After all, Song Jinyin couldn't serve here for too long.
After Xu Youyi left, Pei Yanzhou seemed to be in a bad mood.
Her eyes were always full of anger, the corners of her lips were slightly curved, and her dark and unclear gaze would fall on her hands that were pouring tea from time to time.
When the tea water splashed out a little and stopped on the tea set, Pei Yanzhou finally lost his patience and glanced at her face.
"Clumsy, I don't need you to serve me here, just take the others down."
Song Jinyin didn't notice for a moment and was burned by the scorching heat, so she had to hold back and put the tea set away.
In the past, whether it was making tea or drinking tea, Pei Yanzhou had never disliked it, but now his dissatisfaction was clearly written in the deep eyes.
Song Jinyin met his gaze and couldn't understand the darkness in his eyes. After only a moment, she lowered her head to apologize again.
The maid next to her was a little panicked. She was already frightened by the aura of the nobles, and now she was even more at a loss.
It was the third prince who smiled and said a reward.
"Working in front of Yan Zhou is probably harder than the father-in-law in the palace. My prince's hands were so frightened when he looked at this girl that they were burned. You don't know how to show mercy to her."
"The prince is only taking a ladle to drink. He only cares about the Xu family girl in his heart. How can he cherish the jade found elsewhere!"
Talking and laughing covered this little problem.
Song Jinyin thanked her and stepped back. When she left, she unconsciously wanted to reach out to her chest to calm down the tiny pain that came from nowhere.
But as soon as she raised her hand, she suddenly woke up and turned to touch the burnt spot just now.
The burnt area no longer hurts, nor should it.
The maids nearby were overjoyed to receive the reward, but no one noticed Song Jinyin.
There was only one girl who looked very lively and ran up secretly. She even knocked someone off her feet because she was too fast. She apologized and thanked her at the same time.
Song Jinyin came back to her senses and smiled, feeling a little flattered.
Unconsciously, several people returned to the place where they had just been working.
...
The busyness behind her made people unable to think about other things. Song Jinyin burned the stove carefully, not wanting to recall the scene just now.
There are people chatting and laughing in twos and threes everywhere in the gardens and waterside pavilions.
Looking across the lake, one can still see the figures of the Third Prince and others in the pavilion on the other side of the lake.
Seeing the excitement, there were fewer people in the hall. They all stopped by the lake intentionally or unintentionally, reciting poems and playing the piano.
But the calm didn't last long.
The maid waiting at the front staggered over and grabbed Song Jinyin's sleeve in a panic.
"No, sister Jinyin, please go and have a look! Someone from outside said that the Xu family girl was poisoned after eating dried fruits. She is probably in a mess now!"
Song Jinyin's heart sank and she put the things in her hands to one side.
"Keep a close eye on this matter, and don't spread this matter to anyone else, otherwise our lives will be at risk!"
After saying that, she poured a plate of dried fruits into the bag and hurried forward.
There were not many people in the hall, and the third girl was busy with things, so everything was not as chaotic as she imagined.
But as soon as Song Jinyin stood still, she saw Xu Youyi helping the maid to stand up from her seat, her face turned pale, beads of sweat soaked on her forehead, and she leaned lightly on the others, as if she was struggling to even speak.
The eagerness of the maid next to her almost overwhelmed Song Jinyin.
There was a ringing in her ears.
Those dried fruits were something she bought in the house earlier. After discovering that the hands and feet of the two women were unclean, she and Pei Musheng changed the food. Only these small things at the beginning, because they were dry goods, were the most popular in the house. The other person also ate some and didn't feel anything wrong, so he didn't replace it.
Even she and Pei Musheng had eaten it, so she would never believe it if it was said that the preserved fruit was poisonous.
It's just that she doesn't allow her to defend herself. She only knows that there is such a big mistake in this banquet, and she can't get rid of it no matter what.
The noise became louder and louder, and a figure hurriedly came outside the hospital. The handsome face was stained with anger, and a cold glow spread out, like the king of hell who was seeking his life.
When Song Jinyin saw that familiar person, for some reason, her heart skipped a beat, and her eyes suddenly felt sour.
But in the next moment, she only saw the person approaching, signaling Biyu who was following him to hug him down, and then looked over with cold eyes.
Song Jinyin froze in place, the cold-blooded and sinister look in her eyes fell straight on her body.
It had been a long time since she had seen such a look that made her heart tremble.
