"You come to see me at this hour, do you have business?"
"My daughter is poisoned, her symptoms are the same as Xiao Man's," said Consort Lin.
"Did you poison her?" Cen Yu raised an eyebrow, a natural charm radiating from his eyes, truly captivating.
"No, but Ting'er's symptoms are the same as Xiao Man's. She sleeps more than she is awake. Ting'er has always been frail, and if this continues, I fear she won't last. I beg you, young master, to grant me the antidote and save my daughter!" Consort Lin's expression was dejected as she knelt down in supplication.
Cen Yu lay back on the armchair and asked doubtfully, "Are you sure Xiao Man is poisoned?"
"I am sure. Xiao Man is currently unconscious. I visited her today."
Cen Yu gently stroked the chair, remaining silent, lost in thought.
Consort Lin, seeing this, became very nervous.
If she had a place in the General's mansion, it was almost entirely due to the financial support of the Cen family. If the Cen family abandoned her, she would likely be unable to contend with Madam Yan in the General's mansion.
"But just two days ago, this family head saw Xiao Man, and she was no different from a normal person... Who was that?!" As Cen Yu spoke, a gold leaf shot from his hand towards where the sound had come from.
By the time Cen Yu chased out, he saw a wild cat rolling down from the rooftop, and the gold leaf he had shot was embedded in the wild cat.
Cen Yu glanced at the wild cat that rolled twice on the ground and fled in pain. A flicker of doubt crossed his eyes. Had he misjudged?
Consort Lin hurriedly chased out of the room, "Young master, are you alright?"
"It's nothing, just a small wild cat," Cen Yu turned and entered the room, his plain green robe rippling like emerald grass.
Xiao Man, hiding in the shadows, pressed against the wall, her gaze growing colder.
She hadn't expected the seemingly delicate scholar Cen Yu to possess martial arts, and not weak ones at that. With her skills, she had almost been discovered. But that wild cat...
Xiao Man quietly left the Cen mansion. She thought the wild cat had helped her on behalf of Ying Xue. "Miss, how was it? Who was inside?"
"Cen Yu," Xiao Man slowly uttered the two words. "Just now, thanks to you. If it weren't for you, I would have been discovered."
"Me?" Ying Xue looked confused. "Your servant did nothing, Miss. Didn't you tell your servant to wait outside with peace of mind?"
Xiao Man's gaze turned towards the direction of the Cen mansion behind her, her delicate brows furrowed.
Who was it?
However, after much thought, regardless of who helped her from behind the scenes and what their intentions were, she was grateful to them. It was just that she couldn't fathom when she had offended the head of the Cen family!
Consort Lin returned from Cen Yu with the antidote and immediately administered it to Xiao Ting, waiting for the Fourth Miss to wake up.
However, after taking the antidote, the Fourth Miss showed no signs of waking. Consort Lin became suspicious. Could it be that what Cen Yu gave her was not an antidote at all?
"Consort, what should we do? Fourth Miss hasn't woken up yet," Qiao Yun asked cautiously, looking at the Fourth Miss's increasingly pale face.
Consort Lin gritted her teeth. She had done quite a bit for Cen Yu. Now her daughter was poisoned, and Cen Yu gave her a fake antidote. What did this mean?
Consort Lin, having experienced much in her life, quickly calmed down after the initial panic.
If Cen Yu gave her a fake antidote, there would be no benefit for him.
If something happened to her daughter, she would tear her mask off and tell the General that the Cen family had repeatedly plotted against the Eldest Miss. Even as the richest family in the capital, the Cen family wouldn't be able to handle it. So the antidote should be fine.
She would wait a little longer. Perhaps her daughter was weak, and it would take some time for the antidote to take effect.
Consort Lin looked at the antidote bottle in her hand, filled with doubt. But who was behind poisoning the Fourth Miss, and how was it done?
Could it be the Eldest Miss? But the Eldest Miss was still ill, she probably didn't have the energy for this.
"Could it be Madam?" Consort Lin trimmed the lampwick with a silver pick, her expression inscrutable. Who poisoned the Fourth Miss, and what was their objective?
Was it Madam, or the Third Consort, or the inconspicuous Fourth Consort?
"Consort, what can we do now that Fourth Miss is like this?" Qiao Yun worried endlessly every day.
Consort Lin found her bothersome and waved her hand, signaling her to be quiet. "Since returning, who has entered Fourth Miss's room?"
"Granny Luo, who is by Madam's side, came and brought some tonic. Old Madam came, with Granny Xu by her side. Xiu Ling, who is with the Third Consort, and Yun Shang, who is with the Third Miss," Qiao Yun recalled carefully.
"Did Eldest Miss send anyone?"
"She did. Ying Xue, who is by Eldest Miss's side, came, but she didn't enter the room. She just delivered the tonic Eldest Miss sent and left after standing in the courtyard for a while."
As everyone was ruled out one by one, Consort Lin's confusion grew. If she wanted to save her daughter, she had to find the person behind this!
Consort Lin looked at the frail Fourth Miss lying on the bed. Her heart ached as if pricked by needles.
After returning to the mansion, Xiao Man searched her memory thoroughly but couldn't find any reason why she had offended Cen Yu. She then called Qiu Tong in to ask, "Do you know Cen Yu?"
"Miss, don't you remember? Cen Yu is the richest man in the capital, ranking sixth on the Capital's Men of Renown list. He is immensely wealthy, and also possesses unparalleled beauty and a graceful demeanor. You once said that even the most outstanding male courtesan in the pleasure district couldn't match a fraction of the charm in his eyes."
"I know him?" Xiao Man asked curiously.
"Not really know him. You two probably haven't formally met, but your servant heard that this Young Master Cen is fond of Miss Wen from the Prime Minister's mansion," Qiu Tong said with a gossipy tone. "Rumor has it he proposed to the Prime Minister's mansion, but was rejected."
Xiao Man rested her chin on her hand, tapping the table with the other. Could it be that Cen Yu was targeting her because of Wen Mo Yu?
Although she and Wen Mo Yu didn't get along, it wasn't a deep hatred that would warrant taking her life.
Therefore, she felt that Cen Yu targeting her was likely not just for Wen Mo Yu.
"Ying Xue, investigate Cen Yu."
"Yes, Miss."
"Miss, is Young Master Cen causing you trouble?" Qiu Tong asked cautiously.
After all, none of the people on the Men of Renown list were easy to deal with. If their own Miss offended someone on the list, her days would likely be difficult.
"Trouble, I'm afraid it's more than just trouble," Xiao Man said slowly.
If Consort Lin poisoned her on Cen Yu's orders, then Cen Yu wanted her life. But what kind of deep-seated hatred would make someone bribe a consort in the mansion to poison her? Was the Huomei poison from last time related to him?
Xiao Man sighed.
The people in this mansion were truly intertwined. A mere consort was backed by the richest family in the capital, the Cen family, and the head of the Cen family was determined to take her life.
Xiao Man's fingers tapped rhythmically on the table. She was thinking, could the person she forced herself upon that night have been Cen Yu? And that young man recognized her, which was why he was trying every means to take her life?