Nanny Sun's usually calm face showed signs of strain as she hesitantly looked up at Song Chuning.

  Before she'd arrived, Prince Duan's wetnurse and Lady Fang had warned her about the unique nature of this Eighth Miss Song, but their interactions over the past few days had nearly made her forget those warnings. This was a wolf that would tear someone apart and swallow them whole.

  The dizziness in Song Chuning's head was intensifying. She pressed her temples with all her might to no effect, and, in desperation, she pulled a hairpin from her head and stabbed it into her own foot.

  She was never one to hold back on herself, especially as she loathed the feeling of losing control. This illness had struck so mysteriously that, a few days prior, she'd started sensing something amiss. Yet, each time the Marquis Estate sent food and medicine, her maids would sample it first, and none of them had suffered any symptoms.

  If the estate's provisions were safe, the issue could only be coming from someone within her inner circle.

  Cuiguo and Lushan cked the skill or opportunity, and with their families in her hands, they were as bound to her as grasshoppers on the same rope. So, that left only Nanny Sun, the one sent by Prince Duan's wetnurse. She had both the capability and the opportunity.

  "Don't think I won't do anything to you," Song Chuning threatened, her hand extending the hairpin toward Nanny Sun's face. "I can be ruthless with myself—do you think I'll show mercy to someone who betrays me? My patience has limits. If you don't talk, it might be your daughter who pays the price..."

  Though she hadn't been with Song Chuning long, Nanny Sun understood her character well enough to know she meant every word. Terrified, her legs gave out, and she colpsed to her knees, her hands shaking uncontrolbly. "No, no! It wasn't me! I only discovered you'd been poisoned after entering the estate..."

  So, it wasn't just an illness. Song Chuning's expression grew darker, her gaze icy. "You're saying you only realized I was poisoned after coming here?"

  Nanny Sun was utterly terrified, shrinking back as she watched the menacing figure of Song Chuning propped up in bed. Her voice trembled, and she stammered, "Y-yes... I only noticed the signs of poisoning after I arrived at the Song's residence..."

  Poisoned before she even reached the capital? In Changsha, where she had always thought herself safe and secure? But who could have done this?

  It had to be someone close. The only people she had ever let her guard down around were Song Yi and Lady Fang.

  Though she had always looked down on Song Yi, thinking him an unfit father, she knew him well enough to believe he wouldn't stoop to poisoning her—especially when he still hoped she'd be chosen as a companion to the princess. And he wasn't aware of her true nature, so why would he poison the daughter he had always doted on?

  Could it be Lady Fang?

  As she clutched the bedsheet tightly, her fingers turning pale from the force, Song Chuning looked at Nanny Sun with a fierce, twisted expression. "Then why didn't you say anything sooner?!"

  Held immobile by the servant women, Nanny Sun was utterly panicked, her voice breaking into a sob. "I didn't want to... but Lady Fang wouldn't allow me to speak!"

  So, it was her!

  No wonder her defenses had still failed—truly, the hardest enemy to guard against was a traitor within. But something still didn't make sense. Lady Fang was aligned with Prince Duan and usually took direct orders from his wetnurse, Qin Shi. Now that Prince Duan had made it clear he intended to support her, and Qin Shi still needed her help regarding Lady Rui, they had no reason to harm her at this time. So, what could their motive be?

  Only now did she realize that the agreed-upon method of communication had also ceased to work; her messages were met with silence. No news was coming in or out. She was, for all purposes, blind and deaf in the Marquis Estate, cut off from the outside world...

  Lady Fang had severed all her connections. But why?!

  Song Chuning's head throbbed as she thought, her vision darkening for a moment before she regained her senses. She coldly asked Nanny Sun, "Is there a way to detoxify?"

  Without waiting for a reply, she cast her an icy gnce, her voice void of warmth. "If I can't survive, don't think you will either. And your family will suffer even more."

  Nanny Sun, stunned by the question, was yanked by her hair, her cries desperate as she finally sobbed that she'd try her best.

  Waving for them to take Nanny Sun to the side room, Song Chuning's gaze turned dark as she looked toward the door, then turned to ask Cuiguo, "Have you gotten any closer to them these days?"

  She was referring to the nanny and attendants sent by Noble Consort Song from the pace. Cuiguo looked uncomfortable and shook her head. "Those nannies are impossible to please; nothing we do satisfies them... and since we're all confined to this courtyard, we can barely get any news, let alone discover their preferences."

  Her courtyard was guarded like an iron fortress, not even a mosquito could get through. Clearly, the Song family was taking extra precautions with her.

  But Song Chuning was never one to sit and wait. Rubbing her aching head, she sat on the bed for a while, then asked coldly, "Where are the pigeons I raised?"

  Before returning to the Marquis Estate, she'd brought ten pigeons, and now they'd serve their purpose—a result of her vigint nature. Cuiguo quickly pointed to the adjoining room, "They're well cared for and healthy."

  "Tomorrow morning, after breakfast, release all of them while those nannies are around," Song Chuning instructed, lying back down with Lüshan's help. She turned to remind Cuiguo, "All of them. Not a single one stays."

  Cuiguo began to understand what Song Chuning was pnning and hesitantly asked, "Release all of them? If this doesn't work, we won't be able to send messages out ter."

  Song Chuning's lips curled into a cold smile as she propped her head up on her hand against the pillow. "Do you really think that releasing them one by one will make any difference?"

  The Song family was keeping her under such tight watch, even bringing in pace nannies as part of their pn. Clearly, Song Chuyi had already instructed First Lady Song and Song Jue on how to deal with her. With security this strict, not even a hundred pigeons would manage to escape unnoticed.

  The pigeons weren't intended to carry messages at all.