Yan Tongshu asked in a low voice, "Which river was it?"
Li Jian felt even more uneasy at the question.
"Speak!" Yan Tongshu's voice was as cold as iron.
Li Jian murmured, "It's the one that goes out the back gate of the manor, past two alleys to the southeast, over at Wuyi Lane..."
Yan Tongshu frowned. "There's no river over there."
Li Jian's voice dropped even lower, more guilt-ridden. "It's that little... really little... an extremely small river."
This time it was Yan Tongshu who was stunned, so much so that her voice rose. "That's called a ditch!"
A ditch?
Lady Cao, Cao Jinyue, and Cao He all looked at Yan Tongshu at once.
Yan Tongshu cleared her throat and explained, "Wuyi Lane is packed with dye houses, forges, and smelting workshops. There's no river there, only a drainage ditch for waste water. The water in it is filthy—every kind of foul thing you can imagine is in it."
And naturally, heavy metal contamination as well.
Using such filthy water to make food, and eating it day after day—no wonder Cao Jian and Lady Cao both showed severe symptoms of heavy metal poisoning.
Lady Cao's face quivered with rage, while Cao Jinyue and Cao He paled in terror.
Cao Jinyue's voice shook as she asked, "So the things my brother and I ate... were they dirty too?"
Li Jian and Ning Hui both shook their heads. "We only added the dirty water to the sugar-and-meat buns."
"Why?!" Lady Cao slammed a hand hard on the table, striking it again and again as she demanded, "The manor has well water, clean water! Why would you do this?!"
Li Jian and Ning Hui exchanged a glance, then fell silent.
"Speak!" Lady Cao was beside herself with fury, her voice sharp as a whip. "If you don't explain yourselves clearly today, I'll haul you before the authorities and have you rot in prison for the rest of your lives!"
"I'll talk, I'll talk." Neither Li Jian nor Ning Hui wanted to go to prison, so they both rushed to speak.
Li Jian spoke first. "Half a year ago, the general had a hangover from the night before. His spirits were poor in the morning, and while eating a sugar-and-meat bun, he burned his mouth without paying attention. He backhanded me so hard I saw stars. My head was foggy for three days, and it still aches off and on to this day."
Ning Hui then spoke, her voice choked with tears. "A year ago, my daughter came to visit me. The general saw that she was a sweet girl, and he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. When you, madam, found out, you blamed my daughter for seducing him and ordered twenty slaps to her face. I begged and begged, and you only reduced it by half."
A fierce hatred surged into her eyes. "My daughter was embraced, groped, kissed—and then she was beaten for it. How could I swallow that rage?"
Ning Hui ground her teeth. "I held that grudge, held it and held it, until half a year ago, when Li Jian was hit by the general and also got hurt. I went to see him. We poured out our grievances to each other, and as we talked..."
Yan Tongshu said, "You hit it off at once?"
Ning Hui nodded. "We didn't mean to poison anybody. We just wanted to vent our anger. So we added some of that dirty water to the sugar-and-meat buns, to feel a bit even. We didn't know the water was toxic. We'd heard that urine and excrement were also dumped into that ditch, and we thought it was just unclean—the buns have a strong flavor, so you couldn't taste it. So we used the waste water to make the buns."
"Ugh."
Cao Jinyue turned away, heaving dry heaves.
The sugar-and-meat buns weren't good, and she and her brother ate little of them. But their father loved them, and when they didn't eat, he'd be displeased. Sometimes, in a bad mood, he'd force them to eat half or a whole one.
To think that besides poison, there was also excrement, and urine, in those buns.
Cao He's face turned grim too. His stomach churned violently, but he forced himself to hold it back.
As for Lady Cao, it went without saying. She was a woman with a small appetite and ate less than Cao Jian, but she loved the sugar-and-meat buns and had them nearly every day.
At this moment, Lady Cao was no longer merely angry—she was shattered.
She pointed at Li Jian and Ning Hui and shrieked, "You two! I could have you both die a miserable death!"
"Cough, cough." Yan Tongshu cleared her throat and sternly reminded her, "Lady Cao, the two of them have committed a crime, and the case should be heard by the Kaifeng Prefecture before any punishment is decided. Moreover, their offense, in accordance with the law, does not carry the death penalty."
Lady Cao grew even more furious.
She had eaten poison for half a year, eaten filthy water for half a year—with excrement, with urine—and yet she couldn't even have the two of them killed!
