Chapter 23
Fortunately, the doctor had been called to the house long ago. As soon as Qingzhe was put on the bed, the doctor arrived.
Yue Qingning waited behind the doctor, watching him stop Qingzhe's bleeding and drain the blood with a needle, each needle almost piercing her heart.
Who on earth is this Luo Sanzi? He even dared to hit the son of the Minister of Revenue!
Although her family did not have many branches of relatives in the capital, the title of Shangshu was here. How could someone dare to injure the son of an important official under the feet of the emperor?
Yue Qingning almost suffocated looking at the clumps of bloody white cloth on the ground. She stood up in confusion and tried to catch her breath.
"Zhe'er!"
Zhong rushed into the house and bumped into Yue Qingning.
When she saw her mother coming, the feeling of suffocation in her heart finally eased a little.
Qingzhu told her everything. Mrs. Zhong was already having a headache. Before she had time to think about the fact that her daughter had just been sent away, something happened to her son again.
She covered her chest and almost fell down. Yue Qingning quickly helped her sit on a chair beside her.
"Mom, Qingzhe needs you right now! You're the only one who can hold this place together. I need to go out and find out what's going on."
After hearing this, Mrs. Zhong perked up, but the Buddhist beads in her hand were making a sound from being rubbed by her thumb.
When he walked out of the house, the smell of blood lingering in his nose seemed not to have dissipated yet. Yue Qingning had to hold on to the pillar under the eaves to barely support himself.
She took a deep breath and when she opened her eyes, a person appeared in front of her.
"Why is Qingzhe unconscious? The doctor said that this amount of blood is not enough to cause a coma."
Que Ming stood in the yard and didn't dare to get too close. His body and hands were covered in blood, especially the injuries on his back and neck, which were much more serious than Qingzhe's.
He tilted his head slightly to cover the bloodstain on his collar.
"When he was first injured, the young master didn't take it seriously, but when he got on the car to return, he started to feel dizzy. I suspect Luo San put something on the whip. The young master's unconscious state now looks very much like he was poisoned."
As he spoke, he felt his mind go fuzzy and things in front of his eyes started to double. He tilted his head and quickly bit the tip of his tongue.
Yue Qingning didn't notice his little action and was thinking about the possibility of being poisoned.
If it was just a quarrel between children, how could they use poison? Unless he did it on purpose.
Thinking of this, she hurriedly called Qingzhu over.
"Go call Sister Teng and tell her that Qingzhe is injured and seems to have been poisoned. Tell her to come quickly!"
Qingzhu took the order and left, but she still couldn't let go and asked again.
"You said it was Luo Sanzi who came up to disturb Qingzhe. Did he say anything?"
Que Ming thought for a moment and said, "Indeed, there is. I didn't hear the first half of his sentence clearly, but I only heard him say at the end, 'Why didn't you give birth to a daughter? You might as well learn how to seduce noble people!'"
When Yue Qingning heard these words from Que Ming, he felt a sense of fear that went deep into his bones.
Did Luo San really say that? Or was he trying to say something to provoke her?
Besides, even if Luo Sanzi did say that, he was obviously talking about him. Apart from Que Ming, who else would say that about a man?
Hearing that she didn't respond, Que Ming raised his head to look at her face.
Just when he raised his head, he was almost blinded by the pitch-black darkness. He really couldn't hold on any longer. He gritted his teeth and said the last sentence before fainting.
"Miss...use me to test the medicine."
Testing medicine?
Yue Qingning finally came out of his thoughts and saw that the person who was standing just now was now staggering and about to fall down.
She almost subconsciously rushed over the stairs to his side and supported the man who was staggering and about to faint.
"Queming! Are you injured too?"
He couldn't answer, he just felt his tongue slowly losing control.
"sorry."
There was a sense of apology in his words that came out of nowhere. Yue Qingning knew clearly that he meant that he failed to protect Qingzhe, but she put this sentence somewhere else in her mind.
At that time... in that rain, she had also waited for an apology.
But it was too late to say anything now. She didn't dare to think about it. She used her frail body to support him and helped him sit down on the steps.
"Que Ming."
There was no response even when he called out. Yue Qingning looked at the red spot on his pale cheek. It was not Qingzhe's blood, but his own.
Beneath the drop of blood, one side of the collar was blood-red from the inside out.
She reached under her neck and found it was warm, with a piece of skin even being torn off at one spot.
She frowned, feeling a dull pain in her chest, as if her heart was being cut in half.
Yue Qingning didn't expect that when she had the chance to do it again, she would meet him like this.
He actually sacrificed himself to protect Qingzhe, not even feeling the flesh on the side of his neck being cut? He actually managed to endure it until now.
Not to mention that the thorns were poisonous, he should have collapsed from the three or four wounds on his body.
Don't you hate her? Don't you hate the Yue family?
Why do we still have to protect Qingzhe now?
She had done things so impurely that no matter how hard she tried, she could only believe that everything was a disguise. Otherwise, she didn't know how to face this capricious person in front of her...
They were all put on the bed one by one. Yue Qingning sat alone on the steps in front of the yard. The moisture in her hands gradually dried up and turned into a tense and pulling sensation at her fingertips.
When Teng Xieji came, he saw Yue Qingning sitting in front of the yard with a dazed look on his face.
She thought she was late and was scared to death.
"Qingning?"
Yue Qingning vaguely heard someone calling him. He looked up at the person and his eyes were suddenly filled with sourness and grievance.
Seeing that she not only did not answer but also shed tears, Teng Xieji almost fell beside her.
"I...I'm not late..."
Yue Qingning then shook his head and pointed behind him and asked her to come in.
"The doctor said he couldn't figure out what the poison was, so Sister Teng needs you to come and take a look! Qingzhe is still unconscious. If it goes on like this, I'm afraid..."
