Chapter 90: Children's worries

Chapter 90: Children's worries

Chapter 90 Children’s Worry

 “You said the princess was poisoned?”

In Princess Wenjun’s bedroom, the maid named Qiong Ying’s face suddenly changed: “Impossible!”

Another maid, Fangzi, murmured: "We have carefully inspected the princess's daily necessities. Because we were afraid that others might tamper with them, we didn't even use spices and only used flowers and fruits to smoke the house. As for food, we We ate and lived together with the princess, and neither Qiong Ying nor I had any reaction. How could the princess be poisoned..."

 Lu Zhen was silent.

 Poison does not have to be found in spices and food. As long as you are willing, it can be found everywhere.

She looked at the marks on Pei Yunshu's wrists and said, "It seems that the princess has been poisoned for some time."

Pei Yunshu looked as if he had been struck by lightning, her face was so pale that there was no trace of blood. She looked up at Lu Huan and said in a daze: "Doctor Lu, this poison..."

"I can't detoxify the princess until I figure out what kind of poison it is," Lu Yu said.

Pei Yunshu's body trembled, Fangzi hurriedly stepped forward to support her, and said anxiously: "Doctor, my princess rarely leaves the house because of her heavy body. There was no sign before this. Besides, the medical officers came after some time." He would come to your door and never found any problem, so how could he be poisoned?"

 Lu Zhen pondered for a moment and asked, "How long ago can the princess start to have symptoms of swelling of the back of the neck, fever and sweating, darkening of the skin, and wind and itching in the abdomen?"

Pei Yunshu thought for a while and said softly: "Nearly two months ago."

“Has the princess been anywhere in the past two months?”

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Lu Tong said: "The symptoms of this poison occurred two months ago, but the medical officer did not find it. The symptoms are signs that may appear in the late stages of pregnancy, so the person who poisoned them was very cautious. It should be that a small amount adds up to a big sum. The princess has already When you are exposed to poison, it will only show up after a certain period of time."

 She turned around and looked at Fangzi: "Now tell me what the princess does in her daily life. Everything is down to the smallest detail. Don't miss a single thing."

Hearing this, Fangzi recalled nervously for a moment, and then said: "The princess gets up at midnight every day, has breakfast, and walks around in the yard. It was hot a few days ago and she didn't dare to go out. She stayed in the house during the day. I read books, played the piano, and sketched patterns. After I became heavy, I fell asleep again. I took a short nap at the end of the night and fell asleep before Hai hour..."

“Three meals a day are shared by us and my wife, and there is also a small kitchen in the yard. It is impossible for anyone to poison it.”

Lu Zhen frowned slightly.

Since Fangzi is sure that no one will poison their food, there should be no problem. Pei Yunshu's daily life sounds very simple, just like her bedroom, which can be seen clearly at a glanceplaying the piano, tracing flowers...

Lu Tong took two steps outside, and his eyes fell on the guqin covered with silver gauze. He paused, stepped forward, and uncovered the silver gauze covering the guqin.

The guqin was deep and quiet, like a clear and cold piece of wood. Lu Zhen didn't know what kind of qin it was, so he just stretched out his hand and gently brushed it across the surface of the qin.

Qiong Ying just followed out and saw this scene, and said: "The medical officer said that listening to more peaceful music can make the baby in the belly happy, so the princess has to play one or two pieces of music every day." Seeing that Lu Zhuo was not moving, she said Cautiously asked, "Is there something wrong with this piano?"

Lu Zhen took back his hand: "No."

 The guqin is very clean, without any trace of poison. Not only the guqin, it should be said that Pei Yunshu's entire dormitory is very clean. As her maid said, for fear of causing trouble, she didn't even put an incense burner, but only placed some flowers and fruits to keep the fragrance.

Lu Zhen's eyes swept across the furnishings in the room, and when he passed by the table, his eyes suddenly stopped.

Not far from the guqin, there is a pair of small clay sculptures placed on a low table.

This pair of clay sculptures is very exquisitely made and brightly colored. They are painted to look like a boy holding a lotus pod, and they are also covered with a red gauze and green cage. The clay puppets are lifelike, and their clothes are inlaid with pearls, gold, and jade pendants made of ivory, which look very valuable.

 Lu Zhuo was startled, Mo Hailuo?

 She knew about the Mohira. During the Liang Dynasty, every Chinese Valentine's Day, vendors would sell such puppets on the street. People used the Moharu to worship the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl on the Chinese Valentine's Day. It is used to pray for the birth of a boy and more children and more blessings.

