Qu Fulan was quickly dragged over.
She had no choice, as she was injured and hungry, lacking the strength, her whole demeanor was listless, her complexion pale.
However, upon entering the room and seeing the evidence, Qu Fulan's face surprisingly did not show any sign of panic.
"Who says just because it was found in my bed that it belongs to me?"
"How dare you still argue!" Yueyuan exclaimed angrily, "I advise you to confess the truth quickly, maybe the old lady will spare your life!"
"Please find a servant with a keen sense of smell to sniff each bed, including everyone's cabinets without missing any."
Seeing Haitang's always composed manner, Yueyuan thought to herself that she either had nothing to hide, or she was deeply scheming to remain so calm.
Regardless of the reason, it must be investigated thoroughly to find out.
Yueyuan was not foolish, so she immediately did as Haitang suggested.
Nobody expected the situation to escalate like this, a maid subconsciously clenched her hand, watching the servant sniff each bed, her expression turned anxious and flustered, biting her lip, her heart began to race.
Finally, the servant finished sniffing, Yueyuan asked, "How is it?"
The servant replied, "I smelled flower pollen scent on two beds."
Upon saying this, she pointed to one of them.
Yueyuan's face immediately darkened, "Whose bed is that?"
This time, without the maids saying, the maid broke into a cold sweat and knelt down, "That is my bed, but I am innocent, I do not have flower pollen, it must be Haitang framing me to exonerate herself!"
Yueyuan said, "You claim she framed you, then why was the flower pollen found on her bed, and not yours?"
Sweat trickled down the maid's forehead, she turned pale and could not utter a word.
What was left for Yueyuan to not understand? She immediately ordered to take the girl away.
"Beat her until she confesses!"
The young maid who kept shouting her innocence was taken away.
It took less than ten hits before she couldn't help but confess.
This maid was called Hai Dong, she entered the household with Haitang, but Haitang was beautiful, and although they were both low-ranking maids, Haitang often received the steward's son's favor due to her beauty.
Hai Dong liked that steward's son, hence she envied Haitang, wanting to ruin Haitang, so the steward's son would like her instead.
The flower pollen was brought when she entered the household, she liked the scent herself, and it helped her sleep at night.
After entering the house, she learned that the old lady would get hives from this pollen, later she wanted to frame Haitang, and used this method incidentally, claiming she didn't know it would nearly kill the old lady, she thought it would merely be uncomfortable.
"This is the truth, I really didn't mean it, I beg sister to spare me!" Hai Dong pleaded.
What a foolish girl, this matter concerns the old lady's safety, whether intentional or not no longer matters.
Regardless, it was a death sentence.
Indeed, Yueyuan coldly said, "Take her away, beat her to death with sticks!"
Hai Dong was stunned, evidently not expecting to be sentenced to death after confessing, she immediately cried out for mercy.
"Sister, spare me! Sister, spare me! Hai Dong knows her mistake, will not dare again, please give me a chance..."
In the end, she was mercilessly dragged away, and as each stick fell, Hai Dong's heart-wrenching screams echoed throughout the courtyard.
Eventually, only the sound of sticks could be heard in the air, and she no longer made a sound.
Yueyuan even specially had the other maids watch to set an example.
The effect was quite apparent, as each maid showed fear on their faces, their bodies trembling.
Afterward, Qu Fulan was left to speak alone.
"It turns out we wrongly accused you, you can rest assured, I will definitely explain the situation to the old lady and bring you justice, you even saved the old lady yesterday, you will not lack the reward, you can rest assured and heal."
Qu Fulan replied, "Haitang here first thanks sister."
Yueyuan said, "You are very clever, knowing how to clear your name."
"I am not clever, otherwise I wouldn't have been manipulated to harm the old lady, the reason I can be exonerated is because of being true to my conscience."
"I understand, I will go see the old lady, and come back to visit you."
Qu Fulan lay in bed to recuperate, also taking the opportunity to reassess the current situation.
This time, she managed to clear her name, relying not only on her clear conscience but also the novel's plot.
She transmigrated into a classical novel she read before sleeping named "Fallen Noble Daughter," becoming the heroine of the book, having knowledge of the plot, which allowed her to know how to extricate herself.
In the novel, the heroine did not know medicine, she also ended up fine, for no reason other than the old lady would not die from this incident.
The symptoms only appeared severe, waiting for a famous doctor to arrive and save her.
And the heroine was beaten unconscious for a whole day and night without saying anything, Yueyuan ordered a room search thinking the evidence was conclusive enough to make her speak.
Even if the pollen was gone, as long as it was stored before, it would certainly leave a trace, then find a servant with a keen nose to sniff.
This sniffing led them to Hai Dong's bed, ultimately exonerating the heroine.
Now Qu Fulan merely borrowed the novel's storyline and cleverly used the time difference to save the old lady before any famous doctor arrived.
Due to this change, Hai Dong feared Haitang might redeem herself, transferred the pollen to Haitang's bed, attempting to cement both witness and evidence, leaving Haitang with no chance to turn the tide.
Unfortunately, she was still foolish, regardless of whether she moved the pollen, ultimately the blame would point to her.
Because the storage time of the pollen affects the residual scent concentration, thus one can determine who is the real culprit.
The first difficulty she faced upon transmigration was thus resolved.
Qu Fulan lay in bed recuperating for four days before starting to work.
During these four days, she was basically well-fed and catered to, thus her injuries healed quickly, plus she was a doctor herself, knowing what medicine to take for quick recovery.
During this period, Sister Yueyuan also kept her promise, securing the old lady's reward for her, Qu Fulan placed it in her cabinet, but the cabinet had no lock.
None of the maids' cabinets had locks, to get a lock, one would have to wait until the monthly salary was issued and buy it themselves.
Qu Fulan didn't mind, confidently putting the reward in the cabinet, then going to work.
Unbeknownst to her, a maid outside the window saw her placing the reward in the cabinet, such a large amount of reward money made the maid's eyes red with envy.
Third-class maids had to do all kinds of work, including tending the tea furnaces, cleaning the rooms and courtyards, wiping tables, washing clothes, and all sorts of heavy chores.
Qu Fulan just finished working, returned to the large dormitory, but upon reaching the door she heard a conversation inside.
"I remember she put the money here, how come I can't find it now?"
"Are you sure you're not mistaken? We've searched thoroughly but found nothing."
"Impossible, I specifically watched her hide the money, such a large reward, it was all hidden in the cabinet, I saw it clearly...how could it disappear now?"
"Maybe she changed hiding places later? Maybe it's under the mattress? Let's search her bed!"
"Right!"
"What are you two looking for, would you like me to help you search?"
The two instantly stiffened, subconsciously turning, only to see Haitang walking in from the doorway.