“You’re saying the princess consort has been poisoned?”
In Princess Consort Wen’s bedroom, the maid called Qiong Ying’s face changed dramatically: “Impossible!”
Another maid, Fang Zi, murmured: “The princess consort’s daily necessities are all carefully inspected by us. Fearing others might tamper with them, we don’t even use incense – only flowers and fruits to perfume the room. As for food, we eat and live with the princess consort. Qiong Ying and I haven’t had any reactions. How could the princess consort be poisoned…”
Lu Tong remained silent.
Poison wasn’t necessarily administered through incense or food. With malicious intent, it could be anywhere.
She looked at the dark marks on Pei Yunshu’s wrist: “It appears the princess consort has been poisoned for some time.”
Pei Yunshu was thunderstruck, her face completely drained of color. She looked up at Lu Tong in a daze: “Doctor Lu, this poison…”
“Without determining what type of poison it is, I cannot detoxify the princess consort,” Lu Tong said.
Pei Yunshu’s body trembled. Fang Zi quickly stepped forward to support her, speaking anxiously: “Doctor, my princess consort rarely leaves her room due to her condition. There were no prior symptoms, and the medical officers who visit regularly never discovered anything wrong. How could she be poisoned?”
Lu Tong pondered for a moment and asked: “When did the princess consort first experience neck swelling, fever and sweating, skin darkening, and abdominal heat rash? How long ago at the earliest?”
Pei Yunshu thought carefully and said softly: “Nearly two months ago.”
“In these past two months, has the princess consort been anywhere?”
“No.”
Lu Tong said: “This poison manifested two months ago, yet the medical officers didn’t notice. The symptoms all resemble conditions that might appear in late pregnancy – the poisoner was very careful. It must be cumulative poisoning. The princess consort has long been exposed to the toxin, which only manifested after accumulating over time.”
She turned to look at Fang Zi: “Now tell me what the princess consort does daily – every detail, don’t omit anything.”
Hearing this, Fang Zi nervously recalled before saying: “The princess consort rises near the si hour each day. After breakfast, she walks casually in the courtyard. When it was hot recently, she dared not go out, so during the day she read books, played the qin, and embroidered flower patterns in her room. Since her pregnancy progressed, she became drowsy and naps at the wei hour, sleeping before the hai hour at night…”
“All three daily meals are shared with madam, and we’ve opened a small kitchen in the courtyard – it’s impossible for anyone to poison the food.”
Lu Tong frowned slightly.
Since Fang Zi was certain no one could poison the food, there should be no problem there. Pei Yunshu’s daily routine sounded extraordinarily simple, just like her bedroom – clear at a glance.
Reading books, playing qin, embroidering flower patterns…
Lu Tong walked a few steps toward the outer room, her gaze falling on the ancient qin covered with silver gauze. She paused, approached, and lifted the silver gauze covering the qin.
The ancient qin was deep and quiet, like a piece of serene cold wood. Lu Tong didn’t recognize what type of qin it was, but reached out to lightly brush across its surface.
Qiong Ying followed and saw this scene, saying: “The medical officer said listening to peaceful music could make the unborn child happy, so the princess consort plays one or two pieces daily.” Seeing Lu Tong motionless, she asked cautiously: “Is there something wrong with this qin?”
Lu Tong withdrew her hand: “No.”
The ancient qin was very clean, without any trace of poison. Not just the qin – Pei Yunshu’s entire bedroom was very clean. As her maids said, fearing trouble, they didn’t even place incense burners, only displaying flowers and fruits for fragrance.
Lu Tong’s gaze swept through the room’s furnishings. When it passed the table, her eyes suddenly paused.
Not far from where the ancient qin was placed, on a low table sat a pair of small clay figurines.
These clay figurines were exquisitely made with bright colors, painted to look like children holding lotus pods, covered with red gauze and blue cages. The figurines were lifelike, with clothing inlaid with pearls, gold, and ivory jade ornaments – clearly valuable.
Lu Tong was startled. Mohailuo?
She knew about mohailuo. During the Qixi Festival in the Liang Dynasty, street vendors would sell such figurines for people to offer to the Cowherd and Weaver Girl, praying for male children and many offspring.
