Ji Dingbei nodded, "Okay!" He sighed inwardly, "Perhaps Ao Mei really has changed. Repentance makes all the difference."
Tianxiang and Baoqi watched the two talking, naturally not daring to get involved, and simply stood quietly to the side waiting for orders!
Aunt Bai smiled at Ji Dingbei again, and Ji Dingbei smiled back at her.
Aunt Bai lifted the curtain, went inside, and sat down beside Ji Meiyuan's bed. Turning back, she saw Ji Dingbei still watching her, and felt a surge of joy. She had to play her part completely. Aunt Bai elegantly picked up a spoon, stirred it, then scooped up a spoonful and gently blew on it.
The maidservant who was attending to Ji Meiyuan had already helped her sit up and lean her against the headboard. Ji Meiyuan was already fast asleep. Aunt Bai smiled and fed Ji Meiyuan the medicine from the spoon.
Unexpectedly, at that moment, a small stone suddenly hit Aunt Bai's hand! Instantly, Aunt Bai screamed, "Ah!" The pain in her hand caused her to lose her grip on the medicine bowl, spilling the entire bowl of medicine onto Ji Meiyuan and herself!
With a sharp "crack!", the medicine bowl fell to the ground and shattered into pieces! The medicine that had fallen to the ground was now making a "sizzling" sound!
"Ah!" Aunt Bai exclaimed in surprise again, "This, this!" The medicine was still hot! How could it not hurt when it was poured on her?
Upon hearing the sound, Ji Dingbei rushed in, while Bao Qi and Tian Xiang also ran in from outside.
The three of them entered and gasped at the sight before them. Someone was plotting to murder the Second Miss! But then, someone secretly intervened, throwing a stone at Aunt Bai's hand, breaking the medicine bowl and preventing a tragedy!
Several maids immediately came forward to help change Ji Meiyuan's coat, while several other maids came forward to change Aunt Bai's coat. Aunt Bai slapped these maids a few times, and they all knelt on the ground.
Tianxiang stepped forward and said, "Auntie, shall we change our clothes?"
"Get out!" Aunt Bai was clearly furious. Despite the pain, she ignored Ji Dingbei. She was certain that Ji Dingbei would stand on her side, especially since these were her maids!
Aunt Bai walked towards Baoqi. "Well, you actually plotted to kill the Second Miss! And you even tried to frame me!" With that, she was about to kick Baoqi. Seeing that things were going badly, Baoqi immediately knelt on the ground. "Aunt, spare me! Spare me! It wasn't me! It wasn't me! Master, Master, how could I possibly plot against the Second Miss? Someone must be trying to frame me. Please, Aunt, please, Master, investigate!" As she spoke, she kowtowed repeatedly.
Aunt Bai gritted her teeth in hatred. This was her precious daughter! How could someone want to kill her? Turning back, she looked at the white bubbles on the ground, and Aunt Bai's anger flared up again. At this moment, Tianxiang still gritted her teeth and brought over the coat, which Ji Dingbei took and personally draped over Aunt Bai's shoulders.
Aunt Bai wasn't that angry.
"Alright, I'll leave this matter entirely to you!" Ji Dingbei said, then walked out.
Aunt Bai was still thinking about how to act coquettishly to gain sympathy, but seeing that Ji Dingbei had said that he would leave it to her to handle, she gave up!
Aunt Bai angrily rebuked, "You rascal! I only let you brew the medicine because I saw you serving the Second Miss all this time. I never expected you to poison her medicine! Humph, unforgivable! Guards, give her a hundred strokes of the cane and throw her into the back mountain to feed the wolves!"
"Ah! Aunt, Aunt, it wasn't me! It wasn't me! It was, it was Pingting! It was Pingting who poisoned her!" Baoqi wailed, suddenly remembering the people she had met in the pharmacy. Besides Pingting and her two maids, it was either herself and her two maids. And her two maids couldn't possibly be the ones who plotted against the Second Miss! There was definitely no one else but Pingting and the others!
"What did you say?" Aunt Bai looked at Baoqi, stepped forward, her face contorted with rage, "Pingting? Speak, speak to me!"
Bao Qi trembled as she told the whole story, not daring to hold anything back.
“What this servant suspects is that when we maids and nannies were reporting to the eldest young lady, Pingting took the opportunity to sneak in and poison her! It must be her! Otherwise, why would she be so kind as to invite this servant out to see what they were arguing about! I never expected that she would poison the second young lady!” Baoqi said, immediately kowtowing to Aunt Bai, her eyes filled with resentment, wishing she could drag Pingting out and kill her!
