Feng Ruoyan maintained her wronged demeanor, as if Feng Jin had committed some heinous crime.
“Sister, please tell me clearly what I have done?”
Feng Ruoyan was momentarily speechless, then resorted to her usual tactic, blinking her eyes and letting tears stream down her face.
“Sister, I know you resent me and hate me, but you can’t slander me like this. Everything I’ve done is for your own good.”
Feng Ruoyan’s words implied she had Feng Jin’s best interests at heart, feigning a compassionate facade.
“If you truly had my best interests at heart, then you should clear my name. Why are you being so evasive? If it is indeed my fault, I, Feng Jin, will admit it. But if someone is trying to maliciously slander me, I will never let her get away with it.”
“Esteemed villagers, please bear witness. Today, this matter will be thoroughly investigated.”
Feng Jin stepped towards the servant boy and went to examine him.
Feng Ruoyan immediately became flustered. Although all preparations were made, if this damned Feng Jin discovered any clues, her efforts would be in vain.
She intended to suppress Feng Jin with this incident and then enhance her own reputation, gaining the moniker of kind and virtuous. She couldn’t let her plans be ruined, so she cast a glance at a woman beside her.
The woman immediately understood and stepped forward, pushing Feng Jin away. She then cried over the servant boy, “My son! You’ve become like this because you took her medicine. My poor child, and now you still want to harm him.”
The servant boy lying on the stretcher glared ferociously at the woman who was crying dramatically beside him.
“Bring the person over,” Feng Jin commanded, and the guards stepped forward to drag the woman away.
As Feng Jin crouched down before the servant boy, someone grabbed her clothes.
The servant boy looked at Feng Jin with pleading eyes, his mouth opening but unable to utter any sound, only heavy breathing.
Feng Jin understood from his lip movements that he was begging for help.
“Don’t worry, I will save you.” Feng Jin said word by word, calming him before examining his condition.
This was clearly poisoning, not a consequence of taking medicine.
“He’s been poisoned.”
Feng Jin’s statement was immediately met with a rebuttal from the woman.
“You’re talking nonsense! You clearly want to shirk responsibility and are making excuses. You woman, you truly have a venomous heart, and my child is so pitiful!”
Too lazy to argue with the ignorant and malicious old woman, Feng Jin took out a silver needle, pricked the servant boy’s middle finger, and squeezed out a drop of black blood.
“Everyone, please look. This servant boy’s blood is black. If this isn’t a sign of poisoning, why would his blood be black?”
Feng Jin’s gaze swept back and forth between the old woman and Feng Ruoyan. These two were undeniably involved.
“The silver needle turned black, and the fresh blood is black. This is indeed a sign of poisoning!”
“What’s going on? Didn’t Miss Feng say that this servant boy ate the wrong medicine?”
The murmuring of the crowd all reached Feng Ruoyan’s ears. Her heavily powdered face contorted instantly, turning shades of green and black, a truly remarkable sight.
“Sister, didn’t you just adamantly claim it was because he ate the wrong medicine? But he’s been poisoned. I’d like to ask you, Sister, what exactly is going on?”
Feng Ruoyan’s lips twitched twice, her heart skipping a beat. She desperately tried to formulate a response.
Feng Jin snorted, “Your kindness seems to be misplaced. It appears there’s more to this story. Why don’t we let the Dali Temple handle this matter? It would be more impartial and wouldn’t waste your kindness, Sister.”
Upon hearing the Dali Temple, Feng Ruoyan instantly panicked, her face betraying her undisguised anxiety.
“I believe this is all a misunderstanding. I was just worried seeing the servant boy’s life was in danger, so I made a mistake. Sister, it’s all my oversight, and I almost wronged you.”
Even at this critical juncture, Feng Ruoyan hadn’t forgotten to maintain her persona, truly a master of acting.
Feng Jin, however, had no intention of letting her off the hook. “Poisoning and taking the wrong medicine; even a three-year-old can distinguish between them. Sister, you don’t even know this? Are you truly ignorant, or was this premeditated? Furthermore, this servant boy originates from the Feng family. To be poisoned within the Feng residence, the Feng family’s affairs are truly quite murky.”
These words brought up secrets of the Feng family, which was rather interesting.
“What nonsense are you spouting? He’s poisoned himself, what does that have to do with the Feng family!”
Feng Ruoyan, fearing that this incident would implicate the Feng family, ruin her reputation, and jeopardize her marriage to the Third Prince, revealed her true colors, her previous gentleness and kindness completely gone.
“Pay attention. I’m merely stating facts, so why are you getting so angry? Your current demeanor only makes people more suspicious of the truth.”
“You’re talking nonsense! Clearly, there’s something wrong with your medicine. You’re afraid of taking responsibility, so you’re dragging me into this. Don’t think you can slander me for no reason.”
Feng Ruoyan was thoroughly provoked and spoke without regard for consequences. Seeing that the situation was about to spiral out of control, she dropped the words, turned, and prepared to leave with her maid.
However, she was stopped by the arriving soldiers. In an instant, orderly soldiers surrounded the area.
From the back of the crowd, Ling Mohan, clad in black armor, rode his horse and approached.
This was the first time Feng Jin had seen Ling Mohan in armor, and she was momentarily stunned.
“Arrest all troublemakers and imprison them in the heavenly jail,” Ling Mohan said in a deep, somber voice, his face grim.
Upon learning that Feng Jin was in trouble, he had rushed over with a contingent of soldiers without even changing his clothes.
“Let me go, let me go… My father is the Prime Minister. How dare you arrest me? My father won’t let you off!”
Feng Ruoyan, her arms held by the soldiers, panicked instantly and directly invoked Feng Yuanping, attempting to intimidate them.
However, Ling Mohan was completely unfazed by her threats. He directly ordered them to take her away and imprison her in the Dali Temple.
“Are you alright?” Ling Mohan hurried to Feng Jin’s side and asked.
Feng Jin shook her head. “It’s good that you arrived in time. I’m fine.”
She had already made preparations. Upon arriving, she sensed that something was amiss and had asked her guards to fetch Ling Mohan.
She hadn’t expected Ling Mohan to be so swift, arriving in such a short amount of time.
“Everything is fine here. You go and attend to your business. I still need to detoxify him.”
“Wei Ran, carry him into the house. I will detoxify him.”
After all, he was a living human life, and Feng Jin truly couldn’t bear to be heartless.
Moreover, judging by the servant boy’s expression, there seemed to be hidden circumstances.
After saving him, she would question him thoroughly.
Feng Jin placed her hand on his pulse and used a silver needle to draw out the poison from his body.
She picked up a brush, wrote a prescription on Xuan paper, and handed it to Ling Wan. “Follow this prescription, prepare the medicine, boil it three times, and feed it to him.”
“I’ll go right away, sister-in-law.”