Chapter 24: Aconitum harms the fetus

"Whether someone is trying to harm Concubine Shu, we'll know when the imperial physician comes out."

Xie Chen scanned the faces of the concubines one by one, and the sense of oppression fell on them like a substance.

"It's better not to be what I guessed."

The concubines were frightened by this look and shrank back, not daring to speak.

As time passed, the solemn atmosphere in the hall became more and more tense, to the point of being terrifying.

A voice broke the cold atmosphere.

"Wake up, my queen is awake!"

Concubine Jiang Shu's maid Tan Wu knelt before the emperor and reported excitedly.

Xie Chen's face showed no joy, still with that stern expression, and he walked towards the bedroom.

Queen Cui and the six concubines followed him into the bedroom.

The hall was filled with the bitter smell of medicine.

Concubine Jiang Shu was lying on the couch with a pale face. A palace maid was feeding her medicine, while two imperial doctors were kneeling in front of the couch, discussing something with their heads down.

When she saw the emperor, Concubine Jiang's eyes suddenly turned red and she called out, "Your Majesty."

Xie Chen sat down beside the couch, "I'm here."

He took the porcelain bowl and fed Concubine Jiang the medicine himself.

Although Concubine Jiang Shu's bedroom was spacious, there were more than a dozen masters coming in, and there was no room for so many armchairs, so the palace maids had to bring in embroidered cushions.

Each concubine had one, and the palace maids stood behind their masters.

After sitting down, the concubines in the harem watched the emperor feed medicine to Concubine Jiang Shu one spoonful at a time.

The emperor, who had just treated them coldly, now treated another woman so gently.

This scene is inevitably a bit heartbreaking and jarring.

Some concubines turned their heads away and refused to look.

Pei Tingyue didn't look at it either, not because she was sad, but because of her low status, she was squeezed into a small corner. When she looked up, she would see the back of someone else's head. She couldn't see this tender scene even if she wanted to.

After Xie Chen finished feeding the medicine, he looked at the two imperial physicians who were still discussing the matter. "Have you reached a diagnosis? Why did Concubine Shu suddenly faint when she was perfectly fine?"

The two doctors exchanged a glance, and then Judge Xia stepped out to reply, "Your Majesty, I have spoken with Doctor Hu for a long time and have reached a diagnosis."

Xie Chen placed the empty bowl on the small table beside the couch. The sound of "thump" made everyone in the room tremble. He said in a deep voice, "Speak."

Judge Xia said, "After careful observation, auspiciousness, and questioning, I have noticed that your Majesty appears to have used Aconitum. Aconitum, also known as Aconite, has analgesic properties, but for pregnant women, it can be harmful to the fetus."

"Fortunately, it was discovered in time. The amount of aconite that entered your Majesty's body was not large enough to cause a miscarriage. Just drink a few more doses of the abortion-preserving medicine I prepared and you'll be well."

These words were like a huge rock from the sky, hitting the hearts of the concubines heavily.

Unexpectedly, the emperor's words came true.

Someone really poisoned Concubine Jiang Shu!

The concubines looked at each other in silence.

The first person to react was Concubine Jiang Shufei.

"What did you say?!" Concubine Jiang Shu was shocked. She struggled to sit up. "You said I was poisoned? How is that possible? I have the imperial physician taking care of my daily life. How could someone bypass the imperial physician and poison me?"

"Shufei, don't be so excited. Be careful not to disturb the fetus. Lie down first." Empress Cui comforted Concubine Jiang Shufei and then turned her attention to Court Judge Xia. "Did Concubine Shufei contract this poison today? Or before?"

"It's not today. Judging from your Majesty's pulse, you have been poisoned for many days, and you must have been in contact with this poison every day." Judge Xia replied.

"Then why didn't the imperial physician discover it before?" Queen Cui pressed on.

Judge Xia bowed and said, "Just now, your humble servant carefully questioned Imperial Physician Hu. A few days ago, there was not much toxin in the body of the Concubine Shu. Her pulse showed only blood stasis, but no signs of poisoning. Imperial Physician Hu thought it was caused by the Concubine Shu's excessive thinking, so he prescribed a prescription.