"And," Yan Tongshu lowered her voice, her tone cold as a blade, "Lady Cao, the most urgent matter right now isn't holding them accountable."
Lady Cao asked, "What?"
Lady Cao didn't understand.
"The two of them just said," Yan Tongshu's gaze swept over everyone, "that everyone in the kitchen knew they were using dirty water. But no one reported them, and no one stopped them."
Seeing that Lady Cao, Cao Jinyue, and Cao He were still completely baffled, Yan Tongshu made it plain: "That means it isn't just these two who nurse resentment against the Cao household. The entire kitchen—perhaps even the entire household staff—harbors resentment toward the Cao family to some degree. So the problem wouldn't be limited to one sugar-and-meat bun. There could be other things too—clothes, jewelry, porridge, buns, face creams, all of it."
"Ah—!"
Cao Jinyue let out a scream and frantically wiped her face with her handkerchief.
She loved applying face cream every day.
What if her face cream had also been mixed with that filthy water...
Her face...
Ahhh!
After frantically wiping her face for a moment, she suddenly stared in horror at the handkerchief in her hand—was this thing also washed in dirty water?
Cao Jinyue hurled the handkerchief to the ground in a panic.
Cao He was a man, but in winter, the air was dry and his skin easily chapped, so he too liked to apply a bit of balm to moisturize his face.
The expression on his face at this moment was also beyond words.
Lady Cao's face had darkened to the extreme. She immediately ordered the steward, Wang Fu, to gather everyone in the household. She had questions to ask.
Wang Fu went to carry out the order at once.
Yan Tongshu shook her head.
This Cao family had piled up too many sins, and now karma had come knocking.
Pearl and Jinbao, who had been waiting at the door, exchanged a glance, understanding each other perfectly.
Served them right.
They didn't even treat their cook with basic decency.
They didn't stop to think how easy it was for a cook to tamper with their food.
In the Yan household, the madam and the young lord had always treated the chef with the greatest respect and courtesy.
Thank goodness.
The young lord was a picky eater and had barely touched any of the Cao family's food.
And neither had they.
Yan Tongshu thought for a moment, then asked, "Lady Cao, now that you've gathered everyone, how do you plan to question them?"
Lady Cao had made the decision in a fit of rage and hadn't thought it through.
Yan Tongshu said, "A person who hasn't been caught will never admit to what they've done."
Lady Cao took a deep breath, then bowed to Yan Tongshu. "Please, Lord Yan, enlighten me."
Yan Tongshu replied calmly, "How about this: after gathering everyone, announce clearly that anyone who confesses openly by the end of today will have all past offenses forgiven without exception."
Cao He immediately objected, "How can that be?! We've been harmed so badly by these lowly servants—not only are they not to be cut to pieces, but we should let them go just like that?"
Yan Tongshu, her gaze sharp as a blade, turned to Cao He. "What matters most today is that you realize what has happened to you and correct your ways, dispelling the resentment. Otherwise, even if you replace every servant in the Cao household, this sort of thing will happen again."
They thought that just because someone was a servant, they weren't a person—that they could be bullied and abused at will, toyed with and looked down upon. They never stopped to think that these servants were tied to every single aspect of their daily lives. If the servants wanted revenge, they had plenty of ways to get it.
Lady Cao pondered for a moment. "Yes, Lord Yan speaks sense."
Cao He pressed his lips tightly together, his face full of arrogance, his eyes brimming with disdain for Yan Tongshu's words.
A quarter of an hour later, everyone in the household was gathered in the courtyard.
Lady Cao laid it out plainly: she ordered everyone to confess any acts of disrespect toward their masters, whether big or small, that they had committed.
Anyone who spoke up that day would have their offenses forgiven, no questions asked.
And if anyone feared retaliation later, they could take three months' wages in advance and leave the Cao estate on their own once Cao Jian's death was settled.
The servants exchanged glances, still full of doubt.
Lady Cao had Ning Hui and Li Jian brought forward.
Lady Cao produced a letter of pardon: "These two served filth as food, and yet it was I who ended up poisoned. This is a letter of forgiveness and leniency written in my own hand. I now hand it personally to Lord Yan of Kaifeng Prefecture, so that he may go easy on them."
Yan Tongshu accepted the letter.
Lady Cao said, "If you speak up now, before things blow up, we can all pretend nothing happened. But if you stay silent and end up causing trouble like these two, then the punishment will be severe—and don't say I didn't warn you."
