Seeing that she couldn't get any information out of Lanqin, and with Xinyi and Shuhui chiming in, Shi knew she wouldn't get anything out of her anyway. After Lanqin and the others had left, the Crown Princess said to Li, "This Niohuru is simply a coward. How could you say she has courage?"

When Lady Li saw the Crown Princess say this, she did not want to argue with her, but simply said, "When I saw her with me, she was not so timid."

The Crown Princess ignored Li's rebuttals and dismissed her.

Meanwhile, Lanqin, Shuhui, and Xinyi emerged from the Crown Princess's tent.

"What exactly is the Crown Princess asking?" Shuhui asked, puzzled.

“I don’t know. If she wanted to know, she could have asked Consort Li,” Xin Yi said.

Lanqin naturally couldn't say too much to them, so she simply said, "Let's go take a look over there together."

Just as the three of them were about to go out for a walk to relax, they saw Shui Ling running towards them at top speed.

"Master, Master!" Shui Ling ran over breathlessly.

"Shui Ling, what's wrong?" Lan Qin looked at Shui Ling, wondering why she was in such a hurry to find her. After thinking for a moment, she wondered if something had happened at home, and quickly asked, "Has something happened at home?"

"No, no, the young masters are all fine. It's Doctor Liang who's here. He says he has something important to tell you, so please go back quickly!" Shui Ling hurriedly waved her hand.

Lanqin's eyes lit up. She remembered that night when Fourth Master had shown her the patch of blue-glowing fireflies. After a moment's thought, she said, "Let's go back. Xinyi, Shuhui, you two come along too."

The three of them quickly walked towards Lanqin's tent. Doctor Liang was already waiting inside Lanqin's tent.

"Doctor Liang, there's no need for such formalities." After Lanqin and the other two returned to their tent, they quickly stopped Doctor Liang from bowing.

After everyone was seated, Lanqin said to Sihua and Shuiling, "You two go out and guard the door. Also, Xinyi and Shuhui's maids, you all go out and guard around the tent, and don't let anyone get close."

Xinyi and Shuhui didn't know why Lanqin was doing this, but they both trusted Lanqin completely, so they immediately nodded to their maids, indicating that they should do as Lanqin instructed.

After the four maids left, Lanqin said to Doctor Liang, "Doctor Liang, please speak."

Doctor Liang cupped his hands in greeting to Lanqin and said, "Reporting to Consort Lanqin, I carefully observed the fireflies you sent back for a long time. I took out those things from their tails and, after chemical comparison, discovered that it was because the fireflies' tails were contaminated with something. After the fireflies absorbed this substance, the light on their tails changed color."

Xinyi and Shuhui had no idea what Lanqin and Doctor Liang were talking about, and they looked at each other in confusion.

"What is that?" Lanqin asked.

"Your Highness, it's something we don't have in our Qing Dynasty, but it does exist in the West. It's a drug; if a person or animal comes into contact with it, they will become very agitated and anxious. Fireflies are just insects, so this stuff doesn't have much of an effect on them, but it does turn their tails blue," Doctor Liang said.

Lanqin recalled what Fourth Master had said to her on horseback last night. He had said that when they encountered an ambush, the horses under their mounts became restless.

"Dr. Liang, can this medicine turn into a gas, or something else?" Lanqin asked, referring to Fourth Master's description of the horses. The horses had been perfectly fine until suddenly they changed. If they had been poisoned, were they poisoned beforehand, or was the poisoning sudden?

Doctor Liang seemed not to understand Lanqin's meaning for a moment, and said, "What the concubine is saying is whether it can dissolve in the air, so that the victim can be poisoned by this poison without even realizing it?"

Lanqin nodded and said, "That's exactly what I mean."

"Yes, that's possible. In fact, any medicine can be submerged into powder, then boiled in a pot to turn it into a gaseous substance. It can then enter the body of a person or animal like dust," said Doctor Liang.

Lanqin was greatly alarmed. She quickly said, "Dr. Liang, could you come with me to a place to see if such a thing exists there?"

Doctor Liang nodded and said, "I am at the beck and call of Consort Liang."

Lanqin nodded, then turned to Xinyi and Shuhui and said, "Xinyi, why don't you sit here and wait for me to come back? If anyone comes looking for me in the meantime, try to fend them off for me. Shuhui, you come with me."

Although Xinyi and Shuhui still didn't know what Lanqin and Doctor Liang were talking about, they intuitively felt that Lanqin must be doing something very important, so they immediately agreed.

"Si Hua, Shui Ling, come in!" Lan Qin called out to the outside.

After the two maids came in, she said to them, "Shuiling, you stay here to serve Xinyi. If anyone comes looking for me, make up an excuse to avoid them. Try not to let anyone know that I have already gone out. Sihua, you come with me. Let's not delay, Doctor Liang, let's go now."

Lanqin had thought things through carefully; she didn't want to be seen and gossiped about. After all, Doctor Liang was a man, and if she went there alone with him, it would definitely cause gossip if others saw them.