Chapter 80 Poisoning

Judging that Chu Zhuo'an wouldn't be able to come for a while, Yu'an climbed down the ladder first.

Seeing her like this, Ji Jinghe hurriedly went forward to help her up.

What brings you here?

"I bought some things for you and brought them over."

Knowing that if Qingque came to deliver it, she would definitely kick her out and refuse, she came in person, even though she knew that her presence wouldn't change the outcome.

The political situation at court has been quite turbulent lately, and as Ji Shu said, he has indeed lost a lot of weight, and his robes have become looser.

Fortunately, his muscles make it even more noticeable.

Yu'an wiped the paste off her hands. "No need. You should go back. Instead of worrying about me, you should go see the old lady more often. Shu'er always comes to me saying that the old lady is not in good health. She's getting old; you should take care of her."

"I know about Grandma's side. There's no conflict between caring about you and worrying about her."

Knowing he wouldn't accept it, Ji Jinghe placed the item inside the threshold of the door.

Yu'an didn't want to embarrass herself by staying at the gate, so she put down her things and went inside.

"Ji Jinghe, you weren't the type to pester me like this before, so why are you doing this to me? What's the point?"

He stood before her, his eyelids lowered, saying nothing, as if he were deaf.

"Is the divorce settled? Don't even mention that you've fallen out of favor with the Emperor. You can't even handle this small matter properly. Don't even dream of forgiving me because of the favor you showed when you came to save me that day."

"I won't appreciate it, no matter what you do, even if it's just wishful thinking on your part..."

"I'm willing to believe it all on my own."

Yuan:......

His reply was resolute, his eyes listless yet full of emotion, like a wide, silent deep pool, seemingly calm but hiding something hidden in the shadows, as if looking at him for too long would drown him.

"I do all this not for anything else, but perhaps my only selfish motive is you."

"I have said that you can accept what I have done, or you cannot choose not to accept it. Since you have chosen not to accept it, then it has nothing to do with you. I will bear all the trouble I have caused myself."

He spoke with such seriousness that he left people speechless, like a tightly tangled web of threads that was impossible to unravel, and there was no point in trying to unravel it.

"I just want to see you more, to see you, even if you scold me..."

As she spoke, Yu An lowered her head, so she didn't know what Ji Jinghe's expression was when he said those words, nor did she care to look.

While shocked by his subservient attitude, I also felt an urge to run away, unsure whether it was out of annoyance, disdain, or simply not knowing how to respond.

He deliberately ignored Ji Jinghe for nearly two months, yet he didn't change at all...

“I know I don’t have anything to offer you to ask for your forgiveness. I don’t expect you to forgive me and go back to how things were before. Even if we end up just being friends who can talk, I would be more than happy.”

The cold wind howled, forcefully seeping into the cracks as if trying to penetrate to the bone, making one's hair stand on end.

Yu An tightened her coat, feeling utterly helpless and at a loss for words.

"Ji Jinghe, I think I've made myself clear enough, why can't you understand?"

"not understand."

Another confident and assertive answer.

Yu An was aroused and didn't want to argue anymore. She raised her voice and whispered, "Fine, as you said, you have to make it up to me. Fine... then make it up to me. But you should find out who framed my father for colluding with the foreign general!"

"Besides talking big and making useless promises, what else can you do?"

"Do you think I still listen to you and trust you unconditionally like before?!"

"Ji Jinghe, you are even more arrogant and conceited than I imagined, beyond redemption..."

As if choked by the cold wind, or spoken too hastily, she suddenly coughed, unable to catch her breath. Suppressing the taste of blood in her throat, she pushed away the hand that was being reached for her.

"sister."

Chu Zhuoan ran over and quickly supported her unsteady body.

After a long while, she finally caught her breath.

He didn't speak, but simply pointed towards the door.

Ji Jinghe stood frozen in place, looking at the face that was flushed from coughing, and had no choice but to swallow his words.

"Take care of yourself, I'm leaving."

The figure quickly disappeared outside the mansion gate, and when she looked up again, it was gone.

He stared at the things on the ground, speechless.

"Sister, what's wrong? Did you say something...?"

As he walked back and forth, he saw and heard some things, and knew that it was she who said the harsh words, not Ji Jinghe.

Yu An: "Continue to paste up the remaining couplets."

...

She deliberately avoided mentioning their affair, so Chu Zhuo'an didn't press the matter and pretended not to know.

Duo Luo poked her head out, secretly glanced at the silent Yu An, and then hid her tail. "Is Lord Ji here to fawn over you again?"

Chu Zhuoan gently shook his head, signaling her not to talk too much, and his eyes also conveyed a hint of warning.