Still, no one dared to speak first. Lady Cao added, "Report someone else, and you'll receive a month's wages as a reward."
That changed things.
If reporting someone meant getting paid, who knew who might be tempted by greed and sell someone else out?
"I'll talk." A woman still wearing her kitchen apron stood up. "Um... Milady, Miss, Young Master... I—I work serving dishes in the kitchen. Every time you yelled at me, I spat into the food once."
Lady Cao: "You—"
Lady Cao wanted to curse, but once she did, no one else would speak up. So she clenched her fists, swallowed her fury, and said, "Do you choose to stay, or do you choose to leave once the case is closed?"
The woman shrank back in fear. "I choose to leave."
Lady Cao waved her hand, and Xiang Fu came out carrying silver. The woman took the money and bowed in thanks over and over.
Lady Cao kept her word, and the woman got paid. A lot of people began to stir with temptation.
Then a man stood up. "Milady, I'm the one who tends the garden. I didn't do anything too awful. It's just that the General had a bad temper and liked to hit people. So I'd go out at night in the dark and pee on his weapons every day."
Yan Tongshu asked, "And what proof do you have that what you're saying is true?"
The man said, "Milady, do you remember how for a while the General complained every day that the weapons in the house kept rusting out of nowhere? One time he bought an expensive weapon called 'Soul Forged' at a high price, but since he treasured it and rarely used it, by the time he discovered it, it was already rusted beyond recognition."
Lady Cao gritted her teeth. "Pick."
This man also chose the money route.
Clearly, with Cao Jian dead and his two children still young, it was obvious the Cao household was heading for decline. These people didn't want to stick around; they wanted their money and a quick way out to find better employers.
A man in blue also stood up. "Milady, I'm the one who trims the gardens. I haven't done anything disloyal to you. But I do have something to report. Young Master's courtyard was renovated that year. A worker's cat had somehow followed him over, and he was feeding it when the Young Master, in a bad mood and disgusted by the filthy cat, kicked it to death. One time I saw that worker hiding in a corner away from the construction crew, doing something shifty. Sure enough, less than a month after that wall went up, a heavy rainstorm brought it down. The Young Master's leg got crushed and he was laid up for three months."
Cao He cursed under his breath. "That damned bastard."
Cao He demanded, "Why didn't you say something earlier?"
Since he was leaving anyway, the man in blue answered without a shred of guilt: "Why would I? You high-and-mighty young masters, did you ever treat us like people? I work at your estate—I didn't sell my soul to you. You cursed us at every turn and kicked us whenever you were in a mood. You didn't care whether I lived or died, so why should I have cared about you? Whether you lived or died had nothing to do with me."
That was also exactly why everyone in the kitchen had known about Li Jian and Ning Hui feeding filth to the Cao family and never said a word.
Lady Cao was exhausted. "Pay him."
She no longer had the strength to tell truth from lies; she just wanted it all to end.
Once the first person had spoken, more and more followed.
Everyone talked at once.
Why were Lady Cao's expensive clothes so easy to get eaten by moths?
Because a servant, punished to stand watch three nights straight, unable to sleep day or night, a worker who had gone three full days without rest, had sprinkled insect-attracting powder into the wardrobe.
Why did Cao He's treasured collection of wine always taste strange?
Because someone had peed in it.
Why did Cao Jinyue end up wearing the exact same outfit and jewelry as Lady Yanhe at the banquet?
How was it such a coincidence?
Servants had their own social circles. A maid in the storage room knew a maid in Lady Yanhe's household, and she knew well in advance what Lady Yanhe would wear and use. So when picking fabrics and jewelry, she deliberately placed the exact same items in the most visible spot. The maid wasn't clever enough to scheme; she simply kept trying her luck, putting the duplicate fabric in the most prominent place every time. Nine tries out of ten failed—but the eleventh time, it always worked.
Sure enough, Cao Jinyue was scolded by Lady Yanhe at the banquet.
Why did that maid do it? Because a young man Cao Jinyue liked had once visited as a guest and looked at the maid an extra time or two. Cao Jinyue decided the maid had impure intentions and was nothing but a temptress, so she made the maid kneel all night.
The Cao family didn't treat their servants as people, so the servants didn't treat them as people either—just as tools to earn money from.
The servants sometimes gathered together, snacking on fava beans and grilling tofu, complaining about all the ridiculous things the Cao family had done that day. They laughed over each other's petty schemes, and the rage festering inside them from their masters' disgraceful treatment seemed to ease a little. It made the days feel worth living again.
