119 Poisoning
◎This palace...hasn't held a ritual in a long time◎
"Your Majesty, the results of the palace examination are out." Rong Pan took the list early in the morning and hurriedly handed it to Rong Qianyu to read.
Rong Qianyu had been idling for a moment, but immediately became interested. "How did Du Xian do on the exam?"
Rong Pan hadn't said anything yet, but he was beaming with joy, excitedly congratulating Rong Qianyu: "Your Majesty, you have good taste. He got second place in the first class this year."
"Second place!" Although I had expected this, I was still incredibly excited to hear such great news. "Great! Looks like I was right. What are your plans, Your Majesty?"
"His Majesty personally appointed the Hanlin Academy as the editor and attaches great importance to it."
This was undoubtedly a healthy sign. Du Xian possessed genuine talent and would never be buried. However, it was a loss to the court for such a talented and courageous person to be overlooked. Rong Qianyu never held a grudge against them for their recent outburst. Young people without passion were nothing compared to youth; they should possess such courage. In fact, as long as it served the people well, she was willing to bear some infamy.
"Prepare some small gifts to congratulate him on his success!" She kept her word. She would do her best to win over a man like him, not just for personal gain, but also for future plans. "And give me a message: If he needs anything in the future, without harming the nation's leader, please let me know. I can help him out."
She had read Du Xian's policy papers. He was so young and had such insight, which was far superior to many students in their thirties. Such a person could be of great use. In this way, he would have received Rong Qianyu's support and assistance, which he would have to repay in the future.
It was a joy, but it was a pity that Cui Zhicong was demoted and was now unemployed at home, but Cui Rumei was not affected at all.
Thinking of this, Rong Qianyu sighed again, "It's a pity that the disaster has not been eradicated completely. I have to think of a way."
Rong Pan saw through Rong Qianyu's thoughts. Seeing her risking her life this time, His Majesty said nothing, waiting for the matter to be resolved. Cui Zhicong was so bold in selling official positions, while Cui Rumei remained unscathed. It was truly chilling.
"Don't be anxious, madam. The abscess will grow bigger. Only by digging it out can it be eradicated. It won't be too late to keep her here for a few days."
Fu Hua is soft-hearted and loyal. He either has solid evidence or is unwilling to take action. How could the friendship of youth be exhausted so quickly?
The days passed little by little. The peach blossoms had just fallen during the palace examination, and now it was the season for the acacia blossoms. Cui Rumei had been living a peaceful life for several months without any troubles, and now she was a little uncomfortable.
Maybe it was the summer heat, or maybe it was because Xue Ji worked too hard in the past few days, but Rong Qianyu always felt tired and exhausted lately.
In the blink of an eye, An'er could crawl. Not long ago, the child had a high fever, which scared Cui Rumei so much that she had no time to think about anything else. Fu Hua even made an exception and allowed the witch doctor to enter the palace. Unexpectedly, the child really recovered.
Fu Hua thought it was a manifestation of the gods and began to feel pity for Cui Rumei again.
There was often a reclining chair placed under the shade of a tree in Fengyi Palace, and Rong Qianyu would lie on it, eyes closed, the gentle breeze caressing her face. It was a very pleasant scene. Once, Xue Ji came to see her and found her taking an afternoon nap under a tree. Her curled eyelashes fluttered slightly, and the tips of her hair were stained a brilliant brown by the dappled sunlight, making her as beautiful as a jade-carved fairy.
At dusk, Rong Qianyu got up drowsily. Lately, she had been taking longer and longer naps due to laziness, sometimes even sleeping for two hours during the day.
"Is it because of the hot weather? Why do I feel dizzy lately?"
Rong Pan helped her get up and said, "Your Majesty, you don't look well. Do you want to call the imperial physician to take a look?"
Yuan Qing brought dinner, but the woman opposite him sat on the bed without responding. "Your Majesty...is it time for dinner, Your Majesty?"
She called out a few more times, and Rong Qianyu seemed frightened. She asked in surprise, "How long have I been sleeping?"
"Two hours."
"It's been so long, how could it be?"
Rong Pan didn't take it too seriously, thinking it was just fatigue. "Maybe he's tired. Your Majesty has been working too hard lately."
The next day, Shu'er and Yan'er came to pay their respects. Rong Qianyu was teaching them to recite Qin Feng's poem, "The orioles are singing on the island in the river. The beautiful lady is the ideal match for the gentleman..."
Halfway through his speech, he suddenly felt dizzy, a black shadow appeared in front of his eyes, and he was covered in cold sweat in an instant.
"What's wrong with mother?" Shu'er took Rong Qianyu's hand and asked.
She held her forehead with her hand, enduring the pain, and struggled to support herself, her whole body trembling. "I feel a little dizzy."
Seeing this, Tan Lu reacted immediately and ordered the palace maids to take the two girls to fly kites outside the palace. She had some knowledge of medicine and immediately understood the symptoms.
"What's wrong, Madam?"
Rong Qianyu didn't care about her manners and collapsed on the couch as soon as the man left. "I've been feeling weak and dizzy lately, as if I can't wake up, but I don't feel like there's anything wrong with my body."
Tan Lu asked: "About when did it start?"
Rong Qianyu leaned her head on the tree and tried to recall: "It seems so. An'er has always been weak since he recovered from his illness."
"I went to see Mrs. Liu not long ago, and she was also very weak and listless."
Rong Qianyu seemed to have noticed something and asked hurriedly, "Is it also after An'er recovered from his illness?"
"Almost," Tan Lu said, suddenly alert again, "Your Majesty, don't forget that after the Second Prince recovered, the witch doctor also left the palace."
