Chapter 30 The Poison of the Entwined Silkworm
After finally seeing his cousin off, Ye Xunyang remembered what Yunxu had said about his aunt.
Then he thought about how his cousin often took his things, but his mother always told him to be tolerant. Moreover, this time when his family returned to Beijing, it was his mother who paid for and worked on repairing the house.
Even though she's the only sister, isn't this going a bit too far?
Ye Xunyang couldn't understand it, but he felt that perhaps his mother had her own plans.
Life returned to normal, and as the days grew colder, Ye Xunyang couldn't help but pay more attention to Lou Jin.
In the morning, when he carried the freshly brewed ginseng tea into the study, Lou Jin was holding a small piece of paper close to the candlelight. The orange flame licked the corner of the paper and quickly turned it to ashes.
"Your Highness, has news arrived from the palace?" Ye Xunyang gently placed the teacup on the corner of the desk and asked habitually.
Lately, there seems to be an unusually frequent exchange of messages between the Prince's residence and the palace, all concerning the Imperial Concubine and the Virtuous Concubine, as well as Lou Shang and Lou Yi.
"These past few days, the Fourth Prince has been busy dealing with the Fifth Prince and the others, so he has been much more relaxed with us. This has given us some peace and quiet, so Your Highness can recover well."
Lou Jin raised his eyes, glanced at him, and did not hide anything: "News came from the palace that Consort Xian has suddenly fallen ill and is in critical condition. The Fifth Prince has already entered the palace overnight to attend to her."
"The Consort Xian is ill?" Ye Xunyang was somewhat surprised, but even if he were stupid, he would still be able to figure out who it was related to.
"Could it be... related to the Imperial Concubine?"
Lou Jin picked up the ginseng tea, blew on it to cool it down, and said indifferently, "That's how she always does things. Since she can't do anything to the Fifth Prince openly, she starts with his mother."
"A chronic poison, colorless and odorless. When the time comes, the person will die silently, and there will be no trace of it."
Ye Xunyang gasped, feeling a chill rise from the soles of his feet.
He knew the power struggles in the harem were cruel, but he never imagined they could be so insidious: "That Consort Xian, she..."
"You won't die." Lou Jin interrupted him, took a sip of tea, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.
"Now that I know, I will not let her succeed."
Ye Xunyang was taken aback, then suddenly realized: "Your Highness, you...you've interfered?"
"It's just going with the flow, giving them a hand."
Lou Jin put down his teacup and lightly tapped the table with his fingertip.
"After the palace spies handed over the poison, I had them study it. They found an exotic herb that countered it, and I managed to mix it into the flowers in Consort Xian's palace."
He spoke in a calm tone, as if he were talking about a trivial matter: "The herb itself is not poisonous, but when it comes into contact with the poison given by the Imperial Concubine, it will cause the poison to take effect prematurely, resulting in violent vomiting. It may seem dangerous, but in fact it forces out the hidden poison."
"As long as the imperial physicians are not too incompetent, they will surely be able to find clues after careful examination. Once the toxins are found, it will not be difficult to prescribe the right medicine. Although it will damage some vital energy, their lives will not be in danger."
Ye Xunyang was stunned, feeling both fear and admiration.
"So, Consort Xian's illness was actually caused by those fragrant herbs? The Fifth Prince is now..."
"The fifth brother isn't stupid."
"He is currently by his mother's bedside, witnessing her serious illness firsthand. If the imperial physicians can detect the poisoning, he will naturally know who is responsible. If they cannot find out, my men will also help him discover some clues."
Ye Xunyang instantly understood that after this incident, there was no room for maneuver between Lou Yi, the Imperial Concubine, and Lou Shang; they would be locked in a life-or-death struggle.
"The snipe and the clam fight," Ye Xunyang murmured.
"The fisherman reaps the benefits." Lou Jin continued, a faint smile curving his lips, a smile devoid of warmth, only displaying a calm and calculating demeanor.
"I, the fisherman, only need to wait and see. Lou Shang's attention will be firmly drawn to the Fifth Prince, and we can have some peace and quiet for a while."
Looking at the complex expression on Ye Xunyang's face, he suddenly asked, "Do you think my methods are insidious?"
Ye Xunyang snapped out of his daze and quickly shook his head: "No, Your Highness was saving someone, and also protecting yourself. If Your Highness hadn't foreseen this, Consort Xian would probably have met her end soon..."
“I understand that being merciful to the enemy is being cruel to oneself.”
Lou Jin looked at Ye Xunyang with a smile in his eyes.
"Now I finally have enough time to recover. My legs can walk for quite a while now. In a few days, I'll ask the Imperial Advisor to pick an auspicious day for us to take the final step."
"good!"
The Imperial Palace, Ningxiang Hall.
The once quiet and elegant palace was now filled with a strong smell of medicine. The palace servants held their breath, walked hurriedly, and all had a look of anxiety on their faces.
Fifth Prince Lou Yi knelt before Consort Xian's bed, tightly holding his mother's cold hand.
Consort Xian's face was ashen, her eyes were tightly closed, and she occasionally let out a few painful groans due to spasms in her stomach.
