Chapter 168 Poisoned
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“Fu Mingzhu, don’t close your eyes, stay awake! I won’t allow you to fall asleep!” Yuwen Chu’s grip on Mingzhu’s hand caused her pain. She wanted to answer him, but she felt she had no strength left. She vaguely thought, wondering if he heard what she said in her dreams?
She tried her best to keep her eyelids open, but they became heavier and heavier. A sudden sharp pain spread across her face as Yuwen Chu pinched her cheek. Angered, she cursed at him, “How dare you pinch me, I’ll definitely…”
Definitely what? She couldn’t think of anything, and another wave of pain shot through her chest, rendering her unable to think clearly.
Yuwen Chu looked around in panic, trembling lips trying to ask Su Lan, who looked terrified, something. Then he quickly turned his head and shouted loudly out of the window, “Tang Chunlai! Tang Chunlai! Get over here right away! Or I’ll kill you!”
Tang Chunlai, disheveled and barefoot, was dragged in and thrown through the door. Without hesitation, he crawled over to Mingzhu to check her pulse, then hastily wrote a prescription: “Boil two bowls of water into one, high heat, the faster, the better.” Then he turned back to Yuwen Chu and whispered, “It’s Ziyanghuang poisoning. Luckily, it’s not too severe, otherwise there would be no person left.”
Yuwen Chu closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. “Spread my orders. Everyone serving in the kitchen and this room, every single one of them, must be closely monitored!” He was sweating profusely, his back soaked through with sweat. He dared not imagine that just two days into their marriage, he had not yet fully awakened from the romantic dream of the previous night. He had been troubled by her ruthless teasing last night and embarrassed by his own childish sulking. Yet, she had almost drifted away from him! At that moment, all the teasing and sulking seemed trivial. As long as she was alive, nothing else mattered.
“The cause of the poisoning can’t be found out for a while. If the Wangfei is awake, it’s fine. We can ask her what she ate or used. But if she’s unconscious, it’s not appropriate to ask some things.” Tang Chunlai chose his words carefully, speaking vaguely.
Yuwen Chu understood what he meant. Yesterday, Mingzhu went to the palace with him to pay respects to the two palaces in the harem and the young emperor. Many things she touched were uncontrollable. Not to mention, for a while, Mingzhu even met the Great Empress Dowager alone… But the Great Empress Dowager had no reason to harm Mingzhu. She had lost her son, and Mingzhu was her beloved child. She wouldn’t poison her precious child just because she was dissatisfied.
As for his Royal Mother, he had eaten almost everything she had eaten, and the Green Phoenix Marrow, he had personally handed it to her. Yuwen Chu rubbed his temples impatiently. Who could it be? Who was so ruthless and powerful? What was the purpose of doing this? It was obvious that whoever did this wanted to disrupt the marriage between Ying Wang’s Mansion and the Fu family.
There were many people who could benefit from this. The Mother and son in the palace? Jiang Shanshan? No, although Zhaoyang palace might be jealous, it was unlikely that they would act again so soon after the incident with the camel soup. That would be suicidal. As for Jiang Shanshan? He didn’t think Ying Wang’s Mansion had fallen to the point where they would let a woman stir up trouble like this.
There must be someone hiding behind this, quietly manipulating everything, setting up a big trap. Yuwen Chu calmed down and looked out the slightly brightening window. Over there, on the distant border, Zhongshan Wang, who commanded a large army, lay quietly like a huge fierce monster, as if sleeping. In fact, his shadow was in every important matter. Only he had such power to manipulate so many things quietly.
Seemingly indifferent, seemingly unambitious, only wanting to fulfill the last wishes of the late emperor, to maintain the prosperity of the Yuwen family, to support the Min and Fu families to fight against each other, and to ensure that the Fu family wouldn’t disturb the court. In fact, what Zhongshan Wang wanted to see most was for both the Min and Fu families to be damaged in the struggle. And he, unexpectedly, became the unstable factor in this originally balanced struggle between the two Empress Dowagers.
What would he do if it were him? Of course, he couldn’t let others break the carefully designed plan he had worked on for many years. So now, with the situation unclear, for Zhongshan Wang, if he remained neutral and didn’t reveal his true face, he would remain safe and hidden, while gaining more support and reputation. On the contrary, once he exposed his true face, he would immediately be opposed by the Fu and Min families.
Therefore, the best way was to sow discord between them, let them fight each other, and consume each other internally. This would achieve the best results. If Mingzhu died, whether it was himself, the Fu family, or the Min family, they would spare no effort to clear their names or catch the real culprit, and it was difficult to prevent them from exposing Zhongshan Wang. So it was better to lightly touch them, not to let them dig deeply, but also to deepen their mutual suspicion.
Truly, it’s a blessing from above. It’s not Empress Dowager Min’s intervention, it was this specific situation that Zhongshan Wang could have acted recklessly. Otherwise, Mingzhu would have been lost for sure. I’m not strong enough, not strong enough… Yuwen Chu grew restless, gritting his teeth as he instructed the young eunuch Wei Tiande, “Go to the palace immediately. See the Great Empress Dowager and tell her that Wangfei is ill. Ask her to allow Mu Gugu to come and see her.”
All his subordinates proceeded in an orderly manner, Su Lan brought the medicine soup in with a pale face, and whispered softly, “Your Highness, the medicine is ready. Mr. Meng is also here, waiting outside.”
Yuwen Chu took the medicine bowl and looked at her coldly. “Do you know why everyone else was locked up, leaving only you?”
Su Lan shook her head.
“It’s because the Wangfei likes you the most and trusts you the most. Don’t disappoint me.” Yuwen Chu fed Mingzhu the medicine. “You take good care of her for me. I won’t forget your kindness. If you have any other intentions, I’ll reward you with a fishing net and a sharp knife. Do you understand?”
Who wouldn’t understand the punishment of lingchi? Su Lan gritted her teeth and replied, “This servant understands.”
After feeding the medicine, Yuwen Chu carefully covered Mingzhu with the blanket, walked to the outer room, and discussed countermeasures with Mister Meng. Su Lan knelt beside the bed, holding Mingzhu’s hand tightly, and asked Tang Chunlai, who was sitting beside her in a daze, softly, “Doctor Tang, will our Wangfei wake up soon?”
Tang Chunlai frowned and said with a worried expression, “Who knows? Perhaps she’ll wake up tomorrow morning, or it may take several days. After all, this kind of poison was only brought over from overseas more than ten years ago. It’s amazing that I can cure it. The Wangfei is lucky to have met me.”
“It’s good if she wakes up.” Su Lan sighed, secretly thinking, if the Wangfei hadn’t married into this Ying Wang’s Mansion, she might not have been poisoned at all.
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