When she was in Changwu County, she had seen people selling them during Qixi festivals, but though small, these figurines were expensive – she could only look.
Pei Yunshu’s room was simple and elegant, yet these bright, exquisite figurines seemed completely out of place.
Lu Tong reached out, picked up one figurine, and sniffed it lightly under her nose. Her brow suddenly jumped.
Qiong Ying: “What’s wrong?”
Lu Tong’s expression turned cold. Gripping the figurine tightly, she turned and entered the inner room.
In the inner room, Pei Yunshu and Fang Zi were both startled seeing Lu Tong enter with the mohailuo. Pei Yunshu said: “This…”
Lu Tong said nothing. She walked to the table, quickly stripped off the figurine’s ornate clothing, grabbed scissors from the table, and scraped a thin layer of clay from the mohailuo, dumping it into a teacup on the tea tray.
The old kiln porcelain cup still contained half a cup of tea. When the clay was poured in, it immediately became muddy. Lu Tong took a gold needle and stirred it in the water. Yin Zheng, standing behind her, let out a shocked “Ah!”
The originally gleaming gold needle had suddenly turned black at the tip.
“There’s poison on this?” Pei Yunshu cried out in shock, frozen in place.
She trembled, her face frighteningly pale: “This was… given to me by Mu Sheng. How could he poison his own child…”
However cold Prince Wen might be toward her, that was between them as husband and wife, but the child in her womb was Mu Sheng’s own flesh and blood – he had no reason to harm the child.
Yet this mohailuo had indeed been given to her by Mu Sheng. Because of its auspicious meaning of “many children and much fortune,” and seeing the figurines were exquisite and lovely, she had kept them, playing with them daily, never imagining these figurines contained deadly poison!
Pei Yunshu swayed unsteadily. Lu Tong stood at the table, staring intently at the figurine in her hands, her eyes ice-cold.
The figurine, stripped of its ornate decorative clothing, still retained its painted features – holding an unopened lotus pod, its slender eyes smiling like crescent moons.
In an instant, those painted smiling eyes overlapped with another pair of slender, beautiful eyes.
Yun Niang’s smiling voice floated through her mind.
“I once made a poison. This toxin is colorless and tasteless, easily dissolved in paint. When used by pregnant women, there’s initially no reaction. Gradually, the body becomes feverish, skin darkens, and after a few months, the neck and shoulders gradually swell. Eventually, there may be abdominal pain and bleeding – this indicates the poison has penetrated the fetus and matured.”
“However, this isn’t the most interesting part.”
She laughed: “Most interestingly, even so, the poisoned person’s fetus remains stable. Even if doctors examine her, they’ll only think these symptoms are normal pregnancy signs. Drinking fetal protection medicine only makes the poison penetrate deeper. After ten months, a stillborn child is delivered, but the mother remains unharmed.”
“So, this poison is called ‘Children’s Sorrow.'”
Children’s Sorrow…
No wonder she felt strange upon seeing Pei Yunshu’s symptoms – years ago, she had already heard Yun Niang mention this poison.
Fang Zi, seeing Lu Tong’s grave expression, asked carefully: “Doctor, do you know what poison this is?”
“I know.”
Fang Zi was delighted: “Wonderful! Please quickly detoxify our princess consort!”
Long silence.
Pei Yunshu looked at the silent Lu Tong, her heart gradually sinking: “Doctor…”
“There’s no antidote,” Lu Tong said softly. “This poison has no antidote.”
The mohailuo in her hands had curved eyes and smiling face, as if she could see through its innocent smile to Yun Niang’s curved lips.
The woman had said: “I only make poison – why would I care about antidotes? Once this poison enters the body, it’s like a seedling sprouting, parasitic on the fetus. Neither medicine nor needles can alleviate its toxicity. Like a newly grown tree, you can only watch it slowly wither, helpless.”
“Little Seventeen,” she smiled joyfully, “this is the meaning of making poison.”
“Doctor!”
Pei Yunshu suddenly raised her head. Ignoring Fang Zi’s attempts to stop her, she insisted on getting out of bed and tremblingly knelt before Lu Tong. Lu Tong instinctively stepped forward to support her, but Pei Yunshu grasped her hand.
