Chapter 100 The Residue This doesn't seem like a revenge killing, it's more like... silencing...
“Handle her funeral arrangements properly.”
Shen Yan gave the instructions.
Chidou nodded, her voice choked with emotion, and said, "Everything has been arranged, Your Highness, please rest assured."
Shen Yan nodded and walked out of Qing He's room with a heavy heart.
She never thought she had done anything for Qinghe. Although she had agreed to keep her, she had actually asked Qi Jingxuan for help in the end. Otherwise, how could she have kept a palace maid who was registered in the palace?
But she was grateful to me for just saying a few words in a moment of thought, and she still remembers it to this day.
Shen Yan still doesn't know why Qing He didn't want to return to the palace back then, but she guesses that she must have encountered something bad, which is why she wanted to leave there and felt that the days she spent in the Shen family and the Prince's Mansion were the best days of her life.
A girl who was easily satisfied and knew how to be grateful escaped the place she feared, but ultimately did not get a good ending.
Shen Yan walked out absentmindedly. A gust of wind blew by, and the faint smell of medicine that had faded after she left the room wafted back over.
She frowned slightly, her gaze sweeping in the direction the wind was blowing, and saw a pile of scattered medicinal residue in the corner of the courtyard wall.
Shen Yan wasn't a doctor, but because Madam Su was in poor health and had been taking medicine for years, she had some knowledge of pharmacology. In addition, as she handled more cases, including several involving poisoning, she became familiar with some common poisons.
Although the pile of dregs was messy, Shen Yan still felt that some things looked familiar. She subconsciously walked over, squatted down, and picked up a piece wrapped in a handkerchief.
She looked at the object again and again, then brought it to her nose and smelled it, and her heart sank suddenly.
"Are these medicinal residues... all used by Qinghe?"
Red Bean nodded: "Recently, only Qinghe has been sick in this yard. These are the dregs of the medicine she took, which are usually cleaned up regularly along with other filth."
"The filth has been cleaned up today, but because Qinghe is seriously ill and has taken an extra dose of medicine, the dregs of the medicine have not been dealt with yet and have been dumped here first."
After she finished speaking, she noticed that Shen Yan's expression was off, and quickly asked, "Is there a problem?"
Shen Yan didn't say anything, but only asked, "Where is Qinghe's prescription? Let me see it."
Having just seen the dregs of the medicine, she now wants the prescription. Even though she didn't say anything, Chidou realized that something must have happened.
She hurriedly ordered someone to fetch it, while she herself did not leave Shen Yan's side for even a moment, her eyes warily scanning the surroundings.
Before long, someone brought over the prescription that Qinghe had used.
There were three prescriptions in total, written by the prefectural physician based on Qinghe's condition at different times and in different degrees. Initially, they were all mild and nourishing medicines. Later, as her condition worsened, the dosages were adjusted, but remained largely the same. It wasn't until the last prescription that a strong medicine was prescribed because her illness was so severe.
But none of these three prescriptions contain aconite. Yet, Qinghe's dregs clearly contain aconite!
Shen Yan gripped the prescription tightly and ordered, "Chidou, send someone to fetch He Yuan. Qingtuan, send someone to guard the Prince."
Just as Chidou Qingtuan was about to agree, she waved her hand again: "Never mind, I'll go back. Have He Yuan lead a team to the main courtyard as soon as possible."
After saying that, he wrapped the aconite in a handkerchief and pointed to the dregs in the corner: "Put all of these away. Have someone invite the prefectural physician to the main courtyard as well."
Several people around her agreed; some went to deliver a message, while others followed her quickly back to the main courtyard.
He Yuan reacted quickly. Upon hearing that the prince and princess might be in danger, although surprised, she immediately brought people over and surrounded the main courtyard of the prince's mansion like an iron barrel. At the same time, more people were dispersed to various parts of the mansion, firmly guarding the several gates and strictly prohibiting anyone from entering or leaving.