Several imperial physicians from the Imperial Medical Bureau gathered around, discussing the prescription in hushed tones, their brows furrowed.
"Judge Wang," Lou Yi's voice was hoarse from days of sleeplessness, yet it carried an undeniable sense of authority.
"What exactly is wrong with Mother Consort? Why is there no improvement after she has been given the medicine?"
Wang Jin, the head of the Imperial Medical Academy, had a fine sheen of cold sweat on his forehead. He bowed and said, "Your Highness, the Empress Consort's pulse is erratic, and she is vomiting and dizzy, which seems to be a sign of poisoning. However, we have repeatedly examined the Empress Consort's food and utensils recently, but we have not found any source of poison. This is really strange."
"Poisoned?" Lou Yi suddenly looked up, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
"In the forbidden area of the palace, who would dare to poison my mother?"
Just then, a young palace maid tending to the flowers and plants in the hall timidly spoke up: "Your Highness, this servant... this servant has remembered something."
"A couple of days ago, the Imperial Household Department sent over a batch of freshly picked spider orchids, saying that their fragrance was elegant and had a calming effect, and they were specially placed in the Empress's bedroom. But since then, the Empress seems to have been somewhat listless..."
Lou Yi's gaze flashed like lightning, instantly fixed on the pot of vibrant purple flowers by the window: "Bring that flower over here!"
Wang Yuanpan quickly stepped forward, carefully plucked a petal, and took some stamens, and together with the other imperial physicians, examined it carefully.
A moment later, their expressions changed drastically.
Lou Yi's gaze was fixed on Judge Wang's face: "Speak!"
Wang, the imperial physician, knelt on the ground, his voice trembling: "Your Highness, please be wise! This spider orchid itself... is indeed non-toxic, but... but..."
"But we dared to examine the ashes of the calming incense that Your Majesty uses daily and discovered that they contained a highly secret poison called 'Entangling Silkworm'."
"This poison is yin and detrimental. In daily life, there are no obvious symptoms when inhaled. It is only through accumulation that it can damage the heart and blood vessels, causing people to die from exhaustion. It is extremely difficult to detect in ordinary pulse diagnosis."
“Entangling Silk Vine…” Lou Yi chewed on the name, his eyes becoming bloodshot.
"And the fragrance of the spider orchid, though harmless in itself, is precisely the catalyst for the twining vine!"
"When the two meet, it's like boiling oil being poured on snow. It will cause the hidden poison to suddenly take effect. It seems extremely dangerous, but in fact, it forces the hidden poison to the surface, giving us the opportunity to examine it."
Lou Yi held his mother's hand tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.
He recalled the words of the Imperial Concubine a few days ago, which seemed to express concern but were actually full of subtle hints that the Virtuous Consort was weak and needed to rest.
It turns out that they not only wanted to fight for power, but also to extinguish his will to live.
As for this spider orchid, who sent it? Who would want to remind him?
He already had a rough guess in his mind.
He straightened up, all the anxiety and vulnerability on his face gone, leaving only a calm as if everything was being destroyed.
He looked at Imperial Physician Wang and the other imperial physicians: "Now that the source of the poison is known, is there a way to cure it?"
"It can be solved, it can be solved!"
"Now that the poison has manifested, we will do our utmost to detoxify and recuperate Your Majesty! However, Your Majesty's health has been damaged, and you will need to rest and recuperate for a long time."
"At all costs." Lou Yi's tone was calm, yet carried an undeniable resolve.
"Use the best medicine, the finest medicine. If you need anything, just go to my royal treasury and get it."
He took one last look at his haggard mother on the bed, then turned and strode out of Ningxiang Palace.
The sunlight outside the hall was blinding, but he only felt a chill running through his body.
"Someone come here."
"Your subordinate is here." His trusted guard appeared silently behind him.
"Investigate all the recent activities in the Consort's palace, and also the Fourth Prince, who he has met and what he has said. Investigate every inch of it for me."
"Also, find out who has mentioned contact with the Cleome spinosa. I need to know who is behind it."
"yes!"
Lou Yi stood on the white marble steps, gazing at the layered palaces and flying eaves of the imperial palace.
He originally wanted to maintain the superficial brotherly affection and respect, to preserve that precarious balance.
But now, someone has torn all of that apart with their own hands.
That's fine.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, a cold, bloodthirsty smile curving his lips.
This false peace is better off without.
Since they started with these underhanded methods, then don't blame them for stirring up this mess completely and turning the world upside down!
Inside the Prince's study, candlelight flickered.
Lou Jin listened to the guards' whispered report on the latest developments in the palace, then slowly closed the book in his hands.
"I understand," he replied casually.
Ye Xunyang sighed softly from the side, "It seems a great storm is about to break out in the palace."
Lou Jin gazed out the window at the deep night, his eyes seemingly reflecting a still, unfathomable pool of water.
“The bigger the storm,” he said softly, as if speaking to Ye Xunyang, or perhaps to himself.
"The more easily fish are startled, the more easily they are caught in the net."
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