Pei Yunshu gripped Lu Tong’s hand tightly. Those thin hands seemed to possess endless strength as she stared at Lu Tong, her eyes full of despair and pleading, her voice choking.
“Doctor,” she said hoarsely, “please… save my child!”
“Princess Consort—” Fang Zi and Qiong Ying cried out.
But Pei Yunshu refused to rise, looking at Lu Tong like she was the only hope in a dead end.
Lu Tong’s heart shook.
She could see the unyielding light in Pei Yunshu’s eyes. She said “child,” not “myself.”
Somehow, she suddenly remembered what Ke Chengxing’s servant Wan Fu had once told her in the teahouse.
Wan Fu had said that before her sister Lu Rou died, she had discovered she was pregnant.
She couldn’t know what Lu Rou thought upon learning of her pregnancy, but at this moment, she seemed to see Lu Rou’s former shadow in Pei Yunshu.
Both were harmed while pregnant. The difference was that her sister hadn’t waited for someone to save her – surrounded by wolves and tigers, she died alone in the cold pond water.
Pei Yunshu’s tears fell drop by drop. Fang Zi and Qiong Ying comforted her softly: “Princess consort, don’t cry. The medical officers will arrive soon – there must be a way…”
Lu Tong closed her eyes.
Don’t be soft-hearted.
Can’t be soft-hearted.
The situation in the prince’s mansion was complex. For an outsider like her to rashly get involved would be no good thing. If Pei Yunshu were fine, having revealed the truth about the poisoning, she would surely be resented by the poisoner. If Pei Yunshu died, it would be worse – as an insignificant person swept into this affair, she would only become a scapegoat for their anger, dying alongside this princess consort.
Moreover, “Children’s Sorrow” was indeed an incurable poison. Yun Niang never lied – if she said there was no antidote, there definitely wasn’t. Pei Yunshu had been poisoned for so long that even if the child were born now, having been nourished by accumulated poison, it might not survive.
She had blood vengeance to settle and hadn’t yet repaid her great grudge. She shouldn’t endanger herself for others’ affairs – she needed to preserve this life for more important matters.
This was right, as it should be.
Pei Yunshu’s crying was resentful and helpless, containing indescribable sorrow.
Lu Tong opened her eyes and suddenly spoke: “It’s useless.”
The crying in the room suddenly stopped.
She said coldly: “As the princess consort said, medical officers have come multiple times before without recognizing the signs of poisoning, let alone detoxifying the princess consort. Moreover, this poison doesn’t harm the mother – it only damages the fetus. The princess consort has been poisoned for many days. Today’s abdominal bleeding is actually a sign of the poison’s maturation. The more fetal protection medicine the princess consort drinks, the deeper this poison roots – it’s counterproductive.”
Pei Yunshu looked at Lu Tong: “Doctor, you have a way, don’t you?”
Lu Tong lowered her eyelids.
The dark marks on Pei Yunshu’s arm had spread to her elbow. Soon, when they completely passed the joints, the unborn child would have no hope of survival.
Yun Niang said this poison was incurable after complete manifestation, but if stopped before the toxicity fully activated, there might be a glimmer of hope.
“Doctor,” Pei Yunshu crawled forward a few steps and grasped her dress hem. In such a humble posture, her black and white eyes shone blindingly bright, as if grasping all hope. “Please save my child—”
The room remained silent for a long time.
Just as the light in Pei Yunshu’s eyes was gradually extinguishing, Lu Tong spoke.
“There’s one method we could try.”
Pei Yunshu’s eyes lit up.
Lu Tong turned her head, staring at her and speaking word by word.
“Induce labor.”
…
In the small room, Meng Xiyan stood before a flower stand, inserting autumn flowers one by one into a azure-glazed bottle beside her.
A maid beside her entered and reported: “People from the princess consort’s courtyard said the princess consort has drunk fetal protection medicine and is much better now. That Doctor Lu is helping her recover and soothe herself – there should be no major problem.”
Meng Xiyan smiled and gently picked up silver scissors from the basket, beginning to carefully trim excess branches while saying: “The princess consort is indeed blessed by heaven, always turning misfortune into fortune.”
The maid dared not speak.
