Chapter 54 suggests poisoning.
Jiang Jiamu and Wu Zhengyan, along with Jiang Yunkang, left the study and came to the hall. Steward Hu was standing in the hall. Upon seeing the three return, he bowed and went to hug Jiang Yunkang.
“My wife and I haven’t paid our respects to the Duke in a long time. Let’s go and pay our respects together,” Jiang Jiamu said.
Steward Hu was taken aback, then withdrew his hand and said with a smile, "Then the Duke will surely be very happy."
Steward Hu understood the family's awkward position within the Duke's mansion. They had given birth to the Duke's only great-grandson, but because he was born to a concubine from a brothel, the Duke had never shown him any interest. Now that the Duke wanted to see his only great-grandson, it was understandable that the couple valued it.
At the same time, he sighed inwardly. The young master and eldest son were so disappointing; perhaps this family would rise to prominence someday. But considering the Duke of Chu's attitude towards Jiang Yu these past few days, Steward Hu felt that things were uncertain. However, since it was his master's business, he, as a servant, only needed to do what his master instructed.
While his mind was racing with chaotic thoughts, the Jiang family was also in turmoil. Jiang Jiamu and Wu Zhengyan were both very anxious, while Xiao Yunkang was thinking about how to win over the Duke.
Before long, they arrived at the Duke of Chu's courtyard. Steward Hu announced their arrival, opened the door to the study, and let the family of three in.
The three entered the Duke of Chu's study for the first time, but dared not look around too much. They lifted their robes and knelt down to pay their respects to the Duke. The Duke of Chu sat on the couch, looking at the family of three kneeling on the ground, his heart filled with indescribable complex emotions.
Because Jiang Jiamu was born to Aunt Zhao, a woman from a brothel, he had never cared about him, never disliked him, and genuinely didn't care at all. Only now, seeing Jiang Jiamu so emaciated, did he realize that his grandson might be in poor health.
So... if Jiang Yu's guess is true...
"Get up, all of you," said the Duke of Chu.
The family of three stood up, and at this moment Jiang Yu stood up and bowed to Jiang Jiamu and Wu Zhengyan, saying, "Second brother, second sister-in-law."
The family of three then realized that Jiang Yu was also there. Jiang Jiamu and Wu Zhengyan didn't have time to think more and immediately returned the greeting to Jiang Yu, "Big sister."
Xiao Yun Kang also bowed to Jiang Yu with his hands clasped in a similar manner, saying, "Auntie."
Jiang Yu smiled, and the Duke of Chu's eyes crinkled as he beckoned to Xiao Yun Kang, "Come here."
Xiao Yun Kang was a little nervous. He looked at his parents and then at Jiang Yu. After receiving encouraging looks from them, he walked over with his short legs.
The Duke of Chu was momentarily dazed. When Jiang Yu was three years old, she had walked towards him in the same creaking manner.
He looked at Jiang Yu and said, "You were about the same age as him back then, standing in front of me with your hands behind your back reciting the Thousand Character Classic."
Jiang Yu had no recollection of what he had said, and laughed, "Looks like I've always liked to show off since I was little."
The Duke of Chu shook his head. "Don't you know your own temperament?"
At this point, the Duke of Chu felt another pang of sadness. If only he were a man, if only he hadn't been abducted as a child...
He sighed inwardly and told himself that finding the child, who was healthy and still intelligent, was already a blessing from heaven for the Duke of Chu's mansion.
Jiang Jiamu and Wu Zhengyan exchanged a glance upon seeing Jiang Yu and the Duke of Chu conversing so familiarly. They knew the Duke of Chu valued Jiang Yu, but they hadn't expected the two to become so close in just a few days.
At this moment, the Duke of Chu said to the two of them, "Please sit down."
The couple responded with a "yes" and sat down on a chair nearby, watching the Duke of Chu hold Xiao Yun Kang's hand and carefully examine his face. They didn't understand the Duke of Chu's meaning, but the Duke of Chu was inwardly turbulent.
“It’s similar,” he said to Jiang Yu.