Aunt Bai listened to her and nodded, "Is that really so? Is it possible that the eldest young lady sent someone to poison her?"
“Reporting to Aunt, it shouldn’t be the eldest young lady. The eldest young lady only brought Zhu’er, Xian’er, and a few maids with her, all facing the crowd. No one was seen going into the pharmacy, and the eldest young lady was always at the door. I didn’t see her leave at any time. Besides, the eldest young lady has been visiting the second young lady frequently these past few days. If she were to poison the second young lady, it would probably have been discovered long ago,” Bao Qi said earnestly.
As Aunt Bai listened, she narrowed her eyes. Ji Wushang hadn't made a move against the Second Miss. Could it really be that little slut Ji Yinxue? Right, if the American aid girl died, wouldn't she become the legal wife?
"Guards, seize Pingting for me right now! Go!" Aunt Bai exclaimed as if suddenly realizing something. "Quickly!"
Baoqi and Tianxiang were shocked. What was going on? But immediately, Granny Yun hurriedly sent someone to capture Pingting.
At this time, Pingting stayed in her small house and dared not return to Lan Garden. When she went back earlier, Ji Yinxue made it clear that as long as Ji Meiyuan died after tonight, it would not involve her, and only then would Pingting be allowed to return to Lan Garden.
Fortunately, Ji Yinxue rewarded Pingting with a considerable amount of silver.
Pingting thought it over and over, but finally made a decision. She immediately took out some valuables from her cabinet and quickly packed them up.
But just as they stepped outside the garden under the cover of darkness, they heard several figures rushing through the courtyard, shouting, "Quick! Don't let that wretched maid get away!"
"She's definitely still inside. Let's see where she can run to!"
"Seize her! How dare she poison the Second Miss? Have the concubine skin her alive!"
...
Pingting shuddered as she listened. She hadn't expected to be discovered after all! How terrible! If Aunt Bai caught her and took her back, wouldn't she really be stripped naked?
"There!" someone shouted, pointing to the tree trunk where Pingting was hiding. Pingting was shocked and cried out, "Ah, no!" In her surprise, she saw several people rushing over!
Seeing that there was no way to escape, Pingting had no choice but to close her eyes. She was surrounded on all sides, so how could she get out?
Seeing that they were about to surround her, holding sticks and looking fierce, Pingting steeled her heart, took out the packet of Broken Heart Powder from her bosom, opened it, tilted her head back, and poured the whole packet into her mouth.
"Miss, you promised to take good care of my parents and brother for me, otherwise, I will haunt you even as a ghost!" Pingting said, then collapsed, slumped against the tree trunk, blood spilling from her mouth, her eyes wide open in death, her body gradually growing cold.
People gathered around, watching Pingting commit suicide, and could only look at each other.
"Take her away! Inform the madam!" Wang Zhang, the leader, finally shouted. Immediately, the group found a door panel, carried the unseeing Pingting up there, and headed towards the plum garden.
Aunt Bai was sitting at the table, looking coldly at Baoqi kneeling there. If things didn't get resolved, she would teach this wretched maid a lesson! But who was it that hit Xiao Shitou just now? Could it be one of her own people returning? And who was it that was this person with high martial arts skills?
Aunt Bai took a sip of tea and, hearing some noise outside, immediately sent someone to open the door.
Unexpectedly, what was brought in was a corpse!
☆、132 On the seventh day after her death, punish the concubine severely!
Aunt Bai was astonished. "You? This... Pingting! That wretched woman!" Aunt Bai's expression went from surprise to astonishment to anger! She never expected that this wretched woman would commit suicide!
"Take him out! Since he's dead, why bring him here at all! Are you trying to defile this house?" Aunt Bai said angrily. "Take him out! Don't let bad luck into the house!"
Immediately, Wang Zhang ordered his men to carry her out, and then the person knelt down and reported, "Auntie, this is what happened. When we arrived, we saw Pingting trying to escape! We went to grab her, but unexpectedly, she had committed suicide by poison! She must have known that her plan had been exposed, so she died!"
"Get out!" Aunt Bai glared at him. Did he even need to say that? Hmph, it must have been that little slut Ji Yinxue who ordered that Pingting commit suicide after the affair was exposed! That way, she could pin everything on Pingting alone, and with no one to prove anything, Ji Yinxue wouldn't have to face any punishment!
