Chapter 319 Life or Death
After seeing off Queen Wen, Shen Yuexi called Xia Lan and asked her about the process of boiling the medicinal soup.
Xia Lan didn't know why Shen Yuexi asked this, so she answered truthfully, "Master, when you sent Princess Ping away, the Queen instructed someone to give me the medicine. I knew it was a gift from the Emperor, so I carefully watched it the whole time and didn't let anyone get close to it."
Shen Yuexi asked Xia Lan to leave and sat there to ponder.
She had no doubts about Xia Lan, who had been guarding the medicine cup the entire time. As her maid, Xia Lan had plenty of opportunities to poison her, and it was impossible for her to hide until now.
Since no outsiders touched the entire process, it means that the medicine had been poisoned before entering Prince An's Mansion.
The Empress's motorcade was practically impossible for ordinary people to get close to. This suggests the medicine was already poisoned when the Empress left the capital. More accurately, the poison must have been tampered with during the preparation of the medicine.
The problem now is that we don’t know who the person who poisoned the person is. Although Xiao Beiheng is the most suspected, we can’t be sure.
While she was still trying to figure out who the culprit of the poison was, her stomach growled twice and she felt a strong sense of hunger.
Shen Yuexi moved her hand up and rubbed her stomach twice.
The stomach that felt like there was a big iron block stuffed inside, constantly rebelling and making me feel nauseous... It returned to normal and started to feel hungry.
She was surprised and delighted, smacking her lips and licking her upper palate. During her morning sickness, the slightest stimulation of her upper palate would make her feel like vomiting.
It doesn't matter how much I lick it, the nausea is really gone.
"Xia Lan, I'm hungry," she shouted happily, standing up. "Serve the food."
Xia Lan heard the noise and came in, saying, "Master, the rice soup is still heating on the stove. I'll have someone bring it in right away."
After the rice soup came up, everyone gathered around Shen Yuexi and watched cautiously as before. Shen Yuexi first took a sip with a spoon and tried to drink it. When she found that there was nothing wrong with it, she simply picked up the bowl and gulped it down directly, shocking Xia Lan and others.
Shen Yuexi used to drink it one spoonful at a time, but now she actually held the bowl and drank it in big gulps.
"I'm fine now. I won't vomit anymore," Shen Yuexi said happily as she put the empty bowl back on the tray. "Hurry up and serve the food. I want to eat."
The morning sickness that had plagued her for almost two months finally disappeared. Once her appetite returned, she was so hungry that she could eat a whole roasted lamb.
Xia Lan said, "Master, the kitchen just prepared lunch for the Queen, but she left without eating. Should I bring it to you right away?"
"Bring it quickly, I'm starving." Shen Yuexi urged.
She urged them so urgently that the servants hurried to serve the dishes. Soon, eighteen dishes were served, including fried, stir-fried, and deep-fried food, as well as chicken, duck, fish, meat, and seasonal vegetables. The dishes were steaming hot and fragrant, filling the entire table.
Shen Yuexi looked at the table full of dishes, her mouth almost watering. She first picked up a piece of vegetable with her chopsticks and pretended to chew it twice, while reminding herself in her heart: You are Princess An, you should eat like a princess, be polite and ladylike...
Damn it, the baby is hungry and urges mom to eat.
She put down her chopsticks, stood up, grabbed the whole eight-treasure chicken and started tearing it apart.
Everyone was stunned to see her stuffing the chicken into her mouth. Xia Lan advised, "Master, please eat slowly. You haven't eaten meat in so long. Eating too much will hurt your stomach."
"I know... I know my limits." Shen Yuexi responded vaguely while stuffing the fragrant chicken into her mouth.
Everyone at the scene was initially worried, fearing that Shen Yuexi would vomit again. After observing her for a while, they saw that she was wolfing down the food and had truly returned to normal. Everyone felt relieved. One maid happily said, "I can't believe the master is really better."
Xia Lan smiled and said, "I have to say that the medicine given by His Majesty is effective. I stopped vomiting after drinking it."
