Chapter 151 A Plan to Turn the Tide
"...It really is poison." After being confirmed, Qi Chengming calmed down.
He wasn't afraid of being poisoned himself, but he was afraid that even Dr. Bian wouldn't be able to diagnose it, leaving him alone to live in fear.
"How did Your Highness find out? On what day did the signs appear?" Doctor Bian continued to observe the prince's appearance with a furrowed brow, but still could not discern any clues from his appearance.
Qi Chengming had already prepared his answer before asking the question, so he shook his head: "There was no warning. It was someone close to me... who suddenly reminded me today. I don't know when it happened."
He didn't say anything more about it. Dr. Bian originally wanted to ask more questions, but seeing his expression, he suddenly realized something.
Judging from what Prince Rui has done, the factories he's built, and the equipment and mysterious pills he can produce today, it's hard to believe he doesn't have another highly skilled doctor by his side. But, didn't that person also know what was wrong with the prince?
Qi Chengming shook his head, then gestured for Doctor Bian to recall: "May I ask what kind of poison this is? Doctor Bian, have you noticed it when you've been taking the pulses of the people around me recently?"
"I don't know the specifics either, but I sensed something unusual in His Highness's pulse." If it weren't for his many years of experience practicing medicine, Doctor Bian probably wouldn't have been able to diagnose Prince Rui's poisoning so quickly. "I'll have to go back and check my notes..."
Dr. Bian has a good habit.
Over the years of practicing medicine, he meticulously recorded all the difficult and complicated cases he encountered. This wasn't because he admired those who wrote books and biographies, but rather... a doctor with aspirations cannot tolerate not having the habit of meticulously accumulating medical records.
As for the second question Qi Chengming asked, Doctor Bian pondered for a moment and said affirmatively, "No, Your Highness, if you are still worried, I will take your pulse again when we return to the manor."
"Okay." Qi Chengming made a list in his mind and readily agreed.
On one hand, they were conducting a thorough investigation of the government offices; on the other hand, they were diagnosing their confidants and incidentally alerting the enemy.
Essentially, he was unwilling to doubt anyone in the manor or around him... What he needed to do now was to eliminate that possibility.
That evening, when he returned home, Qi Chengming asked Steward Song to find some mugwort and burned it everywhere in a chaotic frenzy. He also asked Doctor Bian to take the pulses of everyone around him, causing commotion throughout the main courtyard.
The reasons are readily available:
The Bai family has just suffered a misfortune, and His Highness is still shaken; it's understandable that he overreacted.
Song Gu was unaware of the details, but he was still in charge of the matter and was working feverishly. Steward Liu happily waited in line, not daring to cut in line despite being a person of some importance. On the contrary, he was somewhat smug and overjoyed—His Highness had feelings for him too!
As people who didn't come from the palace, these people from Liuzhou or along the way always felt a sense of urgency. They knew that the prince trusted the core group he brought from the capital the most, and that newcomers who wanted to gain favor had to work twice as hard.
"What's wrong, Your Highness?" Even Bishu, who was usually oblivious to what was going on around her, was called over and asked Gantang, whom she hadn't seen for many days, in a low voice while waiting in line.
Back then, they were both inconspicuous ordinary third-class palace maids in the Second Prince's residence, not even worthy of being shown off. But when the prince was granted the title of vassal king in Liuzhou, it was the two of them who stood out. Bishu was very well-connected with the craftsmen, and now that she had returned to the Prince's residence, she could only exchange a few words with Gantang.
"Perhaps she was frightened," Gan Tang whispered, covering her lips with her hand.
These palace maids and eunuchs in the main courtyard are usually inconspicuous and don't dare to show their faces in front of the prince, but they are the ones who support the work behind the scenes in the main courtyard and see everything that happens.
Tonight's commotion was so chaotic that even the eunuch De, who went along, was still shaken, and those who heard about it were terrified. A woman had a difficult childbirth, and the usually familiar Master Bai almost lost his wife and child... Who can say they wouldn't encounter such a situation?
