Yun Chu stepped over the threshold and walked in.
Her gaze fell on that cup of tea, and she directly picked it up and gently sniffed it.
“Chu’er.”
Fourth Aunt Yun’s nerves suddenly tightened.
She forced a smile and reached down for the teapot: “This tea is for your Aunt Guilan. Let me pour you another cup.”
“I’ll drink this one.” Yun Chu smiled. “Aunt Guilan shouldn’t mind, right?”
Aunt Guilan gripped the account book in her hands tightly and shook her head.
Fourth Aunt Yun grew increasingly anxious and even reached out to snatch it: “The tea has gone cold. It’s not good for you to drink it, Chu’er. Come, let me change it for you.”
Yun Chu raised the cup: “What’s wrong, Fourth Aunt? Am I not worthy of drinking this tea, or is there something wrong with this tea?”
Fourth Aunt Yun’s fingers stiffened: “If you want to drink it, then drink it.”
The medicine in this cup of tea had been added quite heavily. Drinking one cup would leave someone bedridden for at least a month. Since Yun Chu was so eager, she had no psychological burden.
When Yun Chu also fell ill, wouldn’t the Yun Family’s properties fall right into her hands?
Thinking of this, Fourth Aunt Yun suddenly relaxed. She sat in the chair and picked up her own tea to drink, her peripheral vision naturally fixed on Yun Chu’s movements the entire time.
But then she saw Yun Chu suddenly place the tea on the table and say softly: “Let Physician Bi come in.”
Tingxue went out and brought in a bearded doctor.
“Physician Bi, please trouble yourself to examine my Aunt Guilan’s pulse and see exactly what illness this is.” Yun Chu stood up and said politely, “Please sit.”
Fourth Aunt Yun jerked her head up sharply. Seeing that Physician Bi was dressed ordinarily—not an imperial physician from the palace, nor any famous doctor—she immediately felt relieved.
Physician Bi walked over and sat down to examine Aunt Guilan’s pulse. Before long, his expression turned grave: “This is a symptom of having consumed creeping moneywort. Fortunately, the amount consumed was not much. I will prescribe three formulas to be taken in rotation, and recovery should occur in about half a month.”
The teacup in Fourth Aunt Yun’s hand was violently knocked over.
She realized she had lost her composure and hurriedly set the cup down properly: “What is creeping moneywort? Can it be detected through pulse diagnosis?”
“Ordinary physicians naturally cannot detect it.” Physician Bi stroked his beard. “But for me, it’s not difficult at all.”
Fourth Aunt Yun’s nails dug into her palms.
She had thought this was just some random doctor Yun Chu had found, but any random street doctor couldn’t possibly know about the existence of creeping moneywort…
Her heart began pounding violently as she glanced uneasily at the tea.
Just then, Yun Chu also looked toward that cup of tea.
Her pale fingers picked up the tea and handed it to Physician Bi.
Before she could speak, Fourth Aunt Yun abruptly stood up, deliberately swaying unsteadily as she lurched toward Yun Chu.
Qiutong raised her sword hilt and pressed it against Fourth Aunt Yun’s chest, saying coldly: “Fourth Madam, stand steady.”
That cup of tea fell into Physician Bi’s hands. He only needed to smell it once before frowning, then he dipped his finger in it and lightly licked it with his tongue, then immediately poured a cup of water to rinse his mouth, rinsing several times before stopping.
His voice was cold and somber: “This tea contains creeping moneywort.”
Aunt Guilan’s eyes flew wide open.
Although she had already suspected there was something wrong with this cup of tea, when the matter was confirmed, she still couldn’t conceal her shock.
Her lips trembling, she said: “Fourth Madam, why did you poison the tea?”
“I did not poison it.” Fourth Aunt Yun maintained a facade of composure. “Chu’er, where did you find this quack doctor from? He’s just spouting nonsense. What creeping moneywort? I’ve never even heard of such a thing.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a group of people appeared at the hall entrance.
It was Yun Ze leading many people from the Yun Family to visit the sick. Many clan members had come.