Jiang Yu tightened her grip on the teacup, remaining silent. If her guess was true, she dared not imagine how much pain Lu Yifang must be in.
She looked at Jiang Jiamu, but Jiang Jiamu was so thin that he no longer resembled a normal person, and her true appearance was unrecognizable. The Duke of Chu was also looking at Jiang Jiamu, and then their aged hands clasped together.
"Someone come here!" he called out, and Steward Hu immediately pushed open the door and came in. The Duke of Chu said, "Please invite Physician Lü over."
Steward Hu acknowledged and withdrew. Duke Chu bowed his head and asked Xiao Yun Kang, "Can you read?"
Xiao Yun Kang said somewhat embarrassedly, "I've only memorized a little bit of the Thousand Character Classic."
He remembered that the Duke of Chu had just said that Jiang Yu could recite the Thousand Character Classic when he was three years old.
The Duke of Chu nodded, “Then you can recite it.”
Little Yun Kang glanced back at his parents, then recited in his childish voice, "Heaven and earth were dark and yellow, the universe was vast and boundless. The sun and moon wax and wane, the stars and constellations are arrayed..."
He had memorized about a hundred characters when he got stuck, and his face turned a little red. But then he heard the Duke of Chu say, "Although you haven't memorized as many as your great-aunt did back then, it's still very good."
This time, it was Jiang Yu's turn to blush. She had adult memories, and compared to a three-year-old child, she felt quite ashamed.
Seeing that she blushed and then smiled, the Duke of Chu turned to Jiang Jiamu and said, "You have taught this child very well."
Jiang Jiamu quickly stood up to say a few words of modesty, but the Duke of Chu waved his hand and said, "Sit down and talk, no need to be so formal."
Jiang Jiamu sat down, just then the voice of Steward Hu came from outside, "Your Excellency, Doctor Lü has arrived."
The Duke of Chu called out, "Come in!" and an elderly man in his sixties with a white beard entered. He hastily bowed to the Duke of Chu and said, "Didn't you say that your granddaughter had been found and that you were so happy that your health had improved a lot? Why did you send this old man here again?"
“It’s not for me to see,” the Duke of Chu said, pointing to Jiang Jiamu. “Show it to him.”
Doctor Lü clearly had a good relationship with the Duke of Chu. He snorted and said, "Didn't you say that I would only be responsible for your illness?"
Duke of Chu: "I'm begging you."
Doctor Lü snorted again, walked over and sat down next to Jiang Jiamu, carefully examined his complexion, and then his brows furrowed into a knot.
"Extend your hand, let me take your pulse," he said to Jiang Jiamu.
Jiang Jiamu knew that he was a famous doctor hired by the Duke of Chu at great expense, so he quickly reached out his hand. Wu Zhengyan's face also showed hope and eagerness.
Doctor Lü placed his fingers on Jiang Jiamu's withered wrist for a while before saying, "It seems he has been poisoned."
"this....."
Wu Zhengyan was so shocked that she dropped the handkerchief in her hand to the ground. The Duke of Chu's face was so gloomy that it could drip ink, and Jiang Yu's face was not much better.
"What kind of poison?" the Duke of Chu asked.
"We can't tell anything by taking the pulse, let's take some blood."
Dr. Lü took out a needle kit from the medicine box and opened it. Jiang Yu quickly picked up an unused teacup and went over. Dr. Lü glanced at her, then quickly pricked the needle into Jiang Jiamu's finger and squeezed out a little blood.
He dipped his index finger in the blood droplet, then held it to his nose and smelled it...
Jiang Yu, holding a cup in her hand: "..."
Okay, that's unnecessary.
She took the cup and walked back to her seat. When the Duke of Chu saw her embarrassment, his expression softened.
After a while, Dr. Lü said, "It should be caused by drug incompatibility."
"Is it curable?" the Duke of Chu asked.
Doctor Lü shook his head, "It's been too long, it's already penetrated the internal organs, and I can't do anything about it."
“But…but Auntie brews medicine for my husband every day, saying it’s from a famous doctor she’s hired.” Wu Zhengyan’s voice was very excited.
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