The prince must be terrified, that's why he's so afraid something will happen to them.
Gan Tang never thought that the prince was making a fuss; only their prince would care about everyone so much.
"Sister Bishu, it's your turn," the palace maid called out, and Bishu quickly went inside.
...
The pulse diagnosis took a whole night, while surveillance and covert investigation took a whole night and morning.
As it turned out, everyone in the main courtyard, including the Prince's residence and those who had been close to or in close contact with Qi Chengming, was unharmed; only he himself was poisoned. Song Gu, a trusted confidant of the Prince, told him the truth after examining his pulse and quietly bypassed the Imperial Guards to contact the Prince's residence's guards to handle the matter together.
Don't forget, the guards of the Prince's manor are all loyal veterans sent from the mountain estates by the Marquis of Weiyong.
The furious chief steward of the Prince's mansion didn't sleep a wink all night, with piles of compiled news lying in front of him.
...No one in the Prince's mansion was alerted by the disturbance.
The prince's meals were always prepared by Aunt Fang and Eunuch Zhang, with a few palace maids and eunuchs brought from the palace assisting. The kitchen was the most coveted place in the prince's mansion; those who came later as maids and servants would fight tooth and nail to get into the kitchen.
The ingredients were supplied from the village, and each time they were transported by veterans with experience in the kitchen. It could be said that they used wartime standards every time.
Preliminary investigation of Baijia Restaurant shows no problems...
With a somber expression, Song Gu sat in the study with Doctor Bian to meet His Highness, carrying this pile of news.
"Is that so? In other words... it might not be a problem within the Prince's residence." Qi Chengming rested his chin on his hand thoughtfully. Compared to the others, the young prince appeared remarkably calm.
“Your Highness, we cannot draw conclusions so soon.” Since learning the truth, Song Gu’s brows have been furrowed without ever relaxing. “I will continue to monitor the mansion for a while longer. In addition to the main courtyard, the Qi residence also needs to be thoroughly investigated.”
Compared to the heavily guarded Prince's mansion, the Qi residence usually only had the purchased servants and maids, as well as the wet nurse Liu and Tian Ya. Song Gu was very uneasy.
His heart sank.
In his previous life, Song Gu had no memory of this. He only met the new emperor after he returned to the palace. Even when he investigated the past, he only looked at old news in the palace. He knew nothing about what happened to the new emperor in his old home in Liuzhou.
If this poisoning incident also occurred in the previous life, how did the new ruler cope? If it didn't happen in the previous life, is it because a reborn enemy is secretly trying to eliminate His Highness first?
Song Gu's mind raced.
"Dr. Bian, have you found anything?" He looked worriedly at the old man who was constantly flipping through his notes, analyzing and pondering something on the paper. He could only place his hopes on the old man.
"It seems to be a secret medicine commonly used in the palace. The effects are similar; they are not usually noticeable, but they suddenly take effect after many days, causing death." Doctor Bian frowned. He knew the least about what was happening in the palace, so he wasn't entirely certain about what he was saying.
"Ordinary people who want to use poison usually use substances like arsenic or arsenic trioxide, which are essentially the same as other medicinal ingredients mixed with arsenic. In the palace, people who are sentenced to death often use poisoned wine. These are the two most common poisons, and both have very obvious symptoms of poisoning."
Doctor Bian explained to Steward Song and the Prince, who were unaware of these things, "It is generally very difficult for others to use poison to assassinate others."
"Why?" Qi Chengming did not belong to this era and his knowledge was relatively limited, so he humbly sought an answer.
Song Gu did have some ideas: "Because... the secret recipe is rare?"
He put himself in the shoes of someone else: if they were still living in the palace, and His Highness had ordered him to poison the Third Prince to avenge him, how could he do it without anyone noticing?
