"I don't know what happened. I just thought the bead looked nice, so I bought it. And that Black Xuan Incense, it's just ordinary incense! Zhen'er, I'm being framed!" the old madam said, her voice trembling with panic. What was going on? It shouldn't be like this!
Xiao Zhen chuckled, a forced, strained sound. "Guards, escort Eldest Miss back to the Shuiyue Cottage!"
Steward Lu immediately led his men to escort Xiao Man back to the Shuiyue Cottage.
"Doctor Ye, please stay at the General's Mansion to look after my daughter. I will reward you handsomely."
"I will do my best," Ye Qing replied and left. Only a few people remained in the main hall.
"Miss He, the General's Mansion has some family matters to attend to. Please return for now, Miss He. As for the matter of the bracelet, the General's Mansion will give you a satisfactory explanation."
He Qingyi's face paled. After a curtsey, she hurriedly left with her maid.
Once everyone had departed, the old madam finally felt the chill in the hall. She glanced at the brazier, noticing the absence of any fire. Then she remembered that she had deliberately ordered the fire in Xiao Man's room to be extinguished, intending to make her suffer a little.
Xiao Zhen looked at his mother with immense disappointment. "Bring out the antidote."
Upon hearing this, the old madam slammed the table angrily. "You actually believe that quack doctor and suspect your own mother!"
"If you had nothing to hide, why did you secretly extinguish the incense?" Xiao Zhen asked coldly. "And why have you been summoning He Qingyi to the mansion every few days, each time asking her to visit Man'er at the Shuiyue Cottage?"
"She went herself, it has nothing to do with me!"
"Is that so?" Xiao Zhen sat down beside her. "At first, I thought He Qingyi was trying to curry favor with Man'er to marry into the General's Mansion. I never expected it was all a ruse."
"Zhen'er, you must believe me, Mother is truly innocent!"
"Enough! Do you take me for a fool?" Xiao Zhen roared. "Man'er is your own granddaughter. What did she do to make you so viciously try to take her life?"
"I didn't!"
"You didn't?" Xiao Zhen sneered. "In this bitter cold winter, with the snow outside yet to melt, your room is icy cold with no warmth. You left her to freeze for two hours. Don't you know that ever since she was injured, her body has been weak and she is sensitive to the cold?"
"How was I to know she was so delicate? I just wanted her to learn some manners!"
"Learn what manners? Poisoning someone, trying to kill them, what kind of manners are those?" Xiao Zhen rebuked. "I know you don't like her, and you've been making things difficult for her. I thought that as her grandmother, you wouldn't go so far as to take her life. Now, it seems you are far more ruthless than I imagined!"
"Xiao Zhen, I am your mother, how can you speak to me like this!" The old madam's composure finally broke. She had intended to harm Xiao Man, but today's events were truly unexpected. She didn't understand what had happened. Logically, Xiao Man should have just become severely weakened and died!
"Mother, you still remember you are my mother and Man'er's grandmother!" Xiao Zhen took a deep breath, forcing back the tears that welled in his eyes. "Bring out the antidote."
"I didn't poison her, so where would I get an antidote!"
Xiao Zhen slammed his palm onto the table, and it shattered. "I don't want to hear your excuses. Give me the antidote!"
"I told you, it wasn't me, and I don't have an antidote!" the old madam gritted her teeth. Even if she had the antidote, she couldn't give it to him, or it would confirm her guilt of poisoning her own granddaughter. She would never be able to show her face in the capital again!
"If you still recognize me as your son, then bring out the antidote," Xiao Zhen said sternly. "Otherwise, don't blame me for being heartless!"
"What, you're going to risk your own mother's life for that little slut?" the old madam became aggressive. "She was poisoned in the main hall, who knows how. That quack doctor fooled you with a few words and made you turn against me. I think that quack doctor is clearly in league with that brat to frame me!"
Xiao Zhen looked at his mother's ferocious expression, feeling despair. He truly couldn't understand why the old madam was so intent on Xiao Man's death.
"If Mother insists on not producing the antidote, I will have no choice but to report it to the authorities," Xiao Zhen said coldly. "You are well aware of the consequences of reporting this to the authorities. From then on, no young lady will dare marry into the General's Mansion, and no family will dare marry their daughters to someone from the General's Mansion, all because the General's Mansion has an extremely vicious old madam!"
"Xiao Zhen, you are threatening me!"
"Mother, didn't you say you didn't do this? Then you shouldn't be afraid of reporting it to the authorities, as you are innocent," Xiao Zhen said sarcastically. "Guards, go to Jingzhao Prefecture and report that someone has poisoned the General's Mansion's legitimate eldest daughter..."
"Don't you dare!" The old madam trembled with rage. "Are you crazy? Are you going to ruin the entire General's Mansion for that little slut?"
"The one ruining the General's Mansion is you!"
"Do you insist on protecting that bastard?" the old madam yelled furiously, calling Xiao Man a bastard.
Xiao Zhen was stunned by his mother's words. "Who did you call a bastard?"
"I said Xiao Man is a bastard, isn't she?" the old madam pressed. "When you brought her back, I found it unbelievable. Upon investigation, I discovered she is not your child at all! My General's Mansion is a prestigious household, how can we tolerate a bastard running rampant!"
Hearing this, Xiao Zhen laughed and cried. So the old madam had always disliked Xiao Man because she believed Xiao Man was a bastard!
"Who told you Man'er is a bastard?"
"Yan Shi took your blood and hers, and your blood didn't mix. If she's not a bastard, what is she?" the old madam said hatefully. "That slut colluded with other men and expected you to raise her daughter. How audacious! Fortunately, she wasn't buried in the capital, otherwise, I would have ordered her corpse dug up and ground to dust!"
"Yan Shi told you Man'er was not my biological daughter, and you believed her?" Xiao Zhen was furious, yet he became calmer. "Did she not tell you that she was also carrying a bastard?"
The old madam felt as if she had been struck by lightning, making her dizzy. "You... what do you mean?"
"Bring out the antidote," Xiao Zhen said, looking at his mother. His stern face was etched with indifference. "If Man'er suffers any harm, no one in this General's Mansion will live!"
"You would rather drag everyone in the General's Mansion down with you for a bastard!" The old madam's eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at Xiao Zhen. Her resolve to see Xiao Man dead grew stronger. If Xiao Man didn't die, the General's Mansion would never know peace!
Xiao Zhen stepped forward and whispered something in his mother's ear. The old madam's pupils contracted sharply, and she slumped back into her chair. "No... impossible, you're lying, you're lying to me!"
"This is the truth. Believe it or not, give me the antidote," Xiao Zhen extended his hand towards his mother. "This is your last chance!"