Before Feng Jinyao even entered the courtyard, she heard from a servant reporting from her mother's courtyard that Chi Ling had bitten a maidservant and was now running wild, biting anything in sight. No one knew what had provoked it.
Yun Xu and Xiu Qiu, who had raised Chi Ling for the longest time, were more anxious than Feng Jinyao herself upon hearing this.
"Miss, there must be some misunderstanding. Chi Ling is usually lethargic; it's hard to get it to move an extra step. It's very familiar with the scent of everyone in the household. How could it suddenly become ferocious and bite someone? I'll go take a look first."
This was Xiu Qiu speaking. Being impatient, she was eager to see the situation.
Feng Jinyao nodded, "You go and calm it down first. We'll be there shortly."
"Yes."
With Feng Jinyao's command, Xiu Qiu hurried off with the maidservant who had delivered the news.
Seeing Yun Xu's troubled expression, Xiu Qiu comforted her, "Miss, don't worry. It shouldn't be anything serious. We can just send some wound medicine over."
"No, I'm thinking about something else. Chi Ling's sense of smell has always been sharp. Could it be that the maidservant had a scent it disliked, which caused it to become ferocious and scratch her?"
Hearing Feng Jinyao's words, Yun Xu also fell into thought. Recalling the time Chi Ling had been in the courtyard, its sense of smell was indeed extraordinary. Could it really be as the young lady said?
"Go to Uncle Shou and ask him if that Qing Yan flower can cause animals to become disoriented and ferocious."
"Yes." Upon hearing this, Yun Xu knew that the young lady suspected this matter was related to the madam's poisoning. She then instructed the coachman to drive as fast as possible, rushing to Pear Blossom Lane.
In Yun Hai Courtyard, the injured maidservant had been scratched in several places, with her cheeks and right hand being the most severely injured. A perfectly fair and delicate maid was disfigured and crying heartbrokenly.
Beside her, La Mei was holding the still enraged Chi Ling, trying to pacify it.
As soon as Feng Jinyao entered the courtyard, she saw this situation and walked towards Chi Ling with a frown.
"Chi Ling! Chi Ling!"
She called out several times without any response, her suspicion growing that it was being controlled by something, causing its rage.
"What did it eat today? What did it use? What did it see?"
She asked La Mei, her tone full of seriousness.
La Mei, however, was also very anxious at the moment. "Nothing unusual, Miss. Chi Ling ate, used, and drank the same as usual this morning. After you left, I thought it would want to run outside again, so I took it to the back garden to play for a while. The wooden frames there were built by the young servants in the courtyard, modeled after what cats and dogs usually like, and it loved them. Who knew that as soon as we reached the madam's courtyard entrance, it suddenly ran out of my arms? Immediately after, there was a scream. By the time I ran in, it had already injured Ding Dong."
"Ding Dong?"
"Yes, Ding Dong is a child of the household. Her mother is the cook, and her father manages the stables. Madam Bai saw that she was young but nimble, so she brought her to serve in the madam's courtyard. She is now a second-class maidservant."
La Mei explained.
After hearing this, Feng Jinyao turned to look. Ding Dong, she had never paid attention to such a person before.
She walked closer to examine the scratches on her face. The claw marks were very deep, indicating that Chi Ling had attacked with great force.
"Don't be afraid. My courtyard has excellent wound medicine; it won't leave scars."
She comforted the heartbroken Ding Dong. She was in her prime, not yet betrothed. If her face were truly ruined, wouldn't it delay her entire life?
"Please calm yourself and tell me everything that just happened, one by one."
Ding Dong, who had been anxious before, felt somewhat relieved upon hearing Feng Jinyao's words and recounted tearfully, "Miss, I have always served in the madam's courtyard and have never overstepped my bounds. Today, I was tending to the flowers in the courtyard as usual. When I got up, I found an inconspicuous branch in the grass pile and thought to throw it away. Who knew that as soon as I reached the courtyard entrance, Chi Ling pounced on me and began scratching me wildly. Then Sister La Mei came in and helped me to get Chi Ling away. Otherwise, I fear I would have been scratched to death by it today."
Thinking of the scene just now, Ding Dong still felt lingering fear.
Although Chi Ling was not large, its claws and teeth were extremely sharp. With a few swipes, it had scratched her to the point where she could not resist and could only beg for mercy.
"La Mei, take Chi Ling back first. Go through the places it usually stays and see if you can calm its emotions."
"Yes."
Upon receiving the order, La Mei hurried back to Ning An Courtyard, afraid that if she was slow, someone who disliked Chi Ling might deal with it severely.
Ding Dong watched Chi Ling leave, her eyes filled with resentment. If this fire fox didn't have backing, she would have retaliated.
Looking coldly at Ding Dong, Feng Jinyao's suspicion outweighed everything else.
However, in the courtyard, Madam Bai had thoroughly investigated several times. Those who remained were all as clean as could be. If there was still a mole among them, it would be exposed now, or there would be endless trouble later!
Thinking of this, she ordered her subordinates, "Help Ding Dong to the side room and find the household physician to examine her."
Then she asked the others, "Where are Mother and Madam Bai? Why aren't they in the courtyard?"
"Madam Bai accompanied the madam outside and has not returned yet. We don't know what they are doing specifically."
"Hmm, then let's treat Ding Dong's injuries first."
"Yes."
After this delay, the courtyard finally returned to peace.
In the side room, the household physician was applying medicine to Ding Dong. As the powder sprinkled onto the wound, she cried out in pain.
"Your wounds are deeply scratched. Fortunately, you have the young lady's medicine, or it would definitely leave scars."
"I hope the household physician will be diligent with the medicine. I haven't... haven't been betrothed yet. If my face is injured, I fear I won't have a good future."
The household physician was kind-hearted and usually took good care of the household servants. If anyone caught a cold, they could get medicine from his courtyard and recover.
So he said with a gentle smile, "Don't worry, this medicine is very good."
Hearing his reply, Ding Dong's worried heart finally relaxed.
At this moment, Feng Jinyao, sitting in the main room, had a very solemn expression.
A branch, Ding Dong had mentioned a branch just now.
But in the weather of February, how could a branch be on the ground? She said just now that Chi Ling had pounced on her on the spot, but there was no trace of a branch within her sight. It seemed this maidservant was not telling the truth.
She glanced back at the Qing Yan flower that was still "blooming," and her heart grew even more ruthless.
Yun Xu had hurried back. Just as Ding Dong's wounds were bandaged, she returned and whispered a few words into Feng Jinyao's ear, handing her a packet of powder.
To avoid alerting the enemy, she did not act immediately.