Chapter 62 Chapter 62 Jiang Wan couldn’t care less…

Jiang Wan didn't care about anything else and quickly asked two witch doctors to take his pulse.

The old witch doctor held the princess's wrist for a moment, first showing a look of surprise and doubt, then looked up and carefully examined the princess's face.

Then he knelt down in fear. "My lady, this nobleman's pulse suggests he's been poisoned by the Gelsemium elegans. The poison has already entered his lungs. Without an antidote, he should be delirious and raving. But this nobleman is only unconscious. This... I'm not very skilled, so I can't tell what this illness is."

Jiang Wan recalled that before the princess took the life-extending elixir, she was indeed unconscious and mumbling to herself. She only calmed down after taking the medicine. So it seemed that she was indeed poisoned by the heart-breaking grass.

According to modern medical knowledge, Gelsemium elegans is actually a neurotoxin that damages the human central nervous system. Poisoned individuals initially fall into a coma, then become confused and delirious due to neurological disorders, ultimately leading to death.

The whole process took less than 30 minutes, and there was no antidote, so the only way to save him was gastric lavage.

I don’t know if there is any treatment similar to gastric lavage in this time and space.

Jiang Wan asked, "If it's the poison of the Heartbreak Grass, how can it be cured?"

"There's no antidote for this poison. If you want to survive, you must first use Heart Protecting Pills to strengthen your heart meridians. Then, use a silver needle to concentrate the poison in your right arm and bleed it out. However, this method requires extremely high skill. I... I'm incompetent, but the palace's witch doctors are all top-notch experts. Why don't you ask one of them to give it a try?"

The method seemed to be similar in principle to the gastric lavage of my previous life. However, Aigu hadn't returned yet, so I'm afraid she had encountered some kind of obstacle.

At this moment, the eunuch she had sent to gather information came trotting to the door of the hall.

He stopped outside the palace and said anxiously, "Miss, something bad has happened. The Second Prince and Empress Yaoji have had a conflict. His Majesty is furious and has ordered you to kneel outside Empress Yaoji's palace as punishment."

Jiang Wan stood up suddenly: "Lead the way!"

When she approached Yao Ji's bedroom, she heard Aigu's cries, and the palace servants and attendants nearby all avoided her, as if they were afraid of being affected.

"Father! Father! The Queen Mother is on the verge of death. Please, Father, let the witch doctor take a look!"

The voice that answered him was old, majestic, and a little impatient: "What's the rush? She's been sick for so many years, and she's not dead. Didn't you see Yaoyao can't sleep because of the headache? Kneel here obediently. If you have anything to say, wait until Yaoyao gets better before you talk."

Jiang Wan's fury intensified after hearing these words. She quickened her pace and approached, where she saw Aigu kneeling on the cold stone bricks, weeping and hugging the Loulan King's thigh. A beautiful woman in her forties clutched her head in agony and said in a delicate voice, "Your Majesty, the Queen is your wife after all. Why don't you send a witch doctor to treat her first? Just in case something truly amiss is happening to her?"

The king put his arm around her shoulders and said, "What could possibly happen to her? She was like this all along. Whenever she felt unwell, she'd act like she was dying and ask me to comfort her. Now she's still trying to win your favor by doing this, and even sent her son to cause trouble with you. This is really going too far."

Yao Ji said coquettishly: "Oh, don't say that to the Queen."

"She is just a decoration. What kind of queen is she?" The king kicked Aigu away, scratched Yao Ji's nose lovingly, and took her to the bedroom.

Aigu desperately grasped the king's sleeve and said, "Father! The Queen Mother has indeed been poisoned. If I have lied to you, I will pay you back with my life. But please allow the witch doctor to see the Queen Mother!"

The king kicked him away in disgust: "Get out of here! Kneel down!"

