Minister Zhuo was starting to lose track of what was true or false. He said irritably, "Xuezhen, at least your injury isn't serious. Go home and rest up for now, we'll talk about everything else later. I need to get to court."
Fatigue was written all over his face, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.
He hadn't slept all night, keeping vigil beside Lena.
"Minister!" Grace Wan called out.
"What is it now?" asked Minister Zhuo.
"Minister, is there really no place for me in this house anymore?" Tears streamed down Grace Wan's face.
Ever since she lost her authority as housekeeper, she'd felt endlessly wronged. These tears were at least eighty percent genuine.
"What kind of talk is that?" Minister Zhuo asked.
"Grace—she really wants to kill me!" Grace Wan sobbed, clutching her neck wound. "And you just don't care?"
"So what do you want me to do?" Minister Zhuo sounded impatient. "You two each have your own story—should we go to the authorities, or do you want me to drag Grace off for a harsh interrogation?"
Grace Wan was silent for a moment, then said, "If you can't give me justice, Minister, if you can't protect me, then I'll have to go to Emperor Henry and Empress Wendy for help! I don't want to die yet!"
"Go ahead!" Grace replied coolly. "I'll be waiting!"
"You better think this through. Once you're in front of Emperor Henry and Empress Wendy, it's not going to be as simple as just explaining things!" Grace Wan threatened. "If Her Majesty feels sorry for me and wants to punish you, there's nothing I can do!"
"Heh! Auntie!" Grace said, enunciating each word. "I didn't try to kill you, so go ahead and tell whoever you want! If you really have the power to get me punished, then I guess that's just my bad luck! Satisfied?"
A fleeting smile flashed in Grace Wan's eyes. "Fine! Let's go to the palace and settle this!"
With that, she turned and stormed off in a huff.
Her steps were quick and furious, brimming with anger.
......
Grace Wan didn't rush to the palace. Instead, she went to Wan Estate and met up with Leon Wan.
"Xuezhen, what's got you rushing over here like this?" Leon Wan asked.
"Brother, have you ever told anyone about what happened back then?" Grace Wan asked.
"What are you talking about?"
"The Spirit Root..."
"Of course not! Why would I ever breathe a word about that? I'm not looking to get myself killed!" Leon Wan replied immediately.
"That's what's so strange. Besides the two of us, everyone else who knew is dead! How did Grace find out?"
"She knows?" Leon Wan gasped. "How... how does she know?"
"I'm stumped too!" Grace Wan said. "Last night she showed up with a sword, tried to kill me, and said she knew all about the Spirit Root and the poisoning!"
"Maybe she was just fishing for information?"
"No way," Grace Wan replied. "Otherwise, she wouldn't have actually tried to kill me. Even my protective talisman was activated!"
Leon Wan fell silent for a moment, then asked, "So what do we do now?"
"She'll definitely tell everyone about the Spirit Root and the poisoning!" Grace Wan narrowed her eyes. "So instead of letting her speak, we should speak first!"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm heading to the palace soon to stir up trouble about her trying to kill me last night! I'll just play the victim—she won't have any proof anyway!" Grace Wan said.
Leon Wan thought it over and nodded. "Yeah, that could work! This way, if she brings it up again later, it won't be news anymore—no one will believe her!"