Chapter 35
Father Lin's prescription is to fight poison with poison, to use poison to stimulate the patient's potential vitality and thus prolong his life. If the toxicity of the drug is too strong, it will take effect after entering the body, causing the patient unbearable pain and some difficult-to-control side effects. After only three days of taking the medicine, Lu Wancheng's legs gradually lost sensation.
Even so, the time it can buy is limited. Every day after winter begins may be Lu Wancheng’s last day in this world. But as long as he is still alive, Xiao Cheng would not be stupid enough to attack the young master of the Marquis' Mansion. Just as Xiao Cheng himself said, he was waiting. Once Lu Wancheng died, everything would be over.
In mid-October, Zhang Shiquan, who had been away from Beijing for several months, was able to return to Beijing. The first thing he did after returning to Beijing was to ask for an audience with his two masters.
During this period of time, Lu Wancheng was in a coma most of the time, and Zhang Shiquan only saw Lin Qingyu.
"Young Master, we have checked everything." Zhang Shiquan lowered his voice very low, "The extra income from the Xuzhou manor is indeed from the private salt business."
Lin Qingyu's eyes darkened, and he actually laughed: "It is said that Liang is capable, but she can't even protect her own children; it is said that she is incompetent, but she has the courage to do such a thing that will be punishable by death if it is exposed. She is really a strange person."
When the previous emperor was alive, Dayu's private salt business was rampant and could not be stopped despite repeated bans, which seriously affected the court's income. After the emperor ascended the throne, he vigorously cracked down on private salt trafficking and even introduced a new salt law, which stipulated that selling private salt in excess of a certain amount would be punishable by death. However, the profits from smuggling salt are extremely high, and under such heavy pressure, many people still take risks. Lin Qingyu didn't expect that Liang was one of them.
Lin Qingyu thought for a moment and said, "If it was smuggled salt, the income on the books shouldn't be that little."
"Young Master is wise. Zhuangzi is just a cover, and the bulk of the profits go to Madam's family."
No wonder. Compared with the Marquis' Mansion, Liang's family can only be regarded as a small family. They thought that the emperor was far away and they took advantage of the name of the Nan'an Marquis' Mansion to do things in Xuzhou and made a fortune in silence. Even if the local officials in Xuzhou noticed something, they turned a blind eye to it for the sake of the Nan'an Marquis's Mansion.
Given the cautiousness of Marquis Nan'an, he would certainly not dare to do such a thing. I guess he has been kept in the dark all along. Once the truth is revealed, the emperor might not execute the entire family in consideration of his years of loyalty, but confiscation and confiscation of property is inevitable.
Zhang Shiquan asked, "Young Master, do you want to tell the young marquis about this?"
"No need." Lu Wancheng is still alive. In name, he belongs to the Nan'an Marquis Mansion, and he will be implicated if the truth comes out. Lin Qingyu looked out the window and said calmly, "After he leaves, I will take care of... everyone."
The two of them talked about a lot of evidence details. Lin Qingyu thought that Xuzhou was not far from Hongzhou, so he asked, "Did you encounter any epidemics on your way back to Beijing from the south?"
Zhang Shimen's face was solemn. "The epidemic is coming fiercely. Once a person is infected, he will have a high fever and abdominal pain the next day, and blisters will appear all over his body. The weak will die within three days. People died in every village in Hongzhou. Many refugees moved north with their families. Patients have also appeared in the north. I don't know when the epidemic will spread to the capital. I heard that famous doctors from all over the world are gathering at the Imperial Medical Bureau to find a good medicine to cure the epidemic as soon as possible."
It is a turbulent time with winds and rains blowing. This may be the coldest winter day in Dayu in the past ten years.
There were bursts of low coughing coming from the inner room. It was Lu Wancheng who woke up. Zhang Shiquan said: "Young Master, I would like to greet the young marquis, may I know..."
Zhang Shiquan was invited to the mansion by Lu Wancheng after all. Lin Qingyu understood his loyalty and said, "Go ahead. Don't stay too long."
Lu Wancheng wanted to take medicine as soon as he woke up. Today's medicine had not been delivered yet, so Lin Qingyu planned to go to the pharmacy to check it out in person. Zhang Shiquan followed Hua Lu into the inner room and saw Lu Wancheng lying on the lower bunk of a bunk bed. His face was pale and he needed help even to sit up. Even if he was not a doctor, one could tell that he was very ill and his days were numbered.
