After a while, Zhi Tao brought Cai's mother, who was in charge of the small kitchen, over.

Hua Jin looked over, and the person who was smiling and respecting her yesterday was dodging today.

When Mrs. Tai saw Cai's mother, her brows furrowed slightly, "You are the steward of the small kitchen in Hongxun Courtyard?" "Although it has been in the palm of his hand for many years, the prestige of the superior is still there.

Cai's mother knelt on the ground as soon as her legs were weak, "The slave is exact." ”

"Tell me, what's going on with that exquisite jade round at yesterday's dinner? How could you poison my granddaughter like this? ”

As soon as such heavy words came out, Cai's mother, who was already a little nervous, was paralyzed into a puddle of soft mud with fright, and finally managed to stabilize her body and kowtow three times, "Slave, slave and maid are wronged!" ”

Hua Jin raised his eyebrows, and he didn't expect Mrs. Tai to ask like this. His eyes swept over lightly, but he couldn't see much emotion on the face that had been wrinkled and left traces of time.

If she really cared about Hua Wei, how could she have such an expression?

Is it just to find out about it?

What is the purpose?

At this time, Luo Zhi stood up and walked to Cai's mother's side, and asked condescendingly: "You haven't been in charge of the small kitchen for a year and a half, it's not that you don't know that Hua Wei will be poisoned by eating lotus root, what kind of heart do you have?" ”

Mother Cai prostrate at Luo's feet, "Madam, it's a slave...... Not a slave ......."

"Is it you? If you don't make it clear today, I will send you to the government. ”

Hearing this, Cai's mother panicked, "Madam, spare the slave maid, the slave maid ......" kept kowtowing, but suddenly looked at Hua Jin when she raised her head for the last time.

Everyone's eyes also looked at Huajin.

Mother Cai raised a hand and pointed at Hua Jin, "It's the fifth girl." ”

Hua Jin walked out unhurriedly, "Mother Cai, tell me, what's wrong with me?" ”

Cai's mother's hand fell, as if she was a little hesitant.

Mrs. Tai looked at Cai's mother, she didn't have much patience, "Since you let you say it, you can say it." ”

Cai's mother actually shed tears, "The slave maid has served the master of the second room for so many years, how can she not know the preferences and taboos of each master, just ......" She paused, "I have already instructed the fifth girl, saying that the seventh girl is taboo to eat lotus root, and it will cause diarrhea at least and poisoning at worst." ”

"You talk nonsense!" Before Hua Jin could speak, Zhi Tao was already so angry that he was about to jump to his feet.

Hua Jin looked at Zhi Tao and scolded: "How can you speak here." He sighed again, "You girl must have been spoiled by me, go back and sweep the whole yard now, and deduct half a month's worth of silver." ”

The peach bit her lip......

Hua Jin's eyes stood up, "Why don't you go quickly, do you want to be beaten?" "If she is not punished now, she will be provoked and calculated by someone with a heart, and I am afraid that she will turn a small thing into a big one.

Zhitao shed tears aggrievedly, and reluctantly retreated after saluting.

She didn't feel sorry for the half moon of silver, she felt sorry for the five girls, and these people obviously wanted to splash dirty water on her girls.

Now Cai's mother insisted on telling the fifth girl that it was not good for the seventh girl to eat lotus root, and now the fifth girl is really at a loss, this is simply a hard frame.

Zhitao retreated, and Chen's mother stepped forward to salute Mrs. Tai, the second master, and Luo's family, and then looked at Cai's mother who was kneeling on the ground, "We were all there when the fifth girl went to the kitchen, but we didn't hear you say anything about it, and all the maids and servants in the kitchen can testify." ”

When asked like this, Cai's mother lowered her head, and explained to everyone in a low voice: "When the fifth girl went to the kitchen for the first time, the slave forgot to remind her. Because at that time, the five girls seemed to care about this dish made of lotus root, and they also stepped forward to pick up the lotus root and looked at it, and told the slave maid to make this dish well. This is indeed what everyone sees. ”

This was indeed what happened at that time, and Chen's mother couldn't help frowning.

Mother Cai looked at Mother Chen: "Later, before the banquet, the five girls came to the kitchen again, but this time Mother Chen did not follow. At that time, the kitchen was very busy, and even the white peach girl and the peach girl next to the fifth girl stepped forward to help. ”

Halfway through the words, he looked at Hua Jin again, "At that time, the slave maid stepped forward and told the five girls a thousand times, saying that this exquisite jade ball is difficult to distinguish from the name, dish and taste, it is made of lotus root, so please remind the fifth girl that the seventh girl must not move the chopsticks, and just change to other dishes to eat." ”

Hua Jin's eyes looked directly at Cai's mother without dodging, "You really told me that?" ”

In the middle of looking at each other, Cai's mother lowered her head......

At this time, Hua Jin couldn't explain it, and the more she explained, it would be a cover-up in the eyes of others.

Suddenly, there was another heavy knocking and the sound of broken porcelain......

Hua Jin followed the voice and saw Mrs. Tai's hand fall on the armrest of the Taishi's chair. And on the ground next to the chair, a jade bracelet with an excellent water head had been shattered in half.

Hua Jin looked at Mrs. Tai and found that the forehead, which had climbed into wrinkles, looked even more vicissitudes because of the tight wrinkles.

This sudden voice made everyone's eyes fall on Mrs. Tai again, only to hear her voice holding back anger, "You Diao slave! Stir up trouble here! ”

Cai's mother leaned down and kowtowed again, "The slave doesn't dare!" Slaves don't dare! ”

Seeing that Mrs. Tai was so conclusive, Hua Wei shrank into the quilt, and Luo stopped talking, and the second old man Zhang Yufeng frowned, as if he was thinking...... One is what the slave said, the other is the words of his own daughter, and no one else is present, how can he judge this matter?

…………

All this that happened in the Honghun Courtyard did not spread to the entire Zhangfu compound, nor did it break the original tranquility of this early morning.

The inner courtyard of Zhangfu has four bedrooms, Mrs. Tai Zhaohui Courtyard, Changfang Taoyuxuan, two-room Honghun Courtyard, and three-bedroom Qingfeng Garden.

In addition to these four courtyards, there are four functional rooms: a large kitchen, a sewing room, a laundry room and a flower room.

The tranquility of the day in Zhangfu was broken by a scream that seemed to be frightened from the laundry room.

The screams came from a third-class maid in the laundry room named Qingxiang.

On this morning, Qingxiang, like many mornings, came to the laundry room to be on duty.

In the winter, the first thing I do when I come to the laundry room is to bring water from the well in the yard.

Because the wellhead is easy to freeze in winter, the well water is cold. So Qingxiang took a long copper drill and wanted to poke open the layer of ice floe on the water surface of the well.

But today, when the copper drill went down, there was no familiar hardness and the crisp sound of thin ice breaking, but as if something was trapped.

Qingxiang frowned, what was it that was stuck in? Some are hard, some are soft.

Qingxiang's body leaned towards the mouth of the well, looked down, and saw a pair of eyes staring at her.

And the brass hammer she had just reached in was piercing the body of the man who was looking at her.

Qingxiang was stupid, staggered back two steps, and sat on the ground with her butt.

It seemed to be a long time before she screamed sharply, "Ah! ”