Rong Qianyu was silent for a moment and then said, "This palace...hasn't held a ritual for a long time."
Tan Lu's words made her worried again. She had been sleeping longer and longer during the day in recent days, and she looked increasingly weak. The timing was strange, and this was definitely not just simple fatigue.
"What does the Queen mean?"
Don't be afraid of ten thousand things, just be safe.
"Maybe it's time to have a big one."
Xue Ji: "You want to perform a ritual?"
Rong Qianyu leaned on the bed and nodded.
"I'm going to leave the palace soon. Take good care of yourself and remember to take your medicine and eat. Otherwise, you'll be in trouble when I come back."
After seeing her desperate actions last time, Xue Ji was always afraid. He was afraid that she would go crazy and not even let him go, and cut her wrists without paying attention. He was afraid that one day when he was not around, she would do something even more cruel.
Rong Qianyu kissed him to comfort him, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
"What's wrong? Why do you suddenly want to perform a ritual?"
"I don't feel too..." She was about to answer when she stumbled and almost fell in front of Xue Ji, "Ahem... I don't feel too well."
Xue Ji quickly stepped forward and reached out to help her, then was surprised: "Why are your hands so cold? Are you feeling uncomfortable?"
Rong Qianyu shook her head, her body also feeling cold. "I don't know. I'm too tired and haven't been getting enough sleep lately. I even consulted the imperial physician, but he couldn't tell me what's wrong."
Xue Ji held her in his arms and kissed her, "What do you want me to do?"
During the day, Fu Hua looked at the results of the Imperial Astronomical Observatory's deductions and asked, "You say it's bad for the Empress?"
Fan Liu, the director of the Imperial Astronomical Observatory, attached great importance to this matter. Usually, such matters concerning seasonal astronomical phenomena were reported by the four chief officials of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. This time, for the first time, he personally reported to the emperor.
"Yes, this person is located in the northwest of the palace. There are grass and wood in his horoscope, which is in conflict with the Empress. The Empress and Your Majesty are of equal status, so I'm afraid this person will also be detrimental to Your Majesty."
"Then let's hold a ritual. It just so happens that the palace hasn't held a grand ceremony in a long time. After the witch doctor left, I also felt that I had to get rid of the evil spirits."
But then I think again, the northwest direction, the people who are related to plants and trees, this range is too large, even the queen is related to plants and trees, how can I start to investigate.
Fan Liu continued, "This person has brothers at home, and they've even had conflicts with the Empress. Their yang body isn't a big deal, but they're a woman, and the clash of same-sex relationships is very unfavorable to the Empress. The Empress's current situation might be related to this!"
The person who said this was almost out of his mind. Fu Hua couldn't think of anyone other than Cui Rumei and Cui Zhicong who had clashed with her. But it had only been a short time, and even if Cui Rumei hated the Queen, she wouldn't cause trouble so soon.
Whenever something went wrong, Fu Hua always wanted to clear Cui Rumei of all responsibility, but the more he covered up for her, the more he realized that she was too involved, and gradually he felt that he was unable to cope.
Rong Qianyu was standing aside and suddenly fainted on the ground. This scared Fu Hua so much that he quickly called the imperial physician.
"How is the queen?" Fu Hua asked.
"The Queen has been poisoned."
"Poisoned!" How could he be poisoned?
The result of the imperial physician's pulse diagnosis was that this medicine was not from the north, but more like the Gu medicine from Qianzhong area in the south. The main symptoms were fatigue, drowsiness, loss of appetite, dark circles under the eyes, and weakness in the limbs.
"Excuse me, Auntie, has the Queen been having trouble waking up lately, eating less and sweating?"
Following the imperial physician's question, Fu Hua's gaze fell on Rong Pan.
"Yes!" Rong Pan replied, "The Queen has been sleeping for four or five hours during the day lately. She always has no energy and doesn't eat much."
"That's right. Your Majesty already has insufficient Qi and blood, and the chills have harmed her body, manifesting as excessive sweating and fatigue. It's easy to misdiagnose in the early stages, and in the later stages, the patient will sleep longer, not eat or move, which will damage the body and endanger her life."
"Then... is there an antidote?"
Rong Qianyu lay in bed, watching Fu Hua crying and wailing. She wondered if she really thought he was worried. Sometimes it was really tiring. Acting with such a person, and accompanying a whole yard of people in the play, was really annoying.
The imperial physician knelt on the ground, apparently helpless. He could only diagnose it as a southwestern poison, but he couldn't find out what kind of poison it was, and no one knew how to detoxify it.
The only thing that can be confirmed is that this is a poison found in the southern region and is not common.
Fu Hua took Rong Qianyu's hand, with self-blame in his eyes. It was he who agreed to let the witch doctor enter the palace a while ago. If he implicated others because of this, he would feel guilty with the little conscience he had left.
For some reason, a line of tears fell on the back of Rong Qianyu's hand. They had been married for many years, and perhaps it was a true expression of their feelings, but she no longer cared.
Seeing Fu Hua sighing, I don’t know what he was thinking. Maybe he was blaming himself, maybe he was regretting, or maybe he was thinking about how to help his loved one get rid of suspicion.
It doesn’t matter what you pay back.
Rong Pan noticed Fu Hua's hesitation and kowtowed to his knees. "Your Majesty, please understand! The Queen must have been murdered. Please help the Queen! We must apprehend this person and help the Queen!"
She cried so hard that tears welled up in her eyes, and her head was scratched from a few times.
Fu Hua clenched his fists and said subtly, "Supervisor."
"I am here!"
"Investigate, investigate thoroughly for me!"
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