After trimming the excess branches, the flower arrangement showed pleasing height variations and graceful charm. Pei Yunshu admired it, her red lips slowly forming a satisfied smile.
Eyesores should be cleanly cut away.
Just like the bastard in Pei Yunshu’s womb.
Meng Xiyan’s expression was ice-cold.
The poison called “Children’s Sorrow” was given to her by her cousin in the palace.
At that time, Pei Yunshu had just been diagnosed as pregnant, and the entire prince’s mansion was excited. Prince Wen, who had always been cold to Pei Yunshu, suddenly showed unprecedented care for her. Even the lowly servants in the manor began following the wind, fawning over Pei Yunshu.
Meng Xiyan was filled with hatred, followed by worry about her own future. If Pei Yunshu bore a son, he would be the future heir of Prince Wen’s mansion. Even if Meng Xiyan later bore children, Pei Yunshu and her son could forever suppress her.
No matter how favored she was, she was ultimately just a side consort. That seemingly aloof princess consort would probably soon gain status through her son.
With this weighing on her mind, when she entered the palace, it inevitably showed on her face. Her cousin, a palace consort, noticed and asked what was troubling her.
Meng Xiyan poured out her worries, but her cousin just laughed.
“I thought something serious was bothering you so much. It’s just a pregnancy. There are so many pregnant consorts in the palace, but how many actually give birth? And of those born, how many grow up safely? There’s not even a stroke written yet – why are you already deflating yourself?”
Meng Xiyan was annoyed: “Your Majesty doesn’t understand. I’d like to do something, but Pei Yunshu is extremely cautious about food and daily necessities now – there’s no opportunity. Moreover, she’s Duke Zhaoning’s daughter. If something went wrong, it wouldn’t end well.” She looked at her cousin tentatively: “Perhaps Your Majesty could show Xiyan a clear path?”
Her cousin also needed family support in the palace. If Prince Wen favored her, Prince Wen’s mansion could stand with her cousin – also an asset.
Her cousin didn’t speak, her gaze circling Meng Xiyan’s face, as if evaluating whether she was worth the risk.
Meng Xiyan’s heart fluttered until she heard her cousin laugh softly.
She said: “There is a path, but it depends whether you dare use it.”
Her cousin gave Meng Xiyan a packet of medicine.
Her brocade dress swept across the palace floor covered with soft carpet, the embroidered gemstones reflecting scattered light like fragmented sunlight, her tone as pleasant as spring breeze.
“This medicine is called ‘Children’s Sorrow.’ Originally a forbidden medicine in the palace.”
“When the previous emperor lived, a consort in the harem used this poison to harm imperial heirs and was discovered. Later, the palace banned this medicine.”
“This medicine is colorless and tasteless, easily dissolved in paint. When taken by pregnant women, there’s initially no reaction. Gradually, the body becomes feverish, skin darkens, and after a few months, the neck and shoulders gradually swell. Eventually, there may be abdominal pain and bleeding. However, even so, the poisoned person’s fetus remains stable. Even if doctors examine her, they’ll only think these symptoms are normal pregnancy signs. Drinking fetal protection medicine only makes the poison penetrate deeper. After ten months, a stillborn child is delivered, but the mother remains unharmed.”
“This poison doesn’t harm the mother but specifically harms the infant, hence called ‘Children’s Sorrow.'”
Meng Xiyan looked at the medicine packet before her and suddenly recoiled as if stung.
Her cousin saw her reaction and smiled indifferently: “Children’s Sorrow is now nearly extinct. However, through my connections with people in the Imperial Pharmacy, I learned this secret.”
“I dare not use this medicine in the palace, but you could try.”
She whispered close to Meng Xiyan’s ear: “The beloved concubine of Xuanyi Lang bore a stillborn child precisely because of this poison.”
At these last words, Meng Xiyan’s heart stirred.
She knew about Xuanyi Lang’s beloved concubine – skilled at qin and extremely favored. Soon after entering the household, she became pregnant, and Xuanyi Lang carefully nourished her. Who knew that at delivery, the child was born without breath?
The concubine was devastated by this event, fell ill, and died soon after. Fellow officials’ wives all said she lacked fortune, never imagining she had been poisoned.
