Qin Wan stared at Yao Xin Lan in shock. Someone wanted to harm her?!
“Ninth Sister, someone is trying to poison me! My medicine—someone added something to my medicine!” As she spoke, two tears rolled down from the corners of Yao Xin Lan’s eyes. She turned to look at Mo Shu, “Go, go bring the leftover medicine dregs!”
Mo Shu’s eyes were also reddening. She nodded and walked to a tall cabinet, pulled open a drawer, and took out a small silk handkerchief. She hurried to Qin Wan and opened the handkerchief, “Ninth Young Lady, look—”
A faint medicinal smell wafted through the silk. When the handkerchief was opened, Qin Wan immediately frowned.
She had written the prescription herself and knew exactly what medicines should be in it. She quickly spread apart the bundle of medicine dregs wrapped in the handkerchief and said softly, “This medicine is wrong. There’s additional musk and dong quai in it.”
Mo Shu nodded frantically, tears hanging at the corners of her eyes. Seeing that Qin Wan had immediately spotted the problem, Yao Xin Lan also began to sob.
Qin Wan’s brows furrowed tightly.
Yao Xin Lan already showed signs of threatened miscarriage with unstoppable bleeding. Musk would cause uterine contractions in pregnant women, and dong quai promoted blood circulation and removed stasis. With these two ingredients added, wouldn’t Yao Xin Lan lose both child and life?
“Who went to get this medicine? Do Elder Brother and Grandmother know about this?”
At these words, Yao Xin Lan turned her head and began crying sorrowfully. Mo Shu said from the side, “Ninth Young Lady, the person harming our Lady is someone from the Qin Manor. Our Lady is terrified now and doesn’t dare tell Young Master or Old Madam. Firstly, it was our chamber maid who went to get the medicine, and we don’t know how many hands it passed through between the pharmacy and the kitchen where it was prepared—there’s no way to investigate. Secondly, we don’t know if Young Master and Madam would believe our Lady’s words.”
Qin Wan frowned deeply, “Sister-in-law is carrying the Third Branch’s first legitimate grandson. With these medicine dregs as evidence, how could Old Madam and Elder Brother not believe?”
Yao Xin Lan cried with hiccups. Hearing this, she turned and grabbed Qin Wan’s hand, “Dear Sister, you are steady and prudent, which is why I dare tell you the truth. I also want you to look after my child in the future. As for other matters, let’s not think about them for now. Mo Shu will keep watching for whoever is adding things to my medicine, but the Qin Manor is so large—I’m afraid we won’t catch them in the act.”
Qin Wan pressed her lips together tightly, full of doubts as she watched Yao Xin Lan’s grieved and wronged expression.
With such a vicious incident, why wouldn’t Yao Xin Lan tell Qin Chen or Madam Jiang? Why specifically tell her?
Was it just to have her look after the child?
Seeing Qin Wan deep in thought, Yao Xin Lan grabbed her hand again, “Sister, please perform the acupuncture quickly. Prescribed before, but I dare not drink the medicine anymore. Let’s see if someone adds things to this medicine again.”
Qin Wan came back to herself and took out her needle case from her sleeve. Beside them, Mo Shu put the silk handkerchief back in the drawer, then helped undress Yao Xin Lan for Qin Wan to apply the needles. Qin Wan focused her mind and spirit—by the time she finished the complete set of needles, a thin layer of sweat had formed on her back.
After the acupuncture, Yao Xin Lan’s complexion improved somewhat. Qin Wan then said, “These needles shouldn’t be applied daily. Since my Sister-in-law is worried about the medicine, I’ll personally make some medicinal pills back in my quarters. Sister-in-law can take them daily.”
Yao Xin Lan’s eyes brightened, “Dear Sister, that would be perfect.”
Qin Wan nodded, “Then I’ll go back to Ting Lan Court now to make them. When they’re ready, I’ll have Fu Ling bring them to Sister-in-law later.”
Yao Xin Lan nodded, showing signs of weakness and drowsiness on her face. Qin Wan took her leave and walked out of the inner chamber. Madam Jiang and the others were waiting outside. Qin Wan curtsied, “The acupuncture is complete. She should be able to rest peacefully now. The prescription remains the same as before. My sister-in-law is tired now and needs quiet rest. Please don’t speak much when visiting her.”
Madam Lin stepped forward and took Qin Wan’s hand, “Good Wan’er, thank you for your efforts. You must be tired too. Go rest quickly.”
Qin Chen came forward, “Ninth Sister, let Big Brother escort you back.”
Qin Wan nodded and left first. Outside, Fu Ling was waiting and hurried to meet her as she came out.
