Chapter Four: The Ruin of My Mother’s Entire Family

Zhuo Yue'an spoke with absolute certainty: Xiao Yunbai had put poison in every single water jar, large and small, throughout the prince's residence.

Even the pond where the fish were kept was not spared. Xiao Jingxuan, who had been tormented by Su Jingluo all this time, had not drunk a single drop of water, so nothing happened to him.

Who would have thought, Su Jingluo, you’ve raised your son well indeed. Xiao Jingxuan ground his teeth in anger, nearly gnashing them to dust. He stormed out of the room with a menacing air.

Su Jingluo had not expected Xiao Jingxuan to come and cause trouble again, nor did she have the energy to care. She was dizzy and weak, her vision darkening, retching and suffering from diarrhea—she knew she had been poisoned. There was no doubt in her mind that Xiao Jingxuan was behind it. No wonder he had so easily returned her son and let her come back. He meant to eliminate any future threats.

The little maid, Ruihuan, had wailed herself hoarse in the courtyard all day, begging for the princess to be released. Now, seeing the princess stricken with deadly poison, she was scared out of her wits and could do nothing but sob loudly.

Yunbai, however, though pale as a sheet, calmly pushed Ruihuan and said, "Sister Ruihuan, stop crying and quickly fetch some angelica root, honeysuckle, bezoar, and a little pinellia and aconite... Boil them together into a decoction, quickly."

Su Jingluo still could not stop retching. Enduring her discomfort, she grabbed Yunbai’s hand and weakly asked, "How do you know what medicine to prepare?"

Yunbai suddenly broke down in tears, choking as she sobbed, "Mother, did you drink the bad man's water?"

Su Jingluo thought back carefully—indeed, when Lin Feifei had first entered, she had pretended to be domineering and taken a sip to make Lin Feifei kneel. But... how did Yunbai know?

"What is going on?" A vague unease crept into Su Jingluo's heart, but she could not bring herself to believe what she suspected.

"I said I would avenge you, Mother. They captured you and hurt you. I... I want them all to die. I... I put poison in the water jars. Waaa, I didn’t expect it would hurt you, Mother." Yunbai's tears fell like a string of pearls breaking.

Su Jingluo’s heart trembled—this child was terrifying. So young and already dared to use poison! And how did she know how to do it?

Her thoughts raced, and the floodgates of memory opened again. More fragments surfaced: as it turned out, Yunbai was a prodigy in poisons from birth. The dilapidated courtyard had nothing but medical books everywhere. Yunbai had learned to read especially quickly and was particularly interested in poisonous insects and herbs.

Heavens, my head hurts. Su Jingluo stopped herself from delving further into memory. With her head injury and now poisoning, she’d die if she pondered anything further.

But after drinking the decoction, she felt much better in less than the time it took for an incense stick to burn—no more nausea or rolling her eyes back. This transmigration was truly unfortunate; what with a scoundrel of a man, a scheming woman, and a wild child, it was enough to cost her her life.

As soon as Su Jingluo regained some strength, Yunbai broke into a smile through her tears. The ordeal had truly frightened the child—her own poison had almost cost her mother’s life.

"Yunbai, kneel."

No sooner had Su Jingluo recovered a little than she called Yunbai over, her face dark as she pointed at the cold floor.

Yunbai was a little stunned but obediently knelt down.

"Do you know why I’m making you kneel?"

Yunbai hung her head and murmured softly, "I know. I nearly killed you, Mother."

"That’s not the point. Poisoning people—do you know how many you could have killed? How can you be so ruthless at your age?" Su Jingluo was genuinely angry. If she dared do this as a child, what would become of her as she grew up?

"But Mother, they bullied us." Yunbai’s voice was aggrieved, and she bit her lip stubbornly, on the verge of tears again.

"Are you so sure everyone in the courtyard is bad? If one day I make a mistake, do you want them to punish you and Sister Ruihuan in my place?"

"Mother, I am willing to take the blame for you," Yunbai replied, utterly earnest in her unreasonable logic.

Su Jingluo’s head throbbed, her heart in turmoil.

"I am not willing. My mistakes should not involve my children or others." Yunbai looked at her in confusion.

It wasn’t just the little one who was puzzled—Xiao Jingxuan, eavesdropping at the door, was equally at a loss. He had come to demand answers, but seeing that Su Jingluo had also been poisoned, it was clear she was not the instigator. Moreover, the scene playing out between mother and child inside left him unable to maintain his anger. If not for urgency, he would have stayed longer, for this mother-daughter exchange was far more interesting than tedious official business or household affairs.

Though most of Xiao Jingxuan’s anger had dissipated, he still feigned fury and kicked open the door.

Seeing Xiao Jingxuan, Su Jingluo—who had been lying weakly in bed—leapt up in a start, stumbled off the bed, and shielded Yunbai behind her.

"Hmph, you act as if I’m the villain here. Weren’t you the ones who poisoned everyone?"

Xiao Jingxuan hadn’t expected the woman, so gently maternal just moments before, to suddenly turn fierce.

"This was Yunbai’s mistake. I am willing to take the punishment in her stead."

Hearing this, Yunbai panicked and tried to wriggle out from behind her mother.

"You said not to implicate others, Mother. You mustn’t be punished," Yunbai cried, truly frightened. The man before her was terrifying; last time, her mother’s head had been bloodied, and now, wouldn’t he beat her mother into a pulp?

"Be quiet. A child’s fault is the parents’ fault. You don’t understand, stay still." Su Jingluo pressed Yunbai down.

Yunbai was on the verge of tears.

Su Jingluo meant nothing by it, but upon hearing that a child’s fault is the parents’ fault, Xiao Jingxuan felt his face burn, as if slapped and swollen.

"Now you act righteous, yet the child you raised is so unruly," Xiao Jingxuan tried to regain the upper hand.

"You can’t fool me. I’m not some three or five-year-old. You all bullied my mother. If you have an issue, talk to me instead—don’t be fierce to my mother!"

...