Chapter 211 Onset
When Shen Qingtan was about to go to bed, Liu Yue hesitated and walked into the room. Standing at the door curtain of the inner room, she said softly, "Second Madam, I have something to say to you."
Because she was too nervous, her voice trembled slightly.
Shen Qingtan sat in front of the bronze mirror and said softly, "Come in and comb my hair."
Liu Yue came behind Shen Qingtan, picked up a jade comb carved with crabapple flowers, and combed Shen Qingtan's hair, without saying a word for a long time.
Shen Qingtan waited patiently and did not rush her.
Only after Liu Yue had combed her long, silky, shiny hair did she raise her head and look at Shen Qingtan in the bronze mirror.
Shen Qingtan's eyes were like autumn water, gentle and tolerant.
Liu Yue's eyes slowly turned red.
"Second Madam, I want to ask for a favor from you." Liu Yue knelt beside Shen Qingtan and said, "Please lend me your carriage tomorrow. Don't go anywhere. Let the public know that you are going to Hualing Temple to fulfill your vow tomorrow."
Shen Qingtan reached out and helped Liu Yue up: "Can you tell me the reason?"
Liu Yue tightly grasped the comb, the teeth of the comb pierced her palm, causing a stinging pain, but she seemed not to feel the pain and kept tightening her fingers.
A struggle flashed in her eyes, and she bit her lip and said, "I have served you for many years and have been home many times, but my mother has never asked me about your whereabouts."
"This time, she asked about your recent whereabouts under the pretext of seeing me, and I became suspicious at the time."
"I told her that I was your personal maid and that you were the one who decided my marriage. She took note of this and would occasionally ask me if I had arranged a marriage for her. Since she was afraid of offending a noble, she would definitely not take the initiative to find a partner for me."
"I deliberately told her that you would go to Hualing Temple to fulfill your vow at the end of the month. I wanted to see if she really cared about me or if she had other thoughts."
Liu Yue had always known that her parents favored sons over daughters and favored her brother. But she was also their daughter, and she didn't want to believe that they would disregard her life for the sake of profit.
"Second Madam, I've been serving you for so long that I tend to make assumptions about other people's unusual behavior. This matter concerns my parents, so I dare not tell you without solid evidence."
Liu Yue burst into tears and said with a choked voice: "I want to give them a chance."
Shen Qingtan could understand Liu Yue's inner feelings: "Yue'er, between me and your parents, you chose me. I am very relieved that you did not choose to betray me."
On one side are his biological parents, and on the other side is his loyal master. It is a dilemma for Liu Yue.
Shen Qingtan wiped Liu Yue's tears with a silk handkerchief and said, "If it is found out that your parents were bribed to murder me, I can spare their lives for your sake."
Liu Yue opened his mouth, wanting to say something.
"Listen to me first." Shen Qingtan stuffed the handkerchief into her hand. "They will spend the rest of their lives shackled and working hard on the farm, just to make ends meet."
Liu Yue nodded, knelt down and kowtowed three times to Shen Qingtan.
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On the second day, at dawn, Shen Qingtan and Zhao Yi took a carriage to Hualing Temple.
Tingxue and Liuyue sat in a carriage at the back.
It was already the end of the Chen hour when the carriage arrived at Hualing Temple.
Shen Qingtan and Zhao Yi got off the carriage, looked at the high stone steps, and climbed up the steps together, supporting each other.
In front of the mountain gate hall, a monk in charge of reception was already waiting to receive them to burn incense.
The incense at Hualing Temple is very effective, and there is a constant stream of pilgrims, making it very crowded.
Shen Qingtan subconsciously grabbed Zhao Yi's sleeve and moved closer to him.
Zhao Yi put his arm around her shoulders, held her in his arms, and walked into the hall.
As soon as you enter the hall, the scent of sandalwood fills your nose.
Shen Qingtan had a keen sense of smell and smelled a stench of garlic.
She looked around and saw pilgrims coming in and out, but she didn't notice anything unusual.
Today's situation was different. Shen Qingtan was wary and asked, "Master, why is there a garlicky odor in the hall?"
The monk in charge of reception replied, "Donor, there are many insects and snakes in the mountains. The other pilgrims are frightened, so we have placed medicinal powder in various corners of the temple to repel insects."
"Medicinal powder?" A thought flashed through Shen Qingtan's eyes: "What medicinal powder?"
"I'm not sure." The monk in charge of reception chanted a Buddhist mantra: "The powder in the temple will not harm the donors, you can rest assured."
Shen Qingtan did not answer, but followed the smell to find the medicinal powder in the temple.
The monk in charge of reception saw Shen Qingtan looking around and seemed worried, so he quickly said, "Donor, the powder has been there for four or five days, and you haven't shown any signs of discomfort so far."
Shen Qingtan nodded: "Is that so..."
She looked as if she believed the monk who was in charge of receiving guests. Before she could say anything else, she saw a wave of pilgrims blocking her way leave, and her view suddenly opened up.
Shen Qingtan saw a wisp of yellow smoke rising from the corner and immediately moved closer to it. The closer he got, the stronger the smell became.
She stopped and saw that the container of powder was filled with reddish-purple liquid and some unburned yellow powder.
Shen Qingtan carefully identified the powder, his expression suddenly changed, and he asked the monk who followed him: "Is this realgar?"
The monk in charge of reception was stunned. Before he could speak, he saw Shen Qingtan hurriedly walking back.
Shen Qingtan came to Zhao Yi and found that his face looked a little strange, even paler than usual.
"Second Master, what's wrong with you?" Shen Qingtan nervously helped him out of the hall. "Let's go to the dormitory to rest. I'll ask the palace doctor to take your pulse."
Zhao Yi looked at Shen Qingtan's anxious expression and wanted to say that he was fine, but he started coughing violently as soon as he opened his mouth.
Shen Qingtan anxiously ordered: "Liu Yue, go and get the palace doctor."
She helped Zhao Yi back to the dormitory quickly and helped him lie down on the bed.
The room was filled with a strong stench of garlic.
“Cough cough cough…”
Zhao Yi was stimulated and started coughing violently again, as if he was going to cough out his lungs.
Shen Qingtan's face turned pale. He didn't expect that there was realgar in the dormitory. He quickly opened the window to ventilate and moved the incense burner burning realgar outside.
She washed her hands and poured a glass of water for Zhao Yi to drink.
Zhao Yi suppressed the itch in his throat, and an abnormal red appeared on his cheeks.
Shen Qingtan held his hand, which felt cool. She then touched his forehead, which felt burning hot. She was so anxious that tears welled up in her eyes.
Zhao Yi wanted to comfort her.
At this time, the court doctor hurried over with a medicine box on his back, took out the pulse pillow and took Zhao Yi's pulse.
When the court physician felt the pulse, his face suddenly changed.
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