Duo Luo pouted: ...

Since the Yan family knew of the Sun family's existence, Yu An directly arranged for them to stay at the Chu residence. No matter how arrogant the Yan family was, they wouldn't go so far as to send someone to harm the Chu residence.

Hu was generous and moved over without saying a word. After carefully discussing things with Yu'an, she also said what she had been keeping to herself. During the conversation, her eyes welled up with tears several times, and she almost cried.

Finally, they pulled a letter from two years ago out of the swaddling clothes.

"This is a secret letter between Cao Bowei and his junior officers that my general accidentally intercepted when he was still in office. It clearly states the request for military supplies. I don't believe that if I hand this over to His Majesty, His Majesty will still believe that treacherous minister Cao Bowei."

After examining it, Yu An asked in surprise, "Why didn't you hand this over back then?"

Madam Hu said with a bitter face, "I handed it over, but less than half a day later, the decree for immediate execution came down. I risked my life to steal it from the censor. I guess the censor has kept it and His Majesty has never seen it."

The situation was urgent at the time, and it wasn't just Yu-an who was surprised.

The emperor's spur-of-the-moment decree determined the fate of several lives, a fact they were powerless to change.

When it is brought up again, the memories deep in my mind are still vivid, and when I think about it, they still gently knock on my heart.

Yu An repacked the letter and sighed, "I guess so. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been that fast."

"When the time is right, we will reveal this to the world and make those behind the scenes pay for their crimes in blood."

Hu said, "The Yan family is no pushover either. After my family got into trouble, I stayed at the border with my children."

"My wife isn't there, so she doesn't know the situation there. Actually, the Yan family has been secretly cultivating their own power, wanting to replace Cao Bowei. However, Cao Bowei is naturally suspicious and wary, which is why it's been delayed."

"A petty person is always a petty person, and will never achieve anything."

Hu sniffed, forcing back the tears welling in her eyes. "They will pay for their crimes in blood... I can't say anymore. Just mentioning my husband's death makes me cry uncontrollably. The New Year is coming soon, a joyous occasion, we should be happy."

With that, he raised the wine glass on the table, "I'll drink first as a sign of respect."

Hu downed the cup in one gulp, and before Yu'an could react, she had already downed three cups.

"Don't just drink it yourself, wait for me to have a drink too."

Yu-An raised his glass, and the two clinked glasses before drinking it down in one gulp.

People who have been under pressure for a year can only relax for a few days. Looking back on the past year, there was a lot of worry and anxiety. Although there is still a long way to go, it is much better than before.

Hu was a heavy drinker, and Yu An was no match for him. However, he was in high spirits and drank a couple more cups, becoming half-drunk after the meal.

Baozhu asked someone to clear away the leftover food on the table, while she took care of Yu'an in bed.

Yu'an felt dizzy, so Baozhu didn't wake her up. Instead, she sent someone to bring a basin of water and wiped her face to help her wake up.

"You said you wanted to watch the fireworks, but now that you're drunk, are you still not going to watch them?"

The person on the bed didn't speak, but slowly sat up, letting Baozhu serve him.

Baozhu was about to laugh when she saw Baozhu blushing, but then she noticed Baozhu's deeply furrowed brows and that Baozhu suddenly vomited a mouthful of black blood.

"……girl."

With a thud, another mouthful of blood gushed out.

"Girl, girl, what's wrong?"

The person in my arms kept their eyes tightly shut, and no matter how I called out to them, they were completely unconscious.

Baozhu quickly called for a doctor, but after the doctor arrived, he couldn't diagnose the cause of the illness for a long time.

"It looks like poisoning, but I can't diagnose what kind of poison it is."

The doctor used silver needles to examine the food he had just eaten, but found nothing.

"My elder sister was poisoned a while ago, but the imperial physician examined her and said that if there were no further reactions, the toxins in her body should have been cleared. Why is she like this now?" Chu Zhuoan asked.

"It could be a relapse, or it could be because it wasn't properly treated initially. It's hard to say for sure. I can't cure it. You should seek another expert, sir."

The doctor made a move to leave, but Chu Zhuoan quickly stopped him.

"Doctor, even if you can't cure it, please prescribe a prescription before you leave..."

With the Lunar New Year's Eve approaching, very few pharmacies are still open on the streets. If one of them leaves, causing a delay, wouldn't that be even more dangerous?

Chu Zhuo'an insisted on stopping the doctor and forced him to prescribe a prescription.

“Generally speaking, if even I can’t detect the pulse, it’s unlikely that anyone else can either. If my wife’s condition doesn’t improve after taking the medicine, then my husband will have to put in a lot of effort.”

