It was quite a coincidence that among the palace servants who came with the Crown Princess today, there was someone Dingxiang knew well.
Zhao fans.
Dingxiang felt a little more at ease, slowed her pace, walked over, and first bowed to the Crown Princess.
"Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Princess."
The Crown Princess initially didn't take this palace maid who knew a little about medicine seriously, but now that the little maid is helping out in the Empress Dowager's palace, her status is very different from before.
The Crown Princess nodded slightly, revealing a rare friendly expression.
"How is the Empress Dowager?"
"Her Majesty the Empress Dowager is being cared for by Imperial Physician Song and is fine. I would like to ask Her Highness the Crown Princess if she could send someone to go back to the East Palace to fetch something for me?" Dingxiang looked embarrassed. "It was originally a small matter, and I could have sent a palace maid, but the palace maids in Renshou Palace are all busy right now."
The Crown Princess didn't take it seriously, glanced around, and pointed at Zhao Fen.
"Then let Zhao Fen help you!"
Zhao Fen was taken aback, and a slight displeasure rose in her heart.
Although she was not usually valued by the Crown Princess, she was still a first-class palace maid. How could she be happy to be ordered by the Crown Princess to do errands?
But since her master had spoken, she couldn't refuse in front of so many people, so she could only maintain a smile, curtsy, and reply, "Yes."
Dingxiang, on the contrary, breathed a sigh of relief.
The first time I tried to figure out what someone was thinking, I actually guessed correctly!
She couldn't help but feel a little smug, and pulled Zhao Fen aside to whisper among herself.
"Sister Zhao Fen, I'm so sorry to trouble you, but with so many people here, you're the only one I can trust."
Her tone was sincere, which made Zhao's fans feel a little better.
Dingxiang then added, "After you return to the East Palace, please ask Consort Xi if there are any cases of unconsciousness mentioned in the medical books in the small study."
Zhao Fen was a little puzzled. Why did she need to go back to the East Palace to ask about such a trivial matter?
But she wisely refrained from asking further questions, nodded, and turned to leave.
Dingxiang tried her best to appear calm and returned to the side hall.
Meanwhile, Zhao Fen was quick on her feet and returned to the East Palace in no time, heading straight for the East Side Hall.
Song Xibai was chatting with Wei Hong and a few others in the room when he heard that Zhao Fen was requesting an audience, which surprised him.
"Didn't Zhao Fen go to Renshou Palace with the Crown Princess? Why is she here to see me now? And is she alone?"
The palace maid who reported replied, "It's just Sister Zhao Fen."
Song Xibai waved his hand.
"Then let her in!"
After Zhao Fen entered, she curtsied and was then told to get up by Song Xibai.
"Has something happened to the Empress Dowager? Or does the Crown Princess have something to tell you?"
Zhao's fans shook their heads.
"No, it was Miss Dingxiang who asked me to pass on a message to you."
Song Xibai was taken aback.
She didn't expect it to be Dingxiang.
"Dingxiang? What message did she ask you to deliver?"
Zhao Fen repeated Ding Xiang's words verbatim.
Song Xibai asked a few more questions with a normal expression. After Zhao Fen left, Song Xibai lowered his head and fell into deep thought.
Dingxiang wouldn't call Zhao Fen back for no reason, just to ask about such a small matter.
She did indeed have many medical books on her bookshelf. The two of them used to read and study them every day when they had nothing else to do, so they were already very familiar with them. Why would they need to ask?
"The medical books aren't the point; the point is the case she mentioned: someone is unconscious... Could it be that someone is unconscious?"
Song Xibai's first thought was of the Empress Dowager.
If the Empress Dowager's condition changes, it would be a very serious matter.
She suddenly stood up and paced back and forth in the room, her mind racing.
A person who remains unconscious, besides being in a vegetative state or brain death, is most likely suffering from a sudden brain disease, such as cerebral infarction or cerebral hemorrhage. In addition, poisoning is another possibility.
But if there were problems with the brain, Dingxiang wouldn't ask in such a roundabout way.
More likely, it's a situation that DXY.cn (a Chinese medical website) couldn't detect...
"Is it poison again?"
Song Xibai narrowed his eyes, his gaze sharpening, and turned to give the order.
"Wei Hong, go and fetch my medicine box, the smaller one."
A short while later, Wei Hong brought over a small box.
The box was made of metal, with an iron exterior covered by a layer of copper. It was very heavy, and Wei Hong found it difficult to lift.
After placing the small metal box on the table, Song Xibai took out a small key and carefully unlocked it.
Wei Hong was a little curious, as it was the first time she had seen her master open this iron box.
She couldn't help but peek over.
But inside the small box was something that looked like a cowhide or a cowhide, along with several small glass bottles.
The glass bottle was small and thin, no more than the thickness of a finger, and it had a wooden stopper on top.
"Master, what is this?"
Song Xibai took out one of the glass bottles, or rather, test tubes, with extreme care.
"Shh! Be careful! This is full of highly poisonous potions."
Wei Hong was startled.
"Are you going to poison someone with this?" she asked cautiously, keeping her voice as low as possible.
Song Xibai almost burst out laughing.
"No, although the medicine is poisonous, it can save lives if used properly. This is something I use to test for poison."
Back when she was outside the palace, resources were scarce, so her abilities were very limited. It took her several years to gather just a few of the poisonous ingredients. The main reason was that her father wouldn't let her touch highly poisonous herbs; otherwise, she could have gathered them all much earlier.
Even now, Song Xibai has not collected all the medicinal herbs he wants.
“Each of these pipes was specially made by someone at great expense; each pipe is worth its weight in gold!”
Song Xibai still felt a pang of heartache when she thought about the money she had spent.
She's been saving her allowance for years!
No matter how much money is spent, the glass artisans cannot remove all the impurities inside and make transparent glass. Therefore, most of the test tubes in her hands are translucent with a bluish-green tint.
Song Xibai wrapped the test tube in several layers of cloth and then put it in several bags before handing it to Wei Hong.
"Take this to Dingxiang and tell her to take a drop of the patient's blood and put it in here. If the color turns red, it means the patient has been poisoned."
As for what kind of poison it is, further testing is needed to determine that.
Wei Hong, trembling with fear, carefully carried the tube wrapped in layers of cloth and retreated step by step.
Song Xibai watched her leave, feeling annoyed.
My current status still presents many inconveniences; I cannot go directly to the Empress Dowager's palace to assess the situation, nor can I directly provide medical treatment.
I wonder how long it will take before we no longer have to hide and conceal things like this.
Song Xibai sighed, rubbed his wrist, found paper and pen, and wrote down all the poisons he could think of.
Wei Hong returned in less than 15 minutes.
The news they brought back was exactly as expected.
"The tube turned red! I saw it with my own eyes, it's true."
Wei Hong looked on in astonishment.
Song Xibai frowned slightly and asked her, "Is it dark red or purplish red?"
"Neither, it's pink."
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