This also shows the skill of the person who poisoned the patient. The dose was so small that it was not easy to detect, and he tried to deceive the imperial physician.

If it weren't for the sudden fainting of the Empress, and the careful examination by this humble official, the ordinary imperial physician wouldn't have discovered it in a short while. If the Empress had been in contact with this poison for a long time, by the time they realized something was wrong, the pregnancy would definitely not have been saved."

Concubine Jiang Shu was horrified after hearing this. She murmured in disbelief: "Who on earth wants to harm me..."

"Okay, okay, okay!" Xie Chen said three "okay" words in a row, which showed his anger.

He closed his eyes and said sternly, "Investigate thoroughly for me!"

Judge Xia said, "Your Majesty, please allow me to investigate the Empress's food, clothing, housing and transportation."

"Go check!"

Judge Xia and Doctor Hu started to check everything from clothes and spices to head ornaments and jewelry very carefully.

Pei Tingyue's eyelids twitched when he saw the South Pearl hairpin among the pile of jewelry.

That was the gift she gave to Concubine Shu.

But she soon felt relieved. When she gave the hairpin to Concubine Jiang, she had the imperial physician examine it in front of Concubine Jiang Shu, so there couldn't be any problem.

She thought back to her time in the palace.

Ever since Concubine Jiang Shu became pregnant, she has been very cautious, fearing that she would be implicated, so she checked the palace every day, fearing that someone would frame her for something bad.

Just before going out, she checked it again.

Pei Tingyue breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that Concubine Jiang Shu’s poisoning had nothing to do with her.

Soon, Judge Xia and Doctor Hu finished the examination and found that there was nothing wrong with the items.

Queen Cui frowned: "Why don't you check the food?"

"Your Majesty, you may not know this, but Aconitum is extremely toxic. Even a small amount in contact with the skin for a period of time can cause miscarriage. If taken orally, a single meal would cause a miscarriage in just a few days. Therefore, I did not test the food," said Xia Yuanpan.

"I see." Empress Cui understood. "Since these things are fine, then how did Concubine Shu get poisoned?"

"this…"

Judge Xia and Doctor Hu checked again.

Still no problem.

The two men knelt on the ground and pleaded guilty.

Xie Chen simply said, "Keep investigating. Nothing in this world is foolproof. There are bound to be loopholes."

Judge Xia took a deep breath and said, "I have a humble request."

Xie Chen's dark eyes were filled with frost, "You say."

"Please ask the Empress Shufei and her maid to pick out all the things you have used recently and allow me to examine them carefully."

Xie Chen ordered Tan Wu, who was standing beside him, "You go."

Tan Wu quickly picked out the things. Finally, she seemed to remember something and took out the Dongzhu hairpin from the jewelry box.

"This Nanzhu hairpin is a gift from Consort Pei to our queen. Our queen likes this hairpin and has been wearing it often recently."

Listen to her say this.

Everyone in the hall looked at Pei Tingyue vaguely, even Xie Chen looked at her, but quickly looked away.

Pei Tingyue remained calm, but his heart trembled.

Empress Cui coughed and ordered, "First, check this hairpin. This will clear Concubine Pei's name."

Doctor Hu picked up the Nanzhu hairpin and examined it again. Then he replied respectfully, "When Consort Pei gave it to me, I checked it once and there was nothing wrong with it. I checked it again today and still found nothing wrong."

After saying this, he handed the hairpin to Judge Xia.

Judge Xia didn't find any problems and was about to reply when his eyes suddenly became stern and he stared at the South Pearl hairpin.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing that he was slow to move, Queen Cui urged him.

As if Xia Yuanpan had confirmed something, he reached out and twisted the pearl flower off with a very violent movement.

He took the bare golden hairpin with a black hole in it and slowly poured out the white powder under the gaze of everyone in the hall.

He was shocked.

"This... this is aconite powder!"