My Cold-Hearted Wife Chapter 85

Xie Xuanying emerged from the corner, the clear moonlight bathing him in its glow. He truly looked as though he had descended from the Moon Palace.

Cheng Danruo breathed a sigh of relief. “You scared me.”

“What are you doing here?” Xie Xuanying had been waiting for her outside the courtyard. He had not expected her to leave the courtyard and, instead of returning to rest, wander farther and farther into increasingly secluded places.

“I’m looking for water to wash my hands,” Cheng Danruo replied.

He frowned. “Why not go to the kitchen?”

“Aren’t they investigating? If I went now, I doubt they’d even let me in.” She answered his question, then asked, “What are you doing here?”

Xie Xuanying evaded the question and said instead, “The Eastern Depot has sealed off the smaller kitchen. The one at the front is still open. Come with me.”

Cheng Danruo had left the palace in the afternoon, but it was now nearly the third watch of the night. She was exhausted and hungry. “Where are we going?”

“Do you think I’d harm you?” Xie Xuanying pressed his lips together. “Come with me.”

Even with an irritated expression, the beautiful man was still a sight to behold. Cheng Danruo hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she could not bring herself to refuse. She followed him.

He seemed to know Huiyuan Temple well. Taking a shortcut, he reached the meditation quarters in fifteen minutes.

The room was brightly lit. A small copper kettle sat on the tea stove, alongside a simple basin and a hand towel. A cup of half-finished tea stood on the table, while a redwood tray held two large covered bowls.

Xie Xuanying picked up the copper kettle and poured water into the basin. “Didn’t you say you wanted to wash your hands?” he asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

Since she was already here, Cheng Danruo saw no reason to stand on ceremony. Accepting his kindness, she thoroughly washed her hands with a bar of soap.

He then lifted the lids of the covered bowls. One contained vegetarian noodles tossed with three kinds of fresh ingredients, while the other held white sugar cakes.

“Eat,” he said.

Cheng Danruo assumed this was his late-night supper, but she was genuinely hungry, and her blood sugar was running low. “I’ll have this one…” She reached for the bowl of sugar cakes, only for him to snatch it away.

“You can have dessert after you’ve eaten your noodles.”

She stared at him. “??”

Xie Xuanying turned his face away. “Eat your meal.” Then he added, “I’ve already eaten.”

She had no energy to argue with him, so she simply sat down and picked up her chopsticks. “Thank you.”

The noodles had clumped together a little, but the mushrooms in the medley of three fresh ingredients added plenty of savory flavor. Despite being a vegetarian dish, they tasted quite good. Ravenous with hunger, she paid no attention to table manners and took a huge mouthful.

Xie Xuanying leaned against the bed, pretending to watch the candlelight, though his peripheral vision kept drifting towards the table.

Since they had arrived in the capital, the two of them had not shared another meal. Compared with the restrained way she had eaten aboard the boat, she was far more uninhibited now, despite the fact that they were alone together. Sauce clung to the corner of her mouth as she swallowed one large mouthful after another.

She must be starving, he thought.

Then he grew dissatisfied. She was always rushing to take charge when there was work to be done, yet she was so careless when it came to looking after herself. And Director Pan was no better. No matter how urgently she needed to discuss matters with someone, she should at least have made proper arrangements for Cheng Danruo.

Good thing I’d been thinking of her. Otherwise, after working all night, she wouldn’t even have had anywhere to get a meal.

Cheng Danruo shot him a sidelong glance, silently speculating. He had come to find her in secret in the middle of the night. Surely he hadn’t gone to all that trouble just to treat her to a late-night meal. His brows were tightly furrowed. Was the matter particularly thorny? What did he want to find out from her?

The Eastern Depot and the Directorate of Palace Discipline were investigating this incident together. Would the dispute between the female officials and the eunuchs have any bearing on the matter?

And whom did Xie Xuanying represent?

What should she do?

“Young Master Xie, I’ve finished eating.” She set down her chopsticks.

Xie Xuanying abruptly came back to his senses, frowning. “Young Master Xie?”

Cheng Danruo fell silent. Just how much importance did people in ancient times attach to forms of address?

He put on a stern expression.

She sighed. Having accepted his hospitality, she could hardly refuse him this small concession. “San-lang.”

The corners of his lips lifted slightly.

“So, you wanted to ask me about the patients’ condition?” Cheng Danruo asked tentatively.

Xie Xuanying replied, “…Yes.”

He had indeed wanted to ask, but not tonight, not in the middle of the night, and certainly not at this very moment.

She opened her medical kit and took out a set of notes she had written, retrieving them from a hidden compartment.

“There are eighteen patients in total, though I suspect there are more. Still, these women fell ill early, so their cases are particularly useful as a reference.”

