Chapter 72

Chapter 72 In the midst of the commotion, a flake of snow was startled from the eaves. Feishuang's eyes were full of distress. "The medicine we just got her to drink—she's thrown it all up now." Feixu immediately said, "Could there be something wrong with the medicine?" Feishuang was taken aback. "I fetched this medicine myself from the pharmacy, and I watched it the entire time it was being decocted. It never passed through anyone else's hands." After vomiting, Concubine Li leaned weakly against the bed, her face still as pale as before. She said in a feeble voice, "Go summon the residence physician." "Now that news of my pregnancy has been announced, I can openly claim to be unwell." Feixu quickly replied, "This servant will go at once." She thought to herself that this time, there must be no mishap, so she decided to call for two physicians instead. As she was leaving, Feixu overheard the young maidservants on duty outside whispering among themselves. "What's going on? Concubine Lu hasn't even come, so why is our mistress still vomiting?" "I heard it wasn't Concubine Lu who harmed our mistress." "But the way our mistress is acting doesn't seem like normal morning sickness either. She's vomiting this violently—it's a bit like that one..." "Like who?" Feixu said coldly, stepping in front of the two young maidservants. The two maidservants were startled out of their wits and quickly bowed. "Greetings, Sister Feixu." Feixu only asked, "Who did you just say our mistress resembles?" The maidservants exchanged a glance and said cautiously, "She—she resembles Consort Fang a little." Consort Fang?! Feixu immediately recalled that Consort Fang had also vomited during her pregnancy, even to the point of spitting blood. The imperial physician had advised that her child could not be saved, yet in the end, it was discovered that she had been poisoned. Feixu felt a chill run through her heart and immediately turned back. After taking two steps, she returned and said, "You two—if you dare gossip again while on duty, you can go back home and lie dead there!" The maidservants quickly acknowledged. Returning to the main chamber, Feixu hurried forward and grasped her mistress's hand. "Mistress, I fear we've all fallen for Concubine Han's scheme!" Concubine Li looked at her in confusion. Feixu quickly relayed what the two maidservants had said. Concubine Li was a clever woman and immediately caught the implication. "You mean Concubine Lu didn't harm me—she was merely a smokescreen set up by Concubine Han." "The real cause of my unstable pregnancy lies elsewhere?" Feixu nodded. "Exactly so!" Feixu said with a grave expression, "I fear someone has already tampered with things in our courtyard." Feishuang's face also turned pale. Concubine Li's body swayed slightly, and the two maidservants immediately stepped forward to support her. "I was negligent." Concubine Li seemed to have a sudden realization. "I was just thinking—she's the legitimate daughter of General Dingyuan, after all. How could she use such vile and blatant methods to harm someone?" Feixu added, "No wonder that day at the Green Pine Courtyard, Concubine Lu was so composed." "She must have known she wouldn't be in trouble, which is why she wasn't flustered." Concubine Li let out a sigh. "Feixu, go to the Green Pine Courtyard and find the Princess Consort!" "Feishuang, take some people and search the main quarters thoroughly—especially my bedchamber!" The bedchamber was where Concubine Li spent the most time each day. If someone had tampered with that room, then Concubine Li was truly in danger. The entire Qingzhu Courtyard sprang into action. Before Feixu could even return with the residence physicians, Feishuang had already found a suspicious sachet. Feishuang's face was dark as she said, "This is an item our mistress brought out from the palace. It's always been locked in this chest." Who would have known that someone had secretly swapped it? When she was turning over the bedding and pillows on the bed, Feishuang's movements paused. She picked up the pillow and sniffed it. A fragrant aroma assailed her nose—it was the cold plum scent that Concubine Li wore, with nothing unusual about it. But when she sniffed more carefully, she detected a faint trace of a rich, cloying fragrance beneath. Feishuang warily set the item aside. By the time Nanny Li arrived with the residence physicians, half an hour had already passed. Nanny Li said, "Concubine Li, the Princess Consort was worried something might have happened, so she sent me to check on you." Concubine Li curved her lips into a faint smile. "I've troubled you, Nanny." "For the sake of Concubine Li and the child in her belly, how could I dare call it trouble?" Nanny Li said with a smile. "Both physicians, please examine Concubine Li now." This time, Doctor Zhao and Doctor Luo had come. Concubine Li felt at ease letting the two take turns checking her pulse. After a moment, both fell into contemplative silence. Doctor Zhao spoke first. "In just half a day's time, how has Concubine Li's pulse weakened so much?" He asked in confusion, "Has Concubine Li overexerted herself or come into contact with something she shouldn't have?" Feishuang answered on her mistress's behalf: "Our mistress simply accompanied the old physician to the Princess Consort's courtyard, then came back and rested." "Just now, this servant decocted the medicine according to the old physician's prescription, but shortly after our mistress drank it, she vomited it all up." Doctor Zhao stroked his beard and mused, "That shouldn't be the case?!" Doctor Luo glanced at him sidelong and said calmly, "Has Concubine Li checked the items around her?" Concubine Li and her two attending maidservants all stiffened. Concubine Li didn't keep them in suspense and simply said to Feishuang, "Go bring what you just found for the two physicians to see." Feishuang carried a tray with the sachet placed on top, while a maidservant behind her held a pillow. Imperial Physician Zhao examined the sachet and confirmed, "What's inside this sachet is musk!" Doctor Luo studied the pillow for a long while, then had someone fetch a pair of scissors and cut the pillow into shreds, which made the others nervous with apprehension. After a moment, Doctor Luo said, "Part of the buckwheat inside this pillow has been soaked in poison—the same poison that Consort Fang was afflicted with." Concubine Li and her two maidservants' faces changed drastically. Doctor Luo continued, "Fortunately, the poisoner was cautious and didn't dare use too much poison, or else Mistress Li would have been in mortal danger." Concubine Li's breath seemed to freeze for a long moment. Back then, Consort Fang had only smelled the poison from behind a window and had vomited blood. She slept on this pillow day and night, inhaling it closely—perhaps one day she would have died in her sleep without even knowing it. Feishuang said with a pale face, "This pillow was made by my own hands because I saw that my mistress hadn't been sleeping well these past few days. How could it have been poisoned..." Nanny Li also said, "What heaven-cursed villain would do such a hell-worthy deed!" "May I trouble both physicians to inspect Mistress Li's entire room thoroughly, so there won't be any other hidden malicious items!" The two physicians knew she was one of the Princess Consort's people, so they quickly bowed in acknowledgment.