Chapter 10: Wanxing Garden

"Heaven creates things in a state of chaos; when the hard and soft first intersect, difficulties arise. Movement within danger—this is Water over Thunder, *Zhun*..."

Chen Ji vaguely remembered this being from the *I Ching*, though he had no idea what it meant.

But even without understanding it, he held a sense of awe for Old Man Yao’s hexagram divination. Tonight’s reading was an ominous sign that even Old Man Yao wanted to avoid at all costs; how was his going any different from walking to his death?

He asked skeptically, "Master, is it because my *bazi* is strong enough?"

Old Man Yao thought for a moment. "Yes."

Chen Ji said powerlessly, "But the three of us disciples share the exact same *bazi*!"

Old Man Yao replied, "If something happens to the other two, who will pay my tuition fees? You haven't been able to pay anyway, so you go. If you don't want to go, that’s fine too—pack your bags and go home."

Chen Ji pondered for a long time. "Fine, I'll go."

Chunhua led Chen Ji toward the main gate of the Prince’s Mansion. Upon arriving beneath the "Upright and Bright" plaque, they were blocked by guards wielding long halberds: "Identification!"

She held up her token. "This is the Prince’s Mansion token. We are here to bring someone from the medical clinic."

The guards silently withdrew their halberds, and the vermilion gates slowly creaked open.

The two kept their heads low, hurrying through the vast and deep mansion. Beside them stood high red walls and gray tiles, with two-story pavilions; beneath the eaves, four-clawed golden dragons were painted, their mouths clutching fire-avoiding pearls.

Chen Ji nervously glanced at the solemn black-armored guards—some standing post, others patrolling, their eyes scanning the surroundings like tigers.

Chunhua whispered, "Has Imperial Physician Yao told you the rules of the Prince’s Mansion?"

Chen Ji judged that his original self would never have been qualified to enter the mansion, and this was his first time, which was why she asked. "Master hasn't taught me yet. Please, Miss Chunhua, enlighten me."

Chunhua said, "Keep your head down near the Jing'an Hall and Mingzheng Hall; do not look around. Do not speak out of turn when you see my Mistress; answer only what is asked. Whatever you see or hear in this mansion, never speak of it to outsiders."

"Understood."

As they reached an archway, a group of more than ten women approached, carrying two wooden stretchers covered in white cloth.

These women were broad-shouldered and thick-waisted; they were clearly the sturdy servants of the inner mansion.

As they brushed past, one of the stretchers jolted, and a slender, bruised hand dangled from beneath the cloth. One of the women expressionlessly tucked the hand back under the white cloth, as if nothing had happened.

The group moved away, heading toward an unknown destination with the two corpses.

Chen Ji said, "Miss Chunhua, you must tell me what happened. What was that just now?"

"My Mistress suffered a miscarriage," Chunhua said. "Those two were the maids from Wanxing Garden who were beaten to death."

Chen Ji’s heart tightened.

The inner mansion was brightly lit, with servants moving back and forth in an endless stream, all looking hurried and somber.

Arriving outside Wanxing Garden, seven or eight servants were kneeling by the wall, weeping and crying out their innocence. More than ten sturdy women held rattan canes, striking their backs relentlessly. "Speak! Who touched Consort Jing’s dinner today? If you don't speak, we’ll beat you all to death!"

Someone sobbed, "I really didn't touch it!"

A sturdy woman roared, "Still not talking?"

As she spoke, the woman grabbed a servant by the hair and slammed her head against the wall, killing her on the spot!

Chen Ji turned his head slightly. Perhaps if he handled tonight poorly, this would be his fate as well.

However, just as he approached the vicinity of Wanxing Garden, he suddenly felt a stream of ice surge out from the garden and flow into his body. The intensity of this icy flow was several times greater than the one from Zhou Chengyi!

Wait, where did this icy flow come from? And why?

If the last time was due to Zhou Chengyi’s vengeful spirit haunting him because he helped Yun Yang and Jiao Tu catch the Jing Dynasty spies, then this time, the people dying in Wanxing Garden had nothing to do with him. Why was there an icy flow entering his body?

Chen Ji thought rapidly. The icy flow must have a hidden commonality; only by finding it could he understand what it truly was.

Who did this icy flow come from? That was the crucial question.

Before he could think it through, Chunhua turned back and urged, "What are you dazed for? Keep up."

Chen Ji hurried to follow. Inside the spacious Wanxing Garden, there were rockeries and water features. The main building was a two-story pavilion with climbing roses planted outside. Green vines snaked up the structure, meticulously pruned to look exceptionally elegant.

The refinement and peace within the garden stood in stark contrast to the hell on earth outside, making even the rose vines look particularly sinister.

At that moment, a woman’s shrill, desperate voice could be heard from the pavilion: "My Mistress felt that bird's nest soup was wrong before she even finished it, and two hours later, she miscarried! Someone must have poisoned her! When the Prince returns and finds his flesh and blood gone, he will surely kill someone!"

As the voice faded, Chunhua called out urgently from below: "Mistress, the person from the medical clinic is here."

"Bring him up quickly," a gentle woman’s voice said. "Let him examine Consort Jing and see if someone truly poisoned her."

*Clatter, clatter, clatter.* Chen Ji stepped up the wooden stairs, following Chunhua.

On the second floor, a thin gauze screen blocked the view of the bed. A middle-aged woman sat upright in a grand armchair outside the screen. She wore a plain silk robe embroidered with gold thread, and a floral hairpin was tucked into her bun. She looked toward the screen with concern, her voice gentle: "Consort Jing, do not worry. There is plenty of time; you will surely conceive again."

Behind the screen, Consort Jing’s voice was weak. "Thank you for your concern, Elder Sister Yunfei."