Yan Tongshu shook his head. These Caos weren't good people either.
Just then, the gatekeeper Duanzhou stepped forward. "Lady, actually... before you fell out with the Marchioness of Boping, she sent one of her personal maids to come find you and the General about something urgent. But I stepped away to take a break and didn't even open the door for her. I'm not sure that was the reason, but—by the time I came back, the maid was cursing up a storm outside the gate. I was afraid of getting scolded myself, so I said I'd been following orders. The people from the Boping Marquess's household said the Cao family was deliberately putting on airs, and once the Marquess got through his troubles, they'd be at odds with the Cao family forever. After that, it seems your relationship with the Marchioness took a sharp nosedive, and the General was impeached by the Marquess many times as well."
Lady Cao's heart seized in her chest. "You... how dare you—"
Duanzhou mumbled in his own defense, "It wasn't intentional, sir. Back then, my mother was sick, and I asked for half a month off to go home and care for her, but you wouldn't allow it. I was resentful, so I started slacking off—working a day, then skipping two. And the other day, when the General returned to the mansion, didn't I say I had a stomachache? I said I came back after using the latrine and saw the General arrive. To be honest, I do this every day—slacking off from time to time—so that day, it wasn't really a stomachache either..."
The more Duanzhou spoke, the more guilty he felt, and his voice grew softer and softer.
Yan Tongshu asked sharply, "You say you do this every day?"
Duanzhou nodded.
Yan Tongshu: "That day, were you the only one on duty at the gate?"
Duanzhou nodded again.
Yan Tongshu felt like he had grasped something, but he wasn't sure—it was just floating vaguely in his mind, impossible to fully seize.
After this round of interrogation, the reason for Cao Jinyue's frequent allergies was found, the reason for Cao He's frequent diarrhea was found, and the reason Lady Cao's expensive clothes spoiled so easily was also found.
Everyone had precisely found their own just deserts.
The servants of the Cao household all got a small measure of satisfaction, but the losses inflicted upon the Cao family were incalculable.
Lady Cao waved her hand wearily, dismissing everyone.
Cao Jinyue wished she could throw away every bit of powder and cream in the room.
Cao He, too, wished he could smash every jar of wine in the cellar.
Yan Tongshu, having watched enough of the show, took Pearl and Jinbao and rose to take his leave. Now that Lady Cao dared not trust anyone, she had Xiang Fu escort the guests out.
As they reached the courtyard gate, Yan Tongshu looked at Xiang Fu and said, "Miss Xiang Fu, you've been in close service to Lady Cao for many years. If your mistress were to meet a man in secret, she would certainly need your help to cover it up."
At these words, Xiang Fu's breath caught for a brief moment, but she quickly adjusted her expression and said steadily, "Lord Yan, this servant does not know what you're talking about. Though my mistress was not born into a great family, she was educated from childhood and is intelligent and refined. She has been married to the General for many years, always observing the rules strictly, managing the household diligently, and relieving the General of all worries behind the scenes..."
When she mentioned managing the household, Xiang Fu paused awkwardly—given what had just been witnessed, the household management really wasn't doing well.
She hesitated, then continued, "In any case, in this servant's eyes, my mistress saved my life. She is a good mistress and would never do anything that tarnishes the General's reputation."
"Is that so?" Yan Tongshu rubbed his chin. "Then perhaps this official has misunderstood. I'll go and ask Lady Xiao instead."
He said neither Lady Cao nor Xiao Jun—specifically Lady Xiao.
And Lady Xiao not only knew martial arts, but was also known for her volatile temper.
Yan Tongshu's remark caught Xiang Fu off guard, choking her words just as she was prepared to continue her roundabout sparring with him.
Xiang Fu: "Lady Xiao has gone to offer incense. She won't return until tomorrow."
"Then I'll ask tomorrow." Yan Tongshu smiled and walked out of the Cao residence with Pearl and Jinbao.
As soon as they stepped out of the main gate, Pearl clutched her chest and sighed, "Oh my, what a grand drama. Those Cao people really are wicked through and through."
Jinbao snorted, "Serves them right for not treating people like human beings."
Pearl nodded. The Yan residence was still the best.
Their mistress was gentle and dignified, and the two young ladies were kind and sweet.
The young master treated them like family too.
Nothing like those Cao people.
Pearl clicked her tongue twice. "Young master, Jinbao, what do you think the Cao family was thinking? Even if General Cao hadn't died, there are only four of them in the family, but with all those servants—twenty or thirty of them—they still bullied and oppressed them so badly. Weren't they afraid those people would band together and finish them off?"
