Do Not Offend the Reborn Wicked Wife-Chapter 440: What a Clever Move—Killing with a Borrowed Knife!
"Where did you buy this incense?"
Li Qingmu’s gaze was icy, exuding a murderous aura; as soon as Long Yue mentioned a place, he seemed ready to storm in at once.
"Don’t be hasty."
Duanmu Nan waved his hand, signaling Li Qingmu to calm down. He took the incense sachet and carefully examined it after opening it.
"This sachet also has a problem. There are traces of something smeared on the base, likely a poison that disperses when the incense burns."
Instantly, Li Qingmu’s face went even more sullen. Did someone tamper with this sachet?
His gaze fell on Ning Xiang, who immediately knelt in response to the coldness in his eyes: "Master, I didn’t do it, I would never harm Madam, please believe me!"
"A Mu, she has nothing to do with this,"
said Long Yue. Xue Mingzhu, who could manipulate hearts, had already been killed by her master, so such a thing wouldn’t happen for the time being. Long Yue knew Ning Xiang’s nature well and was sure she wouldn’t harm her.
Duanmu Nan studied it for a while and said, "It really has nothing to do with her. The poison on this sachet wasn’t applied recently; it’s been here for quite some time."
"Yue’er, where did you buy this sachet?"
Someone intended to harm his wife and child, which was intolerable. Li Qingmu was determined to find the culprit behind this!
"At a stall in front of Xiangguo Temple that day."
It was Ning Xiang who spoke, eagerly wanting to clear her name, as this was truly a disaster out of nowhere.
"Right, at that time, both Mrs. Su and Madam Xiang bought something from there as well, and none of us were very picky at the time."
This latter half of the sentence was actually disadvantageous to Ning Xiang, as the other two were fine after buying it, only Long Yue had problems, so it could be claimed that it was her, the personal maid, who tampered with it. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂
But Ning Xiang still said it, which showed a sense of responsibility!
It was both a demonstration of loyalty to Long Yue and a reveal of her own faithfulness.
"Invite Mrs. Su and Madam Xiang to come," Li Qingmu said, "Just say, invite them for a meal together."
This being such a matter, it was not appropriate to make a big public spectacle about it, to avoid more trouble.
Shortly afterward, the two ladies came. Chai Qiao’er didn’t bring her sachet, but Yang Zhuoya did. Duanmu Nan took it to have a look and indeed, this sachet also had poison smeared on it.
However, the poisons weren’t very potent on their own, but when combined with the poison in the Mei Hua Xiang incense, the toxicity increased significantly, killing invisibly!
Actually, these poisons normally wouldn’t have such an effect, at most causing drowsiness, which wouldn’t be noticed at all, as pregnant women liking to sleep is perfectly normal, right?
However, Long Yue’s body was somewhat special or rather sensitive.
When these poisons were used on her, the effects were amplified, which led them to discern what wasn’t right.
"Little Sister Yue’er, is someone trying to harm you? Who is so venomous, you’re even pregnant..."
Yang Zhuoya looked incredulously at the golden ball in her hand, never expecting that inside this exquisite incense ball, someone had placed poison, and she was completely unaware of it!
No matter if this poison targets only those who are pregnant, since it’s poison, it must be harmful to anyone!
Yang Zhuoya immediately tossed the golden ball away, filled with lingering fear.
"I, I... need to hurry back and throw away the one at home, it’s too terrifying, I’m even using it to scent my room right now!"
Chai Qiao’er, in a panic, couldn’t care less about manners anymore, turned around and left, she needed to quickly return and dispose of that sachet.
"Yue’er, there’s also poison in your incense? That can’t be, it’s something from Xiangman Garden, how could it be poisoned? Aren’t they afraid of ruining their reputation?"
Building a reputation is hard, taking generations, perhaps dozens of generations of work, but to ruin it could take just a bit of negative news.
How could Xiangman Garden do something so foolish as to destroy their brand?
Is there some misunderstanding here?
"Zifeng, send someone to investigate who’s behind Xiangman Garden."
Finding out who is behind it could help determine if there’s motivation for such actions.
With a swish, a dark shadow flashed and disappeared, and Zifeng was off to take care of business.
It was already quite late, so Yang Zhuoya couldn’t stay at Long Yue’s place and took her leave to go back.
Duanmu Nan prescribed detoxification and replenishing medicine for Long Yue. A bit later, Ning Xiang brought the medicine in, Long Yue drank it and went to sleep, having a very peaceful sleep without nightmares, and when she woke up there was no amnesia, which gave her a bit of relief.
She gently touched her small belly, her eyes flashing with a fierce look, someone actually wanted to frame her and her child? In this matter, she absolutely wouldn’t stop until the perpetrator was dead!
At dawn, just after Long Yue finished breakfast, Zifeng arrived, bringing the results of the investigation.
"Madam, Xiangman Garden used to be run by a Northern Merchant who fell into debt due to poor management. It was later acquired by the maternal family of Princess Consort Zhen, the Gao Family, and it’s now the industry of the Seventh Prince."
"The Seventh Prince?"
Li Qingmu shook his head: "He has no motive!"
Indeed, Li Qingmu is currently an Imperial Envoy, highly trusted by the Emperor, and he never publicly supported Prince Lingjiang. Currently, all the princes want to win him over.
Regrettably, he remains distant and nonchalant towards everyone.
But the more he acts this way, the more desperate they are to win him over; unless one is out of their mind, how could they make such an unwise move?
This could be a strategy of using others to eliminate a rival.
Through various channels, they sold me the poisoned incense. If anything happened to Long Yue, we’d definitely investigate and implicate Xiangman Garden. If Li Qingmu lost Long Yue and their unborn child, he would surely go mad.
So, what would a crazed Li Qingmu do?
Naturally, he would seek revenge crazily, striving to avenge his wife and child!
By then, not only would he destroy Xiangman Garden, he’d fight the Seventh Prince and bring him down!
"Ha, this method is despicable, but I have to say, quite brilliant!"
Li Qingmu sneered, emitting a cold aura, which made everyone present feel a bit eerie. Cao Xiao swallowed nervously and awkwardly said, "A Mu, nothing happened, calm down, calm down! So... um, what should we do next?"
Has Cao Xiao become wise? Did he actually manage to lighten the mood and change the topic?
"Peh, you fool, isn’t it obvious? We need to dig deeper and find the true mastermind!"
Cao Yin looked at his worthless son, smacking the back of his head in frustration, causing Cao Xiao to wail, "Dad, stop hitting me, one more and I’ll really become stupid! Ouch, help—"
The General Mansion was once again in turmoil, with Cao Yin chasing and scolding his youngest son Cao Xiao, having a great time.
"Mr. Li, Mrs. Li, there was a murder in an alleyway near Xiangman Garden, the victim was a deliveryman for Xiangman Garden, and the case has been sent to the Capital Governor!"
At this time, Shi Qin came in to inform the Long Yue couple of the latest intelligence.
