The wind was cold and bleak. It had been sunny and warm the day before, but the weather had changed in just one day. The accumulated snow was blown everywhere. The maids and servants in the yard were busy helping their masters wash and dress. An old doctor followed a cold, tall and handsome man and walked quickly, panting and sweating.
"Sir, I'm quite old, let's go..." Before she could even utter the word "slow down", his cold gaze pinned it to her lips. She couldn't utter the words, so she had to follow him obediently. She finally slowed down her pace so that she wouldn't be running and stumbling.
After checking the pulse of the woman sleeping soundly on the couch behind the curtains in the inner chamber, he couldn't help but stroke his graying beard and glared angrily, "Young Master, you just caught a cold and have a slight fever. A dose of medicine will make you almost fine. But you were so anxious and frantic that I thought she was dying. My calves are aching from walking."
Gu Zhen took out a silver ingot from his sleeve and handed it to him. "Thank you for your trouble, old sir."
The old doctor took a look at the white silver and his mood finally improved a lot. It was still dark and he had just opened the door and removed the window panel when he saw the old man walking in, dusty and cold. He said as soon as he entered the room, "Please move over for a consultation." Then he brought him in. Fortunately, the old woman at home had also gotten up and was able to help with the consultation.
"Send me back and I'll prescribe you some medicine according to this prescription. Just take one dose and you'll be fine."
Gu Zhen took the old doctor out and met City Lord Lin and his cousin's wife in the front hall.
Lin Chuang held a folding fan in his hand and asked worriedly, "Your Highness, who is sick? I heard from the guard at the door this morning that you went to call a doctor in person." It was heard that before dawn, the guard was dozing off against the door, and was woken up by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. He said he had to go out for a while, and when he came back, he brought back an old doctor to lead him into the house.
What exactly did he miss?
Gu Zhen glanced at the folding fan in his hand and said, "It's fine now, don't worry. Please ask the city lord to send someone to take the old man back and get some medicine to boil."
Lin Chuang ordered his personal servant to do it. Turning around, he saw His Royal Highness walking out of the front hall and heading back to his room. He instructed Lin, "Cousin, take Cui to see her. Perhaps His Royal Highness's wife is ill. It would be inconvenient for me to go. Bring some sweet soup and tonics."
Lin said with a forced smile, "Why do you have to take Cui with you wherever you go? Is she a dog-skin plaster?"
Lin Chuang opened his folding fan and fanned her twice. "Ouch, you smell so jealous."
"You bad boy, you're fanning me when it's so cold. Aren't you afraid that I'll get sick too?" Lin wasn't really angry at all. She just mentioned Cui's habit of saying something sarcastic to him to vent her anger.
Cui was originally married by the emperor's order, so he had no choice but to marry her. However, the emperor was far away and the Cui family had five or six legitimate daughters, so he didn't have the time to take care of the affairs of marrying off his daughters. So she said a few words to gain the upper hand. Lin walked towards the room of His Highness and his wife, thinking a lot along the way.
It was almost noon when Song Jiaren opened her eyes and woke up. The sky was bright outside the window, and the faint fragrance of plum blossoms wafted into her nostrils. It turned out that there were a few plum blossoms in the vase beside the bed. She stared at it for a long time.
"Is it nice?" Gu Zhen was sitting on a chair by the window, reading a book in his hand. In fact, he was also paying attention to the movements on the bed. She would know as soon as she woke up.
Song Jiaren turned her head slowly and looked in the direction of the voice. In the sunlight, she saw his extremely dark and deep eyes, straight nose and slightly messy black hair, which gave off a seductive laziness.
She tilted her head slightly to avoid his gaze. "...It looks good. Did a maid pick it?"
"I picked it myself." Gu Zhen raised his eyebrows and smiled slightly.
There was a knock on the door, and Gu Zhen said softly, "Come in."
Lin was followed by several maids carrying trays. After entering the room, she greeted with a smile, "Your Highness, Madam, here are sweet soup and a few bowls of bird's nest, both of which are warming and nourishing. Your husband is worried about you and Madam, and it is inconvenient for you to come over, so he insisted on sending these for Madam to try."
Song Jiaren had gotten much better. She leaned against the bed and said with a smile, "Come in and sit down. Thank you for your concern."
Lin bowed slightly to the Crown Prince sitting on the chair by the window, then walked to the chair beside the couch and sat down.
Gu Zhen straightened his sleeves and continued to read the book in his hand. He didn't feel that his presence would restrict the conversation of the female relatives, and he sat there with peace of mind.
Lin sighed inwardly. With His Highness present, there were many things she couldn't say. Therefore, she smiled uncomfortably at the lady lying on the couch, her face showing concern. "Madam, you were fine last night. How did you suddenly become ill? Did you catch a cold from drinking too much last night?"
Song Jiaren spoke softly and said, "It's nothing. I guess he caught a cold and had a fever. Your Highness asked a doctor to see him. He's feeling much better now."
Seeing that her face still had an unnatural blush, Lin frowned and said softly, "Have you taken the medicine?"
As she was speaking, a maid came in carrying a large bowl. It was the medicine boiled for Song Jiaren. She frowned, held her breath, took a sip from the bowl, and then shouted, "It's so bitter! Do you have any candied fruit?"