“Fourth Aunt says Physician Bi is a quack doctor?” Yun Ze laughed. “Physician Bi and the Divine Physician Si you all know share the same master. Divine Physician Si is the senior disciple who received the master’s true teachings and specializes in treating difficult and complicated cases, thus becoming famous throughout Great Jin. Physician Bi’s patients mostly don’t exceed ten years of age—he specializes in treating children’s stubborn ailments. The sons of imperial nobility have basically all had their bodies adjusted by Physician Bi. Is he still a quack doctor?”
Fourth Aunt Yun was stunned.
Her several children were all healthy, so she had no knowledge of Physician Bi’s existence.
Such a capable doctor—how had Yun Chu managed to invite him, and why had he been specially invited to treat Guilan…
Could it be…
A chill ran down her spine, and she shuddered.
“I—I was ignorant.” Fourth Aunt Yun struggled to speak. “I have offended Physician Bi. I hope Physician Bi will forgive me.”
Yun Chu said coldly: “Fourth Aunt, you still haven’t answered—why did you poison the tea?”
“I didn’t!” Fourth Aunt Yun raised her voice. “I’ve never even heard of this creeping money-whatever. What would I poison it for? Am I crazy? Although Guilan and I don’t interact much, we’re both daughters-in-law of the Yun Family. Why would I poison her? Chu’er, although your status is different now—you’re a Fifth-Rank Lady of Grace personally conferred by His Majesty—you still can’t just falsely accuse people with baseless words!”
Yun Run stepped forward: “Fourth Aunt indeed has no reason to do this. Yun Chu, you’re being too impulsive.”
“Is that so?” Yun Chu stepped forward and grabbed Fourth Aunt Yun’s wrist.
Fourth Aunt Yun’s pupils dilated: “What are you doing?”
She struggled forcefully.
But Qiutong pressed down on her shoulder.
Yun Chu pulled out a paper packet with residual powder from Fourth Aunt Yun’s waist pouch.
Physician Bi took the paper packet and sniffed it, saying in a deep voice: “This is exactly the smell of creeping moneywort. If such a packet were consumed, even a grown man in his prime would be bedridden for at least half a year. If a pregnant woman accidentally ingested it, the consequences would be unthinkable—very likely resulting in two deaths.”
Upon hearing this, Yun Ze’s expression immediately darkened.
So it seemed that the culprit who caused his wife’s miscarriage in Chu’er’s dream was the Fourth Aunt standing before them.
The Yun Family members present were also shocked.
“Fourth Sister-in-law, what are you trying to do? Why poison Aunt Guilan?”
“Could it be because Guilan took over the cloth shop and tea shop account books, and you became resentful and sought revenge?”
“We’re all one family. Fourth Sister-in-law, what you’ve done is too excessive.”
With irrefutable evidence before them, Fourth Aunt Yun had no way to refute it any longer.
She stammered: “The physician who sold the medicine said it was just ordinary knockout powder. One packet would make someone ill for three days, then they’d quickly recover without harming the body. I didn’t know this was creeping moneywort…”
Fourth Aunt Yun’s husband, Yun Siyuan, stepped forward: “She couldn’t possibly harm clan members. This must be a misunderstanding.”
Yun Siyuan was of the same generation as Yun Silin. In this generation, there were only these two males. With Yun Silin missing and Old General Yun ill, Yun Siyuan was the only man in the entire Yun Family.
His words always carried some weight.
Usually when he said something like this, the matter would end there.
Yun Ze said mildly: “A matter that nearly cost someone’s life can be settled with just ‘a misunderstanding’?”
After considering for a moment, Yun Siyuan said: “I’ll have someone send two ginseng roots and an additional two hundred taels of silver as compensation for the fright.”
Fourth Aunt Yun gritted her teeth.
The matter hadn’t been accomplished, she had lost face, and now she also had to lose ginseng and silver. What a huge loss.
But she knew she had to bleed a little, or this matter wouldn’t pass.