Qi Jingxuan was shocked to hear that one of his maids had been poisoned. He immediately ordered the courtyard gates to be locked, and no one was to be allowed to enter until He Yuan arrived. Apart from a few trusted maids, Chi Dou and Qing Tuan, no one else was left in the room. He himself stayed close to Shen Yan, ready to intervene if anyone broke into the room and committed a crime.
When He Yuan came in and saw that the two were alright, she breathed a sigh of relief and praised them for handling the situation very well before asking what had happened.
Just then, the imperial physician arrived. Shen Yan took out the piece of aconite that had been boiled, pointed to the dregs that the servants had hurriedly wrapped in cloth, and explained the situation.
The royal physician was shocked and immediately knelt down, swearing to the heavens, "Your Highness, while aconite can be used in medicine, it is a highly poisonous substance. I would never dare to use it lightly! Moreover, Qinghe's illness is incompatible with the effects of aconite, so it is completely unnecessary to use it!"
"The medicine I prescribed for Qinghe is all recorded in the prescription. If Your Highness does not trust it, you are welcome to request it for inspection. There is absolutely no aconite in any of them!"
"Then who got the medicine for her?" Qi Jingxuan asked. "Who got the medicine for her?"
"This..." The physician was speechless, looking somewhat bewildered. "Apart from the medicines for you and the Princess, I rarely need to personally prepare them. It's only when the Chief Secretary and Lord He, or Chidou and Qingtuan, are sick that I personally oversee the medicine preparations. As for the others... either the apprentices prepare them, or if anyone has a headache, fever, or a minor injury, they don't need me to open a room; they can just go and get a few medicines themselves."
“Although aconite is a poison, it can be used to treat illnesses when applied properly, and can even be used to save lives when necessary, so the household has some in stock. But when I checked the pharmacy recently, I didn’t see any discrepancies in the quantities…”
In reality, both Shen Yan and Qi Jingxuan were in good health, so the palace physician was hardly needed. The medicine he prescribed for Qi Jingxuan most often was for treating bruises and sprains from fights. And since Qi Jingxuan rarely suffered a loss in fights, he didn't actually use much of that medicine, so he lived a very leisurely life in the palace.
Because he had plenty of free time, he would take stock of the pharmacy whenever he had a spare moment. He was quite clear about the medicine reserves in the mansion, and the aconite had indeed not decreased recently, just as previously recorded.
This means that the aconite that poisoned Qinghe was bought from outside, not from the Prince's Pharmacy.
Thinking of this, the physician breathed a sigh of relief, but then heard Qi Jingxuan ask again, "Qinghe was poisoned by aconite, didn't you notice that when you examined her?"
The physician choked, and another cold sweat poured down his body.
Qinghe was an ordinary maid in the household, not a close associate of the prince and princess. In other households, the physician only cared for the master and not others. Among the maids and servants, only those who were favored by their masters could receive care from the physician, and even then, it depended on the physician's willingness or whether the master specifically instructed him to. Otherwise, with hundreds of people in the household, including masters and servants, having only one physician to treat everyone with minor ailments would be incredibly difficult.
Therefore, most servants in the household would take a few folk remedies when they fell ill. If they recovered, they would get better; if not, they would be carried out of the household. Some servants with savings would hire doctors, but they would only hire ordinary doctors; they couldn't afford good doctors.
Because the prince's physician had plenty of free time, he was willing to take a look at anyone who asked for his help. Since it was Chidou who personally came to ask for his help with Qinghe's illness, he went to see her three times.
To be honest, no matter how seriously he took it those three times, it wasn't anything special.
Qinghe's illness wasn't serious at first; she just had an upset stomach and some diarrhea, but it wasn't severe. This is a very common ailment, and usually, after a few days of abstaining from certain foods and taking some medicine, she would recover.
