Strange Medicinal Smell

The morning sun was very bright, but the temperature wasn’t that high. Song Caitang looked at her long shadow, as well as the somewhat uneasy Qingqiao walking next to it.

She then looked at the other maid.

“Qinxiu, we’re a little late, and I’m afraid that First Aunt might be worried from waiting. Why don’t you send the message to her that we’re on our way?”

Qinxiu glanced at Qingqiao but did not protest. She bent her head and bowed, “Yes, Cousin Young Mistress.”

After she disappeared into the distance, Song Caitang sighed quietly, as though she felt it was such a pity, “This maid is really able to understand what to do by just observing everyone’s faces.”

When she saw that Qingqiao was still silent, she turned to look at her. Qingqiao was clenching her little fists and staring very solemnly in Qinxiu’s direction. It was as if she was thinking, I’ll work hard, and one day, I’ll also become an intelligent maid like you!

Song Caitang cleared her throat and smiled at her maid, “What do you want to say? Aren’t you going to tell me?”

Qingqiao’s face turned red, and she quickly got to the point, “I forgot to tell you something yesterday. It’s about the knives you ordered. The shop said that they’re not too sure about whether they can make them, so they want to make a sample and let you check it first.”

“When will it be ready?”

“The knife is small, so they said tomorrow.”

Song Caitang paused to think, “Alright, I’ll go and take a look myself tomorrow. You bring me there.”

“But Young Mistress…” Qingqiao furrowed her brows, “You’ve just gotten well. Can you leave the house?” She threw a quick glance at Qingyi Court, “Will that side agree to it?”

Song Caitang raised her eyebrows. The glint in her eyes was filled with cleverness, “I don’t need her to agree to it. I just need to tell Eldest Sister.”

“Eldest Young Mistress?”

Song Caitang rapped her knuckles lightly on Qingqiao’s head, “Did you think your Young Mistress is as simple-minded as you are? That I wouldn’t ask about things before I need to? That I wouldn’t get myself prepared?”

Qingqiao clutched her head but didn’t say it hurt. Instead, her eyes lit up, “When did you ask? Just now?”

“That’s right. Eldest Sister said that this household isn’t that strict. If I want to go out, I just have to tell her, bring enough people along, and make sure nothing bad will happen to me.” Song Caitang paused, then instructed Qingqiao, “Since we’re going out tomorrow when we’re done with our morning duties, you can help me tell Eldest Sister about our plans.”

Qingqiao nodded vigorously and chirped in reply, “Got it!”

As they spoke, they reached a corridor. Song Caitang felt like her shadow had gotten a little longer.

Her dress swayed gently, and the long tassels on her dress weights were like water flowing on her skirt. Her sleeve moved slightly, and her hair flew in the wind like strands of silk…

Her movement was elegant, not too fast and not too slow. She had the steadiness of a woman in this era.

Song Caitang felt like all this was a little strange to her.

She felt like…she wasn’t herself anymore.

She had transmigrated to ancient times into someone else’s body, and she didn’t inherit the memories of the previous owner. Yet she wasn’t afraid at all and was strangely able to adapt and adjust exceptionally quickly.

Except that she kept waking up in the night and couldn’t really sleep.

She knew very well that this was coming from herself. It wasn’t some habit left behind by the previous owner.

But why?

Once they got to Qingyi Court, Madam Zhang was gentle and kind. When she spotted Song Caitang coming through her gate, she called her head maid to prepare Song Caitang’s seat and prepare tea. She even pulled Song Caitang closer to her, held her hand, and scanned her for a long time.

“Color has returned to your cheeks, and you’ve really recovered. There’s life in your eyes, and you look so energetic now!”

Song Caitang bent her head and pretended to be shy, “I don’t look that good. First Aunt, you’re just teasing me.”

“At least you’re modest. That makes you better than your Second Sister. She’s a victim of her own words, always speaking too quickly and too directly. She doesn’t mean any ill but always gets misunderstood by others!”

Madam Zhang held onto Song Caitang’s hands and refused to let go.

But because she was seated, she was shorter than she actually was. To accommodate her, Song Caitang had to bend over slightly. But she didn’t want to look too ugly either, so she didn’t bend too much and did a half squat of sorts. It was an extremely awkward position.

She didn’t mind being in this position for a while, but after some time, her body started to stiffen up, and she began to feel a little sore.

Was Madam Zhang purposely doing this to assert her authority?

Song Caitang lowered her gaze to hide the cheeky glint in her eyes.

She quickly reached out, grabbed the hand of Guan Rongrong, who was standing nearby, and pulled her over so that she had to hold Madam Zhang’s hand as well, “That’s not true. Second Sister is genuine and energetic, and she even went to the second gate to welcome me yesterday. We’re on good terms, and there’s no misunderstanding. I think you might be being too harsh on her.”

Guan Rongrong couldn’t possibly like Song Caitang at all, but her mother had taught her how to put on appearances, plus she was being praised right now. Of course, she was happy.

She broke into a rare, genuine smile, “My cousin is right! Mother, we’re on good terms!”