 When she was in Changwu County, she had seen people selling them when she went out with her family on Chinese Valentine's Day. However, this clay doll was small but expensive, so she had to give it a try.

Pei Yunshu's house is simple and elegant, except for such a pair of bright and exquisite clay dolls, which are out of place here.

Lu Zong stretched out his hand, picked up one of the clay dolls, put it under the tip of his nose and sniffed it gently, his eyebrows suddenly jumped.

ˆ˜Qiong Ying: “What’s wrong?”

Lu Zhen's expression became cold, he held the clay puppet tightly, turned around and entered the back room.

In the back room, Pei Yunshu and Fangzi were startled when they saw Lu Zhu coming in with a mohair. Pei Yunshu said: "This..."

Without saying a word, Lu Zhuo stood in front of the table, peeled off the gorgeous clothes on the puppet, picked up the scissors on the table, scraped off a shallow layer of sand on Mo's body, and put the sand on the tea tray. Pour it into the teacup inside.

There was half a cup of tea left in the old kiln porcelain cup. When the mud was poured in, it immediately turned into a turbid mess. Lu Zhuo picked up the golden needle and stirred it into the water. Yin Zheng stood behind her and screamed "Ah".

 I saw that the front end of the originally shiny golden needle suddenly turned black.

"Is this poisonous?" Pei Yunshu screamed and froze in place.

She trembled her lips and her face was frighteningly white, "This...Mu Sheng gave it to me. How could he poison his own heir..."

No matter how much Prince Wen ignored her, it was a matter between the couple, but the child in her belly was Mu Sheng's own flesh and blood, and he had no reason to attack the child.

 But this Mohairu was indeed given to her by Mu Sheng. Because of the auspicious meaning of "more children, more blessings", she saw that the clay doll was beautiful and cute, so she kept it and played with it every day. She never thought that this clay doll actually contained a deadly poison!

Pei Yunshu was on the verge of collapse, but Lu Yan stood in front of the table, staring closely at the clay puppet in his hand, his eyes cold.

The clay doll has been stripped of its gorgeously decorated clothes, but its painted eyebrows are still there. It holds an unopened lotus in its hand, and its slender eyes smile like a crescent moon.

 In an instant, the smiling eyes painted with ink overlapped with another pair of slender beautiful eyes.

Yun Niang’s smiling voice came to her mind.

"I once made a poison. This poison is colorless and odorless, and is easily soluble in pigments. Pregnant women will not have any reaction at first if they use it. Gradually, the body will become hot and the skin color will darken. After a few months, the shoulders and neck will appear. The area gradually swells, and after a certain period of time, there may be signs of abdominal pain and bleeding, which means that the poison has been implanted in the fetus, which is a sign of maturity."

 “But that’s not the most interesting part.”

She smiled and said: "The most interesting thing is that even so, the fetus in the belly of the poisoned person is still stable. Even if a doctor visits, he will only think that these symptoms are ordinary pregnancy signs. Drinking anti-fetal medicine will only make the baby The poison penetrated deeper. After ten months, a stillborn child was born, but the mother was fine."

 “So, this poison is also called ‘child’s sorrow’.”

 Children’s worries…

No wonder she felt strange when she saw Pei Yunshu's illness. It turned out that she had heard Yun Niang mention this poison many years ago.

Fangzi saw Lu Zhuo's serious expression and said cautiously: "Doctor, do you know what kind of poison this is?"

"Know."

Fangzi was overjoyed: "Great, please doctor, please detoxify our princess as soon as possible!"

 There was silence for a while.

Pei Yunshu looked at the silent Lu Huan, her heart gradually sank, "Doctor..."

“There is no cure.” Lu Zhuo said softly, “There is no cure for this poison.”

Hand in hand, the boy's eyebrows were curved, as if he could see the corners of Yun Niang's mouth through the bright smile in front of him.

The woman said: "I only care about poisoning, not the antidote. Once the poison is planted in the body, it will sprout like a seedling and parasitize the fetus. Neither drugs nor acupuncture can alleviate its toxicity. Just like A newly grown tree, you can only watch it slowly wither, helpless."

“Xiao Qi,” she smiled happily, “this is the meaning of making poison.”

 “Doctor!”

