"Ya ya ya..."

Chun Nuan talked to her son, and her son also stared at her, going ya ya ya nonstop.

"You can tell he’ll be a chatterbox in the future."

Chun Nuan couldn’t help laughing. "Just like your father."

Zhao Minghua... Fine, fine, fine, all the bad parts are like me, all the good ones are like her!

"Nuannuan, you’ve been too tired these days. How about we go out and have some fun?"

"Where would we go?"

Chun Nuan also felt worn out.

Ever since they came back from Changzhou, it had been one happy event after another in the Xiao family, then Zhao Minglang and Qiu Yan’s wedding, and then taking on apprentices and earnestly teaching the three of them... She really hadn’t had any time for her own little life.

You could tell that if she kept neglecting them, this father and son pair would both start complaining!

"How about going to the estate?"

The fruit on the estate was ripe, and Zhao Minghua wanted to take her there to pick fruit.

"The estate?"

"It’s just in the outskirts of the Capital. We’ll stay for two days."

"Isn’t the neighboring estate the Xiao family’s?"

"Yes, Third Aunt is there recuperating."

"All right, let’s go to the estate."

She needed to go give Mrs. Huang a check-up.

Mrs. Huang had gone to the estate, and she had no lack of food or anything there.

But she was still that paranoid.

Whenever Chun An and Chun Shu went to see her, she would scold them.

After Chun Shu went once, she felt that maybe not going to visit her at all was actually the greatest filial piety.

After all, when she went, Mrs. Huang scolded even worse, like she had gone completely mad.

When Chun Nuan found out, she urged her not to bother anymore.

Not every mother’s love is like being bathed in sunshine!

Some motherly love is like blazing flames that directly melt away your affection and patience.

Sometimes Chun Nuan even felt that the relationship between Mrs. Huang and Chun Shu was more like two people whose Eight Characters mutually clash, like water and fire.

And when Chun An went to the estate and told her he had chosen to study medicine and had formally taken Chun Nuan as his master, Mrs. Huang got so angry she smashed everything within reach in the room.

She even felt that the Xiao family were all no good, that they were cutting off her son’s future, afraid that the third branch would surpass the first and second branches.

Faced with such a paranoid Mrs. Huang, Chun An also felt unbearably distressed inside!

After Chun Nuan heard, she prescribed some medicine and had the servants deliver it over. She didn’t know whether Mrs. Huang had taken it or not, or whether it had any effect.

"To be honest, the Xiao family are already quite righteous."

As the carriage rolled up to the estate, Zhao Minghua let out a sigh. "The wet nurse brings the child to our estate but doesn’t take him to see her."

What Zhao Minghua feared most was that Mrs. Huang might suddenly go crazy. What if she hurt the child then?

And he had to stay by Chun Nuan’s side at all times, not allowing her the slightest mishap.

"Nuannuan, sometimes being kind to others is being cruel to yourself."

With any other family, if they ran into someone like Mrs. Huang, they would long since have let her ’die of illness.’

The Xiao family hadn’t; instead, they patiently treated her, and the servants on the estate patiently attended to her.

Especially Third Master Xiao—he hadn’t taken a concubine just because Mrs. Huang wasn’t at home. He didn’t even have a single bed servant girl at his side.

Zhao Minghua greatly admired the Xiao family’s family discipline.

"I know, don’t worry. Third Aunt is just ill, not insane."

Zhao Minghua... She’s not much different from insane!

"Second Young Lady, Second Young Master, please come in."

Granny Zhong was very pleased to see that Chun Nuan had come.

"Nanny Zhong, how is Third Aunt doing?"

"Second Young Lady, Third Madam is usually fine, it’s just that..."

She couldn’t bear to see people from the Xiao family. In her eyes, every single person of the Xiao family seemed to be out to harm her.

"Has she been taking her medicine on time?"

"Yes, every day this old servant has Third Madam take her medicine on time."