Shen Yuexi was holding a large chicken drumstick in each hand, eating it bite by bite. When she heard Xia Lan's words, she was stunned with her cheeks puffed out.
It was originally a bowl of poisonous medicine. She asked Daxiong to extract the toxin from the medicine before she drank it. At that time, she only thought that it was a medicine bestowed by the emperor and she had to drink it. But she forgot an important point.
From the perspective of the person who poisoned her, she had already drunk the poison. She would surely die from the poison by this time tomorrow.
When the time comes, should she "die" or "live"?
"Prince An is back, Prince An is back." A maid shouted happily into the reception room.
Shen Yuexi quickly put the chicken leg down and called for a basin of water to wash her hands. When she left the living room, she heard shouts and neighs from outside the gate, and Xiao Zhuo had already hurriedly stepped through the gate.
He was dusty and exhausted after a long campaign, but the wind, frost, rain and dew did not diminish his elegance in the slightest, and he was still the handsome man as graceful as jade.
Shen Yuexi ran forward with open arms, and the two hugged each other tightly in the middle of the courtyard.
"My dear husband, you are back." Shen Yuexi wrapped her arms around Xiao Zhuo's neck and looked up at him, a tear rolling down her cheek. "Your wife has suffered so much."
Xiao Zhuo placed his large hand on her head and stroked it. Looking at her thin face, he said with a hint of heartache, "I know. As soon as the battle was over, I handed the army over to Qiu Liming and rushed back."
Shen Yuexi shrank her neck and leaned her face sweetly on Xiao Zhuo's chest.
She liked Xiao Zhuo's big hands touching the top of her head. Although it would mess up her hair, it made her feel at ease and safe and happy.
The two hugged each other for a moment, and Shen Yuexi let go of Xiao Zhuo contentedly, turned around and took his hand: "I'm not talking about morning sickness, it's another big thing... I happen to be eating, let's talk while we eat."
Entering the hall, Xiao Zhuo went to bathe and change clothes first, and Shen Yuexi asked the servants to leave first. This matter was very important and could not be discussed with Xiao Zhuo in front of everyone.
While the two were eating, Shen Yuexi and Xiao Zhuo talked about the poison.
When Xiao Zhuo heard that the pregnancy-preserving medicine she drank was poisonous, his face changed drastically, and with a "snap", he crushed the teacup in his hand into pieces.
Shen Yuexi rarely saw Xiao Zhuo's angry expression. This man was always calm, and the more dangerous the situation, the more he remained composed. This was a rare moment of anger from Xiao Zhuo.
"Husband, don't get excited yet," Shen Yuexi comforted Xiao Zhuo while picking up a silk handkerchief to wipe his clothes soaked with tea. "I asked Daxiong to collect all the toxins. I'm fine."
Xiao Zhuo took a deep breath, his expression returning to calm. He then picked up the broken pieces of the teacup one by one and said slowly, "Whoever poisoned them, they obviously couldn't help themselves and decided to take action."
Shen Yuexi also helped him pick up the fragments and said, "I can't guess who poisoned you. I think it might be Xiao Beiheng. After all, he is the only one who wants to compete with you for the position of crown prince."
Xiao Zhuo pondered for a moment, then shook his head gently and said, "Not necessarily. There are many people who could have poisoned someone, so we can't jump to conclusions."
"Husband, what should we do then?"
Now that Xiao Zhuo was back, she could let his clever brain figure it out. She didn't have Xiao Zhuo's wit, and overthinking would only give her a headache. Besides, the baby should be given more nutrition, so she'd better not use her brain.
"You said this poison will take effect after twelve hours?" Xiao Zhuo asked.
Shen Yuexi nodded: "Yeah, what's wrong?"
"Then we'll take advantage of their intentions," Xiao Zhuo smiled slightly, "Since they've chosen you as their first target, they'll definitely have further actions to take."
"Husband means that I want to..." Shen Yuexi asked hesitantly.
Xiao Zhuo smiled and said, "Yes, that's what I mean."
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