Seeing this, Jiang Wan had a rough idea of ​​what had happened. Loulan had two princes and a princess, and the king had yet to appoint a crown prince. Yao Ji was the biological mother of the third prince. Rumor had it that Yao Ji and her son were favored by the king, and since the second prince, Aigu, was either caring for his ailing mother or traveling in search of renowned doctors, he knew nothing about court affairs. Therefore, the third prince's succession to crown prince was almost certain.

The King of Loulan was getting older, and the succession to the throne would only come in a few years. In order to ensure her son's status, Yao Ji also tried her best to suppress Aigu.

Today she forced the witch doctor to stay in her bedroom again. It seems that the murderer behind this series of events is Yao Ji and her son - even the person who poisoned them for the past twenty years was her.

There is no rush to punish the murderer. What is urgent now is to let the witch doctor treat the princess.

Jiang Wan took a few steps forward and shouted, "Your Majesty, wait a minute!"

The king looked back and saw a young and beautiful stranger. He asked, "Who are you?"

"My surname is Jiang, and I am a merchant from the Great Zhou. I was entrusted by General Wen Shenwen, the uncle of the Great Zhou, to visit the various countries in the Western Regions under the guise of business to see if there is any opportunity for an alliance."

If Jiang Wan wanted to gain a say in the king's presence, she had to elevate her status. If she simply claimed to be Ayigu's friend, she would likely be expelled from the palace. She considered using the Duke He's residence as a cover, but by then, six months had passed since the Duke He's conviction, and the King of Loulan had likely already received the news.

After thinking about it, I think Wen Shen's name is more useful.

The King of Loulan looked at her cautiously and said, "Since this is a private visit, how can I trust you? There must be some proof."

"Of course. Half a month ago, the Wusun and Xiongnu held an alliance, and the Wusun took over the Tekes grassland. Have you received any news?"

The king was surprised: "I just received the news yesterday, how come you know it so quickly?"

"I'm from Wusun," Jiang Wan pulled out a silver coin and a small piece of silver from his sleeve. "Look, this is the royal silver coin and the holy medicine silver given to me by the Wusun Kunmi."

The King of Loulan took it, held up the silver coin, looked at it in the moonlight, and nodded, saying, "It is indeed true, but the Great Zhou has already formed an alliance with my Loulan. Why did you go to Wusun first instead of Loulan?"

"This depends on what you, Your Majesty, have done over the years." Jiang Wan said coldly with a stern face.

"What have I done? I have paid tribute to the Great Zhou Dynasty for many years, and Loulan has never had any dealings with the Xiongnu or their allies." The King of Loulan scratched his head. "What else do you want?"

Jiang Wan angrily cried, "The Emperor of the Great Zhou gave you his precious daughter in marriage, yet how have you treated her? Previously, the princess wrote to Your Majesty many times to describe her illness, and Your Majesty always believed that as the ruler of a country, you would definitely cure her. But what happened? It's been twenty years. If I hadn't witnessed this with my own eyes today, I would have found it unimaginable that a princess of our dynasty, so precious as gold and jade, had to endure such torture!"

There was a moment of silence outside Yaoji Hall. Everyone present was frightened by Jiang Wan's appearance. Who would have thought that the girl who had been so gentle and beautiful just a moment ago would have such a terrifying look in her eyes when she got angry?

"Don't misunderstand, Your Excellency. We in Loulan never dare to treat the princess with disrespect. Her illness is due to acclimatization, not intentional harm on our part." The King of Loulan shuddered, not daring to look directly at Jiang Wan. "I have been searching everywhere for a famous doctor to treat her."

"If that's the case, why wouldn't you even send for the witch doctor in your palace to take a look?" Jiang Wan asked. "Furthermore, what's your intention in making a child of my Great Zhou royal blood kneel outside a concubine's palace?"

The King of Loulan recovered from his shock and felt he had lost face in front of this young girl. He frowned and said, "Ayigu is my son. He offended his stepmother. As a father, it is only natural for me to educate him. Your Excellency, are you trying to interfere in my family affairs? As for the palace witch doctors, they have diagnosed the queen several times before. Now my beloved concubine has a persistent headache. Your Excellency, please don't be unreasonable."