Pei Yunshu raised her head suddenly and insisted on getting down to the ground regardless of Fangzi's obstruction. She was about to kneel down with Lu Zhu in a trembling position. Lu Zhu subconsciously took a step forward and reached out to support her, but she grabbed her hand.

 Pei Yunshu held Lu Huan's hand tightly. Those thin hands seemed to have endless power. She stared at Lu Huan, her eyes were full of despair and pleading, and her voice seemed to be choked.

“Doctor,” she hissed, “please...save my baby!”

“Princess—” Fangzi and Qiongying exclaimed.

Pei Yunshu refused to get up, looking at Lu Huo as if looking at the only hope of life in a dead end.

 Lu Zhen was shocked.

 She could see the light in Pei Yunshu's eyes that refused to fade away. She was talking about "children" instead of "self".

For some reason, she suddenly remembered what Ke Chengxing's servant, Wan Fu, had said to her in the teahouse.

Wan Fu once said that before her sister Lu Rou died, she was found to be pregnant.

She had no way of knowing what Lu Rou was thinking when she found out she was pregnant, but at this moment, she seemed to see the shadow of Lu Rou's past in Pei Yunshu.

They were both raped when they were pregnant. The difference was that the elder sister could not wait for her rescuers to arrive. She was surrounded by jackals, tigers and leopards, and died alone in the cold water.

Pei Yunshu's tears fell down drop by drop. Fangzi and Qiongying whispered comfort beside her: "Princess, don't cry, the medical officer will be here soon. There will definitely be a solution..."

 Lu Zhen closed his eyes.

 Don't be soft-hearted.

 Don’t be soft-hearted.

The situation in the county prince's palace is complicated, and it is definitely not a good thing for an outsider to get involved. If Pei Yunshu was fine, she would have revealed the truth about the princess' poisoning, and she would definitely be hated by the person who poisoned her. If something worse happened to Pei Yunshu, she would only become a raft for anger and be buried with the princess as she was involved in it for no reason.

What's more, "child's worry" is a poison that has no cure. Yun Niang never lies. If she says there is no antidote, there must be no antidote. Pei Yunshu has been poisoned for a long time. Even if the child is born now, he will be poisoned and may not survive.

She has a blood feud and has yet to be avenged. She shouldn't put herself in danger because of other people's affairs. She still needs to save her life to do more important things.

 This is right, this is how it should be. Pei Yunshu's cry was filled with anger and helplessness, hiding indescribable sadness.

Lu Zhen opened his eyes and suddenly said: "It's useless."

 The crying in the room suddenly stopped.

She said coldly: "As the princess said, the medical officers have been here many times before, but they have not identified any signs of poisoning in the princess, let alone detoxified the princess. What's more, this poison does not harm the mother, but only damages the fetus. The princess has been poisoned for many days, and the bleeding in her abdomen today is actually a sign that the poison has matured. The more the princess drinks anti-fetal medicine, the deeper the poison takes root, which is counterproductive."

Pei Yunshu looked at Lu Huan and said, "Doctor, do you have any idea?"

 Lu Xu lowered his eyes.

The marks on Pei Yunshu's arms have spread to the lower elbows. In a short time, they will completely submerge the joints and the baby in the belly will no longer be alive.

Yun Niang said that there is no cure for this poison. There is no cure after the poison is completely activated. However, if the poison is stopped before it is completely activated, there may be a slight improvement.

"Doctor," Pei Yunshu crawled forward a few steps and grabbed the hem of her skirt. With such a humble posture, her black and white eyes were so bright that she seemed to have grasped all hope. "Please save my baby—"

 There was no answer in the room for a long time.

Just when the light in Pei Yunshu's eyes was extinguished little by little, Lu Zhuo spoke.

 “There is a way to try.”

Pei Yunshu’s eyes lit up.

Lu Zhen turned his head, stared at her and spoke word by word.

 “Induces labor.”

 …

In the small room, Meng Xiyan stood in front of the flower table, inserting the autumn flowers in her hands into the blue-glazed vase at hand.

The maid next to her came in and replied: "The people in the princess's courtyard said that the princess has taken anti-fetal medicine and is much better now. Doctor Lu is nursing her and comforting her. She should be fine."

Meng Xiyan smiled, gently picked up the silver scissors in the radish, and began to carefully trim the excess flower branches, while saying: "The princess is indeed a lucky person, and she can turn misfortune into good luck every time."

Hunter dare not speak.

  The redundant flower branches are trimmed, and the vase flowers appear to have different heights and charm. Meng Xiyan looked at it carefully, a satisfied smile slowly overflowed from her red lips.

