Chapter 30: Laying Down the Law

The steward was taken aback, puzzled. “Second Miss, what’s the matter? The items your people brought over were just like this, weren’t they?”

“That’s impossible,” Tan Qingjiu sneered. “I know my own belongings well. Many of these items are rare medicinal herbs, extremely valuable and delicate, requiring careful storage.”

“That’s why, in the boxes containing precious medicinal materials, I always place inconspicuous gold threads. This lets me know the condition of my things and alerts me if someone has touched them. The moment the box is opened, the gold thread breaks.”

Tan Qingjiu picked up a box from the floor and pointed to the broken gold thread outside—so fine that it would go unnoticed without close inspection.

“My people all know about this. Whenever they need something by my order, they carefully untie the gold thread; it wouldn’t break like this.”

Turning her gaze steadily to the steward, Tan Qingjiu demanded, “Who has entered Yunshang Court?”

The steward looked confused and a little flustered. “I don’t know, Miss. I only came to take a look earlier, then waited for you at the door.”

Qing Dai hurried to explain, “Our people delivered the items to Yunshang Court but didn’t actually enter. They reported that someone from the Tan household stopped them, saying they weren’t informed the mistress would return today, so some areas hadn’t been cleaned yet. They asked us to leave the items at the entrance, promising to move them inside once cleaning was finished.”

Hearing this, the steward quickly added, “Yes, Madam said it wouldn’t do for Miss to return without attendants, so she sent a matron and two maids to organize Yunshang Court. I will fetch them at once…”

The steward hurried off. Tan Qingjiu and Qing Dai exchanged a look; Tan Qingjiu let out a cold laugh. “So, they’re planning to give me a show of authority.”

Soon, the steward returned, bringing with him a matron and two maids, gesturing toward the matron. “Second Miss, this is Madam’s chosen housekeeper for Yunshang Court, Matron Liu.”

After he spoke, the steward glanced at Matron Liu, urging, “Hurry and pay your respects to Second Miss.”

The three pursed their lips, glanced at Tan Qingjiu, and finally bowed their heads. “Paying—”

“That’s enough,” Tan Qingjiu said coolly. “If you’re so unwilling, it’s better not to bother.”

“Now, speak. Who touched my things?”

Matron Liu straightened up and stepped forward, her expression neither servile nor overbearing. “Reporting to Second Miss, none of us touched your belongings. Perhaps you didn’t organize them properly yourself?”

“Or perhaps, as you’re newly returned to the household, you’re looking to stir up trouble and establish your authority?”

Tan Qingjiu’s gaze lingered on Matron Liu, feeling a vague sense of familiarity, as though she’d seen her somewhere before. Watching Matron Liu for a while, memories stirred in her mind—memories belonging to her predecessor.

It turned out Matron Liu had once served Tan Yunge, but after Tan Yunge’s marriage, she couldn’t bring many attendants. Since Matron Liu was older than Matron Li, she remained in the Tan household.

This Matron Liu had not spared her from torment—pouring icy water on her only set of clean clothes in winter, tripping her when she wasn’t looking, mixing sand into her food.

Each time Matron Liu bullied her, Tan Yunge would come out to play the good person, scolding Matron Liu lightly and offering a few words of comfort.

How ironic, she thought, that after such a long circle, this person had finally landed in her hands.

Old grudges and new, all shall be repaid.

“You claim no one touched my things?”

“Yes, no one touched Second Miss’s belongings.”

Tan Qingjiu nodded. “Does Matron Liu know what I do now?”

Matron Liu glanced at Tan Qingjiu, uncertain why she asked, but answered anyway, “A physician.”

Matron Liu secretly scoffed—rumored to be some miracle healer. But surely, the title was more rumor than truth.

A few years ago, she was still in the Tan household, bullied and schemed against, always hiding in a corner crying. How could she have become a miracle physician in such a short time?

Tan Qingjiu’s lips curled into a smile as she stepped closer to Matron Liu. “So you know. Then do you also know the saying: a physician’s things should never be touched by outsiders—especially those unfamiliar with medicine?”

“Do you know why that is?”

Matron Liu cast a suspicious glance at Tan Qingjiu, instinctively stepping back twice. In her heart, she wondered why Second Miss seemed so different from years past.

A sense of intimidation emanated from Tan Qingjiu—a force Matron Liu had never felt before.

Matron Liu lowered her head. “I don’t know.”

Tan Qingjiu halted before her, lowering her voice until it was nearly a whisper in Matron Liu’s ear. “Because among medicinal herbs, there are not only those that heal, but also those that kill.”

“If a non-physician ignorant of pharmacology meddles with them, disaster can easily follow.”

With that, Tan Qingjiu strode to the neatly stacked items on the floor, casually picking up a medicine box. “Take, for example, the herbs stored in these boxes bound with gold thread. The one I hold now is called mountain bulb—highly poisonous. If the uninitiated touch it, their limbs will grow numb and itchy, and soon swell and turn blue.”

Matron Liu instinctively drew her hands behind her, flexing her fingers nervously.

Whether it was a trick of the mind or something else, she suddenly felt a tingling numbness in her fingers.

Matron Liu furrowed her brow, hurriedly lifting her hands and gathering most of them within her sleeves, peeking out cautiously.

That single glance made her eyes widen in shock. Her hands were indeed swollen and bluish—the discoloration frighteningly apparent.

“This poison is not entirely lethal. If the antidote is administered in time, there will be no lasting effects. But if it’s not, its toxicity is severe. Symptoms take time to manifest, but once they appear, they spread rapidly.”

“The best time to detoxify is within half an hour. If not, your limbs will swell, fester, and become crippled.”

Matron Liu’s eyes shot wide open. Crippled?

A cold shiver ran through her, her gaze fixed on the box in Tan Qingjiu’s hand.

Had she touched this item earlier? She couldn’t even remember.

Flustered and at a loss, Matron Liu watched as Tan Qingjiu suddenly strode up to her, forcefully pulling her concealed hand from her sleeve. “Is there anything else you wish to explain, Matron Liu?”