Chapter 326 Nine-Turn Jade Marrow Potato
(Thanks to the daughter of "Chasing the Sun" for casting 2 monthly votes.)
Yan Jiuniang and Liu Tan were quite surprised by Yan Xuefei's words.
The two of them were truly surprised that Yan Xuefei had met Li Shiyue once before.
After Li Shiyue and the others exchanged greetings, they sat down around a round table. Only then did Li Shiyue begin to recount her chance encounter with Yan Xuefei.
"...I was just curious at the time, so I took a second look."
Little did I know that she was actually Jiu Niang's mother; my apologies for my rudeness.
After saying this, Li Shiyue stood up and bowed to Yan Xuefei again.
However, she was only halfway through her movement when Yan Xuefei grabbed her arm.
"There's no need for that!"
I should be thanking you!
Thanks to you for saving Jiu Niang before!
Otherwise, Jiu Niang would have…”
After exchanging pleasantries, Liu Tan said to the group, "The royal physician's acupuncture technique saved his life!"
However, the scouts reported that the royal physician had diagnosed him with more than one type of poison!
Upon hearing this, everyone looked surprised.
"No wonder, how come this happened so early that day?"
It turns out another group had also made their move!
Thinking this to herself, Li Shiyue said what came out of her mouth: "It was supposed to be late Shen, but when I was guarding the door, around 2:45 PM, I saw two guards from the Prince's Mansion rushing out of the door in a hurry."
After a brief discussion about this point in time, Yan Xuefei frowned and said, "Besides us, who else doesn't want him to live?"
This question gets straight to the heart of the matter.
Yes, besides Yan Xuefei and Liu Tan, who else wouldn't want the Prince of Zhenbei to live?
The room fell silent. Everyone looked at each other without saying a word.
Li Shiyue lowered her head and stared at the teacup on the table.
Who are the beneficiaries?
Whoever is the prime suspect!
Li Shiyue rubbed the teacup with both hands, wondering who the other side was who had done this dirty trick.
"...After thinking it over, it seems that apart from the Princess and Liu Shu, there is no one else who absolutely has to kill the Prince of Zhenbei."
But then again, why would the mother and son kill the Prince of Zhenbei?
Even if the Prince of Zhenbei dies and his heir ascends to the throne, Liu Shu becomes the next Prince of Zhenbei;
But with Liu Shu's appearance, without the Prince of Zhenbei backing him up, could he have secured the throne?
Not to mention Liu Tan's dissatisfaction with him, which of the other generals in the army would listen to him?
Moreover, as long as the Prince of Zhenbei is alive, Liu Shu will be the rightful successor to the Prince of Zhenbei.
Wouldn't it be a better way to gradually seize power from the Prince of Zhenbei?
Using poison to kill the Prince of Zhenbei prematurely would ultimately do more harm than good for the mother and son.
The questions that Li Shiyue could think of were all the same to everyone present; none of them were stupid.
"Isn't it the Princess Consort, but Consort Zhou?"
That's not right either!
He loved Consort Zhou the most. Although Consort Zhou's eldest son suffered from a leg ailment, he sent the son to Jiangnan to be raised at a young age.
Although Consort Zhou's youngest son could not inherit the title, he had already bequeathed to the boy a strategically important town in southeastern Andong, near the coalfields, when the boy was only eight years old.
Logically speaking, Consort Zhou should be the one who most wants him to live a long and healthy life.
Consort Zhou, who was singled out by Liu Tanzhen, was now kneeling outside the courtyard of the Prince of Zhenbei, tears streaming down her face, begging Princess Zhao Changying to let her in to see the Prince of Zhenbei.
Zhao Changying, sitting calmly inside, seemed oblivious to the commotion outside, only blowing on the steaming tea in her hands.
Liu Shu looked up at her unconscious father, the prince, on the bed, then turned back to look at her mother, the princess, who was drinking hot tea in the sweltering heat with a cold smile on her face.
Then he turned his head and looked at Consort Zhou and her young son kneeling on the ground in the courtyard with the two doors of the house open.
