The Devious First Daughter

Chapter 9. Poison in the Medicine

Seeing that the Honored Consort Ya going into the inner room to have a bath, the 30-year-old woman left the house.

"Aunt Xiang, it's late, where are you going?" Seeing Aunt Xiang came out, the eunuch who guarded the door asked with a smile.

"I heard that there is a sole chrysanthemum outside our yard. I'll go and see it first. If Honored Consort Ya asks about it tomorrow, I can tell her." Aunt Xiang answered with a faint smile. She was Honored Consort Ya's servant and in charge of the flowers and plants in Honored Consort Ya's palace for her. She was good at growing flowers and plants, so the flowers in Honored Consort Ya's palace bloomed better than that of anywhere else and even was praised by the emperor.

Since these flowers could attract the emperor for Honored Consort Ya, Aunt Xiang was not an ordinary servant anymore. Everyone respectfully called her Aunt Xiang. Aunt Xiang came into the palace with Honored Consort Ya and was Honored Consort Ya's dowry. Naturally, she was Honored Consort Ya's henchman. So these eunuchs smiled and let her go when she went out at this time.

Aunt Xiang went out of the courtyard and observed for a while, then she went to the left. The chrysanthemum was specially planted by the monks in Cold Mountain Temple for the guests to enjoy. The flowers were elegant when bloomed. But people seldom enjoyed it at night. The eunuchs who guarded the door didn't know that, but Aunt Xiang was very clear about that.

Aunt Xiang walked along the path and passed the chrysanthemum. She didn't see the chrysanthemum at all but went to the pavilion on the side. Under the moonlight, there was a beauty sitting on the stone bench. She poured a cup of tea and slowly drank. Her delicate face, together with her inky jade-liked eyes, made her alone in the night.

Aunt Xiang could hardly believe it. She stared at Ning Xueyan's white face in excitement. The huge impact almost made her unable to believe what she saw for a moment. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the young girl in the pavilion again. She could say nothing due to great amazement.

She had seen almost identical inky jade-liked eyes. Though the two faces were not very similar, both were beautiful. The face in front of her was too pale so that people couldn't realize its beauty at one. The childish gaze was also familiar to Aunt Xiang. She almost thought that the girl she saw was the beautiful and graceful woman...

Aunt Xiang's lips trembled and her eyes became red because of sadness. "No, it could not be her." Aunt Xiang had seen her jumped into the fire in person. The flames burned her skirts, reflecting her beautiful face. Then she was covered by the fire and smoke...

"Aunt Xiang?" Ning Xueyan stood up leisurely. The moonlight shone on her little face, making it a little blurred. Her glittering eyes were full of smile. She looked calm and gentle. It seemed that she encountered Aunt Xiang by chance instead flicking a note and it fell to Aunt Xiang when Honored Consort Ya walked by her with Aunt Xiang. The note said she wanted to have a meeting with Aunt Xiang at night.

Aunt Xiang came to the imperial palace with Honored Consort Ya when Honored Consort Ya married the emperor. She had visited Madam Ming in private with Honored Consort Ya. It seemed that Honored Consort Ya wanted to leave Aunt Xiang to Madam Ming, but Madam Ming refused. The former Ning Xueyan didn't know who Aunt Xiang was, but now Ning Xueyan knew.

The real Ning Xueyan had died. The soul of the present Ning Xueyan was Ning Ziying. Ning Ziying's mother knew how to make spices and also knew how to make poisons with spices. She said that the invisible poison was made up of several kinds of spices. But Ning Ziying's mother said she wasn't good at that and mentioned Aunt Xiang, saying Aunt Xiang was a master who knew all kinds of poisons made up of spices and also knew how to make poisons.

If there was such a person to help Madam Ming, the competition and poison wouldn't be a problem for Madam Ming.

Madam Ming was poisoned to death. But actually, that poison was not difficult. One could found it as long as he or she knew a little bit about poison. Unfortunately, Madam Ming refused the goodwill of Honored Consort Ya, which puzzled Ning Xueyan. On that day, Aunt Xiang kowtowed to Madam Ming. From that, Ning Xueyan speculated that the relationship between Aunt Xiang and Madam Ming was unusual. So she invited Aunt Xiang to come here in the name of Madam Ming's daughter.