Food Specially Prepared for the Poison Mink

"Fortunately, you gave her the medicine in time, otherwise it would have been too late!" The Spiritual Alchemist looked relieved. "I heard the eldest miss was born with the Celestial Five-Element Root. If something had happened to her, it would have been such a pity."

The matron and Zhuo Minghan both looked grim.

Just then, the chief guard returned to report that after a thorough search, no one in the estate was raising Poison Mink.

Although the Poison Mink is technically a spirit beast, it's notoriously difficult to tame and extremely toxic. Usually, no one keeps them.

"So where did this thing come from?" The matron pointed at the dead beast on the ground and asked.

"Matron, Prime Minister," the nanny suddenly spoke up. "It's the middle of winter, and all the doors and windows are tightly shut. I checked—everything was perfectly fine!"

"What are you trying to say?" the matron asked.

"I think someone might have hidden the Poison Mink in the eldest miss's room ahead of time."

The matron looked at the doors, windows, and roof of Grace's room and found the explanation quite reasonable.

"I'm afraid... someone deliberately wanted to kill the eldest miss!" the nanny added. "And that person is very likely working right here in Serenity Pavilion!"

Zhuo Minghan's expression changed, and he ordered, "Someone, come here!"

"Yes, sir," the chief guard replied.

"Gather everyone in Serenity Pavilion. Everyone! Guards and servants alike. You, search their bodies. You, search their rooms," the Prime Minister commanded. "Do it now—immediately!"

"Yes, sir!" Hundreds of guards throughout the estate sprang into action, gathering everyone from Serenity Pavilion and conducting body and room searches.

Because Grace's life was at stake, Lena was also awakened and brought to Serenity Pavilion. She sat beside Grace's bed, her face full of worry.

......

It didn't take long before they found something.

In Mrs. Hu's room, they discovered food specifically used to feed Poison Mink.

It was hidden inside a junk box under the bed, extremely well concealed.

She was brought before Zhuo Minghan by the guards. Zhuo Minghan threw the package at her face and demanded, "What is this?"

Mrs. Hu was so scared she nearly wet herself. She stammered, "I... I don't know! I've never seen this thing before!"

"Huh?" Hope suddenly spoke up. "Mrs. Hu, isn't this the bundle you brought in yesterday? I asked you what it was, and you said it was millet from home!"

"You're lying! When did I ever take this?" Mrs. Hu wasn't stupid—she immediately realized this was probably a setup. "Matron, Prime Minister, this really isn't mine. They're trying to frame me!"

"Who do you think is framing you?" A cold, clear voice rang out—it was Lena. "Hope?"

This time, her voice was filled with an anger the servants had never seen before.

"Yes! That's right, I've never seen this bundle before—she's making it up!" Mrs. Hu cried anxiously.

"Mrs. Hu, I saw you bring that bundle in, too." Unexpectedly, Edward Wang spoke up. "Yesterday, I bumped into you at the Serenity Pavilion gate. Are you going to deny that as well?"

"I didn't, I didn't! Edward Wang, you're just siding with Hope and making things up!" Mrs. Hu shouted.

"I just remembered!" Claire suddenly exclaimed. "When we came back with the eldest miss this afternoon, I saw you sneak out of her room in a panic! So you were hiding the Poison Mink in there!"

Hope: "After all our eldest miss did for you—she let you take charge of Serenity Pavilion the moment you returned—and you still harbored such vicious intentions!"