 Things that are an eyesore should be cut off neatly.

 Just like the evil seed in Pei Yunshu's belly.

Meng Xiyan’s expression was cold.

 The poison called "Xiao'erchou" was given to her by her cousin in the palace.

At that time, Pei Yunshu had just been diagnosed with pregnancy, and the entire county and prince's palace was extremely lively. Prince Wenjun, who had always ignored Pei Yunshu, greeted Pei Yunshu for the first time. Even the lowly servants in the palace began to adapt to the situation and tried their best to flatter Pei Yunshu.

Meng Xiyan was filled with hatred, followed closely by worries about her future. If Pei Yunshu gives birth to a son, he will be the eldest son of Prince Wenjun in the future. Even if Meng Xiyan gives birth to another heir in the future, Pei Yunshu and her son will always be ahead of her.

No matter how favored she is, she is still just a concubine in the final analysis. The seemingly noble princess of the county may soon be more valuable than her mother.

She had something on her mind, and it was inevitable that it would show on her face when she entered the palace. Her cousin, who was the palace concubine, noticed it and asked her what happened.

Meng Xiyan confessed all her worries. After hearing this, her cousin smiled.

"I thought it was something that bothered you like this. It was just pregnancy. There are so many pregnant concubines in the palace, but how many of them can really give birth? Even if they give birth, how many of them will grow up safely." You haven’t even done it yet, why are you venting your anger on yourself first?”

Meng Xiyan was annoyed, "Your Majesty, I don't know something. I want to do something, but Pei Yunshu is very careful about her food now and can't find an opportunity to do anything. Besides, she is the daughter of Duke Zhaoning after all. If something goes wrong, , I’m afraid it won’t end well.” She looked at her cousin tentatively, “How about your Majesty showing Xiyan a clear path?”

 My cousin also needs support from the family in the palace. If Prince Wenjun favors her, Prince Wenjun’s palace will be able to stand by her side, which is also a help to her cousin.

The cousin said nothing, his eyes turned to her face, as if he was evaluating whether she was worth the risk.

Meng Xiyan was in a state of confusion until she heard her cousin laugh softly.

She said: "There is a bright way, it depends on whether you dare to use it or not."

 The cousin gave Meng Xiyan a letter of medicine.

The hem of her brocade skirt brushed against the soft velvet carpet in the hall. The sparkling gems reflected from the embroidery on it were like fine sunlight, and her tone was as pleasant as the spring breeze.

“This medicine is called ‘Xiao’erchou’. It was originally a forbidden medicine in the palace.”

“When the late emperor was still alive, it was discovered that a concubine in the harem had used this poison to murder the emperor’s heirs. Later, the palace ordered a ban on this medicine.”

"This medicine is colorless and odorless, and is easily soluble in pigments. Pregnant women who take it will not experience any reaction at first. Gradually, the body will become hot and the skin color will turn dark. After a few months, the shoulders and neck will gradually swell. After a certain time, There may be signs of abdominal pain and bleeding. However, even so, the fetus in the belly of the poisoned person is still stable. Even if a doctor visits, he will only think that these symptoms are ordinary signs of pregnancy. Drinking anti-fetal medicine will only make the poison The immersion was deeper. After ten months, a stillborn child was born, but the mother was safe."

"This poison does not harm the mother, but only harms the fetus, so it is called 'child's worry'."

Meng Xiyan looked at the medicine bag in front of her and suddenly retracted her hand as if stinging someone.

My cousin saw her action and smiled disapprovingly: "Xiao'erchou is almost extinct now. However, because I have some friendship with the people at the Imperial Medicine Office, I learned about this secret."

“I would not dare to use this medicine in the palace, but you can give it a try.”

She leaned close to Meng Xiyan's ear softly, "Xuan Yilang's favorite concubine gave birth to a stillborn baby just because of the use of this medicine."

 Hearing the last sentence, Meng Xiyan's heart moved.

She knew that Xuanyi Lang's concubine played the piano very well and was extremely favored by Xuanyi Lang. It turned out that she was pregnant not long after entering the palace, and Xuan Yilang took good care of her. However, when it came time to give birth, the fetus was dead.

The concubine was so shocked by this incident that she fell ill and died soon after. The wives of colleagues in Beijing all said that she was unlucky and never thought that she was poisoned.

Thinking of Mrs. Xuanyi Lang's gentle and virtuous appearance, Meng Xiyan couldn't help but shudder.