Lin sternly ordered the maid who brought the medicine, "You don't have any taste. Go get some candied fruit!"
The maid bowed and when she came back she saw that the lady on the couch had finished drinking the medicine. She quickly handed over the candied fruits and dried fruits on the plate and then left.
Until she walked towards the back kitchen and came to an empty corner door, she stopped and looked around, threw away the white paper bag in her sleeve, breathed a sigh of relief, calmed her expression, and went back to the basement to rest. It was not her duty today, and she got up too early, so she could go back and take a nap.
Lin sat for a while and then left. Her expression before leaving was indescribable. She had wanted to talk about Cui's affairs and complain, but because of the presence of His Highness, the intimate conversation between the women could not be exchanged.
It seems that His Highness cares about this lady very much and is almost inseparable from her. Lin couldn't help feeling disappointed and inexplicably envious. At least they only have each other.
She had just returned to the house to drink some tea, and before she had time to say a few words to Lin Chuang, she was interrupted by the servant who ran in. She angrily scolded him, "Why are you so panicked?"
The servant gasped twice, "Oh no! His Highness said the Madam has been poisoned!"
"What?" Lin Chuang dropped the folding fan in his hand in shock. He picked it up immediately, opened it and took a look at it with heartache. After finding that it was not damaged, he held it carefully in his hand.
Lin was also startled. "What's going on? It was fine just now. Never mind. Let's go and take a look."
On the other side of the room, Song Jiaren glanced at the ceramic vase with plum blossoms on the bedside. The plum blossoms that were originally in full bloom had now withered and dead.
She was lying on the bed with some blood on the corner of her mouth. She saw Lin come back and City Lord Lin also came, followed by Cui and several maids.
"Your Highness, what's going on? Why did the servant say that Madam was poisoned?" Lin Chuang walked to the window and asked His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who was reading a book. Why was he still reading at this time?
Gu Zhen lowered his eyes and said calmly, "First send someone to call the maid who delivered the medicine."
Lin Chuang quickly ordered the guards in the mansion to call someone, and he glanced at the couch.
His Highness's wife looked pale, with bloodstains at the corners of her lips, and she looked as if she was about to pass away at any moment.
Lin looked at her hesitantly, then glanced at the porcelain vase with plum blossoms on the bedside. The plum blossoms in it withered and the roots shrivelled in just half an hour.
Seeing that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince did not say much, Lin Chuang stopped asking and just sat aside and waited.
The maid was brought over and knelt on the ground tremblingly. Only then did she realize what she had done. That was the Crown Prince's woman. Normally, she would not dare to offend her even if she had ten times the courage. How could she be so bewildered as to accept that person's money and do such a thing?
Tears and snot streamed down her face. "Your Highness, please spare me! City Lord, please spare me! I deserve to die. A masked man threatened to kill me if I didn't help him. He told me to put the powder into the lady's medicine bowl, saying it was just a harmless little medicine! I had no choice but to do it or I'd die! Oh, and he also threw me a gold ingot. Here, I hand it over! Your Highness and City Lord, please spare me!"
Beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, her eyes rolled around and she lowered her head guiltily, not daring to look at the masters sitting there.
There was no life-threatening situation at all. She was just blinded by the gold and money at that time. She made sure that it was just an imperceptible drug before she dared to put it in the medicine. She didn't expect it to be poison!
With trembling hands, she took out the gold from her sleeve and presented it with both hands, but no one dared to take it, as no one wanted to anger His Highness at this time.
"Hmph, you always love to take advantage of others and slack off from time to time, but no one says anything to you. But now you are so bold as to drug an honored guest! You really don't know how to live or die. It would be better for you to die under the knife of that masked man you mentioned!" Lin cursed with gritted teeth, wishing she could beat her to death to vent her anger. Such a fool who betrayed her master and sought fame and fortune actually appeared in the mansion!
Lin Chuang also frowned and looked at the calm Crown Prince. "Your Highness, such a thing happened in my house. It is because I have not been strict in my management. I will leave it to Your Highness to deal with it."
Gu Zhen looked up at him and said quietly, "We'll talk about it later. First, hold her down and keep watch. City Lord Lin, should you take me to see if there are any unusual movements among those 50,000 elite soldiers?"
Lin Chuang held his folding fan tightly and stood up. "Your Highness is right. Let's go now!"
"Let your wife stay with us." Gu Zhen put down the book in his hand, stood up, put on his cloak and sword.
"Yes, Your Highness, don't worry." Lin responded softly. This was exactly what she meant. With such a big thing happening, she was worried about leaving the lady alone.
Gu Zhen brought two soldiers and rode quickly with Lin Chuang to the river area where elite troops were stationed.
"City Lord Lin?" The patrol officer from the river region asked curiously, looking at the imposing man next to him. "Who is this?"
Lin Chuang had no time to joke with him and said seriously, "I have something urgent to see your commander. Where is he?"
The gatekeeper pointed to the back and said, "Look, there it is."
As soon as he finished speaking, City Lord Lin and the man had already walked over. He scratched his forehead. There were so many people visiting today. Just as a few left, several more came.
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