Lu Wancheng didn't have the strength to speak: "I'm back."
Zhang Shiquan felt sad: "Greetings to the young marquis."
Lu Wancheng asked Hualu to leave first and asked, "Have you done what the young master asked you to do?"
Zhang Shiquan remembered that Shaojun didn't want him to say more, so he said, "Don't worry, young marquis, everything is under Shaojun's control."
Lu Wancheng nodded slightly: "What about the thing I asked you to do. Did you find the person?"
"Found it." Zhang Shiquan took out something wrapped in a handkerchief from his arms, "This is the token that the young marquis wanted."
Lu Wancheng moved his finger, signaling Zhang Shiquan to open the handkerchief. Zhang Shiquan asked: "Should we inform the young master about this?"
Lu Wancheng shook his head: "The time is not right yet." He thought for a moment and said, "Go find the carpenter in the mansion for me."
On the other side, before Lin Qingyu entered the pharmacy, he heard bursts of quarreling and noisy sounds, including Huantong's voice.
"Blue Wind Pavilion uses this Polygonum multiflorum every day, and everyone knows it!"
"The eldest young master's illness is an illness, but the third young master's illness is not an illness? There are not many thousand-year-old Polygonum multiflorum in the pharmacy, and they were all taken away by your Blue Wind Pavilion. What's wrong with us taking some today?"
Huan Tong said angrily: "How can the Third Young Master's illness be compared with the Young Marquis's illness!"
Lin Qingyu interrupted: "What's going on?"
When everyone saw Lin Qingyu, they immediately shut their mouths, but it was obvious that they were convinced on the surface but not on the inside. Recently, the wife has made a comeback, and the eldest son is dying, with not much time left. Naturally, the servants are not as respectful as before to this young master who is about to become a widow.
"Young Master!" Huan Tong ran up to him and told him what had happened indignantly.
Encouraged by his mother and sister, Lu Qiaosong regained his spirits and sought treatment from countless doctors. He took countless medicines, but there was no improvement. He didn't dare to hope that he could return to his previous state of having sex seven times a night. He just wanted to leave a legacy for himself.
Not long ago, a quack doctor came to the mansion and recommended himself, saying that he had a good prescription that could help Lu Qiaosong regain his virility. Lu Qiaosong was desperate and tried every possible means to find a cure for his illness. He didn't care about the quack doctor's background and just asked him to prescribe medicine according to his prescription. The quack doctor's prescription contains a thousand-year-old Polygonum multiflorum, a priceless medicine that is hard to come by. Even in a marquis's house like the Nan'an Marquis' Mansion, the stock is pitifully small.
Lu Wancheng's medicine also required thousand-year-old Polygonum multiflorum. Lin Qingyu spent a lot of money to find some and kept them in the pharmacy for Lu Wancheng to use. Today, Huan Tong came to get medicine as usual, and happened to run into people from Qingdai Pavilion asking the pharmacy clerk to give them some thousand-year-old Polygonum multiflorum from Lanfeng Pavilion. Huan Tong decisively rushed forward to stop them, and the two sides started arguing and almost came to blows.
Lin Qingyu said, "From now on, the medicines of Lanfeng Pavilion will not need to be kept in the pharmacy. Huantong, take the young marquis' medicine back and we will boil it ourselves."
A brave maid from Qingdai Pavilion stepped forward and said, "Young Master, the eldest and third young masters are brothers. The third young master needs medicine, and as the eldest brother, can't you give in to your younger brother?"
"No," Lin Qingyu said coldly, "Tell your Third Young Master that his illness will never be cured in this lifetime. He will always be a 'useless' person."
The nanny gritted her teeth and said sarcastically, "Since Young Master said so, I can only tell Third Young Master and Madam exactly what you said. When Madam enters the palace, she will also inform the Concubine of this matter."
Lin Qingyu sneered and said, "You'd better not miss a single word."
After returning to Lanfeng Pavilion, Huantong took the medicine to the small kitchen to boil it. When Lin Qingyu came to the bedroom, Lu Wancheng had already sat up.
It is very difficult for Lu Wancheng to get out of bed now, so he asked the carpenter to make a small square table that can be placed on the bed. At this moment, he is leaning over the table and drawing something with a pen. His hands were shaking so badly that he had to hold his right wrist with his left hand in order to continue painting.
