Chapter 91 Poisoning
“I know Achan, the 'chan' in 'entanglement,' and Achan also has a younger sister named Amian.” Shen Qingwu seemed lost in memories, her eyes unfocused, but a sweet smile on her face. “Liufeng said that our Huixue will grow up to be a beautiful girl just like them.”
Achan said softly, "Huixue has grown into a beautiful young woman."
"But my Liufeng is gone!" Shen Qingwu suddenly stepped forward, grabbing Achan's hand tightly, her eyes wide open. "Achan, do you know where Liufeng went? I can't find him anywhere!"
Seeing this, Shen Huixue quickly stepped forward to persuade her, "Mother, you've mistaken me for someone else. Achan doesn't recognize Father."
“She’s your father’s niece, of course she knows Liufeng, don’t you think so, Achan?”
Seeing that she couldn't reason with her mother, Shen Huixue looked troubled and planned to call the maidservant to take her mother back to her room to rest.
Achan saw through her plan and shook her head at her.
She then replied, "Of course I recognize Liufeng, but I don't know where he is. Miss Qingwu, you've been with him the whole time, so you should know where he went, shouldn't you?"
"Me? Do I know?" Shen Qingwu seemed somewhat confused, repeatedly muttering, "Do I know? I know..."
Suddenly, her voice stopped, and she abruptly raised her head, her expression horrified. "I know. He's dead. They killed him!"
"Who are they?" Achan asked.
Shen Qingwu tried hard to recall, and after a moment, she seemed to remember something terrifying. She covered her head, squatted down, and screamed incessantly.
The scream was piercing, but Achan took a step forward and squatted down next to Shen Qingwu, gently patting her back. She looked at the redness on Shen Qingwu's exposed skin and couldn't help but show a thoughtful expression in her eyes.
Soon, the old woman who served Shen Qingwu ran over. The old woman had gray hair and was obviously quite old.
She pulled Shen Qingwu into her arms, coaxing her, "Qingwu, be good, there are no bad guys anymore, they've all been chased away..."
She patiently repeated it over and over until Shen Qingwu finally calmed down.
After Shen Qingwu stopped screaming, the redness on her face and hands faded, and she completely forgot what she had just said.
Her brows relaxed, as if nothing had happened, and she said to the old woman in front of her in a coquettish tone, "Aunt Wu, Qingwu wants to eat candied hawthorns."
Mrs. Wu smiled and coaxed her, "Okay, Mrs. Wu will make candied hawthorns for Qingwu right away. Qingwu, be a good girl and wait for me in your room, okay?"
Shen Qingwu nodded and was coaxed into the room by Wu's mother.
A short while later, Wu's mother came out and said to Achan apologetically, "Miss, you must have been frightened just now. Qingwu is not usually like this."
She was a little worried that the light fog would scare away the friends that Huixue had gone to great lengths to bring back.
She watched Qingwu grow up and delivered Huixue. Both mother and daughter had a hard life and few people wanted to associate with them. Huixue finally brought friends to her home, but Qingwu fell ill at that time.
“Mother Wu, you don’t need to be so polite. I wasn’t frightened at all.”
Seeing that there was no disgust in Achan's eyes, Wu's mother was relieved.
Achan's eyes flickered slightly as she said, "Just now, Miss Qingwu mistook my identity and mentioned Huixue's father. Was it because of this that she fell ill?"
After hearing this, Mrs. Wu sighed and said, "Yes, Qingwu always looks like this whenever someone mentions Huixue's father."
Achan asked again, "I noticed that Qingwu's face and hands were red just now. Is she always like this when she's emotional?"
“This…” Mrs. Wu thought for a moment and shook her head, “Qingwu didn’t seem to be like this when she was a child and argued with people. She only developed this problem after something happened.”
Achan nodded, seemingly lost in thought.
Shen Huixue still looked at Wu Mama with pleading eyes, "Wu Mama, could you tell me a little more about my father? I promise I won't let anyone else know."