"Auntie, what should we do now?" Tianxiang looked at Baoqi, then at Aunt Bai. Surely Baoqi shouldn't have to keep kneeling like this? Baoqi's legs were already sore from kneeling.
"What else can we do?" Aunt Bai glared at Tianxiang, then looked at Baoqi. "Baoqi, get up!"
"Yes." Baoqi said, immediately getting up. She felt exhausted. Looking at Aunt Bai, she had an idea and stepped forward, saying, "Aunt Bai, in my humble opinion, now that Pingting is dead, the Fourth Miss will definitely ask about it. Why don't we follow the clues and see what she has to say!"
"You make it sound so easy." Aunt Bai glared at her. "That slut is even more cunning than her mother. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to get into Young Master Nan's bed! Hurry up and carry the body to Lan Garden before she falls asleep! Humph!" With that, Aunt Bai quickly dressed and followed the people carrying Pingting's body toward Lan Garden.
Hearing the noise outside, and seeing that Pingting hadn't returned for a long time, Ji Yinxue knew that things must have gone wrong, and was sitting at her desk sulking.
"Miss, Aunt Bai has arrived with her entourage." A young maid ran in and knelt down to report.
"Get out!" Ji Yinxue coldly ordered, sweeping all the books on the desk onto the floor. "I'll be there in a bit!"
"Yes." The little maid was frightened and dared not look up at Ji Yinxue's ferocious face. Upon hearing that she was told to get down, she immediately ran away in a hurry.
She actually forced Pingting to her death! Very well, Aunt Bai! At this moment, Ji Yinxue pulled out a dagger from under her boot, waved it lightly in front of her eyes, but then put it back into her boot.
"I'll make you all pay the price! She was just a maid, I can afford to play with her now! Now that she's dead, let's see what you have to say!"
"Youlan, Shuipei!" Ji Yinxue called out to the backyard, and the two maids immediately came forward and knelt down.
"Go, Youlan, go and invite the master over. Shuipei, invite the young lady over!" Ji Yinxue said coldly.
"Yes." The two maids immediately went out through the back gate of Lan Garden to invite Ji Wushang and Ji Dingbei.
After watching the person leave, Ji Yinxue put on her gauze dress, and then several other clothes before going out.
"Auntie? Oh, what's this? You've actually come to my Orchid Garden. This surprises Yinxue quite a bit!" Ji Yinxue swayed her hips as she stepped forward. Her fox-like eyes were so mesmerizing that Aunt Bai wanted nothing more than to tear them apart!
"I heard you've recovered from your illness, so I came to see you. It's been a long time since I've been to this Orchid Garden, and I didn't expect it to have changed so much!" Aunt Bai looked at her with a forced smile, and then said, "Where is your head maid, Pingting? Why is she nowhere to be seen?"
"That wretched maid, I don't know where she went. If you see her, please teach her a lesson for me. She hasn't come back to serve me for so long, I'm about to go to bed!" Ji Yinxue smiled apologetically, then said, "What brings you here so late, Aunt?"
"Hmph, since Fourth Miss seems to be unaware of the situation, then I'll just have to be frank." Aunt Bai said coldly, seeing her feigning madness. "Your head maid, Pingting, has quite the nerve, daring to poison Meiyuan's medicine! If it hadn't been discovered in time, my precious Meiyuan would have died at her hands!"
"What?" Ji Yinxue's face showed great surprise. "You, what did you say? Pingting actually poisoned Second Sister's medicine? Aunt, you'd better not make baseless accusations. But what evidence do you have?"
"Evidence?" Aunt Bai sneered. "Bring the body in here!"
Ji Yinxue was shocked. Under Aunt Bai's orders, several servants carried a corpse in from outside. Then, Wang Zhang, who was a bit short, stepped forward and lifted the white cloth. Suddenly, he saw Pingting's black face with her eyes wide open. She had clearly died from severe poisoning.
Ji Yinxue burst into tears and rushed forward to her, crying, "Pingting? What happened to you? Who killed you? Ah, who killed you! I will avenge you!"
Aunt Bai looked at her and said, "Fourth Miss, you're really putting on a convincing act. Anyone who doesn't know better would think you're genuinely heartbroken!"
"Auntie, what are you saying? Where did you find the body? Someone must have poisoned Pingting. Please, Auntie, investigate thoroughly!"
