take good care of you."
Lin Lin looked at them, her eyes glistening with tears: "Thank you, sisters."
The maidservants smiled without speaking further and carried her out.
Zhang Yalan and the other two did not follow, watching from where they stood as the group left the courtyard.
"Look at her," Qiao Man snorted. "She gives us cold looks, but fawns all over those maidservants."
Huang Qin muttered in agreement: "She doesn't appreciate it at all. Yalan, you too—you nearly threw away your own future for her just now. If you get sent back to the capital, the Imperial Medical Academy won't keep you."
"I dared to testify against her, so I naturally dare to admit when I'm wrong, and when I'm wrong, I correct it," Zhang Yalan said, smiling at the two of them. "Alright, now the truth is out and this matter is settled. Let's not bring it up again."
Lin Lin was carried into a room much like the previous one, though here there was only a single bed, making it seem far more spacious.
Four maidservants settled her onto the bed, fed her a bowl of ginseng congee, and washed her face and hands.
True to their status as maidservants of a noble household, they were very attentive in their care.
Lin Lin thanked them gratefully, but declined when they moved to help clean her body.
"Sisters, I have injuries and I'm weak right now. It's best not to clean me—let me rest a few more days," she said.
Since the maidservants were there to look after her, they followed her words without question, doing whatever she asked, stopping immediately when told to stop, and never prying or asking more than they should.
Lin Lin used the excuse of needing rest and asked them to go rest as well.
The maidservants withdrew, and with no one familiar around who knew "Lin Lin," and a new environment, Lin Lin felt a moment of relief.
She lay prone on the bed, shifting her body—it was exhausting to maintain one position to feign serious injury—and then thought back to the new developments Zhang Yalan and the others had mentioned.
Yao Ying's poison came from rouge, and it was a slow, chronic, sustained poisoning.
So Yao Ying hadn't been poisoned at the Prince of Qi's mansion—this had nothing to do with anyone there?
But then why had Yao Ying fallen into the water?
She fell in herself? That would be too much of a coincidence—dying from poison and happening to fall into the water, with conveniently placed witnesses and evidence framing Lin Lin...
This was nowhere near that simple.
The real culprit was still hiding.
Lin Lin had thought of this while Zhang Yalan and the others were speaking, though she hadn't brought it up.
"Lin Lin" was a scapegoat set up by the real culprit—now was not the time to be talkative.
Lin Lin lay prone on the bed and closed her eyes. Her priority now was to recover her strength, so she could deal with this unfamiliar environment and the unfamiliar people in it.
...
...
Actually, even if Lin Lin hadn't raised the question, others had thought of it too.
They just hadn't said it in front of Zhang Yalan, Secretary Chen, and the others.
After dismissing Secretary Chen and the other people from the capital, before Heir Apparent Zhao Chengzhi could speak, the Princess Dowager, reclining on the soft couch, let her smile fade.
She said coldly: "Long-term poisoning accumulated in the body—it doesn't take effect early or late, but flares up the moment she arrives at my Prince of Qi's mansion. What a coincidence. This is deliberately meant to embarrass my household."
How would an apprentice dare to embarrass the Prince of Qi's mansion? Grandmother was implying the person behind the apprentice—and the one who sent the Imperial Medical Academy apprentice was His Majesty. Zhao Chengzhi knew his grandmother had always been dissatisfied with the emperor, so he quickly tried to steer her away from the topic, comforting her: "It might just be a coincidence." Then he patted his chest. "Grandmother, rest assured, I'll get to the bottom of this."
The Princess Dowager glanced at him. "No need to investigate further. This is enough."
Zhao Chengzhi was taken aback for a moment.
"Since she drowned in our Prince's Mansion, we must put on a show of investigating," said the Princess Dowager. "But now that it's been found she was poisoned long before, this matter has nothing to do with our mansion. Let them go back and investigate on their own."
"I'm worried the real culprit might be hiding within our mansion," Zhao Chengzhi said. "A thorough investigation would be safer."
The Princess Dowager looked at him with a smile. "Don't worry. Once they leave, I'll conduct my own inquiry. The moment they arrived, I housed them in a separate courtyard and forbade them from moving about freely. The only ones who had contact with them were my trusted confidants."
With that, she gave a light snort.
"I was already guarding against trouble brewing. Do I not know that one's temperament? Ever since she was little..."
She stopped mid-sentence as her gaze suddenly fell upon the Commandery Prince of the Northern Garrison seated in the room. The Princess Dowager let out a soft cough, swallowing the words she was about to say, and looked at the young man who was quietly sipping his tea with his head lowered.
"A Bai—that's your childhood name, isn't it? We have you to thank this time." She spoke with a warm smile.
Xiao E set down his teacup and rose to his feet. "Yes, it's the name my mother gave me. The Princess Dowager is too kind."
The Princess Dowager shook her head. "If not for you, one more person would have died, and I would have been guilty of a grave sin." Then she chided gently, "Why still call me Princess Dowager? Call me grand-aunt."
As she spoke, her gaze unconsciously settled on his face.
In the brightly sunlit room, the young man was handsome to behold, with gentle, serene features and a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips—a sight that warmed the heart at first glance.
The Princess Dowager's eyes grew somewhat distant, and the words slipped out before she could stop them: "You look just like your mother. She was about your age when she married—eighteen or nineteen..."
At that, her words halted abruptly once more, and she averted her gaze, as if she did not wish to look upon that face.
Xiao E seemed not to notice, replying with a smile, "Everyone says I take after my mother." He stepped forward. "Let me take your pulse, Princess Dowager. I learned some Daoist medicine at Qingcheng Mountain—let's see how I compare to the Imperial Physicians."
His initiative to steer the conversation elsewhere brought a delighted smile to the Princess Dowager's face, and she immediately beckoned him closer. "Master Ma's arts are truly divine. Come, come—hurry and take my pulse."
Xiao E said no more, stepping forward with a smile to sit beside the Princess Dowager.