"What does she usually do?"

"Sometimes she’ll go out around the estate to look at the flowers and plants, sometimes she’ll go up to the temple in the hills to pray to the gods and Buddha, and sometimes she’ll copy scriptures."

Hm, sounded like she was cultivating her mind and character.

"How is her appetite?"

"She doesn’t like meat anymore now, only eats vegetarian. She’s lost a whole lot of weight."

This was something that made Granny Zhong very suspicious inside: could it be that the Xiao family had done something?

But she was just a servant. She would serve her mistress as she should; as for other matters, she wouldn’t meddle or inquire.

She’d do this job until the day it ended, whenever that would be.

So when she thought of this, she glanced at Chun Nuan.

It was said that this lady could not only treat illnesses and save lives, but also take lives...

"I’ll go take a look at Third Aunt."

When Chun Nuan saw Mrs. Huang, she was shocked.

"How did she get this thin?"

Chun Nuan hurriedly said, "Nanny Zhong, bring me Third Aunt’s medicine to take a look."

"Yes, Young Lady."

Nanny Zhong went to fetch the medicinal ingredients; after looking them over, Chun Nuan couldn’t see anything out of place.

"Do you still have the dregs from the decoctions?"

"We do."

"Bring them."

As Nanny Zhong went to fetch the dregs, she saw Nanny Yu digging in the earth to bury them.

"What are you doing?"

Granny Zhong had served in large households before and immediately sensed something was wrong. She grabbed her at once. "Someone, come! Someone!"

Granny Zhong’s shout alarmed Chun Nuan.

"Second Young Lady, this old servant came to get the dregs and saw this old hag burying them..."

"Second Young Lady, this old servant only wanted to bury the dregs in the ground so people would trample over them. That way Third Madam’s illness would get better faster."

Chun Nuan had Zhao Minghua’s men seize Nanny Yu, while she herself carefully examined the dregs.

Looking at the dregs in her hand, Chun Nuan trembled with anger: if she hadn’t come in time, Mrs. Huang would not have long to live!

"Speak. Who told you to do this?"

Nanny Yu kept silent.

"Turn her over to the authorities." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Chun Nuan felt that the prescription had been written by her and the herbs gathered by her, but somewhere in the process of decocting the medicine, the ingredients had been switched. Two of the herbs counteracted each other—not only could they not treat Mrs. Huang’s illness, they would actually kill her!

"Nuannuan, should we ask Third Uncle about this?"

Suddenly it occurred to Zhao Minghua that perhaps Third Master Xiao was behind it.

After all, the Xiao family had a family rule of not taking concubines. If Mrs. Huang died, then if he remarried, it wouldn’t count as violating the family rule.

What Zhao Minghua said made a chill run through Chun Nuan’s heart.

"Impossible..."

Zhao Minghua said nothing!

His wife was still a bit too kind.

Even so, he still suggested asking Third Master Xiao.

Qingsheng immediately returned to the Capital and went to the Xiao family.

Someone from the Xiao family came.

Old Master Xiao came with Mrs. Xu; Second Master Xiao with Mrs. Xu; Third Master Xiao and Chun An.

"What is going on, Nuannuan?"

Third Master Xiao was astonished. "What is this about the medicine?"

Looking at this Third Uncle, Chun Nuan felt her heart turn icy cold.

"Third Uncle, do you truly not know what is going on?"

"I don’t. The prescription was written by you, the herbs were gathered by you." Third Master Xiao realized he’d said the wrong thing. "Nuannuan, what Third Uncle means is, since you handled all this personally, there definitely shouldn’t have been any problem. So where did things go wrong?"

"Third Uncle, whose person is Nanny Yu?"

"I don’t know," Third Master Xiao said. "Eldest Sister-in-law, is Nanny Yu’s deed of sale in your hands?"

"It is," Mrs. Xu said. "Since none of us know, then let’s report it to the authorities."