Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 957 - 955_1

Chapter 957: Chapter 955_1

The old woman glanced at the pile of neatly stacked firewood and thought how miraculous the beef bone soup was! She decided to buy more to make for her grandson. If he drank a lot and became outrageously strong, he might be noticed by the master and become a personal guard for the young master!

Taking advantage of the old woman’s distraction, Shangguan Ruixi hurriedly dragged Shangguan Xuanyi away. If they didn’t leave soon, they would be exposed!

Just as Shangguan Xuanyi and Shangguan Ruixi were about to escape, a cook in the kitchen called out to stop them, "You two, come and help with the fire immediately!"

Shangguan Xuanyi and Shangguan Ruixi looked at each other and saw the helplessness in each other’s eyes. They decided to stay obediently and wait for Xiao’er’s return.

That girl was smart. She would definitely find Shangguan Wanru. If they went together, the three of them would attract too much attention.

So the two men silently walked over to the stove and started to feed the fire with firewood.

Luckily, the fire was already lit with the firewood already in the stove, otherwise Shangguan Ruixi would have cried.

They silently stood by the stove, watching the fire and adding firewood, while also watching the cooks preparing pastries, stewing soup, and cutting vegetables.

At this moment, a maid walked in, "Is the soup to stimulate lactation for the wet nurse ready yet?"

One of the cooks instantly replied, "It’s ready, I’ll bring it out now."

The cook said this while removing a bowl of soup from a large pot and placing it on a tray to hand to the maid.

The maid took it and left the kitchen.

Shangguan Xuanyi and Shangguan Ruixi exchanged glances. The three of them had planned many rescue strategies beforehand. One of them was to first take Shangguan Wanru’s child away, causing chaos in the Wang Mansion, and then seize the opportunity to rescue Shangguan Wanru.

The task of taking the child was entrusted to Shangguan Xuanyi. Hence, Shangguan Xuanyi held his belly, grimacing in pain.

Taking the opportunity, Shangguan Ruixi said, "What’s wrong? Did you eat something that upset your stomach while out this morning? I told you that food from the street was dirty, but you didn’t believe me!"

Shangguan Xuanyi nodded, "I need to use the restroom, you keep an eye on the fire for me."

Shangguan Ruixi intentionally covered his nose with one hand, waving the other, "Go quickly, don’t poison us with your foul gas, it stinks in here!"

Everyone in the kitchen heard this and looked disgustedly at him, covering their noses. The head cook waved his hand, "Hurry up and go, if you contaminate the master’s food with your stench, even a thousand heads won’t be enough for you to lose!"

Hearing this, Shangguan Ruixi covertly laughed to himself.

Shangguan Xuanyi gave Shangguan Ruixi a cold look before swiftly leaving the room.

After leaving the kitchen, he glanced at the direction the maid had gone and deliberately took another path, and followed the maid from a distance.

After a while, the maid passed through a rockery. Seeing no one around, she directly entered the rockery.

Seeing this, Shangguan Xuanyi quickly used Qinggong to get to the side of the rockery, found a spot to hide, and saw the maid adding a pinch of white powder to the soup before shaking the bowl and re-covering it. Only then did she pick up the tray and leave the rockery.

Before leaving the rockery, she carefully looked around. Seeing no one, she confidently walked out.

Watching her receding figure from a distance, Shangguan Xuanyi narrowed his eyes dangerously.

The food of the master was usually tested for poison with a silver needle. The amount of medicinal powder the maid added just now was very small, and the soup was for the wet nurse to drink. Shangguan Xuanyi was certain that the poison was a slow-acting one, which couldn’t be detected by a silver needle. When the amount was small, the wet nurse wouldn’t feel unwell after drinking it, but Shangguan Xuanyi knew that if the wet nurse consumed something poisonous, the toxins would appear in the breast milk and then be transferred to the child.

Therefore, the one who added the poison was smart. The poison wouldn’t be detected by a silver needle, and the wet nurse wouldn’t feel unwell after consuming it, so no one would suspect there was a problem with the food. By the time the small amounts of accumulated toxins caused the child to exhibit symptoms of being poisoned, the wet nurse would still be unaffected. It would then be difficult to determine how the child was poisoned, and even if it was discovered, it wouldn’t matter because the damage would have been done!

Gong Qinghua was always clever in his actions, and Shangguan Xuanyi had to admit his admiration.

Gong Zixuan’s heart was softer and he lacked ruthlessness. How could he be Gong Qinghua’s match!

From a distance, Shangguan Xuanyi followed the maid, watching her enter a courtyard which was not the main courtyard where Shangguan Wanru had received them last time. It was very close to the main courtyard, and should be where the wet nurse and the child stayed.

Shangguan Xuanyi didn’t follow directly. He looked in the direction of the main courtyard, wondering if Xiao’er had seen Shangguan Wanru yet.

Then he noticed a broom not far away. He walked over, picked it up, and pretended to sweep up leaves in the garden, while secretly observing the situation in the two courtyards.

Elsewhere, after parking the tricycle, Xiao’er quickly hid behind a rockery in the garden. She was waiting for a maid to pass by.

Soon, a maid passed by. Xiao’er recognized her as a second-class maid serving Shangguan Wanru.

If her guess was correct, this maid was going to the kitchen to get food, hence passing by here.

Xiao’er quickly threw a stone to knock the maid out, then took her to the rockery, hit her sleep acupoint, stripped her of her cloak, put it on herself, then went into the space to remove her makeup and do another one, before leaving the space and heading in the direction where the maid came from.

In no time, Xiao’er saw the main house.

She walked straight in.

Seeing her come back empty-handed, one of the maids serving Shangguan Wanru asked, "Where is the bird’s nest soup? Is it not ready yet?"

Xiao’er nodded, responding to the question.

Hearing this, the maid couldn’t help but complain, "The kitchen staff are getting lazier! We’ve been waiting for half the day, and they still haven’t even made a bowl of bird’s nest soup! This wouldn’t happen when the Crown Prince was alive!"

Xiao’er didn’t say anything. She was thinking of an excuse to see Shangguan Wanru.

"What are you dithering about? The Princess wants to make some comfortable clothes for the little master and you’re the best seamstress we have. Quickly go in and help!"

She got the excuse she was looking for without even having to come up with it on her own. Carrying a semblance of joy, Xiao’er made her way inside.

At this moment, Shangguan Wanru was truly engrossed in making clothing. Her state of concentration was evident. The Nangong Emperor and the Crown Prince were both suddenly gone and they had to mourn for three years. In those three years, it wouldn’t be appropriate to wear brightly colored clothes. The clothes she had previously prepared for her son were all brightly colored and hence couldn’t be worn, forcing Shangguan Wanru and her maids to make new clothes in lighter colors.