Seeing Lin Qingyu coming, Lu Wancheng put down his pen and said with a smile: "Ah, my wife is back."
Lin Qingyu: “…”
The word "wife" in Dayu means an old woman. Lin Qingyu really doesn't know why Lu Wancheng calls him that. But he knew that Lu Wancheng had no ill intentions, and he was extremely happy every time he called him that. Perhaps in Lu Wancheng's hometown, "wife" has other meanings, such as referring to good friends and confidants.
Thinking of Lu Wancheng's half-dead look when the poison took effect, Lin Qingyu tacitly allowed him to scream once or twice occasionally. "Have you met Zhang Shiquan?"
"Yes, I have."
"He told you something."
Lu Wancheng coughed twice and said, "I just said hello."
Lin Qingyu sat down beside the bed and saw that Lu Wancheng had drawn a strange symbol on the paper: an arc embedded in a circle, and a small circle inside the arc, like an eye. "What's this?"
Lu Wancheng did not answer but asked: "Qingyu, do you know what people who play stand-ins have in common?"
Lu Wancheng had said this to him before: "I like to be a jerk."
"That's one reason," Lu Wancheng said. "Second, those who play with doubles will definitely fall in love with one of the doubles in the end, and they will be unable to love the doubles, and they will be desperate to repent. These doubles are often named Shen, Chu, Bai, Xie..."
Lin Qingyu was glad that Lu Wancheng met her. Besides herself, who else could understand Lu Wancheng's inexplicable words? "You mean, Xiao Cheng would really fall in love with a substitute?"
Lu Wancheng smiled and said, "How clever."
Lin Qingyu recalled: "Chen, Chu, Bai...Chen Huaishi?"
Lu Wancheng was surprised and asked, "How did you know?"
"You wrote that name."
Lu Wancheng snorted and exclaimed: "This is too smart."
"So, who is this Shen Huaishi?" Lin Qingyu asked, "Is she a concubine of the Eastern Palace?"
"No, he is a man. He is Xiao Cheng's shadow guard." Lu Wancheng stared at the pattern on the paper, his lips turning pale, and said, "He often hides beside Xiao Cheng, and maybe he has seen us.
Seeing that Lu Wancheng was showing signs of poisoning, Lin Qingyu said calmly, "Let's not talk about this for now. Lie down and rest."
At this moment, there was a sudden noise outside——
"The eldest young master needs to rest, the third young master should go back."
“Get lost!”
"If the Third Young Master wants to force his way in, I can only-ah!"
Lin Qingyu stood up and said, "It's Lu Qiaosong. He must be here for Polygonum multiflorum."
Lu Wancheng coughed a few more times and his face looked extremely bad.
Lin Qingyu was about to ask someone to chase Lu Qiaosong away when Lu Qiaosong strode in. Lin Qingyu stood in front of Lu Wancheng's bed, frowning and saying, "Get lost."
Lu Qiaosong's face was morbidly hideous, no longer the romantic man he once was, and even his temperament had become distorted. He pointed at Lu Wancheng and said with a fake smile: "With him like this, no matter how many medicines he drinks, it will be useless! Why should he fight with me? Can he still leave a descendant for the Lu family? "
Lin Qingyu didn't want to pay attention to him: "Come here."
Huan Tong came with a few servants: "Master!"
"Drag him out."
Lu Qiaosong's hands were tied, but he still refused to leave, staring at Lin Qingyu: "Lu Wancheng is a half-dead man, how many days can you still be arrogant, Lin Qingyu? Once he dies, what kind of trouble can you, a widowed male wife, stir up! When the time comes, I should sell you to the Jiaofang Bureau and let a man take good care of you, so that you will not be in vain for having such a face!"
Lin Qingyu tried his best to suppress the surging malice. Lu Wancheng needed to rest, so he just had to drive those people away. As for the rest, it wouldn’t be too late to settle things with Lu Qiaosong after Lu Wancheng fell asleep.
"Qingyu, I, I feel a little uncomfortable, Qingyu..." Lu Wancheng called his name weakly, and suddenly he made a "hmm" sound, and bright red blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.
Huan Tong exclaimed in surprise: "Young Marquis!"
In an instant, a murderous look suddenly appeared on Lin Qingyu's cold brows. He roughly grabbed Lu Qiaosong's collar and slammed him against the pillar of the house: "You're looking for death."
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