In the corner of the room, a black cat and a white cat were fighting, leaving fur scattered everywhere. No one paid them any mind, as if they were deliberately letting them fight.

The black cat was smaller; it had been kicked in the head a dozen times, its soul nearly knocked out of it.

But when Chen Ji stepped onto the landing, the black cat suddenly broke free from the white cat, staring straight at Chen Ji’s sleeve and sniffing. It wanted to approach him, but the white cat pounced again, dragging it back into the corner.

Chunhua brought Chen Ji to the second floor and said toward the screen, "Mistress, the person from the medical clinic is here. Let him examine you."

At this, a fierce-looking woman looked at Chunhua and asked angrily, "Where is Imperial Physician Yao? Why did you bring a wet-behind-the-ears brat?"

Chunhua was so frightened she knelt on the ground, her voice trembling with tears. "Imperial Physician Yao insisted that tonight was highly ominous and not a night to go out. I even invoked the Prince’s name, but I couldn't move him."

The fierce woman’s expression darkened. "The Prince’s Mansion can't summon its own physician? This Imperial Physician Yao has quite the ego!"

Yunfei frowned. "I know Imperial Physician Yao likes to divine fortunes, but not coming tonight is a bit inexcusable. When the Prince returns from Jiangnan, I will report this truthfully. If the medical clinic won't even obey the Prince’s Mansion, then there is no need for the clinic to exist."

The fierce woman asked, "Then what about tonight? Are we just going to let it go? What about my Mistress’s condition!"

Yunfei looked troubled. "The Prince is away. Imperial Physician Yao is a seventh-rank official; we must wait for the Prince to return to make the final decision."

The fierce woman said coldly, "Could it be that you, Yunfei, signaled Imperial Physician Yao not to come?"

Consort Jing, behind the screen, hurriedly said, "Chunrong, do not be rude to Elder Sister Yunfei!"

Yunfei smiled. "It is fine. Chunrong is only concerned for you, sister. How about this? Since the person from the medical clinic is already here, let him examine Consort Jing first."

Consort Jing said softly, "That will do."

The fierce woman, Chunrong, looked at Chen Ji and said coldly, "What are you still standing there for? Hurry and examine Consort Jing."

Chen Ji kept his head down, silent.

He didn't know how to examine a patient at all...

Moreover, the most important thing right now wasn't the examination; whether he got it right or wrong, something would go wrong.

Seeing him remain silent, Nanny Chunrong was furious. "Examine her!"

Chen Ji pondered for a long time, finally bowing with a bitter face. "My apologies, Mistress. I have only been studying medicine for two years. Firstly, I have been with my master for a short time, and secondly, my skills are not yet refined. I truly do not know how to tell if Consort Jing has been poisoned. This matter likely requires my master. I will go back now and try to persuade him to see if I can bring him here."

Nanny Chunrong scolded, "You say you don't know without even checking the pulse? Drag him out and beat him to death! Imperial Physician Yao is a seventh-rank official and untouchable, but beating a mere apprentice to death shouldn't be an issue. It will serve as a lesson to the medical clinic on the consequences of dereliction of duty!"

As she spoke, four sturdy women rushed up the stairs, their footsteps thumping on the wooden floor. They grabbed Chen Ji, intending to drag him out and kill him.

His hair was disheveled, his wooden hairpin fell to the floor, and his clothes emitted the sound of tearing under the strain.

Yunfei picked up her teacup and took a sip, ignoring the scene. In the eyes of the nobility of this era, an apprentice’s life was worthless; it wasn't worth wasting words over.

"Wait, let me finish," Chen Ji struggled to say. "I may not be skilled in medicine, but if Consort Jing has truly been poisoned, I am willing to find the real culprit!"

The second floor suddenly went quiet, leaving only the sound of Chen Ji’s heavy breathing.

Yunfei set down her teacup and glanced over, looking at Chen Ji with curiosity. "Oh? You have this ability?"

She re-examined the disheveled youth, feeling that he no longer looked like an apprentice at all; his eyes were becoming increasingly calm.

Chen Ji asked rapidly, "May I ask how many months pregnant is Consort Jing?"

Consort Jing said softly from behind the screen, "Five months."

Chen Ji said, "At five months, the fetus is fully formed. If someone used a potent poison to kill the fetus within a few hours, the mother would also lose her life! There is no poison in this world that kills only the fetus and not the pregnant woman!"

The principle of abortifacients is to lower progesterone and induce uterine contractions to expel the pregnancy. For such drugs to work within a day, they must be used on a fetus under three months old.

There were only a few reasons for a five-month miscarriage: first, reproductive organ disease, such as a uterine deformity; second, systemic disease, such as influenza, pneumonia, or organ failure; third, external physical trauma; fourth, severe emotional fluctuations, such as grief or shock.

Chen Ji asked, "Consort Jing, have you felt unwell in the past few months?"

Nanny Chunrong replied, "My Mistress was perfectly healthy before; it was only in the last few months that she lost her appetite. When we asked Imperial Physician Yao to examine her, he said it was just a normal pregnancy reaction."

Chen Ji did not take Old Man Yao’s words as a reference. He had read the medical compendium; even if the other party was a highly respected imperial physician, they could not transcend the limitations of their era.

He continued, "Has Consort Jing suffered any external trauma recently, or experienced any major emotional highs or lows?"

Nanny Chunrong sneered, "What are you talking about? My Mistress is of noble birth; how could she have such situations? If you are only trying to stall for time, what happens later won't be as simple as just being beaten to death."

Chen Ji suddenly said, "Since it is none of the above, then it is poisoning! But it was definitely not administered tonight—it was the result of long-term poisoning!"

"Hmm?"

"Are you sure?"