As soon as Hong Zhengxuan finished speaking, the tent fell into dead silence.
Ding Xinwan's face was pale, and she bit her lower lip tightly, as if trying to suppress the panic in her heart. She couldn't believe that the porridge she cooked with her own hands was actually mixed with poison, causing these innocent victims to suffer so much.
Xue Jiyan frowned and asked in a deep voice, "Doctor Hong, is there an antidote for this poison?"
Hong Zhengxuan nodded: "Fortunately, I have seen records of this poison in an ancient book before, and I also know the antidote."
He added with a frown, "However, to eliminate this toxin, we must rely on an extremely rare medicinal herb—Golden Thread Lotus. Only with it as a guide can we completely eliminate the toxins from the patients' bodies."
Golden thread vine is a mysterious magical herb that grows in deep valleys. It has always enjoyed the reputation of "gold among herbs", which shows how precious it is.
"Golden Thread Lotus?" Ding Xinwan was stunned when she heard that. She had heard of the thousand-year-old snow lotus. When her father was seriously injured on the battlefield, His Majesty had rewarded the Ding family with the Tianshan Snow Lotus. But she had never heard of the name Golden Thread Lotus.
Xue Jiyan was extremely anxious. He jumped onto the saddle and said anxiously, "I will rush to the largest medical clinics in the capital. Even if the golden thread lotus costs a fortune, I will buy them all. I will leave this place to Doctor Hong and Miss Ding for the time being."
Before he finished speaking, Xue Jiyan clasped his fists and bowed, then spurred his horse and galloped towards the city, leaving behind a cloud of dust.
The anxiety on Ding Xinwan's face had not yet faded. She watched Xue Jiyan's back as he rode away on horseback, and couldn't help but look at him with admiration.
I thought he was just a talented scholar who was powerless, but the decisiveness and calmness he showed at this time revealed a sense of military style, which was impressive.
However, she quickly collected herself and regained her usual composure.
She turned to the servants and solemnly instructed them, "Return home immediately and report the situation to Father in detail. If the situation is urgent, ask him to mobilize the city defense battalion to ensure order is maintained."
The servants left immediately. Ding Xinwan turned around and looked at Hong Zhengxuan with a determined look in her eyes. "Doctor Hong, I will do my best to assist you. What can we do to alleviate the suffering of these patients?"
Hong Zhengxuan nodded in appreciation. He knew very well that the woman in front of him not only came from a prominent family, but also had a compassionate heart.
He said in a deep voice: "I have prepared some medicinal soup. Although it cannot cure the disease completely, it can temporarily relieve their pain."
Two apprentices from Baolintang also hurried over at this time, carrying a basket of carefully ground pills and mild tonic herbs from the carriage.
After a busy night, everyone stayed awake until the dawn broke.
Xue Jiyan traveled around the major medical clinics in the city, knocking on the doors of almost every one of them, and tried his best to collect all the golden thread vines he could buy.
However, this rare medicinal material is already in short supply, and only a few medical clinics have it. Faced with a large number of patients, these golden thread lotuses are stretched to the limit and far from meeting the demand.
"I tried my best and only bought these golden thread vines." Xue Jiyan said apologetically.
Hong Zhengxuan unfolded the paper, revealing the only four rare medicinal herbs inside.
He frowned slightly, thinking quickly in his mind.
If it was just to treat a few people, these golden thread vines might be able to barely cope with the situation. However, it is roughly estimated that there are more than 20 patients suffering from the Hundred Days Sleep Poison. These four golden thread vines are obviously a drop in the bucket and are far from enough.
The liquid in the medicine jar was boiling, emitting a rich medicinal fragrance. Ding Xinwan stared at this scene, and a light bulb suddenly lit up in her mind. She came up with a feasible solution.
"As soon as the imperial city gates are opened," she said firmly, "I will go to the palace to see my aunt. If the clinic doesn't have enough golden thread lotus, there might be more in the palace."
Xue Jiyan and Hong Zhengxuan looked at each other when they heard this, and a glimmer of approval flashed in their eyes.
In the current predicament, this is undoubtedly a way out worth trying.
At this moment, a little beggar about seven or eight years old ran around among the tents in panic.
His face was filled with horror, and his eyes revealed endless panic.
When he saw Xue Jiyan and his companions, he immediately rushed towards them, but stumbled and fell to the ground in panic.
Hong Zhengxuan quickly stepped forward and helped the child up.
The little beggar cried out, pointing in the distance, “Someone’s dead! Someone’s dead!”
Xue Jiyan looked into the distance, the outline of the dilapidated temple looming in the morning mist. He turned to the yamen runner beside him and said, "It's the dilapidated temple in the suburbs. Let's go take a look." After that, he hurried to the scene with several yamen runners.
At this moment, Ding Xinwan was sitting in the carriage, preparing to enter the palace. She was both nervous and full of anticipation, tightly clutching the prescription Hong Zhengxuan had given her.
This prescription is extremely important to her. She plans to explain it in detail to her aunt after entering the palace, hoping to obtain the rare medicinal herb golden thread vine in the palace.
Hong Zhengxuan stayed in the camp and concentrated on brewing medicine to relieve the patients' pain.
Xue Jiyan and the yamen runners quickly arrived at the dilapidated temple. Once inside, they found two corpses and blood on the ground, which showed that a fierce struggle had just taken place.
One of the yamen runners was well acquainted with the capital's rabble-rousers. He approached and carefully examined the two bodies, then reported to Xue Jiyan, "Master Xue, the man stabbed in the chest is Li Zhou, nicknamed 'Gambler Li.' The man whose throat was slashed is Zhao Si, a notorious scoundrel in the southern part of the city."
Other yamen runners searched the area but found no valuable clues.
Someone speculated: "Could it be that the two of them had a private grudge and fought to death?"
Another person said, "Who knows, look at this purse, there is quite a bit of silver in it." As he spoke, he picked up the purse that had fallen to the side and handed it to Xue Ji Yan.
Xue Jiyan took the purse and carefully examined the two bodies.
He shook his head and said, "No, Li Zhou still had a knife stuck in his chest, so he couldn't have used it to slash Zhao Si's neck. Obviously there was a third person present at the time."
The yamen runner beside him nodded: "That's right, and judging by the wound, the murderer was extremely fast and accurate, obviously a master."
However, this murder case did not fall within Xue Jiyan's jurisdiction, and soon the runners from Jingzhao Yinfu arrived to take over the case.
The Jingzhao Yinfu yamen runners looked serious. They knew that this case was no small matter. The leading yamen runner clasped his fists towards Xue Jiyan and said, "Master Xue, please rest assured that we at the Jingzhao Yinfu will handle this matter."
Xue Jiyan nodded and left the dilapidated temple. When he looked back, he felt a chill in his heart.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
