Chapter 230 -

Chapter 230: Chapter

Yueqing’s stomach dropped. "That means the food those maids delivered was poisoned!" she shrieked out loud.

She tossed the brass tube onto her tea table, ran to her bedchamber door, and yanked the bolt back.

"Guards! Into my room, right now!" she shouted into the courtyard.

Four armed guards rushed over, drawing their swords.

"Lock that maid inside!" Yueqing ordered, pointing at Li Mei. "Do not let her escape, swallow anything, or touch anything!"

"Yes, Young Madame!" the guards barked, charging into the room to surround Li Mei.

Yueqing pulled up her silk skirts and sprinted toward Wenzhe’s study.

[Please don’t eat it!] she prayed in her mind. [Wenzhe, please tell me you haven’t eaten yet!]

She skidded into his courtyard. Right outside his open study doors, the silver tray sat on a small table with the soup lid missing.

"Wenzhe! Stop!" Yueqing screamed, slamming his heavy doors wide open.

BANG!

Wenzhe sat at his desk, a porcelain spoon hovering inches from his open mouth. He froze, staring at her in shock.

Yueqing rushed across the room, slapped the spoon out of his hand, and smashed the bowl off his desk.

CRASH!

Hot broth and shattered porcelain exploded across the floor.

Silence filled the room.

"Yueqing?" Wenzhe asked slowly, pulling his brows together. "Have you lost your mind?"

"I saved your life!" Yueqing gasped, catching her breath. "Don’t drink it!"

Wenzhe set his hands on the desk. "You smashed my meal to save my life? From chicken soup?"

[He thinks I’m crazy!] Yueqing screamed internally.

[Host, the soup is sizzling through the wool rug,] Nine chimed in. [The toxin is reacting with the dye!]

Yueqing pointed at the carpet. "Look! It’s sizzling! That soup has poison in it!"

Wenzhe’s eyes narrowed as he saw the faint white foam bubbling on the rug. His face turned cold and dangerous.

"Where did this food come from?" Wenzhe demanded, standing up.

"Li Mei!" Yueqing blurted out.

Wenzhe froze. "Li Mei?"

[Shoot! Big mistake!] Yueqing panicked in her thoughts, which Wenzhe heard clearly. [If I tell him I have Li Mei locked in my room, he’ll drag her to the dungeon and execute her before I can find out who hired her! I need to know if she works for someone else or the Empress!]

Wenzhe heard every word. She has Li Mei locked in her room and wants to question her herself ?

Keeping his face stoic, Wenzhe stepped closer. "Li Mei?"

Yueqing gasped dramatically, clutching her chest. "Oh! The shock! The trauma of almost watching my husband die!"

Wenzhe caught her by the waist before she could fake-faint. "Yueqing, answer me."

"I saw a shadow near the kitchen that looked like her!" Yueqing lied smoothly. "My intuition told me something was wrong with the soup!"

[Please buy it,] she prayed internally. [If he goes to my courtyard, he’ll see the four guards outside my room and know I lied!]

Wenzhe looked at her flushed face, hearing her frantic thoughts. He hid a small smirk and kept a serious tone. "So you didn’t catch her?"

"No! She vanished!" Yueqing declared. "But I had to stop you from eating!"

Wenzhe looked at her bare, dusty feet. Sighing softly, he scooped her up into his arms.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Yueqing squeaked, holding onto his neck.

"You ran across the courtyard without shoes," Wenzhe said sternly, carrying her to the daybed.

He set her down gently and checked her feet for cuts. Seeing she was unhurt, he brushed her ankles softly.

Yueqing felt awkward under his intense gaze.

[Wait...] Yueqing thought, her brows twitching. [Isn’t Li Mei his ex-lover? Why am I stressing over his toxic ex trying to poison him?]

Hearing her jealousy, Wenzhe paused and looked into her eyes. "Yueqing. If you are thinking about Li Mei... let me make one thing clear."

Yueqing blinked. "Huh?"

"I have nothing to do with her anymore ," Wenzhe said firmly. "Those rumors were false. I haven’t seen her in over two months. My heart and loyalty belong only to my wife."

Yueqing’s face burned bright red.

[How did he know what I was thinking?! Did I say that out loud?!]

"I... I know that!" Yueqing stuttered, waving her hands. "I didn’t ask about her!"

Wenzhe chuckled softly at her panic, letting her keep her secret.