Qinghe took the medicine prescribed by the physician for several days, and her diarrhea symptoms did improve, but for some reason, she did not get better for a long time. She also developed palpitations and chest tightness, but it was not serious.
The physician made slight modifications to the previous prescription and added a few other medicines, thinking that there shouldn't be any major problems.
Two days ago, Chidou came to see her and said that Qinghe was seriously ill.
The physician was startled and rushed to check on Qinghe again, but upon seeing Qinghe's condition, he knew it was hopeless; she didn't look like someone who could be saved.
After taking their pulses, he shook his head. Although he prescribed a potent medicine for them to try, he also said it would be best to start preparing for their funeral.
As expected, Qinghe ultimately couldn't pull through and passed away today.
The physician had no particular thoughts on this. He had witnessed far too many life and death incidents, especially among the servants. They were considered lucky if they received some care from their masters and a few doses of medicine. Most of them, however, did not survive an illness and eventually succumbed to their ailments.
He initially thought Qinghe was just unlucky, but he never imagined that she had been poisoned!
Qinghe was just an ordinary maid, not even serving the prince or princess. He never imagined that someone would commit a crime against such an ordinary maid. Therefore, he never thought of checking the dregs of the medicine Qinghe had taken, let alone brewing medicine for her himself. Seeing that she was getting sicker and sicker, he just assumed that she was not feeling well and could not hold on. He did not think much of it.
If he had checked the dregs of the medicine earlier, it would have been easy to tell that she was poisoned by aconite, but he... he just didn't think to check.
Now that Qi Jingxuan has asked, he can't very well say that because it wasn't under his jurisdiction, he didn't pay much attention to it. He can only immediately admit his mistake and acknowledge that he was negligent and careless when examining Qinghe, which allowed someone to take advantage of the situation.
Qi Jingxuan knew he couldn't be blamed for this, and could only tell him to be more careful in the future. But both he and Shen Yan were equally puzzled: why did the poisoner want to kill Qinghe?
"Lord He, have any suspicious persons appeared in the manor recently?"
Shen Yan asked.
He Yuan, who had been listening silently, shook her head: "I haven't found anything. Maybe...maybe someone has a grudge against Qinghe and specifically targeted her."
The person who delivered the message to him just said that the prince and princess might be in danger and that he should bring people over immediately, without giving a specific reason. When he arrived, he learned that it was because Qinghe had died.
Shen Yan felt it was unlikely to be a revenge killing: "Qinghe came from the palace and stayed with me in the Shen family for a few months. She wasn't very familiar with the people in the Prince's mansion, so she shouldn't be considered an enemy. This doesn't seem like a revenge killing; it's more like... silencing her."
"I don't know if anything happened to Qinghe in the palace back then, or if she knew anyone's secrets, but now that this person can make a move in the Prince's mansion, she is a potential threat to us."
"Order all personnel in the manor to be vigilant and arrest anyone suspicious immediately. Also, send a message to the palace to investigate Qinghe's past and see who has the strongest motive to silence her."
He Yuan was taken aback, then quickly replied, "Yes, I will take care of it right away."
After saying that, he turned and left.
After he left, Shen Yan dismissed the physician. Once she was certain the surroundings were safe for the time being, her tense nerves relaxed slightly. After drinking a cup of tea, she carefully reviewed the entire incident, trying to analyze who was most likely to have harmed Qing He.
As she was thinking, she suddenly remembered He Yuan's reaction earlier.
He Yuan was responsible for her and Qi Jingxuan's safety. In the past, when such things happened, he was always the most concerned and would definitely grab the relevant people to find out everything. But today, when she and Qi Jingxuan questioned the royal physician, He Yuan didn't say a word. It was as if... as if he already knew everything, knew... that Qinghe would die.
Shen Yan was startled and suddenly stood up from her chair.
Qi Jingxuan was refilling her tea when he saw this and was startled, almost dropping the teapot.
He was about to ask Shen Yan what was wrong when he saw her slump back down, muttering, "It's over..."
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