Song Gu thought for a moment and then came to a loss.
It wasn't because the poison was difficult to transport into the palace, but because he simply didn't know what poison to use; the only things he could think of were arsenic and poisoned wine.
Qi Chengming suddenly realized: "The mastermind behind poisoning me must have relevant knowledge and the formula to produce the poison. So what kind of poison did I ingest?"
He was still thinking about the heavy metal antidote in his backpack.
If the effect is similar, then he can use it. Even if he doesn't use this, the store also sells healing pills and health medicines; he can try to see if they can remove the poison first.
Doctor Bian shook his head: "It's hard to say. As far as I know, there are two ways to do it. Either it's the poisonous leaves of a flower called 'Junawei'... or it's a strange poison called 'Liuzhu'. There's no need to take it. As long as His Highness comes into contact with them without anyone noticing, both of these poisons can cause His Highness to be poisoned."
"Moreover, these two poisons are merely ingredients in many secret formulas. As for the specific poison Your Highness has been poisoned with... I still need to study it further to identify it." Doctor Bian lowered his voice with guilt, somewhat anxious.
The prince he believed to be the most likely to become a wise ruler among all the princes... Now, it is unknown how long it will take for His Highness to succumb to the poison and die. He is not a specialist in poisons and his progress in this area is clumsy, which keeps Doctor Bian up at night.
Qi Chengming seemed lost in thought, pondering something: "..."
"Well then, Dr. Bian, could you describe to me in more detail the approximate effects of these two poisons... Even if a secret formula is made using them as raw materials, the effects should be roughly the same."
"Your Highness? You intend to..." Song Gu may not understand other things, but he is always the most perceptive when it comes to figuring out the new emperor's thoughts.
"If this is a slow-acting poison, what kind of scene would the other party want to see?" Qi Chengming asked rhetorically.
Seeing him bedridden, or slowly dying like this.
Yes.
From the moment Qi Chengming realized he had been poisoned, he couldn't help but suspect the original male lead, the Seventh Prince, who was far away in the capital.
Who told this character to have a criminal record in the original storyline?
Especially now that the struggle for the throne has begun, if the Seventh Prince is secretly eyeing Qi Chengming covetously, he is either waiting for Qi Chengming to return to the capital to confront the Sixth Prince, or he plans to poison him and eliminate him outright.
Qi Chengming looked at his health bar and realized that when he was poisoned, his health bar wasn't full; it had only dropped two bars. From last night until now, it had only slowly dropped another bar.
He was a little worried in the morning, so he bought himself a pill to at least restore his health.
Even if he can't find an antidote in the future, he can maintain his health by increasing his health bar.
So……
"I plan to use their strategy against them first," Qi Chengming announced calmly, inwardly rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
Look, he couldn't find any leverage over the original male lead, the Seventh Prince, and was at a loss for a long time.
And now this has suddenly happened...
Okay, I'm not afraid of you moving, I'm afraid of you not moving!
Qi Chengming comforted Doctor Bian, the young man's face was extremely calm, and a faint smile appeared on his face: "Don't worry, I won't be in any danger until you identify what the prescription is or develop an antidote."
He gave a suggestive glance, and Doctor Bian immediately thought of the colleague hiding behind Prince Rui.
Doctor Bian's heart settled back into his stomach: "...I obey."
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Author's note: I am very sorry everyone, I have been on hiatus for several days.
I've been sick like a lump of mud for the past week, and many times I felt like I was going to die. This flu or whatever it is, it's terrifying, taking advantage of my period to get me through the womb... But I still have two articles on the list to write! Ugh.
Even the previous chapter was written last Wednesday when I was groggy and had to get up from my sickbed to finish the list.
I can only try to finish this week's charts before Wednesday. My birthday is in a couple of days, and I was planning to take a break, but now I'm spending it rushing to finish this post, lol.
My overdue update record has piled up so many times, ahhh, I have to finish it at least in January!
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