Yan Xue stood up and reported her plan in a low voice.
After listening, Maternal Aunt Qi was overjoyed, "Good, then do as you have said. If you handle this well, you will have made a great contribution, and I will find you a good marriage in the future, so that you will have support for the rest of your life. If you do not manage this well, then I will sell you to a lowly brothel to receive clients!"
"This servant will be absolutely loyal to Madam and will never disappoint you!"
The color drained from Yan Xue's face as she quickly responded.
However, deep down she thought: Eldest Miss, Second Miss! For this servant's future, I can only apologize to you both. Anyway, to you, it's just a matter of leaving the Capital City; as long as you no longer appear in the Capital, Madam will not hold any more grudges against you.
...
In Tianshuang Courtyard, Ji Ruyan stood holding a scroll of book, her gaze fixed on it, although her thoughts had long since wandered.
Ever since her mother passed away that day, she and her nanny, Qing Wei, were cleaning the room and found the remnants of a labor-inducing soup. She tasted it and identified the ingredients.
The medicine was not wrong; there were signs of bleeding during her mother's labor.
The midwife had prepared Ascension Great Tonic Soup, removing coptis, and added in lithospermum, cuttlebone, astragalus, atractylodes, tangerine peel, ginseng, gypsum, cimicifuga, angelica, rehmannia, ophiopogonis, Szechuan lovage, angelica dahurica, coptis, and black caraway.
All of these were used to replenish Qi, solidify the Chong meridian, and arrest bleeding.
The medicines were correct, but the proportions were not.
They were meant to arrest bleeding, and there was no need for excessive amounts. An overdose, after the baby was born, would cause the mother to have massive bleeding afterward, with no way to stop it.
It seems that my mother's death was not an accident, but deliberate.
The midwife was someone my mother trusted, as she was the one who delivered me when I was born.
But the question is, who gave this recipe for the Ascension Great Tonic Soup to the midwife?
As she pondered deeply, Qing Wei, looking flustered, hurried in holding her younger sister, and said, "Eldest Miss, a maid from Maternal Aunt Qi's side has come."
Ji Ruyan narrowed her eyes, feeling that a peaceful life was now impossible.
In recent days, Maternal Aunt Qi had not eased up her targeting of Tianshuang Courtyard.
She knew that Maternal Aunt Qi was soon to become the official wife, although a successor; but in the future, she would have to call her mother as well.
She did not wish to conflict with Maternal Aunt Qi, especially as she still needed to investigate who wanted her own mother dead.
"What is she here for?"
Qing Wei shook her head, "This servant does not know."
"Then let her come in."
Ji Ruyan, with her tiny frame, sat in the chair, wise beyond her years; though she was only six years old, her intelligence was not that of a mere child.
Sister Qing was an illiterate woman, simple and loyal; otherwise, her mother would not have kept Qing Wei by her side all this time, even though she had long stopped breastfeeding, just so that she would have someone to take care of her.
Since her sister was just born, it was better to have an experienced nanny take care of her.
However, with their mother gone, there was no one to breastfeed the sister at once.
Looking for a new nanny was difficult without money, and how could one enter Ji Mansion without it?
Besides, without Maternal Aunt Qi's consent, a six-year-old like her had no way to stand up against Maternal Aunt Qi's authority.
These days, they could only feed her sister porridge water to replenish what her body needed.
Moreover, she had exchanged her mother's jewelry with the Kitchen Maid for some goat's milk, so her sister could only have a full meal one day and go hungry the next.
Ji Ruyan knew better than anyone that if they didn't find milk for her sister soon, she might not be able to survive; the nutrition from the white porridge just couldn't keep up.
Thus, two months after the birth, her sister was even thinner than when she was born, and Ji Ruyan was almost out of options.
Her father was busy with the affairs of the Imperial Medical Bureau and was hardly ever at home; all matters in the mansion were managed by Maternal Aunt Qi. Even if she wanted to find a nanny for her sister, she was powerless.