108 Sabotage (2/2)
”Yeah, ever since you came, everyone in Heavenly Residence had been good,” Deng Haichuan said.
”No, no. Some people weren't happy that we were the ones chosen by Brother Yao,” Cui Dongpeng pointed out.
”Those are all just complaints and grumbles. They wouldn't harm us like that,” Deng Haichuan defended, clearly knowing who Cui Dongpeng was talking about.
”You can't say that for sure. How can you know what's really in a person's heart?” Cui Dongpeng reasoned.
”You mean Liu Qisheng?” Ye Jiayao guessed. Liu Qisheng was Zhong Xiang's previous crony who held a rally against her. Now that Zhong Xiang had given up going against her and instead became her right hand, Liu Qisheng must be feeling betrayed.
Zhong Xiang's face dropped.
Cui Dongpeng analyzed, ”We did a test the day before yesterday and everything was fine so you said that we don't need to test anymore. There weren't many people around, but I remember that Liu Qisheng was there. He must've done it between two nights ago and last night because he's sure that we wouldn't check the ingredients again.”
”That's very logical,” Ye Jiayao agreed.
”But we can't just point fingers at Liu Qisheng. Everyone there is also suspicious,” Zhong Xiang said, trying to stand up for Liu Qisheng.
Wang Mingde suddenly blurted out, ”I remember something! Two nights ago, at midnight, I'm pretty sure I saw Liu Qisheng sneaking back to his room.”
”Perhaps he just went to the toilet,” Zhong Xiang tried.
Wang Mingde shook his head. ”No, it didn't look like it. Since when did he care about not waking anyone up when he goes to the toilet? No, that was different. He was sneaking back in, tip-toeing and trying to be stealthy.”
Everyone fell silent at that. Zhong Xiang looked sad and disappointed.
Ye Jiayao deduced, ”From how the flour base cracked open, I'm guessing it was because the sticky rice powder was mixed with flour. Yang's white flour is very fine and is very hard to distinguish from the sticky rice powder. Right now, Liu Qisheng is our only suspect. However, until we have concrete evidence, this stays among us. We'll get to the bottom of this once the feast is finished.”
”What do we do with these 100 mooncakes?” Deng Haichuan asked.
”It's useless.” That almost physically hurt Ye Jiayao. This lot cost 100 silver pieces!
”We can eat it ourselves,” Wang Mingde suggested.
Ye Jiayao nodded helplessly. ”You guys can keep 20, I'll take the rest.”
She would give it to Uncle and Auntie Jiang.
”Okay, get back to work. Brother Xiang, I'll leave this to you. You must keep everything in check, alright?
”Where are you going?” Zhong Xiang asked.
Ye Jiayao replied,”We don't have enough fillings, I need to go back to make them!”
Everyone worked until the sun rose. After they have made 400 mooncakes, they then moved on to steamed longevity peaches. They needed to make a large quantity of this so that they could give it to neighbors and passerby.
In order to get the day off to participate in the Old Royal Concubine's birthday celebration, Xia Chunyu worked for three days in a row.
He came to the Helian Mansion early in the morning to help accommodate the guests. He and Helian Xuan stood side by side welcoming guests. One wore a purple and gold snake cloak and another wore sea and cloud cotton cloak. They both looked handsome and regal.
”I heard sister-in-law has quite the heart. Helian Jing told me that there was a problem with 100 pieces of mooncakes. Sister-in-law decided to just throw it away instead of serving it,” Helian Xuan told him.
”How could something like that happen?” Xia Chunyu was surprised. Yaoyao always did things carefully and meticulously. Yaoyao must be heartbroken with that much waste.
”That I don't know.” Helian Xuan shrugged. ”By the way, I've invited Mu Shilang like you asked. What are you planning?”
”I want to see someone from his family,” Xia Chunyu answered vaguely.
”Man or woman?” Helian Xuan turned to him, intrigued.
Xia Chunyu smiled and shook his head. ”You'll know in time.”
This was a good opportunity to rub elbows with high ranking nobles that Wei Liujiang wouldn't pass up. Xia Chunyu was hoping that Ye Jinrong would come as well so he could set things in motion.
If all goes to plan, this was the first step in his quest to avenge Yaoyao.
Xia Chunyu tried to sneak into the kitchen, but just as he was about to enter, Helian Jing came out the door.
”Brother Chunyu, what are you doing here? Are you looking for some food or Yaoyao?” He Lianjing asked. ”If you're looking for Yaoyao, he's really busy now. He even kicked me out.”
Xia Chunyu lied, ”I came to find you. Your brother and I are so busy that we don't even have the time to go to the toilet but you're just here, scrounging for food. Your brother told me to bring you back.”
Helian Jing protested, ”I wasn't running away, I promise. I was just keeping watch with the food since that's the most important part of the celebration!”
”You don't need to explain to me. Go tell that to your brother.” Xia Chunyu turned away and left.
Helian Jing quickly followed behind him. ”Where's Chunfeng? He said he would help in the morning.”
”He's already here. He's watching the circus with Zhao Qixuan and the others.”
”Is that what he calls helping?” Helian Jing murmured exasperatedly.
The two was just coming out of the kitchen when they overheard someone report, ”Lord Mu Shilang is here.”
Xia Chunyu stopped and watched as Mu Shilang walked in with Mu Qingchu and Wei Liujiang. Behind them, with a manager maid and Mu Shilang's wife, was Ye Jinrong.