Qin Chen followed closely, walking alongside Qin Wan as they left Lin Feng Court.
“Ninth Sister, how is Xin Lan’s condition?”
Qin Wan’s eyes shifted slightly, “Sister-in-law was frightened by the previous bleeding and is overly worried.”
Qin Chen exhaled, “That’s good, that’s good. These past few nights she’s often had dreams, saying she keeps dreaming someone wants to harm her.”
Qin Wan turned her head to look at Qin Chen. She almost wanted to tell him exactly what Yao Xin Lan had said. Things had escalated to the point of poisoning—as the male head of the household, Qin Chen should know and should investigate to find the vicious person adding things to the medicine. But after a moment’s hesitation, Qin Wan didn’t speak up. Since Yao Xin Lan had chosen not to tell, Qin Wan had no right to make that decision for her.
Perhaps because Qin Wan’s expression was too grave, Qin Chen suddenly asked, “What are you thinking about, Ninth Sister? Did Xin Lan say something to you?”
Qin Wan’s heart tightened, but her face remained composed, “No, why do you ask, Elder Brother?”
Qin Chen gave a bitter smile, “Ninth Sister doesn’t know, but your Sister-in-law might have been frightened. These past two days she’s been saying strange things.” After a slight pause, Qin Chen lowered his voice, speaking with some pain, “And your Sister-in-law’s family has… has several people who suffered from mental illness. Her grandmother and sister both died from it. Before our wedding, doctors said your Sister-in-law might also… I now fear she might not be able to withstand it and develop the illness…”
Disbelief grew in Qin Wan’s eyes. Mental illness? Yao Xin Lan’s family had a history of mental illness.
Qin Chen wasn’t speaking nonsense. If Yao Xin Lan’s maternal grandmother and sister both had mental illness, she indeed had a high chance of developing it too. Qin Wan looked at Qin Chen—if he knew about this before the wedding, why did he still marry Yao Xin Lan?
Qin Chen seemed to see the incredulity in Qin Wan’s eyes. He smiled bitterly and said, “By then I had already met Xin Lan and felt she was exactly the wife I wanted. Moreover, she was beautiful and spirited, with an excellent temperament. The mental illness wasn’t certain to affect her, so I took a gamble. Only recently have I started to worry…”
Qin Wan felt her mind becoming muddled. Yao Xin Lan wasn’t suffering from mental illness now, but if she had this tendency, her words couldn’t be entirely trusted. Yet those medicine dregs were real, concrete evidence.
“Don’t worry, Elder Brother. Not everyone develops a mental illness. Sister-in-law has reached this age—she probably won’t develop it now.” Though she said this, Qin Wan knew that if Yao Xin Lan truly developed a mental illness, even she couldn’t cure it. Moreover, this illness didn’t discriminate by age—no one knew when it might manifest.
Qin Chen smiled bitterly, “I hope so. That would be good.”
As they talked, they had almost reached Ting Lan Court. Just as Qin Chen was about to escort Qin Wan inside, they heard a commotion from the western direction. Qin Wan also heard the noise and snapped out of her troubled thoughts. Looking up, she saw a group of people walking toward the west gate. Though she could only see a few backs, Qin Wan recognized the leader as Liu Chun, the Qin Manor’s steward.
“What’s happening? What are they carrying?”
Looking at the direction the group was leaving from, it was from the eastern concubines’ quarters. The two male servants behind Liu Chun were carrying something wrapped in bedding, but it was too far away for Qin Wan to make out what it was.
After Qin Wan asked, there was no response for a long while. Turning to look, she saw Qin Chen staring at the group with a dark expression, his usually warm eyes filled with icy coldness, his fists clenched tightly at his sides.
“Elder Brother?” Qin Wan called questioningly.
Qin Chen suddenly came back to himself, his smile spreading, the coldness in his eyes instantly disappearing.
“They must be moving something. Don’t worry about it, go rest quickly.”
Qin Wan looked once more in the direction Liu Chun had left before walking toward Ting Lan Court. Qin Chen escorted them to the gate before turning to leave. As soon as Qin Chen left, Fu Ling immediately exhaled, “Young Lady, who would have thought the Young Madam’s family had so many cases of mental illness! Even this servant knows that if one person in a family gets this illness, others are very likely to get it too!”
Then she added emotionally, “Young Master must love Young Madam deeply, otherwise he would certainly have minded.”
Qin Wan frowned deeply as she entered. On the surface, Qin Chen did seem deeply in love with Yao Xin Lan, but looking at this couple’s words and actions, Qin Wan felt there was something extremely strange about this deep affection.