Chapter 10: Dispute 1

She had suddenly developed a high fever after lunch. Her whole body felt cold, and even though she was wrapped in two brocade quilts, she could not stop shivering.

Upon hearing the news, Ouyang Jing specifically invited an imperial physician to treat Liu Qinghua. He had originally thought it was just a common fever caused by a chill, but when she drank the medicinal soup prescribed by the physician, her condition took a sudden turn for the worse; in less than half an incense stick's time, she had actually fallen into unconsciousness.

The imperial physician was full of confusion. He lightly twirled his graying beard and placed his fingers on Liu Qinghua's wrist to perform a careful diagnosis, his expression darkening.

Sitting to the side, Ouyang Jing saw the change in the physician's expression, and his heart sank.

He heard the physician say in a heavy voice, "The Princess Consort's pulse is floating and chaotic, her complexion is dusky, and her lips are slightly purple. This is clearly a case of poisoning."

Outside the window, a sudden roll of thunder sounded without warning, and heavy rain poured down.

As the rain poured outside like a deluge, the imperial physician inside the room was frantically busy dealing with the Princess Consort's poisoning.

Based on the pulse alone, it was impossible to determine immediately what kind of poison had been ingested. Only by finding the source of the poison as quickly as possible could a definitive diagnosis be made and the correct medicine prescribed.

After carefully questioning Lv Luo about the specific details of the Princess Consort's discomfort, the physician focused his attention on lunch and, as expected, discovered an anomaly.

It turned out that in a goose meat dish, pear juice had been used to add flavor. The two foods were incompatible and would cause a high fever. However, this alone was not enough to cause such severe symptoms of poisoning in the Princess Consort.

Just as the physician was lost in thought, Ouyang Jing, who had been sitting by the couch watching over Liu Qinghua, shifted his gaze to the medicinal bowl nearby.

After thinking carefully for a moment, he said to the physician, "Could the prescription you just wrote be incompatible with the food the Princess Consort ate?"

"No, that is just an ordinary prescription. I have used it for many years without any errors."

The physician shook his head, but thought to himself that perhaps the servant decocting the medicine had mixed up the herbs, so he picked up the medicinal bowl to examine it closely.

Unexpectedly, it was this very examination that revealed a clue.

Seeing his solemn expression, Ouyang Jing asked, "Has the physician discovered something strange?"

The physician did not answer immediately. Out of caution, he lightly dipped his index finger into the medicinal dregs and placed them on the tip of his tongue to taste them carefully. His brow furrowed instantly as he said, "There is Heartbreak Grass in this medicine. Someone has definitely tampered with it."

"Heartbreak Grass? Is there an antidote?" Ouyang Jing's heart tightened; he had not expected such a malicious person to exist within the manor.

"Do not worry, Your Highness. Although this poison is potent, there is a way to neutralize it," the physician comforted him. "However, there are two medicinal ingredients that are only available in the palace. I must return to fetch them first."

"Then I must trouble the physician to put in extra effort this time. You must handle this personally."

"I understand. Your Highness may rest easy."

The physician instructed the medicine boy to stay in the Prince's manor to look after her with all his heart, while he himself hurried out into the rain to return to the Imperial Academy of Medicine to fetch the herbs and prepare the prescription.

Ouyang Jing felt relieved, then ordered people to bring in the chef who prepared the meal and the servant who decocted the medicine for questioning; he could not sit idly by regarding this matter.

After a thorough interrogation, the chef admitted that it was his own negligence that caused him to mistakenly mix pear juice into the goose meat, and the servant quickly admitted to administering the poison, though he remained tight-lipped about the reason.

This coincidence only made Ouyang Jing more certain that there was something suspicious behind this matter.

Unobtrusively, he ordered both culprits to be punished with one hundred strokes of the cane and expelled from the manor, while secretly ordering men to follow them to track their movements. Soon, the name Lu Xin reached his ears.

Was all of this arranged by Lu Xin?

He had thought that Lu Xin was merely finding it difficult to accept his taking of a concubine and was occasionally making things difficult for Liu Qinghua, and that after some time, the bitterness in her heart would dissipate. He had not expected her to be so extreme as to want to drive the other to her death.

However, whether he should stop here or continue to investigate deeply, Ouyang Jing felt somewhat conflicted.