Once Zhang Mama had regained her footing, she quickly picked up the tray and strode towards Lin Yuexuan.
At this moment, Imperial Physician Le stood anxiously, his brows furrowed in worry. He clutched a bowl of still-steaming detoxifying soup, freshly prepared with herbs like Saposhnikovia divaricata and Cinnamomum cassia, pacing back and forth in front of the archway leading from the backyard to Lin Yuexuan Pavilion. He muttered to himself, "Le Song, Le Song, back when the late Emperor was alive, you were regarded as a divine physician by your colleagues in the Imperial Medical Academy. Now, you've been wise all your life, but foolish this time. If anything happens to Granny Zhang this time, you will surely be held responsible for aiding and abetting evil, and will be condemned to death!"
After speaking, she sighed, paused briefly, and then said incredulously, "Tianjiao, oh Tianjiao, how could you, a proper young lady from a prestigious family, commit such a vicious and despicable act against an old woman who is weak and helpless and has never wronged you? How could you have become like this? If Brother Lu knew about this, how would he feel about his family's long tradition of kindness, loyalty, and strict discipline?"
In fact, in the heart of Physician Le, he was not unaware that although Lu Tianjiao had not visited the Prince of Qin's residence as frequently as she had eight years ago when the Dowager Consort was still alive, she had still visited the residence once every year or two as promised, and had never lost contact with him.
For the past eight years, Lu Tianjiao had never visited his Xinglin Pavilion again. But today, she suddenly came to visit twice in a row. Especially the second time, she seemed to descend from the sky like a ghost, which really frightened him.
At that time, he was surprised to discover that among the two teacups that Zhang Mama had used at his place, there seemed to be traces of datura in the one used to take medicine.
Just as he was pondering this, Lu Tianjiao suddenly stepped into the room and snatched the very strange teacup from his hands as if it were being stolen. He then quickly and thoroughly destroyed the teacup, cleaning it up completely.
Lu Tianjiao told him personally that she also occasionally does some housework at home. But when cleaning teaware, who only cleans the few teaware pieces that have been used and doesn't wipe them clean, instead of taking the whole set to be washed and dried, and then neatly putting them back in their original place for the next time?
It's obvious that Lu Tianjiao has something to hide.
He had long heard the gossip among the guards and servants coming and going in Xinglin Pavilion, saying that Lu Tianjiao, the eldest daughter of Xiqin Academy, didn't spend New Year's Eve at her own residence, but instead came to the Qin Prince's Mansion on the eve of the festival. Yet she waited until today, with the Lantern Festival tomorrow approaching, and more than half a month had passed since she arrived at the Qin Prince's Mansion, before suddenly coming to Xinglin Pavilion to visit him. There must be some conspiracy behind this.
Then he quickly recalled that while he was getting medicine for him, he had gone out for a while to visit the unconscious Xuan Yuanhan at Lin Yuexuan.
Thinking that Lu Tianjiao must have taken this opportunity to secretly get the datura from his medicine cabinet, and because he was in a hurry for Zhang Mama to take the medicine, he pretended to be kind and prepared a pot for her.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Mama remained wary of her. Perhaps out of desperation, or perhaps out of desperation, she decided to give it a try and brought the medicine to Xinglin Pavilion for him to examine and confirm.
However, he was momentarily blinded by favoritism and negligence. He only checked the unprepared medicine in the food box. He had been on good terms with Lu Xian and knew him well. He had grown up under such strict family rules, but he couldn't understand why Lu Tianjiao had become like this. She was completely different from the clever, witty, obedient, and gentle little girl she used to be. She was like a different person.
The thought of nepotism caused him immense regret. At this moment, Physician Yue felt a chill run through his heart, not only for himself and the deceased Empress Dowager, but also for his old friend Lu Xian.
Everyone says, "Raising children is for old age security," but at this moment, in the utter coldness of human nature before him, he saw only fear, lingering apprehension, disappointment, misplaced love, and a sense of worthlessness...
Thinking about all this, Physician Yue sighed repeatedly. Once again, he looked up at the road ahead in a daze, only to find that the increasingly dark sky enveloped him, and the person he had been eagerly waiting for had not yet appeared.
"Could it be...?" Suddenly, a terrible premonition rose in his heart. So, he quickly turned around, hurried over, and locked the gate tightly. Having learned his lesson, he was determined never to leave anyone alone in this courtyard again. Then, carrying the bowl of medicine, he strode towards the backyard.
Not far from the corner outside the door, Granny Zhang was strolling unsteadily toward Lin Yuexuan, her vision flickering and her body feeling languid as if she were about to fall asleep.
She couldn't help but wonder to herself what was wrong with her today. Was it that her old ailment had worsened again, or was it the effect of that bowl of medicine? Why did she suddenly feel so sleepy?