The faint, intermittent sound of Consort Zhou's sobbing could be heard coming from outside the door into the room.
After much deliberation, Liu Shu cautiously leaned closer to Zhao Changying and whispered, "Mother, Father is currently unconscious and desperately needs someone to take care of him. Perhaps..."
Before Liu Shu could finish speaking, he couldn't utter another word after facing Zhao Changying's gaze.
Zhao Changying glared at Liu Shu, put down her teacup, and glanced towards the door.
"Someone come here!"
The prince needs to rest and recuperate, but with all this commotion outside, how can he concentrate on his recovery?
Upon hearing this, the head of the Prince's guards standing outside the door gave a signal to the two guards below the steps. The two guards then stepped forward and covered the mouths of Consort Zhou and her son, dragging them out of the courtyard.
About half an hour later, the royal physician personally brought in a bowl of medicine on a tray.
Zhao Changying and Liu Shu stood aside, watching the steward help the Prince of Zhenbei up. The prince's physician reached out and pinched the prince's chin with one hand, while using the other hand to pour all the warm medicine down the prince's throat.
After leaving the steward inside to attend to the unconscious Prince Zhenbei, Zhao Changying, Liu Shu, and the prince's physician went to the porch outside the door.
Two lanterns hung on either side of the corridor. Zhao Changying waved to the head of the Prince's guards, who then led his men back from the gate to the courtyard gate, leaving the corridor space to Zhao Changying and his two companions.
The lantern emitted a dim yellow light, casting indistinct shadows on Zhao Changying's face, making it impossible to see her features clearly.
The royal physician bowed and whispered to Zhao Changying, "The prince has been poisoned by two kinds of poison. In theory, either of these two poisons can be fatal."
But ironically, after these two poisons were neutralized together in the prince's body, they were able to suppress each other!
Only then did I have the opportunity to administer acupuncture to the prince to expel the poison!
Although the mouthful of black blood the prince spat out earlier was enough to save his life, but…
The royal physician raised his head and looked at Zhao Changying: "My acupuncture only temporarily suppressed the remaining poison, but the detoxifying soup did have some effect."
However, if the prince's body is to be completely cleansed of the remaining toxins, it is necessary to use the grassland herb Nine-Turn Jade Marrow Potato as a medicinal guide and boil dozens of rare medicinal herbs together to make Nine-Turn Jade Marrow Paste.
Drink this paste mixed with snow lotus water for half a month consecutively!
This grassland herb, Nine-Turned Jade Marrow Potato, is a greenish-yellow, swollen tuber that condenses deep underground within three meters of a clear stream on the grassland during the extremely cold winter.
(Obviously, this is something I made up.)
"If... if we can't find that medicinal ingredient and make this jade marrow ointment, is there any other way to cure Your Highness's poison?"
The royal physician lowered his head again, and he whispered to Zhao Changying, "Then... at that time, we can only leave it to fate!"
After leaving the Prince's household and steward inside to take care of the Prince of Zhenbei, Zhao Changying took Liu Shu back to her own courtyard.
The mother and daughter had just sat down inside when there was a knock at the door. "Your Highness, His Highness's page has come to report that Military Advisor Zhou has sent someone to see His Highness, saying that he has important matters to discuss!"
“Brother Bao, you can say what you can say, but you can’t say a single word about what you shouldn’t say.”
After Liu Shu nodded, she stood up, bowed to Zhao Changying who had not moved, and then walked out the door.
After Liu Shu left, Zhao Changying immediately told her trusted nanny to take the key and retrieve a box from her dowry storeroom.
In the still of the night, only one lamp was lit inside the room.
By the dim light, Zhao Changying looked at the Nine-Turn Jade Marrow Sweet Potato, which was about the size of an adult's fist, inside the box.
She stared at it for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before Zhao Changying picked up the fist-sized Nine-Turned Jade Marrow Sweet Potato and took a bite out of it.
This thing has a shriveled and dull appearance on the outside, but it is actually still very juicy inside.
The "crunching" sound came from Zhao Changying's lips and teeth.
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