“Okay, I didn’t tell you before because I was afraid you would go around talking about it, but now there’s nothing to hide.” Mrs. Wu agreed readily. “But I have to make candied hawthorns for Qingwu first, so she won’t come back to me and make a fuss. You two come with me to the kitchen.”
Chen Hui spoke up at the right moment, "I'll stay and look after Qingwu. Wu Mama can take them."
Mrs. Wu said gratefully, "Then I'll trouble you, young lady."
Then she complained a little, "The maids around Qingwu were recently sent by the Shen family, and they are not very dedicated. I can't just fire them. If Qingwu needs anything, just let the maids do it. You can keep an eye on the maids for me."
"Don't worry."
Chen Hui looked very reliable, and Wu's mother, who rarely judged people by their appearance, was surprisingly accurate.
Achan and Shen Huixue followed Wu's mother to the back kitchen, where she deftly found hawthorns, washed them, and steamed them.
As she worked, she told them about the past: "Once, Qingwu had a fight with the sisters in the clan. Someone said that she was taking up the clan's resources but not making any progress. Provoked by this, she decided to learn from others and go catch a demon to prove herself to the clan. Later, she secretly ran away from home and actually encountered a demon, but she couldn't defeat it. It was Xue's father who happened to pass by and rescued her from her injuries."
Speaking of this, Wu's mother couldn't help but shake her head: "Qingwu saw that the other person was good-looking, so she insisted on giving herself to him."
Shen Huixue was shocked. How could her mother have looked like this when she was young?
"So my dad agreed?"
Seeing Huixue's surprised look, Wu's mother couldn't help but laugh and said, "Of course not. It's just that something happened later, and your father was seriously injured. Many people in the city were looking for him, and Qingwu secretly hid him away. It was around that time that the two of them developed feelings for each other."
“But the Shen family will not agree,” Shen Huixue said softly.
"Yes, the two of them were separated for a while because of this. Your father went back to his hometown, and Qingwu was almost married off to the Prince of Xiling as a concubine by the master. But later, your father came back, and the two of them agreed to leave Xiling together."
"Have they been discovered?"
"Yes, we've been found out." Mrs. Wu's voice was filled with bitterness.
Shen Huixue once suspected that her parents' meeting was a hoax, but now that she knows it wasn't, it doesn't make her happy.
"Miss Qingying found out about this and told the eldest young master and the master. Later... Qingwu was brought back covered in blood. The master locked her up, and your father never appeared again."
"Does Aunt Wu know how my father died?" Shen Huixue didn't believe that her father could possibly have survived, given the ruthlessness of the Shen family.
"When Qingwu hadn't yet contracted this illness, I vaguely heard her say that she seemed to have been besieged and killed. There were masters, and also... people from the government."
Mother Wu spoke tactfully, but how could Achan not understand? The so-called government of Xiling was nothing more than the Xiling Prince's Mansion.
So, was the Prince of Xiling also involved in Uncle Liu's death?
"Why are the government officials involved?" Achan pressed.
“This…” Madam Wu lowered her voice, “Back then, the prince was bewitched by the demon clan, and that demon clan even harmed the princess. It is said that it was a fox demon.”
"Is Huixue's father related to that fox demon?"
Ah Chan felt that the matter involved was not so simple, otherwise a group of people would not have appeared out of nowhere wanting to kill Uncle Liu.
Mrs. Wu shook her head: "I don't know about that. Perhaps Qingwu knows, but she can't say it now."
"Then who is Shen Qingying, the informant that Aunt Wu just mentioned?"
Having heard this name mentioned twice, Achan couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.
"She is Qingwu's cousin. Back then, she and Qingwu were the most outstanding in the clan. Many people said that if it weren't for Qingwu, she might have entered the Xiling Prince's Mansion."
"She later entered the Prince's palace?"
Mother Wu shook her head: "That's the strange thing. She just disappeared suddenly. During that time, Qingwu was so sick that she was unrecognizable, and the master also passed away suddenly. Everyone in the clan was in a panic, so no one cared about this matter. Gradually, everyone forgot about her."
