Chapter 10: Schemes

Why would the Dowager deliberately put such a disgrace on her own deceased son? Both Wang Keyue and the others understood the reasoning behind her actions. Once they had left the capital of Qin, these officers grew increasingly brazen. The Dowager saw this with her own eyes and felt a mounting anxiety. In order to safeguard the honor of the women in the Marquis’s household, she opted for a ruthless and unyielding approach. Yet behind all this lay a deep, poignant helplessness; to preserve the last shred of dignity for the Marquis’s family, she had exhausted every possible means.

At first, these officers still harbored some fear toward the Dowager, once the holder of a first-rank title. Their conduct was somewhat restrained, and they only set their sights on the lower maidservants. But as they traveled farther from the capital, the officers grew increasingly audacious.

Now, a group of these officers muttered their discontent, and the leader’s eyes shone with unconcealed greed. His gaze once again fell directly upon Wang Keyue standing behind the Dowager, making alarm bells ring in Wang Keyue’s mind. His eyes were so intense that she felt a chill creep over her scalp.

Wang Keyue knew now—she was likely to become his next target. There were ten days left before they would reach the northwestern border. It seemed there would be no way to escape this calamity; she would have to devise a way to confront it, and quickly.

She racked her brains for anything she could use, and suddenly remembered the novice’s gift pack she’d received before, which contained a vial of anesthetic. Examining it closely, she found it was a tiny glass bottle, not much bigger than a thumb, filled with powder.

That made it easier to manage. Taking advantage of a moment when no one was looking, Wang Keyue quietly emptied the contents of the vial, wrapped the powder in a piece of coarse paper, and slipped it into her sleeve pocket.

Uncertain about the appropriate dosage, she simply decided to use it all at once, planning to sprinkle the anesthetic into the officers’ food.

She had observed that for the past two days, both the officers and the female prisoners’ meals had been prepared by a hunchbacked middle-aged man from the group. Of course, he couldn’t manage all the work alone, so he had a kitchen maid from the Marquis’s house and two of the Dowager’s old attendants helping him.

If she could persuade the Dowager to cooperate, the chances of success would rise significantly. Remembering the Dowager’s previous methods, her temperament, and her extraordinary endurance, Wang Keyue felt a chill run down her spine.

She was certain the Dowager would not resign herself to the decline of the Marquis’s household. Thus, she was confident.

“Grandmother, if this goes on, I fear I’ll be next,” Wang Keyue whispered with a sigh as another night quietly descended, hiding behind the Dowager.

In just two nights, the third uncle’s wife, Madame Liu, had already lost her mind, and tonight, three more kitchen maids had been summoned to serve the officers.

The Dowager trembled as she heard her granddaughter’s helpless murmur. She had considered the worst possibilities and had endured humiliation and made every concession, even willing to pay any price to prevent disaster. She hadn’t expected the officers’ greed to be so boundless or the situation so uncontrollable. Perhaps she had been wrong from the very start.

“Yue’er, it won’t happen. Don’t worry—Grandmother will not let it happen,” the Dowager replied, looking at her legitimate granddaughter. She knew the girl must have already realized the truth, for her gaze was unwavering.

“Grandmother, now that things have come to this, I have a plan…” Wang Keyue whispered her scheme to the Dowager.

As for the packet of powder in her hand, Wang Keyue decided to pin it on her late third uncle. He had always been in poor health and frequently took medicine; there were always medicinal herbs drying in his courtyard.

After hearing the plan, the Dowager clutched the packet Wang Keyue had given her, her eyes alight with sudden hope.

With Wang Keyue’s plan as a foundation, the Dowager’s own cunning took it a step further, making their strategy even more thorough—leaving almost nothing to chance.