Inside the Apricot Grove Pavilion, Physician Yue explained the prescription in great detail, since it was personally prepared by Lu Xian. After personally testing the medicine for her, Physician Yue drank a bowl of it. Back in her room, remembering that Lu Tianjiao had told her that the medicine could also be drunk as tea, and knowing that she was eager to recover quickly, she drank several more bowls of it, as it was a prescription personally tested by Lu Xian.
But I never expected that this medicine would make me drowsy. Could it be that the prescription is meant to force people to rest so that the illness can be cured?
As she pondered this to herself, she looked up and suddenly saw what appeared to be Imperial Physician Yue approaching. Zhang Mama, still half-asleep, teased him, "I say, Imperial Physician Yue, it's almost dark. Where have you been drinking again, you old geezer? What are you doing in the backyard? This isn't a place for a dignified imperial physician like yourself. Look at you, drinking as you walk! Don't drink too much! If you prescribe the wrong medicine or diagnose the wrong illness because of it, the Emperor will still chop your head off."
"Granny Zhang, Granny Zhang, how are you feeling?" Seeing that Granny Zhang was already swaying and confused, Physician Le came forward to support her and asked with concern.
Granny Zhang chuckled and said, "Hmph...you old hag, always secretly drinking. You didn't accidentally give me the wine in your prescription when you were drunk, did you? Why do I feel like I'm drunk after taking this medicine, having auditory and visual hallucinations, and my heart feels like it's about to jump out of my chest?"
Upon hearing this, Physician Yue hurriedly asked, "How much of that medicine have you drunk?"
Granny Zhang, still seemingly drunk, said weakly, "How much did I drink? Didn't that girl say it could be drunk like tea? So I drank the whole jar of medicine. I want to see if Lu Xian's prescription is effective."
"What? You drank it all! Oh dear... vomit, vomit, vomit, vomit it all out... quick..." Doctor Le exclaimed in shock upon hearing this, and hurriedly took the tray from her hands, placed it on the stone table by the corridor, pressed down on Zhang Mama's shoulder to make her sit down, and stuck two fingers into her throat to help her vomit.
Granny Zhang immediately began to struggle and shout loudly in his hands.
After vomiting for a while, Zhang Mama's expression seemed to have returned to normal, and Physician Le was also relieved. He then handed over the bowl of detoxifying soup that he had brought along the way, saying, "Quickly take this."
As she wiped the filth from the corner of her mouth, Granny Zhang looked at the soup bowl and wondered, "You old geezer, what are you trying to force down my throat again? Do you have some miracle cure that you want me to try? Why are you acting like a madman, tormenting this old woman like this?"
Physician Yue sighed and said, "Drink it quickly. We didn't even ask you to participate in the medicine testing. You're an old man, who else would we bother with? This is the antidote. You've been poisoned? If it had been any later, you would have died!"
"What? Poisoned? Me?...I'm poisoned? What on earth happened?" Upon hearing this, Granny Zhang stared wide-eyed at Physician Le's face, utterly shocked.
So, Physician Yue recounted everything that had happened that day in detail...
"Granny Zhang, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault. I'm truly heartbroken and filled with regret. I never imagined she would..." Physician Le finished explaining the whole story and was about to apologize with a look of apology when Granny Zhang quickly waved her hand, choking back the rest of his words.
She slowly lowered her raised hand, laying it flat on the stone table. Then, she slowly clenched it into a fist, gritted her teeth, and said resentfully, "I knew long ago that girl was cunning and ruthless, definitely not a kind person... Lu Xian really raised this girl for nothing. Just as the Dowager Consort said, a child without a mother can easily go astray if you're not careful."
"Then what should we do? We should tell Lu Xian about this immediately and have him discipline him strictly," Physician Yue said hastily.
Granny Zhang slowly shook her head and said, "Discipline her? I'm afraid it's too late. She's already so grown up..."
"What should we do then? If Brother Lu knew that his precious daughter had become so wretched, how heartbroken and disappointed he would be," Physician Yue said sadly.
After a moment of silence, Granny Zhang suddenly looked up at the sky and said mysteriously, "General Cheng has gone to the palace, it should be time for him to return home... Why don't we... turn the tables on him tonight? This old woman wants to see what tricks she's been up to all these years?"
"A counter-plan?" Physician Yue looked at Zhang Mama's face and asked in confusion.
“Yes, let’s turn the tables on him.” As soon as Zhang Mama finished speaking firmly, she leaned close to Physician Le’s ear and whispered to him.
After a long pause, Physician Yue, having heard Zhang Mama's "playing along" plan, asked with skepticism, "Will this work?"
"Don't worry, she's done so many bad things today, she has a guilty conscience, this plan will definitely work!" Zhang Mama said confidently.
After discussing and planning everything, Granny Zhang and Physician Yue packed everything up and got up to start their separate actions.
Meanwhile, someone was waiting expectantly and joyfully on the veranda in front of Lin Yuexuan's door. Because she was about to see her beloved Brother Han…
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