Wang Qingyao and Xiao Yun divided their tasks.
Wang Qingyao would investigate the poison, while Xiao Yun would investigate the grudges.
Wang Qingyao had people move all the medical books from the Ding'an Prince's mansion to Kangping Courtyard. She also ordered many outside medical books to be purchased, and any new medical books were to be sent to her.
In just a few days, six large boxes of medical books were piled up in the reception hall of Kangping Courtyard.
Fortunately, she had a reputation for "knowing medicine" outside, so no one found it strange.
Xiao Yun's progress was a bit more difficult.
The Xiao family made their fortune by tomb raiding, then went into business, and also had the merit of assisting the emperor. They had offended at least eight hundred people. By Xiao Yun's generation, relying on the emperor's favor and a disregard for their own lives, they acted more and more recklessly, offending even more people.
However, those who could have killed his grandfather and father likely held grudges from his great-grandfather or grandfather's generation.
Although the scope had narrowed considerably, the time period was long, so they could only inquire with the Old Imperial Concubine and any surviving elders of her generation.
Since they were going to ask, they needed to come up with a suitable reason. Otherwise, without cause, others would become suspicious and alert the enemy.
"This is simple," Wang Qingyao said. "Just say that after we paid respects at the ancestral graves, our great-grandfather appeared to me in a dream, saying that the Xiao family's curse was caused by offending one person. As long as we find this person and resolve the hatred, the Xiao family's curse will break itself. As for who that person was, my great-grandfather's dream was short, and he didn't explain clearly, so we'll have to investigate ourselves."
Xiao Yun gazed at Wang Qingyao with admiration and gave her a thumbs-up. "The Princess Consort is truly amazing, able to spout such nonsense so effortlessly."
The compliment didn't sound entirely like one, and Wang Qingyao wasn't sure if he suspected her previous words were also nonsense. She quickly added, "I read these things in storybooks. If you read enough, you can also speak so effortlessly."
Wang Qingyao was overly worried. Once Xiao Yun accepted the premise that Wang Qingyao was a soul transmigration, he had no suspicion of her. Hearing her explanation only made him more curious about her world.
Xiao Yun relayed Wang Qingyao's words to the Old Imperial Concubine, who immediately believed them.
People in ancient times deeply believed in dreams from their ancestors.
The Old Imperial Concubine was quite excited, instantly feeling that the Imperial Preceptor Feng Fu was right, and Wang Qingyao could indeed resolve the Xiao family's curse. She immediately decided to offer a tribute of incense money to the Imperial Preceptor Feng Fu as a token of gratitude.
However, due to the long passage of time, the Old Imperial Concubine only managed to recall events from when she married into the Xiao family. After a whole afternoon of rambling, she had only reached the point of being pregnant with Xiao Yun's father. Xiao Yun had already compiled a list of twenty-eight enemies.
During the chaotic period of seizing power, the first Prince Ding'an, Xiao Yun's grandfather, had killed eighteen enemies. There were also seven business rivals, two shopkeepers he had fired, and one official he had gotten into a drunken brawl with.
Xiao Yun recorded everything the Old Imperial Concubine mentioned, no matter how absurd or trivial, as long as there wasn't the slightest contradiction.
They would investigate slowly.
The search for the eldest prince's whereabouts was also temporarily put on hold, as their own lives were the most important.
Wang Qingyao spent day and night poring over medical books, wishing she had eight hands and ten pairs of eyes.
But she found no leads.
She thought that a poison that turned corpses green after death must be very rare. It would be great if she had a "Compendium of Exotic Poisons" or a poison doctor from a martial arts novel to guide her.
She wondered if such books or people existed.
Xiao Yun felt sorry for her and told her not to read at night. "Be careful not to strain your eyes. Just read during the day. Since the person dared to use this poison and managed to deceive the doctors and everyone else, it means this poison is very difficult to find and not something that can be easily discovered. Take your time searching, there's no need to rush."
Wang Qingyao understood this logic.
She forced herself to relax. The Xiao family's curse had been passed down for four generations by the time it reached Xiao Yun. If she could easily resolve it, it would be underestimating the person behind it.
From then on, she only read during the day, taking breaks. In ancient times, there were no glasses, so she couldn't afford to become nearsighted.
No matter how important the work was, her own health was more important.
Wang Qingyao understood this principle well.
In the blink of an eye, it was the Autumn She Festival in August. On this day, every household would worship the Earth God and exchange shegao (she cakes) and shejiu (she wine). Royalty and wealthy families would cut pork, lamb, kidneys, lungs, duck pancakes, and ginger into small, chess-piece-sized slices, season them, and place them on rice. This was called "shefan" (she rice) and was used for entertaining guests and for sacrifices.
Xiao Yun saw Wang Qingyao looking excited and curious, and knew that her world did not have the Autumn She Festival.
He remembered that she didn't know about wearing beautiful shoes for Qingming outings, didn't know about Buddha's Birthday, didn't know about bathing in orchid water on the Dragon Boat Festival, and had never seen dragon boat races...
What kind of world was it that lacked even these most basic festival customs?
Xiao Yun became even more curious.
On the Autumn She Festival, married daughters were supposed to return to their maternal homes.
Wang Qingyao didn't want to return to the Wang family, but it was a custom, and she had to observe it. Xiao Yun wanted to accompany her, but she sent him away.
"It's a waste of time anyway, so let it be a waste of my time alone. Don't you have matters to attend to in the Ministry of Revenue? Don't go."
Xiao Yun: "Wouldn't it be undignified to return to your maternal home alone?"
Wang Qingyao burst into laughter. "It's fine, I don't care. It's a good opportunity to test this group of ghosts and monsters in the Wang family."