Upon hearing this, Teng Xieji immediately stood up and walked into the room.
When the doctor who was writing a pulse diagnosis prescription saw someone come in, he was stunned for a moment.
She took the patient's pulse without any hesitation.
The doctor hurriedly stopped him, "Hey! What are you doing?"
Qingning, who was behind Teng Xieji, also walked in and held down the doctor who was about to stand up.
"This is the eldest daughter of the palace physician, Lord Teng. She knows some medical skills. Let her take a look!"
Since the host had spoken, the doctor had no objection. However, even if she came, she might not be able to see anything.
The child's face was pale and the tip of his tongue was blue, which were indeed signs of poisoning. However, his pulse did not show any signs of weakness, as one would expect from a poisoned person.
Besides, there is no poison in the world that can enter through a wound outside the body and take effect so quickly. It is truly an unheard-of poison.
Teng Xieji looked at the pulse prescription and then went to Qingzhe to feel his pulse. It was exactly the same as what the doctor wrote.
But this poison is really strange. The pulse does not seem like poisoning at all. The pulse under my hand is beating fast and deep, like a high fever caused by a cold.
When I opened my eyelids, the whites of my eyes were not blood red, but just slightly congested. This did not look like poisoning.
Teng Xieji asked the people present again.
"Who said Qingzhe was poisoned?"
Yue Qingning said hurriedly, "Que Ming said so. He said Qingzhe was not seriously injured when he was injured, but suddenly fainted when he was about to get on the carriage."
Teng Xieji estimated the time. It was very rare for a strong poison to attack so quickly. Besides, it was impossible for the wound to be infected with poison alone to have such an effect. So he asked the doctor about the condition of the wound again.
The doctor carefully explained to her the details of the treatment he had just performed.
The wound was clean without any trace of poisoning, and even the blood was bright red. If it was poisoning, it would not be such a color.
After listening to the doctor, Teng Xieji was also confused, but when she heard the doctor's description of the wound, she couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.
"What could scratch from the left ear to the right side of the neck?"
Yue Qingning said truthfully, "I heard from Que Ming that it was a horse whip. There was a very small barb at the end of the whip, like a fishhook but sharper than a fishhook."
Hearing her say this, Teng Xieji felt that a somewhat absurd possibility was emerging before his eyes.
"Qingning, do you remember something I once told you? In March, the emperor ordered my father to go to Liangzhou to check on a sick horse, and I went with him."
"In Liangzhou, I personally witnessed countless war horses die from horse plague. Some locals were also infected with the plague, and their pulses were the same as Qingzhe's..."
Yue Qingning stood there in a daze. Liangzhou was thousands of miles away, and she had also heard her father mention horse plague.
But how could the horse plague from thousands of miles away reach the capital? And even fall squarely on Qingzhe?
When the doctor heard the word "horse plague", he suddenly stopped stroking his beard.
His hand had touched blood! If this was really horse plague, he would probably be the second one to be infected.
"Doctor! Do you think this is possible?"
He was suddenly called out, and he swallowed hard and spoke forcefully.
"If it's really the plague, that makes sense! The disease entered the body through the wound, causing a high fever and fainting. The whites of the eyes are bloodshot, and the eyelids are slightly swollen. It fits the symptoms of the plague perfectly."
Hearing the word "plague", Zhong stood up from her chair and staggered forward, her face even paler than Qingzhe who was lying on the bed.
"Plague... How could the plague reach Kyoto? Even Luo Sanqi's horse must have been well-kept at home. It's impossible for it to be infected with horse plague for no reason!"
As she spoke, tears and sweat fell simultaneously. The gods and Buddhas in the sky refused to help her at this moment. They let her crush the rosary beads and just looked down at everything that happened to her child in silence and without any emotion.
Mrs. Zhong was so anxious that she slammed her hand on the chair beside her, and the string of beads in her hand broke with a sound, and the sandalwood beads fell all over the floor with a clatter.
She looked sad and wanted to go forward and hold her son's hand, but Teng Xieji hurriedly stopped her.
"Auntie, no, if it's really horse plague, it's contagious!"
But she didn't listen to anything and stretched out her hand to reach her weak son. Qingning felt as uncomfortable as she did, but she had to hold him back and take on the responsibility.
"Mother, now is not the time to be emotional! Let's listen to Sister Teng first."
Perhaps she had run out of strength, Qingning and Qingzhu pressed her down on the chair and she couldn't get up.
Taking advantage of this moment, Yue Qingning cast a look at Teng Xiji, asking her to say everything she should and shouldn't say.
Teng Xieji also knew how serious the plague was. Encouraged by Qingning, he took a deep breath and arranged things seriously.
"From this moment on, anyone who enters this room and touches the bloody cloth, bloody water, or clothing will not be allowed to leave."
"Everyone, bathe and change clothes immediately. Anything that has come into contact with Qingzhe must be burned immediately. Any spilled blood must be sealed and not allowed near."
Qingning added, "Queming was also injured. He came back on horseback."
Teng Xieji hurriedly asked, "Where is he? Did he go out?"
"No! He is in the west courtyard room and has not yet woken up."
Hearing Sister Teng's serious question, Yue Qingning felt as desperate as falling into an ice pond, and asked one last question.
"Is it possible that everyone who touches it will be infected?"
Teng Xieji couldn't deceive her, so he closed his eyes and nodded heavily.
What a cruel Luo Sanzi! What a sinister scheme!
They were even so vicious in order to harm Qingzhe. If they didn't find out the truth, once the people in the mansion went out, the whole Kyoto would be plunged into the quagmire of plague.
Are you going through all this trouble just to plot against Qingzhe?
Yue Qingning suddenly thought of something. Perhaps this sinister trick was not for him, but for another person in the mansion.
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