"Anyway!" Yueqing cleared her throat, sitting up straight. "Since your soup is ruined and I am starving, call the guards! Have them throw out all the kitchen food and make fresh beef noodles under guard!"

"Very well," Wenzhe agreed. He walked to the door and ordered the guards to clear the kitchen and raise perimeter security, deliberately keeping them away from Yueqing’s courtyard.

When Wenzhe walked back, Yueqing stood up immediately.

"I left my bedroom window open!" Yueqing lied again, backing toward the door. "I must go close it!"

Wenzhe folded his arms, playing along. "Go on then. Close your window. I will have the fresh noodles sent to your room when they are ready."

[Yes! He bought it!] Yueqing cheered in her head, turning and sprinting back to her room. [Time to interrogate Li Mei!]

Wenzhe watched her leave with quiet warmth. Looking down at the ruined carpet, his eyes turned sharp and cold.

Question her all you want, my wife, Wenzhe thought. But no one tries to poison us and survives whoever she’s working for.. will surely relive hell.

...

Yueqing hurried back to her courtyard, her heart hammering against her ribs.

Outside her bedchamber, the four guards stood like stone statues with drawn swords. Inside, Li Mei was bound tightly to a wooden chair, her wrists tied behind her back.

"Guard the outside," Yueqing commanded firmly. "Do not let anyone near this room. I will take it from here."

"Yes, Young Madame!" The guards bowed and stepped out, pulling the heavy wooden doors shut.

Yueqing turned to face Li Mei.

Yueqing stepped closer, her temper flaring. "Talk. Who sent you?"

Li Mei didn’t cringe away. Instead, a bitter, cruel smile broke across her face. "I have nothing to say to you."

"You just tried to poison someone!" Yueqing snapped, taking a step closer. "If I hadn’t interfered, Wenzhe would be dead right now, and you are still sitting there keeping quiet?! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Hot tears suddenly overflowed from Li Mei’s eyes, spilling down her pale, flushed cheeks, but her expression remained filled with deadly anger.

"I should be asking you what is wrong with you, Lady Su!" Li Mei sneered, her voice cracking with deep, painful emotion. "You sit here playing the sweet, innocent wife of General Xi, completely blind! Listen to me carefully... if you value your life, take your belongings and leave this estate right now while you still can!"

Yueqing froze, taken aback by the sudden, fierce outburst.

"The Xi family doesn’t even know what is coming for them!" Li Mei choked out through her tears, glaring at Yueqing with intense spite. "Every single one of their evil deeds will come to light, one by one! Not a single person in this blood-soaked house will survive. They will pay for everything they have done!"

Standing in the quiet room, Yueqing’s eyes widened as Li Mei’s choked words echoed in her mind.

A sudden realization hit Yueqing like a heavy blow to the chest.

Wait... Yueqing thought frantically, her pulse spiking. In the original novel plot, Li Mei was the main female protagonist before I transmigrated here! She wasn’t just a random maid who hated Wenzhe... she had a massive, tragic backstory that drove her to seek the complete downfall of the entire Xi family!

Yueqing squeezed her eyes shut, trying to search her memory. What was her hidden reason again?! Was it her family’s destruction? A past massacre?! Why can’t I remember the exact plot details right now?!

[Nine!!] Yueqing yelled frantically in her head.

[What exactly happened between Li Mei and the Xi family?! Why on earth does she hate them so much?!]

[Host, finally!] Nine’s robotic voice chimed in with a dramatic sigh. [It’s high time you asked! You’ve been so busy playing loving wife and running around the palace that you seemed to have completely forgotten you have an all-knowing system right here!]

[Oh, shut up, Nine!] Yueqing snapped back internally. [Cut the attitude and give me the lore before I lose my mind!]

[Fine, fine!] Nine beeped, dropping the playful tone. [The main reason she has hated the Xi family from the very beginning is because of the past... Duke Xi’s army massacred her entire village years ago.]

Yueqing’s breath hitched in her throat as she stared at Li Mei.

"A massacre..." Yueqing muttered under her breath, the heavy realization settling like lead in her stomach.

Li Mei glared at her through her tears, her jaw tight and her shoulders shaking with unspoken rage. "What are you whispering about, Lady Su? Are you trying to figure out how to save your precious husband? You can’t save a man whose hands are dripping with the blood of innocent people!"

Yueqing swallowed hard, taking a slow step back as Nine’s words rang continuously in her head.