The doctor spoke tactfully, and Chu Zhuo'an understood. He politely agreed and then sent someone to see the doctor off.

The moment he lifted his foot to leave, Baozhu started yelling, "What nonsense! There are plenty of doctors in the world better than him. Just because he can't diagnose the pulse doesn't mean he's incompetent! What a quack..."

Chu Zhuoan: "It's late tonight. If my sister still doesn't wake up after taking the medicine today, we'll go to the palace tomorrow to ask the imperial physician and the Empress Dowager for help."

"Yes, there's always a way."

Baozhu took care of Yu'an all night, but Yu'an remained in a deep sleep. She could take the medicine, but it had no effect whatsoever.

Chu Zhuo'an had just packed up and was heading to the palace with the gold hairpin when he ran into Ji Shu, who was getting off the carriage, at the gate of the mansion.

"Where are you rushing off to?" Ji Shu called out to stop them.

Chu Zhuo'an stopped in his tracks, "My sister has been poisoned. I'm going to the palace to fetch the imperial physician."

"Poisoned?" Ji Shu asked, puzzled. "Isn't it better?"

Chu Zhuoan: "The doctor said it might be a relapse, or it might not have been cured at all. In short, it's hard to say. A night has passed, and he is still unconscious."

"I'll send someone to invite you; you can stay at the manor."

The Ji family has a license plate, so calling the imperial physician will be faster.

Ji Shu followed them to the bedroom. The person on the bed was fine, but she couldn't wake him up.

"It's been a whole night, and the medicine hasn't worked." Baozhu sat on the footstool, having not slept a wink all night.

Ji Shu raised her hand to touch that slightly cool face, and after thinking it over, she still asked Cai Qi to pass the message to Ji Jinghe in the mansion.

In less than half an hour, Ji Jinghe arrived with the head of the Imperial Medical Academy.

"My lady has been poisoned. This poison is not common in the Central Plains, and doctors rarely see it, so they cannot diagnose it. Besides, my lady was only slightly poisoned. She recovered temporarily after the medicine and acupuncture were administered to suppress it. However, the strong yang energy of the liquor has drawn the poison out again."

"So, it's from beyond the Great Wall?"

“I spent two years at the border and saw it once.”

It is precisely because it is rare that he remembers it so clearly even after several years.

"This poison is easy to cure. All you need is something called 'heart-protecting grass.' Mix it into the medicine, drink a few doses, and you'll be cured. However..."

The judge paused for a moment, then said, "This medicine is hard to obtain, and it's only found in the border region."

"To put it bluntly, even if the body has decayed, this medicine may not be found."

Ji Jinghe paused for a moment, a hint of gloom flashing in his eyes before returning to normal.

"Please write down the appearance and characteristics of this medicine on a piece of paper, and I will send someone to find it immediately."

To avoid disturbing Yu'an's rest, Baozhu led the imperial physician and Ji Jinghe to the adjacent side room. After Ji Jinghe finished writing, he handed the sealed letter to Wei Ji.

"You shall personally deliver this letter to Xin Yanqing, the Commander-in-Chief of the Liaodong Military Command."

Wei Ji barely managed to take the letter. "Sir, the Yan family is secretly trying to find fault with you. It's not good for you to send this message at this time."

Ji Jinghe: "Then hide and don't let them catch you."

Because it was urgent, that's why he was asked to deliver it personally.

Wei Ji hesitated for a moment, then had no choice but to agree.

Ji Jinghe suppressed a cough, picked up his teacup, took a sip of water, and almost choked.

"Don't worry about me, go quickly."

Not long after the imperial physician left, Ji Jinghe was left to take care of the patient, while Chu Zhuoan and Ji Shu stood outside the door, each with their own thoughts.

"They're both divorced, isn't it inappropriate for them to stay together like this?"

Inside the window, Ji Jinghe sat beside Yu An's bed, his back to them, but it was obvious that he was looking at them with deep affection in his eyes.

Ji Shu glanced at her sideways, "Aren't you a martial artist? How come you've picked up those scholarly ways?"

Chu Zhuoan: "You want your brother and my sister to reconcile, but I only care about my sister's wishes. If she doesn't want something, I don't want it either."

Ji Shu: ……

She couldn't refute that; it was the truth.

“My brother should know what’s going on; he’ll leave before my sister-in-law wakes up.”

Looking again, Chu Zhuo'an, who was about to leave, teased in a low voice, "Now that I'm watching over your sister, why don't you go and accept the invitation to meet that Qiang princess? She'll be gone in a couple of days."

Chu Zhuoan sighed, "With my sister like this, how could she possibly have any other thoughts..."