Yao Ji took the king's arm, looked at Jiang Wan provocatively, and said, "Yes, it's getting late. Your Excellency should go to bed early."

Jiang Wan glared at her. If she weren't still playing the role of "private visitor," she would have wanted to slap her twice.

Aigu, who was kneeling on the ground, pulled her skirt, with gratitude and guilt in her eyes.

Jiang Wan exhaled slowly, calming his anger.

"Your Majesty," she said calmly, suppressing her anger. "I was there at the Wu-Hu meeting, and some of the details are quite interesting. Would you like to hear about it, Your Majesty?"

Seeing that she had subsided, the King of Loulan became more polite: "Your Excellency, please speak."

Jiang Wan told the story of how the Xiongnu plotted against the Wusun Kunmi at the hunting ground, how she helped the Wusun resolve the crisis and get the pasture, and how the Kunmi rewarded them with rare treasures.

Finally, he sighed, "After this incident, a rift has arisen between the Wusun and Xiongnu. Since the Wusun are interested in a closer relationship, the Great Zhou will certainly consider an alliance after I return to the capital. Before I left Dunhuang County, my uncle specifically instructed me to inquire about the princess's well-being. If Loulan treats the princess poorly and disrespects our dynasty, then the Great Zhou might as well rely more on other countries."

"At the time, I thought your uncle was worrying too much. Loulan has always been close to our dynasty, so how could they treat the princess badly? Until today," Jiang Wan scoffed, "Your Majesty has truly opened my eyes. You even have the audacity to say that Loulan has no intention of harming us."

Jiang Wan glanced at Aigu and said in a deep voice, "How does Your Majesty explain the princess's death by the herb?"

"What!" Aigu screamed, "The poison of the heartbreak grass? That poison can kill a person in a quarter of an hour. Doesn't that mean my mother is..."

"Don't worry, Second Prince," Jiang Wan pulled him up and soothed him softly, "I happened to have brought a life-extending elixir that can keep the princess alive for two hours."

She turned her head to glance at the clock and sighed, "But there's not much time left."

Upon hearing that it was the poison of the heart-breaking grass, the King of Loulan panicked and quickly ordered the witch doctor to treat it.

"Hey, Your Majesty," Yao Ji hurriedly grabbed the king.

She moved her lips a few times before she could finish her words. "Your Majesty, the Queen is fine, how could she have been poisoned by the Heartbreak Weed? Could there be some misunderstanding? Besides, the Queen has been ill for a long time. Even if she was poisoned by the Heartbreak Weed, I'm afraid she can't be saved."

"Your Majesty, why don't you ask the Great Zhou to marry another princess? After all, the Queen has written to the Emperor of the Great Zhou many times, but has received no response. I'm sure the Great Zhou doesn't care about this princess either."

The King of Loulan paused, looking hesitantly at Jiang Wan. He seemed to think Yao Ji's words made sense, but with the envoys present, it seemed unwise to stand by and watch someone die.

Jiang Wan didn't even look at Yao Ji, and said bluntly, "Previously, the Great Zhou had only your country as an ally in the Western Regions, so naturally, we had to treat the princess with indignation. But things are different now. Our Majesty the Great Zhou no longer has a daughter."

"The Wusun are far more powerful than the Loulan. If the Great Zhou and the Wusun form an alliance in the future, your country will be dispensable. If the princess dies from the poison of the heartbreak grass, it will be your intentional act. If we become enemies, don't blame me for not warning you."

Jiang Wan looked at Yao Ji with a pointed look. "Just now, I ordered people to search the entire city, but they only found one witch doctor. The rest were sent away. This is evidence that your country is deliberately harming you."

The King of Loulan's eyelids twitched. He glanced at Yao Ji with a warning and shouted, "All witch doctors, go and rescue the queen immediately!"