He Qingyi looked at Xiao Man, who was leisurely drinking tea, her heart burning with anxiety. "My dear eldest lady, your father is poisoned and unconscious, how can you still have the mind to deal with the old madam?"
Madam Luo brought out freshly baked lotus leaf cakes. "Madam, Miss, please try these lotus leaf cakes that were just made."
Xiao Man unceremoniously took one and stuffed it into He Qingyi's hand, then took one for herself and took a bite. "Aunt Luo, your skills are getting better and better. Delicious, no wonder He Ye says he misses your cooking all day long."
"If Miss likes it, eat more," Madam Luo said with a look of joy.
"Thank you, Aunt Luo," Xiao Man said repeatedly, drinking tea and eating pastries. She looked so relaxed and comfortable, how could she possibly be worried?
"Eldest Miss, the General is now unconscious. Aren't you a little too calm?" He Qingyi suppressed her anger. Was this daughter really her own? Her biological father had been poisoned and unconscious for many days, and she, on the other hand, wasn't worried at all!
"Mother, just put your heart at ease and wait for the old madam to personally invite you back," Xiao Man poured tea for He Qingyi. "As for my father, he will be fine."
"The General was poisoned after all..."
"Yes, it's not easy to poison my father," Xiao Man said as she took small bites of the cake, chewing slowly. "The food in the mansion is strictly controlled. Where do you think my father was poisoned?"
He Qingyi thought carefully. "In the palace?"
"If my father was poisoned in the palace, that's something to think about carefully," Xiao Man finished the lotus leaf cake in her hand and wiped her mouth. "The only person who could serve my father meals in the palace is the Emperor. The Emperor is so meticulous about his meals, do you think someone could have poisoned them?"
He Qingyi instantly understood. Having come from a family of imperial physicians, she knew too well how strict the Emperor's food inspection was. So, was it the Emperor who poisoned the General?
"What does His Majesty want by poisoning the General?"
"Two possibilities," Xiao Man sipped her tea. "One is that my father's achievements have made the Emperor jealous, and he wants to get rid of him. However, the struggle for the throne is becoming more intense at this time, and my father has always been loyal. So, it should be the second possibility."
"The second possibility?" He Qingyi was a little confused.
At first, Xiao Man was also confused. When she calmed down, she suddenly understood: "The Emperor and my father are working together to set a trap, to see who will jump into it."
He Qingyi suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. Serving an emperor was like accompanying a tiger. Even as his own son, you wouldn't know when your father would scheme against you!
"Then what should we do?"
"Wait and see," Xiao Man said slowly. "If my guess is correct, then His Majesty will put pressure on the General's mansion, forcing the old madam to invite you back to the General's mansion to take charge of the situation. If His Majesty wants to eliminate the General's mansion, he will also let you go back first, but the object of pressure will be you."
"You want to judge what's going on based on His Majesty's attitude?" He Qingyi asked in surprise.
"Yes."
"What if His Majesty really intends to deal with the General's mansion?" Su Dan Novel Network
"Don't worry, my father will be fine," Xiao Man said with a smile. "I'm sure my father will be fine, that's why I'm waiting and watching. Mother, the more dangerous the time, the less you can be anxious, otherwise, you'll easily be blinded and miss what you should see."
"Your concubine understands."
"By the way, prepare yourself. Our old madam is not someone who will swallow her grievances. Let's take this opportunity to catch them all in one go."
In the General's mansion, the old Madam Xiao paced back and forth in her room. Although she had lost some weight during her recuperation in Cangzhou, her health had improved.
"Aunt Po, those scholars are blocking the entrance of the General's mansion every day, and we can't even go out."
"Why would you go out? What business does a young lady from a boudoir have going out?" the old madam retorted impatiently. She had also been getting upset these past two days. She thought that when she sent someone to invite He Qingyi, He Qingyi would take the opportunity and obediently return to the General's mansion. Who knew that He Qingyi would put on airs and refuse to come back!
Liu Meier was a little unhappy. She had been living in Cangzhou and longed for the capital. She thought that coming to the capital would mean wealth and prosperity, a beautiful future. Instead, she was cursed every day, and now she couldn't even go out.
"Aunt Po, it's not that I want to go out, but the commotion outside is not good for the reputation of the General's mansion," Liu Meier explained patiently. "We still need to get those scholars to leave quickly."
"Do you think I don't want them to leave? The key is that they simply don't want to leave!" Madam Xiao sat down and sighed repeatedly. "Granny Xu, go to the He family and invite my old friend over for a chat."
Granny Xu immediately agreed and left. The old madam had thrown the He family's daughter out. Going to the He family at this time was unlikely to yield good results.
Liu Meier hesitated, "Aunt Po, that He Qingyi is a daughter of the He family. Will the He family let Granny Xu in?"
The old madam's face sank slightly. "Regardless of anything else, I am, after all, the mother of the Great General. If her daughter still wants to enter the General's mansion, she must come and see me."
Liu Meier hesitated, but she thought that the General's mansion was a noble family. The head of the He family was just a small imperial physician, and he would definitely not dare to disobey the General's mansion.
However, reality slapped them hard in the face. Granny Xu went to the He family and couldn't even get through the door. As soon as the He family heard it was someone from the General's mansion, they slammed the door shut!
The old madam trembled with anger. "Good, good, good. No wonder He Qingyi dares to defy me. So, the He family is backing her up."
"Old Madam, the Madam's prestige among the people is very high now. Causing such unpleasantness with the Madam might be detrimental to the General's mansion."
A glint flashed in the old madam's eyes. He Qingyi wanted her to personally invite her. Fine, she would go personally. She wanted to see if she could handle it!
"Go and get my official's robe. Since I'm going to invite her, let's make it a grand occasion!"
Granny Xu's eyelids twitched. "Old Madam, will the Madam lose face if you do this?"
"That's exactly what I want, for her to lose face!" the old madam sneered. "The position of Madam of the General's mansion is not so easy to hold. A disobedient pawn is useless."
Granny Xu brought the old madam's official robe and helped her put it on. The old madam was a second-rank official, while He Qingyi had received a first-rank official. The old madam was quite displeased. How could her daughter-in-law's official rank be higher than her mother-in-law's? What kind of logic was this!
The old madam, dressed in her finest attire, was about to lead a large retinue to fetch He Qingyi when she saw the housekeeper rush in with a panicked expression. "Greetings to the Old Madam."
"Steward Lu, why are you in such a hurry? What's happened?"
"Reporting to the Old Madam, the Madam is back and kneeling at the entrance," Steward Lu said with a look of urgency. "Please go and see her."