Xie Xuanying took the papers and examined them closely.

Each sheet recorded a patient’s identity and personal details, along with her movements and activities. If they used the daily schedule of the Buddhist ceremonies as a point of reference, certain clues began to emerge.

The first to fall ill was Wang Yongxu, who developed symptoms on the evening of the fifth day of the Buddhist ceremonies.

The second group fell ill between the evening of the fifth day and the daytime of the sixth. Six people in total had begun suffering from diarrhea and, in some cases, fever, seemingly at the same time.

Their symptoms attracted the Imperial Consort’s attention.

The third group fell ill on the sixth, seventh, and eighth days, the latter being yesterday. There were eleven people in total.

Today was the ninth day.

“Let’s set Wang Yongxu aside for now. Look at these six.” Cheng Danruo selected their records and laid them on the table. “One is responsible for presenting the daily offerings of Buddhist fruit to the Empress Dowager. Another is in charge of combing Consort Shun’s hair, and another looks after Consort Zhuang’s jewelry. The remaining three are two palace maids from the Palace Insignia Office and a female official from the Palace Furnishing Office.”

Xie Xuanying said, “Their duties have nothing to do with one another, and even less to do with Records Supervisor Wang.”

“Exactly.” Cheng Danruo took out the next stack of papers. “These are the patients who fell ill later. They have clear connections to one another. This one is a female official from the Palace Insignia Office, this one is a matron serving the Empress Dowager who is usually responsible for the Buddhist shrine, and this one is a palace maid from the Provisioning Office.”

She arranged the records on the table in order, one by one.

“The palace maid from the Palace Insignia Office passed the illness to a female official in the same directorate. The Empress Dowager’s palace maid passed it to the matron she serves. As for the palace maid from the Provisioning Office, I specifically asked about her. While she was on duty, a female official from the Palace Furnishing Office came to the kitchen, saying she had a stomachache and wanted something hot to eat. She asked the maid for a bowl of porridge and, in return, gave her a basket of apricots bought from the foot of the mountain.”

Xie Xuanying furrowed his brows.

“This palace maid from the Provisioning Office is responsible for washing fruits and vegetables. After her, more cases appeared among palace maids from the Palace Transport Office and the Xiefang Palace. I also made some inquiries and discovered that the sick aren’t limited to the palace servants staying in the courtyards. There are several eunuchs being kept in the woodshed as well.”

He seemed to grasp something. “Could it be something they ate? No, that doesn’t make sense. The palace maids and the eunuchs have separate kitchens.”

“My guess is that those eunuchs are responsible for handling human waste,” Cheng Danruo said. “That would explain it. There are two main routes of transmission: food and faeces.

Xie Xuanying looked as though he wanted to say something, but held his tongue. In all his life, he had never heard the word faeces used so many times in a single conversation.

“The two senior palace maids serving Consort Zhuang and Consort Shun each live in a separate room. They have their own chamber pots and don’t handle food for others, so the risk of spreading the infection is relatively low. Even so, we’d better be cautious. For now, no one should enter their rooms.”

She thought about the bacteria responsible for dysentery, but couldn’t quite recall the details. She closed her eyes and searched her memory for a moment before finally concluding, “It would be better to wipe down the floors and furniture with vinegar.”

Xie Xuanying noted down each point.

Both Consort Zhuang and Consort Shun were women close to the emperor. He would rather go to extra trouble than risk anything going wrong.

“What else do you want to know?” Her throat was dry from talking, and she instinctively glanced at the teapot.

Xie Xuanying was remarkably perceptive. Seeing her glance, he immediately poured her a cup of tea, only to discover that it had gone completely cold. He wanted to add some hot water, but then remembered that the water in the copper kettle had already been used for washing hands. He was left in an awkward predicament.

“It’s all right,” Cheng Danruo said. “I’ll drink the tea cold.”

“You’re the one who said you shouldn’t consume cold or raw things.” He frowned and went outside to call for someone. “Centurion Zheng!”

A middle-aged man came in from outside the door. “My lord.”

“Fetch some water.” Xie Xuanying handed him the copper kettle. “Make sure it’s clean.”

“Yes, my lord.” Zheng, the Centurion, noticed the person inside the room but seemed to have gone blind all of a sudden, not sparing her more than a glance. He took the kettle and left.

Cheng Danruo had been about to leave, but now she had no choice but to stay a little longer and wait until she had a cup of hot tea before going.

At the same time, Director Pan was hardly resting either. She had immediately begun questioning the staff of the Provisioning Office.

“Was there really nothing wrong with the food prepared in the small kitchen?” Director Pan asked.

The Provisioning Officer answered without hesitation. “Absolutely not. Every day, when the fruits, vegetables, milk, and fresh meat arrive, the Head of Food Services personally inspects them. Anything questionable is immediately rejected.”