Aunt Bai really wanted to slap her to death. This woman had just said that Pingting had poisoned Ji Meiyuan's medicine, clearly implying that Pingting had committed suicide out of guilt. Now, she was saying that someone had poisoned Pingting!
“Pingting committed suicide out of fear of punishment, so why are you crying so miserably!” Aunt Bai said coldly.
Just then, a shout was heard, "Master is here! Miss is here!"
Aunt Bai was overjoyed; her arrival was just in time!
"This concubine greets Master." Aunt Bai immediately bowed to Ji Dingbei, who quickly helped her up. "You are pregnant, so be careful and don't wander around!"
"Yes, I understand."
Ji Wushang smiled and greeted Aunt Bai, then greeted Ji Yinxue, "Fourth Sister, why did you call me here so late?"
One sentence revealed Ji Yinxue's intention: she simply wanted Ji Wushang to cover up her lie. Humph, how could Ji Wushang be such an executioner!
Aunt Bai glared at Ji Yinxue, then immediately knelt at Ji Dingbei's feet. "Master, I just had someone investigate and found out that it was the Fourth Miss who ordered Pingting to poison the medicine sent to the US! Unexpectedly, when Pingting was arrested, she committed suicide by poisoning herself out of fear of punishment! Please, Master, investigate thoroughly, punish the Fourth Miss, and give the US justice!"
"Huh? Is that really true? Yinxue!" Ji Dingbei stared wide-eyed at Ji Yinxue upon hearing this.
Upon hearing this, Ji Yinxue immediately knelt down before Ji Dingbei, saying, "Father, Aunt is lying!" She immediately kowtowed several times while kneeling, and when she looked up, her face was covered in tears. Ji Wushang watched and couldn't help but marvel at her acting skills.
"Father, all the maids and servants in this courtyard can testify that when Aunt came in, she didn't say that! Yin Xue knew nothing about Ping Ting poisoning Second Sister's medicine! But Aunt said that Yin Xue ordered it? Ping Ting is dead, how can she prove that I did it? According to Yin Xue's guess, Ping Ting might have been poisoned! Aunt Bai couldn't find a murderer, so she used Ping Ting to make up the numbers!"
Upon hearing this, Ji Dingbei's eyes widened. That made some sense; the person was already dead, unless there was some evidence!
“Master, of course we have evidence! And Miss is here too! Hmph, Baoqi, come in and tell everyone what happened!” Aunt Bai sneered, and Baoqi immediately stepped forward from behind her. “Master, Aunt, Miss, Fourth Miss.”
"Speak!" Ji Dingbei snorted coldly, while Ji Wushang maintained a faint smile on his lips. Not bad, this show is interesting!
Baoqi knelt down and told the whole story, "...Pingting must have sneaked into the pharmacy from behind and secretly poisoned the Second Miss's medicine. The Eldest Miss was also there at the time and must have seen whether Pingting had sneaked away!"
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately turned their gaze to Ji Wushang. Ji Yinxue's face turned pale. This time, she had probably invited the wrong person! She had actually invited Ji Wushang. If Ji Wushang bit her now, she would have no choice but to endure the pain!
Ji Yinxue looked at Ji Wushang, expecting her to say that she didn't see Pingting leave, or that she didn't know, but Ji Wushang seemed to be recalling something and didn't say it directly.
"Big sister, you definitely didn't see it, right? Since Pingting was with all the maids, how could she have had time to go in and poison someone? I think there must have been someone else there to poison her. Hmph, we don't have any evidence right now, so we can't just say it was Pingting who did it!" Ji Yinxue looked at Ji Wushang with expectant eyes, wishing she could go up and negotiate with Ji Wushang so that if she helped her, she wouldn't have to compete with her!
Meanwhile, Aunt Bai was also anxious. If Ji Wushang told her that he had seen Pingting go in, then she could win in front of Ji Dingbei. Then, Ji Yinxue's dream of becoming the main wife would be a pipe dream!
"Young Miss, please speak up! It must have been Pingting who went in and did it. Just tell us, Young Miss!" Aunt Bai said with a smile to Ji Wushang.
Ji Wushang sneered inwardly. Now that he was the center of attention, things were indeed different. As long as it was beneficial to him, they would rush to flatter him!
"Wu Shang, have you thought of anything? Speak up!" Ji Dingbei knew that this matter definitely needed a result, otherwise, how could he give Aunt Bai an explanation? It was something that happened when he personally saw Bao Qi bring in the medicine bowl and Aunt Bai personally feed the medicine.