She knew that because Xuanyi Lang doted on his concubine, when he was pregnant, he would send a message to the medical officer whenever he had a headache or fever. Not even the medical officer at the hospital found any clues about this. Until the concubine was buried, she was only diagnosed as having an unhealthy pregnancy.

If this medicine is given to Pei Yunshu, it will kill the evil seed in her belly silently and silently.

Meng Xiyan couldn't help but feel excited.

 So she accepted her cousin's "kindness".

 After all, it would be too obvious to directly kill Pei Yunshu. But if Pei Yunshu was alive, or even stayed safe until the day of delivery, but the baby she gave birth to was breathless, it would be no wonder to others.

The previous bouts of fever, headache, and itching became evidence that Pei Yunshu's fetal condition was inherently unstable.

 It would be better if Pei Yunshu could die depressed because of this.

Meng Xiyan cut off two more clusters of miscellaneous leaves until she could find no more bad things, then she put the scissors back into the basket. Suddenly she remembered something and asked, "Has the medical officer seen Pei Yunshu?"

Pei Yunshu has been ill for more than an hour, and the medical officer from the hospital should have arrived. Just as my cousin said, every time Pei Yunshu felt a little unwell, the medical officer would come to see her and would just say it was a common pregnancy symptom and told Pei Yunshu not to worry and just drink a few doses of anti-fetal medicine.

At first, Meng Xiyan was a little worried, fearing that the medical officers would find some clues, but after a few months, no one noticed anything was wrong, and Meng Xiyan gradually became relieved. Her cousin did not lie to her, and indeed not many people knew about this banned drug.

The maid replied softly: "Medical Officer Wang came here just now, but was refused by Qiong Ying beside the princess. He said that the princess was much better now and was resting. Medical Officer Wang was still a little unhappy when he left."

Meng Xiyan paused: "Pei Yunshu refuses to see the medical officer?"

"Yes. I think Doctor Lu has already comforted the princess."

Meng Xiyan looked suspicious.

Since she became pregnant, Pei Yunshu has been extremely careful about food, clothing and daily life, fearing that something might go wrong with her unborn child. Even every time I go to the Medical Officer's Hospital to ask for a medical officer, a different medical officer comes to see me to prevent the medical officer from being bribed.

As for the stable woman she invited, she has a good relationship with her natal family, which shows that she has made all preparations.

Pei Yunshu suffered from abdominal pain today and asked the medical woman named Lu to go see her because the incident happened suddenly. Even though Pei Yunshu was fine now, the medical officer from the Medical Officer's Hospital was at the door. Pei Yunshu ignored the medical officer and trusted an unknown person. Isn’t it a bit strange to be a medical woman?

Perhaps she had a guilty conscience, and Meng Xiyan couldn't help but speculate on any abnormal behavior of Pei Yunshu.

She thought for a moment and then asked: "What did the medical woman do after seeing Pei Yunshu?"

The maid thought about it carefully and replied: "Doctor Lu first went to see the princess's condition. Then he said it was nothing serious, so he asked the maid next to him to go to the nearest drug store to grab some medicine and take it to prevent the pregnancy."

I just prescribed some anti-fetal drugs, which sounds fine.

But...fetiligo?

Meng Xiyan’s face suddenly turned ugly.

There are a lot of anti-fetal medicines in the store, and Pei Yunshu has them in her own small kitchen, and it is said that she drank a bowl when she first had abdominal pain. How could she go to a medicine store outside to buy it?

 Could it be that...that medical woman discovered something?

As soon as this thought came out, Meng Xiyan immediately shook her head. It was impossible. She was just a little medical girl from a shabby medical clinic. She might not even know all the common medicinal materials, let alone the long-lost forbidden medicine in the palace. It's impossible for Lu Zhuo to be more patient than those medical officers at the Medical Officer's Hospital.

 But for some reason, there was still a feeling of uneasiness in her heart, as if something had escaped her control and was developing uncontrollably in a direction that she didn't want to think about.

Lu Chen is staying in Pei Yunshu's house. At the moment, in order to avoid suspicion, she cannot go to Lu Chen directly. Besides, these are all groundless speculations, I'm afraid I'm just overthinking it.

So…

Meng Xiyan hesitated and then told the maid in the house: "Get someone to go to the pharmacy where Maid Lu just went and ask her what medicine she just bought. Hurry!"

 (End of this chapter)