After saying that, she couldn't help but add, "The person who came to see Qingwu today is Shen Qingying's own sister-in-law. I can understand if others don't care about her, but why don't her own brother and sister-in-law care?"
Shen Huixue interjected, "What's so strange about that? If my mother disappeared one day, my uncle wouldn't look for her either."
Her so-called uncle should actually be called maternal uncle.
However, since she took the Shen family name, she was required to change her form of address, as she had been punished for calling her by the wrong name before.
Shen Huixue could never understand the hypocritical behavior of the Shen family. So what if they changed their address? Did they really think they could develop any affection for her?
Mrs. Wu sighed, "That's true. Luckily, Qingwu prepared this house early and moved out, otherwise she would have encountered a lot of trouble."
Just then, the hawthorns that Aunt Wu had steamed were ready. She busied herself removing the pits from the steamed hawthorns and flattening them. Achan and Shen Huixue also went up to help, but were criticized for being clumsy.
She gave each of them a piece of sweet cake and then sent them aside.
The two sat side by side on small wooden stools in the kitchen, nibbling on sweet cakes in unison. Wu's mother glanced at them and couldn't help but laugh: "Anyone who didn't know better would think you two were sisters."
The sweet taste made Achan squint her eyes in satisfaction: "Although we are not from the same father or mother, it doesn't stop us from being sisters."
Shen Huixue nodded like a chick pecking at rice: "Yes."
Wu's mother's gaze softened even more. Compared to five years ago when she was first sent away, Huixue seemed much more cheerful. If only she could stay like this forever.
Another half hour passed, and not only did Wu's mother finish making the candied hawthorns that Qingwu wanted, but she also cooked a table full of dishes for them.
At her enthusiastic invitation, Achan and Chen Hui had no choice but to stay for a meal.
The food was brought to Shen Huixue's room. Wu Mama had to go take care of Shen Qingwu, leaving Huixue alone to keep them company.
Wu's mother is an excellent cook, and Achan loves the Xiling specialty dishes she makes. Of course, what she likes even more is half a table of chicken.
Once all the dishes were served and the maids were sent away, Achan and Huixue finally picked up their chopsticks.
When they were almost finished eating, Achan said to Shen Huixue, "Huixue, there's something I want to tell you."
"Hmm? What is it?" Shen Huixue held a half-eaten chicken wing in her hand. Her lips were red from the spiciness. She looked at Achan with some confusion.
Achan hesitated for a moment: "I'm not quite sure if this guess is accurate, but I suspect that your mother is not sick, but more likely poisoned."
Shen Huixue looked on in disbelief. She murmured, "Mother Wu said that the Shen family invited many doctors back then. Could it be that they poisoned the body themselves?"
She clearly believed Achan's words more than the Shen family's character.
Achan shook her head. She didn't know if the Shen family knew about this poison, but she knew that her sixth uncle had it.
"I just saw you ask Mama Wu about how Qingwu's skin turns red when she gets excited. Is that also a symptom of poisoning?" Chen Hui immediately noticed that Achan's behavior was off.
Shen Huixue calmed down a bit and looked at Achan, waiting for her answer.
"Yes, this poison is very difficult to detect. This symptom is the most obvious, but it is also the easiest to overlook."
Shen Huixue nodded. It's easy to overlook, isn't it? Everyone else thought her mother was acting this way because she was emotionally agitated.
But she clearly remembered that Ah Chan had asked Wu Mama that her mother wasn't like that before.
"What kind of poison is it? How can we confirm it?" Shen Huixue asked impatiently.
"Have you ever heard of the mirage?" Achan slowly explained, "There is a mirage pearl inside the mirage. That pearl can emit mirage gas, which is poisonous and can cause memory confusion and mental abnormalities."
"Can it be cured?" Shen Huixue no longer wanted to know how her mother was poisoned; she wanted to confirm whether Achan had a way to cure the poison.
If Mother really did become like this due to poisoning, wouldn't she be able to return to normal once the poison is neutralized?
"If it really is mirage poison..."
Under Shen Huixue's expectant gaze, Achan nodded firmly: "Yes, and it's very simple."
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