Chapter Ten: This Scoundrel

Qi Baiwei, as if she had heard nothing, persisted in her own narrative:

"It is only because he discovered that he was the child my foster mother had swapped for a larger reward back then, and now that the matter has come to light, he has sent men to silence her!"

Before anyone could react, Zhao Xianzhi let out a cold, mocking laugh and interjected, "To slander me, you disregard even the reputation of your own foster mother..."

Yet, before Zhao Xianzhi could finish, Qi Baiwei interrupted him with righteous fury, "Are you going to say that I am a member of the Prince Chen faction?"

The words stuck in Zhao Xianzhi’s throat. Before this madwoman had entered, Bei Lie had signaled him that his subordinates had reported success: the token of the Prince Chen faction had already been planted on the midwife. Thus, any evidence against him could simply be shifted onto the Prince Chen faction. Why was this happening now?

Qi Baiwei pulled a white porcelain bottle from her bodice, glanced around the room, and walked over to Mother Xu. "Let this woman have a taste, and the truth will be revealed at once."

Zhao Xianzhi, confused and suddenly struck by a thought, opened his mouth to speak. But Mother Xu, desperate to prove her worth after today's blunders, had already consumed it. Moments later, she began to claw frantically at her chest, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed!

Mother Xu had never imagined she would die so suddenly. A clamor erupted in the room. Was this not some sort of fast-acting poison? Was this woman poisoning someone in broad daylight? No, where would she get such poison? Could it be...

"Seize her!" the Marquis of Chengwu roared, slamming his hand against the table.

The guards rushed into the hall and pinned Qi Baiwei by her arms. Ignoring them, she scanned the crowd, her gaze finally landing on Zhao Xianzhi. She sneered, "I have this poison, so does that make me a member of the Prince Chen faction, too?"

Her demeanor grew increasingly agitated. "This poison! It was my foster mother’s talisman! Zhao Xianzhi stole it when he threatened her to keep her mouth shut that day!"

"It is a pity she will have no use for it now..." Her throat moved as if she had swallowed something, and her expression suddenly twisted in pain. She raised a trembling finger with great effort, pointing at Mother Xu, who was being tended to in vain. "She also received a share of the silver back then, all of which she used to pay off her son’s gambling debts."

She had been behind the screen that day and had clearly seen this woman steal several ingots of silver when her foster mother wasn't looking. She had wanted to run out and tell her foster mother, but the maid had held her back.

Later, her foster mother told her it didn't matter, but her foster father would beat people if the count wasn't right...

Looking at the woman on the floor, she laughed with grim satisfaction, "Gamblers love to keep ledgers, and my foster father has one too. If you compare them, they will surely match."

With a trembling hand, she gestured toward her pocket, but black blood spilled from the corner of her mouth. Her legs gave way, and she was left hanging, supported only by the guards on either side. After a brief struggle, she mustered the strength to say:

"The three women mentioned above were the pregnant women my foster mother prepared for the child-swapping scheme. It is a pity they were all carrying girls, so my foster mother had them all silenced. Go and investigate, and you will surely find the same... the same suspicious circumstances."

With that, her head dropped heavily, and she breathed her last.

When Qi Baiwei had seen her foster mother dead, she had already realized that justice would not be served. Not to mention that her foster mother was at fault, how could a commoner like her fight against a noble household like the Marquis's estate? She had confessed everything only to strip the mask off the hypocritical Zhao Xianzhi! And to use the Marquis's lingering hatred to wipe out her foster father’s entire family!

She had come with the intent to die, for without her foster mother, her foster father would surely sell her to various men for money. Her knowledge of poisons had been practiced in secret; it would have taken years to master, and she would rather join her foster mother in the afterlife, which she considered a way to repay her debt of gratitude.

Qi Baiwei’s actions were like a drop of water into a hot pan of oil, stirring up the minds of everyone in the hall. Meng Zhenyue looked at the body of Qi Baiwei on the floor, finding it hard to believe that she had died this way in this lifetime. She wondered if, in her previous life, she had used poison to avenge her foster mother, or if she had died by Zhao Xianzhi’s hand, or what else had transpired. In this life, those who had died by her poison in the past had escaped this fate. Regardless, she had done her a great service today!

Her plan: To make everything appear as though it were targeted at her, using retreat as a means of advancement. She had sent her own people to intercept the Marquis’s men and kill the midwife, creating the impression that Zhao Xianzhi, fearing the midwife would waver like Mother Xu, had silenced her to frame her.

Since the Marquis of Chengwu had chosen to protect Zhao Xianzhi for the sake of the estate, what if he discovered that Zhao Xianzhi harbored ulterior motives? Would he still protect him? She had guessed that once Qi Baiwei saw the midwife’s corpse and the ledger clutched in her hands, she would come to the Marquis’s estate without regard for her own life. What she hadn't expected was that Zhao Xianzhi’s men would use petty tricks like scented powder to delay things, causing the Marquis to immediately suspect her—a truly unexpected delight.

Just then, Zhao Xianzhi frowned deeply. "Father..."

Before he could continue, the Marquis of Chengwu, his face icy, raised a hand to stop him. The Marquis then took the ledger that his personal servant, Yaowang, had retrieved from Qi Baiwei’s body. He did not open it; his knuckles turned white as he gripped it tightly. Looking at the tense Zhao Xianzhi, he ground out through clenched teeth, "Xianzhi?"

The name 'Xian' symbolized talent, excellence, and achievement, and also carried the meaning of continuity. This was his eldest son and heir, in whom he had placed such high hopes. But now... that woman had risked her life to enter the Marquis's estate and had spoken without reservation about the evil deeds done to the midwife, all just to point the finger.

What was there left to misunderstand? There was no Prince Chen faction today. It was all his son—no, this wretch—who had done it to cover his own tracks! And everything that had been unfavorable to Meng Zhenyue was likely because he sensed a threat from her and had set a trap to use his, the Marquis's, own hand to eliminate his daughter!

How insidious! How truly insidious! What chilled his heart most was that he had clearly told this wretch that, regardless of the circumstances, he was his son and he would handle matters properly, yet this wretch had acted in defiance of his word! Why would he do this? It was because he had ulterior motives!

If his heart was not with the Marquis’s estate, then no matter how talented he was, he was merely a tiger being raised to devour its keeper! At this thought, the Marquis’s gaze toward Zhao Xianzhi grew even colder.

The Marchioness, seeing the look on her husband’s face, knew he would no longer shield their son. She nervously clutched her handkerchief, wondering how to speak for him. A mother knows her son best; the moment Mother Xu had made her mistake, she had understood everything. She had wanted to talk to her son all day, but had not found the opportunity... She could not lose Xianzhi!

Thinking this, she almost wished they hadn't brought the girl in... She quickly discarded the thought and was about to speak when she saw her son fall to his knees with a dull thud that struck her heart like a hammer, causing her unbearable pain.

"Yes, I am of the Meng family bloodline. I discovered it long ago," Zhao Xianzhi said, his head bowed toward the floor. His pained expression held a trace of stubbornness.

As these words fell, the room plunged into silence, so deathly still that even the birds under the eaves seemed to have ceased their chirping.