It didn’t matter if they were really on good terms or not. They had to be on good terms, at least on the surface.

Madam Zhang’s gaze flickered slightly as she sighed inwardly.

This silly daughter of hers probably hadn’t realized what was really happening.

She looked at Guan Rongrong, who was smirking away, thinking she had completed her mission and done a good job of it. Then she looked at Song Caitang. Song Caitang was smiling brightly, but it was impossible to tell exactly what she was thinking about…

Madam Zhang could only laugh along and let go of Song Caitang’s hands. She gestured to the seat excitedly and said, “Sit down! Sit down!”

She couldn’t bear to let her own daughter remain standing in the same awkward position as Song Caitang.

“How are things? Have you gotten used to living here? Are the two new maids obedient?” said Madam Zhang as she glanced at Qinxiu, who stood by the side with her head bowed.

She didn’t do anything out of the ordinary and had glanced very casually at Qinxiu, but Qinxiu was frightened, and she trembled slightly.

Song Caitang pretended she hadn’t seen that. Her movements were as dainty as a daughter of an influential family ought to be. She took a sip of tea and continued to smile as brightly as before, “They’re not bad and work quickly.”

“That’s good.” Madam Zhang look down as she sipped her tea, then spoke in a nonchalant voice, “We’re a family that doesn’t lack anything, and we have plenty of servants to go around. If any of them dares to be disobedient or is useless to their master, go ahead and beat them to death.”

Song Caitang knew that Madam Zhang was warning both Qinxiu and herself.

But it wasn’t going to be of any use.

Because she wasn’t going to listen and she wasn’t going to care.

Her eye fell on the soup bowl on the table, and she stared at it for a while.

Madam Zhang noticed and chuckled, “ You like this bowl?”

“It looked familiar. I came from Grandmother’s place, and the bowl that Eldest Sister used to hold her medicine was the same design as this one,” said Song Caitang as she observed Madam Zhang’s expression.

Madam Zhang’s expression didn’t flinch. She continued smiling gently and said, “The bowls are all from the main kitchen, and they’re all from the same set. Of course, they share the same design.”

Song Caitang changed the topic, “I heard from Eldest Sister that Grandmother has caught a cold. Do you know about that?”

“I’m her daughter-in-law. Of course, I know about it,” Madam Zhang sighed and looked upset, “But she’s getting on in age, and her body is weaker than before. Sometimes, such things happen not because the servants have been negligent. The elderly fall sick when the seasons change, when they leave the house, or even when they take a bath or change their clothes. There’s nothing you can do about it.”

“I can only try to take care of her as best as I can, and you younger ones should visit her as of ten as you can…”

Madam Zhang spoke with much gravitas. Both the look in her eyes and the look on her face was steady, and there was nothing suspicious about her expression.

But Song Caitang still felt that something wasn’t quite right.

It wasn’t because there was a bowl with the same design as the one that her grandmother used. It was the smell.

She had a strength that the people here didn’t know about – her sense of smell was extremely sharp.

She just needed to take a whiff, and she would be able to tell how long a person had been dead as well as roughly what sort of conditions the body had been in.

This bowl and this room seemed to have a smell that was identical to the one in her grandmother’s room.

The smell was extremely faint and barely noticeable. Others wouldn’t have detected it, but not her.

Based on her conversation with Guan Qing, she was very certain that Madam Zhang had not gone to see her grandmother today. Her head maid had gone over, but she had only asked after the old lady from outside the door and had not gone into the room.

So how did this room end up having the same smell as that room?

And…it smelled like medicine.

Song Caitang frowned as she paused to think carefully about her grandmother’s symptoms. It was definitely a cold, and it wasn’t a severe one. She was older and weaker, so it might seem bad, and she would take a longer time to get well. But as long as she took the right medicine on time, she would recover. She would just be ill for a longer time.

Be ill…for a longer time?

Song Caitang narrowed her eyes slightly. She felt like she got it now.

Her grandmother was suffering from a cold. It was difficult for someone to make her get a cold specifically, but making her symptoms recur or making the recovery period longer…if someone wanted to, they could make that happen.

There were several herbs that could prolong the illness period when put together. They weren’t fatal, but it made the symptoms keep coming back, so it would look like the person wasn’t getting any better.

That person would only get better when the one behind all this stopped giving them this combination of herbs.

Unfortunately, she was trained in forensic science. She knew a little about pharmacology, but she didn’t memorize a lot about it. If she had access to a lab, she could find out what was causing this with just a blood sample. But now…she really had no idea what sort of herbs could be causing this.

The smell was here, so it was definitely someone within this house who was behind it. This entire house was filled with people who worked for Madam Zhang, so Madam Zhang was definitely the mastermind.

Song Caitang put her teacup down and glanced at Madam Zhang. There was one thing she couldn’t figure out. This woman had done something to cause her grandmother some damage, but not enough to kill her. Doing this would merely prolong her illness.

What was this woman trying to do?

Madam Zhang met Song Caitang’s gaze. The look in her eyes was still as genial and steady as before. There was nothing strange about it.

But deep inside, she was feeling very curious too. What was this girl thinking about?