The Head Provisioning Officer stood beside her and spoke with equal certainty. “All the vegetables and fruits delivered were in good condition. There was nothing wrong with the milk either.”

The Head Provisioning Officer continued, “I made the sushan myself. This was food intended for the Empress Dowager. Even if you gave me the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard, I wouldn’t dare use spoiled ingredients. The milk is delivered daily and kept in an ice chest. We would never serve the masters milk left over from the previous day.”

Director Pan considered this. “What about what was left over?”

A female official standing at the back spoke up. “I wouldn’t dare conceal anything from you, Director. It would be a shame to throw the leftovers away, so we usually use them to make pastries. But those are for our own consumption. Forgive my bluntness, but milk is nourishing, so naturally we make sure our own people get their share first.”

“Did anyone fall ill?” Director Pan asked.

The female official shook her head, then added, “The sushan was made jointly by the Provisioning Officer and me. There was about half a kettle of milk left, so we used it to make steamed buns filled with rose paste and shared them among ourselves.”

The Head Provisioning Officer nodded, corroborating her account.

Director Pan swept her gaze sternly across everyone present. Some looked frightened, others worried, but none appeared guilty or tried to avoid her eyes.

“What about the rubing?” she asked.

This time, the Provisioning Officer hesitated.

“If it was freshly made, it must have been fine,” she admitted frankly. “But once it’s offered before the Buddha and then distributed, it passes through too many hands. I can’t say for certain.”

At that moment, a palace maid huddled in the corner spoke up timidly. “Ma’am, I… I…”

Director Pan said sharply, “If you have something to say, then say it. Why are you stammering?”

“Please spare me, Director!” Terrified, the maid dropped to her knees, trembling with fear. “The sister in the next room is ill. She ate some rubing and even shared half of hers with me… Am I going to die too?”

Director Pan’s eyelid twitched. “What nonsense are you talking?!” The hand hidden in her sleeve clenched slightly. “You both ate it. She’s fallen ill, but you’re perfectly fine?”

The palace maid lowered her head. “I don’t know.”

“Dysentery has a rapid onset. She’s been confined to her room for two or three days now, and you’re still showing no symptoms. You should be fine.” The Provisioning Officer had made careful inquiries, so she remained composed. “It seems the rubing wasn’t the problem after all.”

Director Pan, however, asked, “Tell me the truth. Is there any connection between the people who fell ill here and the others?”

The Provisioning Officer hesitated for a moment before nodding reluctantly. “That day, a fresh delivery of bayberries came from outside. I told her to wash them and distribute them to the various palaces. Who could have known…”

Director Pan fell silent for a moment before declaring decisively, “Begin the investigation with this palace maid. Whether your responsibility is great or small depends on how she contracted the illness.”

Since Director Pan was still awake, Chief Steward He naturally had no intention of sleeping either.

Holding a cup of tea, he lowered his eyes to look at the eunuch kneeling on the floor and asked unhurriedly, “Go on, tell me.”

The eunuch was sweating profusely, practically swearing by Heaven itself. “I swear it wasn’t me! Even if I had a thousand or ten thousand lives to spare, I wouldn’t dare tamper with the food meant for our masters!”

He belonged to the Imperial Food Service, responsible for delivering fresh vegetables, fruits, meat, milk, and other provisions every day. There was a good reason Chief Steward He had chosen to interrogate him first.

Chief Steward He sneered. “So you didn’t do anything at all?”

The eunuch hesitated.

“You’re not going to tell the truth, are you?” Chief Steward He sneered again. “Drag him outside and give him ten strokes. Then we’ll see if he feels like talking.”

Palace maids and eunuchs were treated differently. Palace maids were not ordinarily beaten; when they committed an offence, they were disciplined through measures such as carrying bells and straightening their posture. Eunuchs, however, were a tougher lot, and beatings and verbal abuse were part of their everyday lives.

“I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything!” The man hurriedly begged for mercy.

Chief Steward He said coldly, “Too late. Beat him!”

Two burly eunuchs came in and dragged him outside. Unable to find a suitable wooden rod, they used a door bar instead, taking turns to strike him until all ten strokes had been delivered. Then they dragged him back inside and dumped him on the floor of the hall.

The eunuch struggled to prop himself up and said gratefully, “Thank you.”

He really did have reason to be grateful. It was like the warning strokes administered to prisoners in an official yamen: enough to intimidate and establish authority, but not enough to cause serious injury.

Chief Steward He cut straight to the point. “Talk.”

“Yes, yes.” The eunuch had become much more cooperative. He confessed, “There was genuinely nothing wrong with the supplies. We just wanted to delay the delivery a little and make the Provisioning Office panic.”