Thinking of Xuanyi Lang’s wife’s gentle, virtuous appearance, Meng Xiyan couldn’t help shivering.
She knew that because Xuanyi Lang doted on his concubine, whenever she had the slightest headache or fever during pregnancy, he would send for medical officers. Even Medical Academy officers found nothing suspicious. Until the concubine was buried, it was simply attributed to fetal weakness.
If she used this medicine on Pei Yunshu, she could silently poison the bastard in her womb.
Meng Xiyan couldn’t help being tempted.
So she accepted her cousin’s “kindness.”
After all, directly killing Pei Yunshu would be too obvious. But if Pei Yunshu lived and even safely reached delivery, yet the newborn had no breath – that couldn’t be blamed on others.
All those previous bouts of fever, headaches, and rashes would become evidence that Pei Yunshu’s pregnancy was originally unstable.
If Pei Yunshu could die of grief as a result, that would be even better.
Meng Xiyan trimmed two more clusters of stray leaves. Only when she could find no further imperfection did she return the scissors to the basket. Suddenly remembering something, she asked: “Has the medical officer examined Pei Yunshu?”
Pei Yunshu’s attack had lasted over an hour – the Medical Academy officers should have arrived. As her cousin said, every time Pei Yunshu felt the slightest discomfort, medical officers would come and only say these were normal pregnancy symptoms, telling Pei Yunshu not to worry and to drink fetal protection medicine.
Initially, Meng Xiyan worried the medical officers might discover something, but after several months with no one noticing anything wrong, she gradually relaxed. Her cousin hadn’t lied – truly few people knew about this forbidden medicine.
The maid replied softly: “Medical Officer Wang came just now but was turned away by Qiong Ying from the princess consort’s side. They said the princess consort was much better and resting. Medical Officer Wang left rather displeased.”
Meng Xiyan paused: “Pei Yunshu refused to see the medical officer?”
“Yes. It seems that Doctor Lu has already comforted the princess consort.”
Meng Xiyan looked suspicious.
Since becoming pregnant, Pei Yunshu had been extremely cautious about clothing, food, and daily life, fearing anything might happen to her unborn child. She even had different medical officers from the Medical Academy examine her each time to prevent bribery.
As for the midwife she hired, she had considerable connection with her maternal family – clearly she had made complete preparations.
Today when Pei Yunshu had abdominal pain, having the doctor surnamed Lu examine her was due to the sudden emergency. Even if Pei Yunshu was now fine, with Medical Academy officers at the door, wasn’t it strange for Pei Yunshu to refuse seeing medical officers while trusting an unknown female doctor?
Perhaps from guilty conscience, Meng Xiyan couldn’t help speculating about any abnormal behavior from Pei Yunshu.
She pondered and asked: “What did that female doctor do after seeing Pei Yunshu?”
The maid thought carefully and replied: “Doctor Lu first examined the princess consort’s condition, then said there was no major problem and had her maid go to a nearby pharmacy for some medicine to take for fetal protection.”
Just prescribing fetal protection medicine sounded fine.
But… fetal protection medicine?
Meng Xiyan’s expression suddenly turned ugly.
The mansion had plenty of fetal protection medicine – Pei Yunshu’s own small kitchen had some, and they said she had already drunk a bowl when the abdominal pain first started. Why would she seek far for what was near, going to outside pharmacies?
Could it be… that female doctor discovered something?
As soon as this thought arose, Meng Xiyan immediately shook her head. Impossible – just a small female doctor from a broken medical clinic who might not even recognize all common medicinal materials, let alone a forbidden palace medicine lost for ages. Lu Tong couldn’t possibly be more capable than Medical Academy officers.
But somehow, unease flashed through her heart, as if something had slipped from her control and was developing uncontrollably toward a direction she didn’t want to consider.
Lu Tong was still in Pei Yunshu’s room without coming out. To avoid suspicion, she couldn’t directly seek out Lu Tong now. Besides, this was all baseless speculation – perhaps she was overthinking.
Then…
Meng Xiyan hesitated before instructing the maid in the room: “Send someone to the pharmacy where Lu Tong’s maid just went. Ask what medicine she bought. Quickly!”