But in the past, Pei Yanzhou was angry because of him, but now, he was angry because of others.
After the visitor left, Zhusheng stayed and did not alert the snake. He only called Song Jinyin to the side.
"The Crown Prince's people are here to investigate. The few people I saw just now have also been silenced. The Crown Prince asked the girl to go to Fuluyuan now."
Song Jinyin numbly followed Zhu Sheng away.
She didn't understand why he seemed to want to label her as a murderer when the truth of the matter had not yet been found out.
Could it be that just because she was sponsoring this banquet, something happened to his sweetheart, and he subconsciously thought...that she had harmed Xu Youyi?
He hated the Duke's wife because of what happened to her in the past, so this time, he wants to bring the matter to her again?
Song Jinyin's breath suffocated, but then she smiled self-deprecatingly.
After entering Fuluyuan, Song Jinyin knelt down straight. The general's daughter was poisoned at the banquet, so she had to push out a few maids who were accompanying her to die.
She didn't know if she would be one of them, but she still wanted to give it a try.
"Old lady."
"What a slave! I asked you to take care of the third girl, and you did the job half-heartedly like this? Yan Zhou is taking care of the Xu family girl. Do you know what will happen to you and the other maids who have dealt with her if something happens to her?"
"My slave knows, but those dried fruits were bought by the two women before. After the second lady's incident, my slave and others checked them carefully. The reason why I didn't change them was to make sure they couldn't be poisonous."
After saying that, Song Jinyin poured out the preserved fruits from the bag, and all kinds of dried peaches and apricots rolled to the ground.
"Don't even think about plotting against our second wife again! You keep saying it's not possible that it's poisonous, but you pick it up and eat it!"
Outside, Pei Wenshu walked through the bead curtain and looked at the people on the ground laughing.
"Grandma, just now Ye Wanqiu heard that a girl from the Xu family was poisoned and started shouting outside. The granddaughter finally persuaded her to stop. Now the reputation of our Duke's mansion will be damaged because of this matter, no matter what the thing is. It’s not poisonous, I’m determined not to keep this maid!”
Song Jinyin picked up a piece of light brown dried apricot with trembling hands, but she stopped when she was about to put it into her mouth.
The people in this room should have guessed long ago that those preserved fruits are not poisonous. Even if she eats the stuff on the ground without dignity, it will still not help her.
The face of the Duke's Mansion cannot be lost, and what Pei Wenshu said when he came in was nothing more than adding fuel to the fire.
The old lady ignored Pei Wenshu's rudeness and only looked at Song Jinyin, her eyes sharp and majestic.
After all, he had murderous intent.
"I went to the back to make tea early in the morning. When I was called to the front, there were not many people there, and I didn't see Miss Ye."
Song Jinyin's throat was dry, and she tried her best to keep her tone calm every word, "When the Crown Prince arrived, the three girls were already calming down the matter. Now that the Crown Prince's people have taken over, it is impossible for Miss Ye to spread the word."
"What, you cheap maid, do you mean that I used Ye Wanqiu to trick you?"
"I don't dare, slave."
Song Jinyin knocked her forehead to the ground and her eyes finally calmed down.
"I am willing to accept the punishment for the crime of negligence, but I don't understand. Since Miss Ye is not there, why did she know about it so quickly?"
"Other people would keep silent when encountering such things, for fear of getting into trouble, but the Ye family girl is confident. No matter how good Mr. Ye's official career is, he will not let him lose the face of the government like this."
The old lady frowned.
Just now, she was really thinking about whether to take advantage of this matter to get rid of Song Jinyin, and also took advantage of the situation to see Yan Zhou's attitude, but now thinking about it, Song Jinyin might have the advantage of not dying.
There was another set of footsteps outside the house.
Pei Yanzhou stepped into the room with a cold look on his face, without even looking at the people on the ground.
"grandmother."
"How's it going ahead?"
"Everyone who touched the food and tea sets today was detained. This matter was discovered early and there was no further commotion."
"Then the Xu family girl is in good health? What kind of explanation do you want?"
Only then did Pei Yanzhou cast his gaze on Song Jinyin's head, his eyes darkening, "Well, it's okay for you to be young. For the sake of both families, you can just vent your anger in private. Someone will bring Song Jinyin back to Zhuzhou." Yayuan.”
The old lady's brows did not relax, but she glanced meaningfully at the eldest grandson in front of her.
