Liu's days have been anything but peaceful. She hadn't expected that her affair with Mu Qingyang had already been discovered by Lady Fucha, and that the Fourth Prince had already sent people to her hometown of Tongzhou, Shaanxi, to investigate. However, to protect the child in her womb, no information had been revealed yet. Liu also learned that Mu Qingyang had fallen ill with a strange disease and had been lying in the Yue Di Yun Ju residence for several days, yet he hadn't been kicked out yet.
"Cuizhu, what kind of poison did Xiaojinzi give him? How come he's lying there and not dead?" Liu was finally relieved to learn that Mu Qingyang could no longer pose a threat to her.
"This servant will go and call him in to give an answer." Cuizhu put down what she was holding, went out, and whispered a few words to a maid standing outside the door.
A moment later, Xiao Jinzi came in, ran to Liu Shi, bowed, and then listened attentively to Liu Shi's instructions.
"Little Jinzi, let me ask you, what kind of poison did you give him that could incapacitate him but not kill him?" Liu said. "But even the people from the Imperial Hospital have been invited. If he wakes up, things will be very bad."
"Don't worry, Master, they can't cure this poison. As long as he doesn't wake up, no one can accuse us of doing it," Xiao Jinzi said.
“That’s not necessarily true. The master has already been alerted. What if he keeps pressing the matter based on Niohuru’s assumptions?” Liu said.
“Master, why is Your Highness so fixated on the death of an actor? As long as they don’t know his relationship with you, they’re unlikely to go to much trouble. At most, they’ll get a doctor to take a look at him, and if he can’t be cured, they’ll just have the Mu family troupe take him here immediately,” Xiao Jinzi said.
"But I saw that the imperial physicians were summoned to examine him today. What if they find out what kind of poison you gave him?" Liu said worriedly.
“Even if they knew, they wouldn’t be able to find out where the poison came from. I thought about it for three days before I came up with this method. The poisoning was done silently, and the poisoning itself was also silent. There wouldn’t be a single clue left afterward,” Xiao Jinzi said.
"Are you sure they can't find us here?" Liu asked, still uneasy.
“Princess, that poison is colorless, odorless, and invisible. No one knows about the relationship between this servant and that person. He put that stuff in the tea specially prepared for Mu Qingyang, without anyone noticing,” Xiao Jinzi said.
"You'd better think carefully about what might easily arouse suspicion," Liu said. "If so, cut off that connection as soon as possible."
“Princess, what I’m most worried about right now is your relationship with Mu Qingyang. If it gets discovered, it will be very bad for us,” Xiao Jinzi said. “Otherwise, they would never have thought of a pregnant concubine like you.”
Liu was hit where it hurt by Xiao Jinzi's words. She looked at him unhappily and said, "Besides a few people in my hometown, no one else should know about that matter. Do you think they would go to my hometown to investigate?"
Xiao Jinzi said, "This servant thinks that the princess should immediately write back and instruct her father to silence everyone who knows about this matter."
Madam Liu nodded and said, "That's right, we must write to Father immediately. But it will take the messenger more than half a month to make the trip to Tongzhou, Shaanxi."
"Princess, no matter what, I feel we should write a letter to inform your father and ask him to do everything he can to help you erase that past from the past," Xiao Jinzi said.
"Alright, we'll do as you say." Liu immediately had Cuizhu grind ink and began writing a letter to her father, who was far away in Tongzhou, Shaanxi. However, to her surprise, the people sent by the Fourth Master had already set off and were heading to Tongzhou to investigate Liu's past.
Now, Doctor Yang, as expected of the Imperial Physician, after several days of research, finally figured out what kind of Gu worm it was. The Fourth Prince, busy with the autumn imperial examinations, only instructed Doctor Yang to remove the Gu from Mu Qingyang as soon as possible, while he himself devoted himself to supervising the examinations.
"How did it go, Si Hua? Did you search every pharmacy in the capital? Did you find the necessary ingredients?" Lan Qin asked Si Hua, who had returned. It turned out that Physician Yang had told Lan Qin that to save Mu Qingyang, three ingredients were needed: a dragon's tongue and phoenix blood. Lan Qin was stunned. Dragons and phoenixes were legendary creatures; could such things really exist? Even if they did, finding them and obtaining the dragon's tongue and phoenix blood would require killing them! Where could she possibly find such things? Finally, after Lan Qin's persistent questioning, she understood: the so-called dragon's tongue was actually a lizard's tongue, and legend had it that dragons were a type of lizard; the so-called phoenix blood was actually the blood of a pheasant. This pheasant was very beautiful, resembling a phoenix. Physician Yang said that both were difficult to obtain and required searching every pharmacy in the capital. So Lan Qin sent Si Hua and Jin Ju, along with several guards, to search different areas to see if they could find them.
“My lady, I’ve searched every pharmacy in the western part of the capital, telling them that these two medicines are simply unavailable. The two things that Physician Yang wants are extremely rare. They’re not even in the palace, let alone in any pharmacy outside,” Si Hua said.
"Since Physician Yang says it exists, then it must exist. Let's wait and see what Jinju says when she returns." Lanqin quickly gestured for Shuiling to pour water for Sihua.
Sure enough, when Jinju returned, she brought back Dragon's Tongue. She found it in a very inconspicuous pharmacy. But she couldn't find Phoenix Blood anywhere. Everyone said they had never heard of such a medicine.
“What should we do? There are many pheasants, but which one is as beautiful as a phoenix?” Lanqin asked.
"Yes, Master, what should we do? If we can't find him like this, I don't know if Master Mu can be saved," Jinju said anxiously.
“Pheasants are mostly found in the mountains. Let’s ask Physician Yang again, and it would be best if he could draw a picture of what a pheasant looks like. That way, finding it won’t be so difficult,” Lanqin said.
“Yes. That’s the only way. Have him draw it, and then we’ll show it to the hunters in the mountains to see if they can find this kind of pheasant,” Si Hua said.
So, Lanqin specially sent someone to the Yang residence to ask him for a painting of a pheasant. Fourth Master rarely came back these days, and Lanqin wanted to bother him anyway. But when Lanqin saw the painting, she was immediately dumbfounded. The pheasant in the painting wasn't a wild chicken at all; it was clearly a phoenix! Although Lanqin knew that the phoenix was a mythical bird, and such a divine bird no longer existed, it had been painted anyway, and since the medicinal ingredient lacked phoenix blood, she had no choice but to search for it.
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