Chapter 304: Strange Father and Daughter, Heartless Husband
Ji Qingwu suppressed her astonishment and addressed Su Fengyue, who was walking ahead. "Your son-in-law’s household is incredibly wealthy, Prime Minister Su. Even a Prince Mansion pales in comparison."
Su Fengyue said, "Song Wei’s ancestors were merchants. His family has an abundance of gold and silver, all acquired through legitimate means."
As Ji Qingwu passed a climbing vine trellis carved from golden nanmu wood, its branches lush with leaves, a glint flashed in her eyes.
Su Fengyue strode forward, seeming to have seen through her thoughts.
He said, "An official from the Imperial Censorate once learned of their wealth and raised the issue at court. However, a thorough investigation proved that the Song family’s finances are completely clean. There’s no need for you to be suspicious, Lady Wei."
Ji Qingwu’s sleeve moved unnaturally. She nodded in understanding.
’The Imperial Censors of Beili do have some discerning members. But as for these findings... is the Song family truly innocent?’
Arriving at the main house’s entrance, Ji Qingwu gazed at the intricate wood carvings on the eaves and doorframe.
She suddenly asked, "That Imperial Censor who raised the issue... is he still in office?"
Su Fengyue’s expression froze, and he did not answer her question.
When the Song family’s maids saw Su Fengyue, they shrank back, not daring to approach, and stood by the door with their heads bowed.
Ji Qingwu frowned, seeing their trembling bodies.
Su Fengyue asked, "Is your madam in her room?"
A maid replied cautiously, "The madam was awake all night. She’s still sitting up on the bed."
Ji Qingwu entered the room and found that Ma Pozi had not been exaggerating.
This Madam Song had a withered appearance. She was leaning against a round pillow, her cheeks so gaunt they were sunken. Though only in her twenties, she already looked old and weary.
Su Daiyue was Su Fengyue’s youngest daughter. From what Ma Pozi had said, Ji Qingwu had assumed she grew up utterly pampered.
Upon seeing her powerful Prime Minister father, she should have poured out her grievances.
But Su Daiyue appeared even more timid and fearful than the maids. At the sight of Su Fengyue, her sallow face turned a grayish-white.
Ji Qingwu stood behind them, her gaze falling on a soup bowl on the small low table. It still contained some unfinished medicinal broth.
Ma Pozi walked to the bedside and patted her on the back. "Madam, the Old Lord is here to see you."
Startled from her daze, Su Daiyue said woodenly, "Father."
Su Fengyue nodded. He showed no signs of a doting father; his expression was somewhat cold and distant. The relationship between this father and daughter was different from that of an ordinary family.
Su Daiyue noticed the stranger in the room and stared at her fixedly.
Ji Qingwu parted her lips. "Madam Song."
Ma Pozi said, "Madam, this is Ji Qingwu! The medicine you drank before was bought from the clinic she runs. She is the one who harmed you and the young master!"
But Su Daiyue showed no reaction. She did not look at Ji Qingwu as if she were the murderer of her child.
Her eyes were like a pool of stagnant water, without the slightest ripple.
’This is... the look of someone who wants to die.’
A hint of anger crept into Su Fengyue’s voice, and only then did he resemble a father.
"How have you been taking care of her? How did Little Yue end up like this!"
Ma Pozi and the maids all fell to their knees.
Su Fengyue said, "Where is Song Wei?"
Ma Pozi’s eyes darted around. "The master should be on duty, busy with work. These past few days, he has been by the madam’s side day and night."
At the mention of Song Wei’s name, Su Daiyue’s right hand trembled unnaturally.
Ji Qingwu frowned slightly. "Why don’t you let me take Madam Song’s pulse first?"
Ma Pozi immediately looked up. "You’re the one who harmed our madam! Old Lord, you can’t let her near our madam again!"
Su Fengyue grew annoyed at the sight of Su Daiyue’s depression. At the end of the day, she was his own flesh and blood, and he still cared for her somewhat.
"Lady Wei, I’ll have to trouble you to take a look at my daughter."
Ma Pozi shot upright, her lips trembling, as if she wanted to say more.
Ji Qingwu gave her a cold glance. "Prime Minister Su, please wait in the outer room. I don’t like to have others present when I’m examining a patient."
Su Fengyue didn’t waste time on the matter and went outside.
Ma Pozi glared at Ji Qingwu with hatred, wanting to stop her but having no reason to. She looked as if her eyes were about to pop out of her head.
’Such intense malice...’ Ji Qingwu thought.
After everyone had left the room, Su Daiyue still wore the same expression, her eyes lifeless, completely devoid of any will to live.
Ji Qingwu did not immediately take her pulse. Instead, she moved closer.
She said softly, "Pardon the intrusion."
She pulled a silver hairpin from Su Daiyue’s messy bun and stirred it in the soup bowl on the low table.
Su Daiyue’s attention was drawn by the movement. Her gaze flickered as she looked at Ji Qingwu’s pale green sleeve.
Ji Qingwu took the silver hairpin out of the bowl. Its bright silver color had not changed.
Su Daiyue blinked slowly, but then she saw Ji Qingwu take a leaf out of her sleeve.
She coated the end of the hairpin with the leaf’s juice, and the silver instantly turned a deep, inky black.
Ji Qingwu said, "Madam Song, did you know that the medicine you’ve been drinking has always been poisoned? Not just the pregnancy-preserving tonic, but the restorative medicine you’re taking now as well."
A desolate look washed over Su Daiyue’s eyes, and a faint, ghostly smile even touched her lips.
From her expression, she must have known.
Ji Qingwu asked, "Do you know who did this, Madam Song?"
Su Daiyue nodded, her voice hoarse. "You don’t have to save me."
Ji Qingwu said, "I don’t want to get involved either. But because of you, my clinic has been slandered by Song Wei, and your wet nurse showed up at the Wei Family’s gate today, demanding that I take responsibility."
"If I had a choice, I wouldn’t meddle in this affair, but I must clear my name."
Ji Qingwu said pointedly, "Some things can be let go, but other things must be pursued to the very last detail. We only live once. Death may seem like an end to all troubles, but if you don’t become a vengeful ghost, you’ll never get your revenge."
After a moment’s pause, Su Daiyue asked, "Why are you helping me?"
"Who said I was helping you?"
Ji Qingwu spread her hands. "I can’t stand by while someone throws mud at my medical skills. Anyone who provokes me has to pay a price."
Ji Qingwu wiped the black liquid off the silver hairpin with a clean handkerchief, reinserted it into Madam Song’s hair, and even took a moment to neaten her messy bun.
"If you’re unwilling, I have other methods."
Su Daiyue watched Ji Qingwu’s fair, delicate hand withdraw from her hair. Once upon a time, she too had been that vibrant and beautiful.
She said hoarsely, "It was Song Wei."
Ji Qingwu wasn’t too surprised.
The person who shares your pillow can be the most intimate, but also the most heartless.
Su Daiyue said, "Years ago, he took a mistress. That shameless woman even got pregnant, so I had someone get rid of the child. But the woman was frail and couldn’t take it. She died, too."
"After that, Song Wei and I treated each other with polite distance. He didn’t do anything else out of line, just some carousing with courtesans, which is common in official circles, so I paid it no mind."
Su Daiyue’s gaunt fingers clutched tightly to a pair of tiger-head shoes that had been prepared for the child, sitting by the edge of the bed.