Yan Tongshu: "Didn't you notice?"
Pearl tilted her head. "Notice what?"
Yan Tongshu: "Among the servants who came out to confess, none were the ones closest to Lady Cao and the rest. That means they thought that as long as they kept the inner circle—those who served them personally—on their side, they could rest easy. Little did they know a dike crumbles from a single ant hole. Even the smallest ant has its temper."
Yan Tongshu thought for a moment, then added, "Still, the Cao family has been rather lucky."
Given how they had oppressed people, the fact that it only resulted in minor, petty retaliation from the servants—and that they were still alive—was already quite fortunate.
If that 'sewage' with its excessive heavy metals had been discovered much later, Lady Cao would have gone straight to the afterlife.
And Lady Cao was already poisoned. Even if it wasn't immediately life-threatening, as she aged, she would suffer no shortage of physical pain.
After speaking, Yan Tongshu instructed the Kaifeng prefectural guards stationed at the Cao residence's gate to keep a close watch on Lady Cao. The moment she made any move, they were to report to the prefecture immediately.
The bait to startle the snake and lure it into the trap had been laid. Now it was just a matter of when Lady Cao would take the hook.
That afternoon, while Yan Tongshu was at his desk stamping documents, Zhang Jiu knocked and entered. "Lord Yan."
After bowing, he said, "The white powder we scraped off the floor of the Cao study has been confirmed. It's salt."
Salt?
Yan Tongshu was momentarily confused.
Why would there be such a large patch of salt on the floor of the Cao study?
Was it a coincidence, or part of the murderer's design?
"There's more." Zhang Jiu's gaze was steady. "The guards learned that on the day Lord Cao died, around mid-morning, he left the house and visited Prince Ming's residence. Later, around noon during a meal, he had a conflict with General Meng Yi at Huihua Tower. While no blows were exchanged, the singing girls attending nearby all said General Meng's face was extremely grim—he even crushed his wine cup in his hand."
Yan Tongshu: "Huihua Tower?"
Zhang Jiu lowered his eyes, cleared his throat, and the tips of his ears reddened slightly. "It's a place for... seeking pleasure and listening to music. Lord Cao had been going there frequently over the past two months. They have both male and female entertainers."
Oh.
Yan Tongshu understood.
But wasn't Meng Yi said to be deeply devoted to his wife and faithful? Would he go to a place like that too?
Yan Tongshu asked, "What did they talk about?"
Zhang Jiu shook his head. "There were many people dining at the time, and it was noisy. The singing girls were only performing nearby, not serving closely. General Meng and Lord Cao deliberately kept their voices low, so nothing could be overheard."
I see...
Yan Tongshu pressed on, "What about the Dingsheng troupe? Any irregularities?"
Zhang Jiu shook his head. "The Dingsheng troupe has been staying quietly in the guest courtyard of the Cao residence—no going out, no making trouble. Earlier this morning, they even practiced their basic drills."
Yan Tongshu: "Keep watching them."
Zhang Jiu: "Understood."
After Zhang Jiu left, Yan Tongshu rose and told Jinbao to ready the carriage. He took Pearl along and set off for the Meng residence.
Yan Tongshu had Pearl wait in the carriage while he knocked on the door.
The gatekeeper opened it, and Yan Tongshu identified himself.
The gatekeeper immediately and respectfully invited Lord Yan to the small waiting room nearby while he went to announce his arrival.
After a while, Meng Zheng strode over energetically. "What's this? Heard I'm off duty today and came to see me?"
Since he was at home, Meng Zheng was wearing a casual, bamboo-green long robe embroidered with pine and bamboo, looking especially refined.
Yan Tongshu pointed at his own official robes. "Clearly, I'm here on official business."
Meng Zheng: "The gatekeeper said you're looking for my father?"
Yan Tongshu nodded.
"Alright, come with me." Meng Zheng led the way, and Yan Tongshu followed him through the long corridor, past the rockery, until they reached a secluded room.
Both doors of the room were wide open, facing the rockery and the flowing water.
Fine snow drifted outside the house, while inside a small red-clay stove glowed with burning charcoal.
Meng Yi and Qin Yi sat facing each other, playing a game of chess.
Yan Tongshu turned around and left at once.
"Stop." Qin Yi spoke lazily. "What's the rush? Don't you want to see me?"
