Doctor Lin took Nian's pulse, but he couldn't diagnose what was wrong with her. He only noticed that Nian's pulse had suddenly become very weak, as if she had been poisoned. However, he couldn't determine what kind of poison she had been poisoned with.
Seeing that Lady Nian still showed no signs of waking up, Nian Gengyao couldn't help but feel a little angry and said, "You servant, do you even know how to treat patients? How can you not even know what's wrong with her right now?"
The Fourth Prince was about to ask Doctor Lin, but Nian Gengyao's shout made him swallow his words.
Dr. Lin, startled by Nian Gengyao's outburst, immediately lowered his head nervously and said, "The concubine has definitely been poisoned, but I cannot determine what kind of poison she has been poisoned with at this moment."
Upon hearing this, Nian Gengyao looked at the Fourth Prince and said to him, "Your Highness, has my little sister been poisoned?"
Fourth Prince never expected that Lady Nian would be poisoned. He looked at Doctor Lin in surprise and said, "Tell me slowly, what kind of poison did the concubine suffer from? How come even you can't find out?"
"Has the concubine shown any unusual behavior lately?" Under the pressure of the Fourth Prince's questioning, Doctor Lin had no choice but to ask the maids.
Cui Ling and the others had already been standing at the foot of Madam Nian's bed. When they saw Doctor Lin asking them questions, they all shrank back and looked at each other, trying to find out what was wrong with Madam Nian lately.
“Master has been in poor spirits for some time now. He often doesn’t want to eat and seems listless,” Bai Zhi said after thinking for a moment.
"I examined the concubine's pulse that day and found nothing unusual," Doctor Lin quickly replied.
Upon hearing this, Nian Gengyao, seeing that Lady Nian was still unconscious, hurriedly said to the Fourth Prince, "This doctor seems to be incompetent and cannot diagnose my sister's illness. Your Highness, we must go and fetch a better doctor!"
Hongsheng, who was standing to the side, was taken away by his wet nurse. The Fourth Prince was afraid of frightening him, so he immediately had someone take him back to his own room.
"Gengyao, send someone to invite Doctor Yang right away. You few are serving the concubine. Has the concubine gone anywhere? What did she use there?" The Fourth Prince immediately told Su Peisheng to go out and send someone to invite her. On the other hand, he asked the maids of Lady Nian.
"Your Highness, everything the Consort eats every day comes from the kitchen. We have tested it with silver needles every time she eats, and we haven't found anything wrong," Bai Zhi said calmly, bowing her head.
"Has the concubine drunk anything elsewhere?" Nian Gengyao asked anxiously.
“No, everything the Consort eats and drinks is kept in the East Courtyard. She has never eaten or drunk anything outside. We have tested everything that has gone into her mouth for poison. And any food that she can’t finish is distributed by us. If the poison came from there, how come we weren’t poisoned?” Bai Zhi analyzed.
Bai Zhi's words silenced everyone, for they had indeed hit the nail on the head. If Nian Shi was poisoned by her usual food, then why weren't the others poisoned?
"Have you tested today's diet?" Dr. Lin suddenly asked loudly, as if he had just remembered something.
Several maids shook their heads, but Bai Zhi said, "Today is a family banquet, and there hasn't been time for the test yet."
The Fourth Prince's expression hardened, and he said to Doctor Lin, "Quickly go out and test everything that the concubine used just now."
Doctor Lin immediately picked up his medicine box and went out with Cui Ling and several other maids.
Lanqin and a few others were sitting outside, discussing the scene inside the house, when they saw Doctor Lin carrying a medicine box and following Cuiling out. They went directly to where Madam Nian was sitting, and then Doctor Lin took out a long, thin silver needle from the medicine box and began to insert it into the dishes on Madam Nian's table.
Everyone watching knew this was a poison test. Clearly, Madam Nian had been poisoned. Seeing Doctor Lin go to test her, Madam Song and the others began to whisper, "Could it be that Madam Nian was poisoned on her own land?"
Lanqin silently watched as Doctor Lin repeatedly tested the remaining dishes on the large plates, suddenly finding the matter quite strange. What Madam Song had said was correct; it wouldn't be easy to poison Madam Nian's food. Only Madam Nian was affected, yet everyone had eaten those dishes. Why was Madam Nian the only one who was poisoned?
Dr. Lin meticulously examined all of Mr. Nian's meals and finally discovered the problem in a dish of stewed abalone with Harry. He saw the silver needle in his hand begin to turn black as soon as it was inserted into Harry's flesh.
Dr. Lin immediately had someone bring over the bowl of Harry's Stewed Abalone, and then hurriedly went back into the house.
Lanqin couldn't help but look down at the bowl of abalone stew in front of her. She had eaten some herself and given some to Hongli. A chill ran through her, and she quickly pulled a silver-set pearl hairpin from her hair and stuck it into the abalone meat. Seeing Lanqin do this, everyone else followed suit.
Lanqin observed her hairpin holder for several minutes, but the silver holder did not change color.
“Non-toxic!” Lanqin sighed.
“My cup is fine too.” Madam Song followed Lanqin’s example and did the same.
"It seems that Doctor Lin just detected something in this dish," said Madam Wu.
"It's a miracle we got back safely today." Lanqin noticed that something was off about Nian's expression a long time ago, even before the dish was served!
But before she could figure it out, she saw that the Fourth Prince, Nian Gengyao, and Doctor Lin had already come out from inside.
"Go check the abalone stew on their tables!" the Fourth Master ordered. So, Doctor Lin began to check each table one by one. Sure enough, the abalone stew on everyone else's tables was fine, not even the tables of the Fourth Master and Nian Gengyao were spared.
"Your Highness, apart from the soup containing poison found in Consort Nian's dish, the abalone stewed with ham was fine in everyone else's dishes," Doctor Lin reported.
"So that means someone only poisoned Shilan's bowl? These dishes all came from one big pot. They were then divided into different bowls. Someone started poisoning them after the dishes were already in the bowls," Nian Gengyao shouted.
Doctor Lin nodded. Only in this way could it be explained why only the Nian family's soup contained poison.
"Your Highness, I have just tested the toxicity of this substance. It is a deadly poison. Fortunately, Consort Nian only inhaled a few mouthfuls, so the poisoning should not be severe. I have already sent someone to prepare an antidote," said Doctor Lin.
“Your Highness, it’s clear that someone has secretly poisoned Shilan’s food. I think we should investigate. Everyone present here is a suspect; we must see who had the time to poison her,” Nian Gengyao said.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
