Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 1323: Chapter 1325 Ci Zichou_1

Upon making the connection that Jiang Yichun might be controlled by a curse technique that terrified him, Princess Yingtong sprang up abruptly and rushed to the entrance of the Main Hall to ask, ”Has someone attempted to assassinate my father?”

The lady-in-waiting hurriedly shook her head, ”No, no, it’s not that, His Majesty suddenly fainted.”

Bai Ruozhu hurried forward, her worry for Jiang Yichun—who had been with His Majesty—growing. She did not know what had happened or whether he would be implicated.

”Have you sent for the Imperial Doctor?” Princess Yingtong asked as she strode out, almost breaking into a run.

”We’ve sent for the Imperial Doctor, and it seems someone has even gone to the Holy Hall. I hurried to notify you immediately,” the lady-in-waiting answered.

”What was my father doing before he fainted? Did anything happen?” Princess Yingtong inquired further.

”I don’t know, it seemed like he was just talking normally to someone, and the Grand Princess was there too,” said the lady-in-waiting.

Princess Yingtong didn’t ask any more questions, merely quickened her pace, while Bai Ruozhu and Ao Qi followed closely behind, knowing her mood was foul and neither of them dared to speak out of turn.

The royal palace of the Western Regions was not large, and their sovereign did not claim the title of Emperor; therefore, it didn’t take long for the three of them to arrive at His Majesty’s Imperial Study Room, which was by now surrounded by quite a crowd.

There were people from the Imperial Medical Hospital, as well as concubines and ministers who had come after hearing the news. Princess Yingtong went straight inside, but a guard stopped Bai Ruozhu with an outstretched hand.

Bai Ruozhu looked up and recognized Lian Jia, who had given her trouble before.

Princess Yingtong had already rushed in and upon seeing the Queen, she asked, ”Mother, what has happened to my father?”

Seeing that Yingtong had run ahead without bai Ruozhu, Ao Qi quickly said to Lian Jia, ”The situation with His Majesty requires attention. Lady Bai has excellent medical skills, why are you stopping her?”

Lian Jia, with a stern face, said, ”Her identity is not confirmed, how can we trust her to treat His Majesty?”

Ao Qi was getting angry and was thinking about how to argue back when his mother’s voice came from inside, ”Let her in. The Ao Family, backed by me as the Grand Princess, vouch for her. Should anything happen, I will take responsibility!”

Bai Ruozhu was extremely shocked inside. She had only met the Grand Princess for the first time, and they had interacted for less than quarter of an hour altogether, and just because she was a person fated to meet Kailin, they trusted her this much, a foreigner, even when she could harbor intentions of harming the sovereign of the Western Regions Country?

Lian Jia did not dare to defy the Grand Princess and stepped aside to let Bai Ruozhu in.

As Bai Ruozhu entered the Main Hall, she immediately saw Jiang Yichun standing to the side; there wasn’t a crowd in the hall, but there were still quite a few people. Perhaps out of habit, or maybe because she had him in her heart, she managed to spot him first every time.

Jiang Yichun gave her a slight nod, indicating she need not worry too much. Bai Ruozhu knew that his medical skills were also good, so she was aware that the sovereign must not be in grave danger.

Indeed, before she could step in, His Majesty slowly came to.

”Your Majesty, how are you feeling?” the Queen asked anxiously.

”I’m fine, what happened to me just now?” the sovereign asked, looking around in bewilderment.

The Grand Princess spoke up, ”We were in the midst of a conversation when Your Majesty suddenly collapsed. We do not know the reason.”

Everyone’s eyes turned toward the Imperial Doctor, who quickly said, ”His Majesty has arrhythmia compounded by heavy drinking the day before. He must be careful not to drink so excessively in the future.”

The Queen asked with a worried face, ”His Majesty used to drink without any problem, how could this happen all of a sudden?”

The Imperial Doctor’s expression was somewhat troubled, as he obviously couldn’t say that it was because His Majesty had aged and his body had developed more problems; he certainly couldn’t be as carefree as he was when he was young.

”Perhaps His Majesty has been overexerting his mind, which might have damaged his Heart Meridian,” the Imperial Doctor said carefully.

His Majesty sighed, ”It seems I must drink less in the future. It’s alright, you may all withdraw, and let the people outside disperse as well. I am tired, and will not see them.”

The Imperial Doctor bowed and withdrew, and the attendants also went out to convey His Majesty’s orders. For a time, only the Queen and Bai Ruozhu and their party remained in the room.

”Your Majesty, Lin Zhu is well-versed in medical skills, why not have her take a look at you?” the Grand Princess suggested.

The Queen turned her head to look at Bai Ruozhu, her somewhat cold and stern gaze filled with scrutiny and doubt, and even carried a considerable amount of hostility. For some reason, she took an instant dislike to Bai Ruozhu.

”There’s no need for people with unclear origins,” the Queen said bluntly.

The face of the Grand Princess turned sour, ”Lin Zhu is the fated person whom my mother-in-law, Kailin, mentioned on her deathbed. Just yesterday in the Divine Hall, the red incense was lit during the divine judgment, proving her virtue is trustworthy. I have also vouched for her with the honor of the Ao Family and myself; the Queen need not worry.”

For a moment, the two women were at daggers drawn, and Bai Ruozhu was sweating bullets, wishing she could find a way to escape. She didn’t want to be caught in the middle of this.

”It wouldn’t hurt to take a look, with everyone watching closely; what could possibly go wrong?” It was His Majesty who spoke up, seemingly joking with his remark.

The Queen let out a sound as if cold sweating, clearly unhappy, but since His Majesty had spoken, Bai Ruozhu had no choice but to stiffen her resolve and approach, starting to take His Majesty’s pulse.

As soon as she took his pulse, she immediately noticed something was wrong. On the surface, the pulse suggested that the Heart Meridian was damaged and the heart rate was irregular, but only someone versed in the Poison Scripture could detect that His Majesty’s condition was actually caused by a specific poison.

Her half-volume of the Poison Scripture mentioned that this poison was hard to detect, being extremely slow-acting, and it would gradually lead to heart rate failure and death. After death, nothing could be found in the body to indicate poisoning; this method had once been used in a coup.

It was precisely because she had seen this passage that she quickly thought of this poison known as Ci Zichou.

Legend had it that Xi Shi, one of the four great beauties, suffered from heart disease, and would clutch her chest in pain, her frail posture eliciting even more pity. It was unknown what the creator of this poison was thinking to have given it the name Ci Zichou.

Jiang Yichun, noticing that Bai Ruozhu had been taking the pulse for a long time without stopping and her face had grown solemn, realized that the situation might not be straightforward; he may have misjudged earlier.

This wasn’t surprising for Jiang Yichun; his expertise was not in the study of poisons, and he had never seen such rare secrets as the Poison Scripture, so his ignorance of the Ci Zichou poison was understandable.

The Queen coughed discontentedly and said, ”Are you done? If you don’t know how to examine, don’t overexert yourself. Medical skills aren’t something everyone can learn.”

In the Western Regions, that was indeed the case; medical knowledge was nearly controlled by the Holy Hall, and ordinary people couldn’t learn medicine, which was why the Imperial Medical Hospital had to seek help from those in the Holy Hall just now.

The Grand Princess laughed softly, ”The Queen worries too much, Lin Zhu is from Danliang Country, and in Danliang Country, medical skills aren’t so difficult to learn.”

The Queen’s face changed colors, and her gaze towards the Grand Princess was very unfriendly. Princess Yingtong furrowed her brow and hastily said, ”Mother need not worry, just give the lady some time, let her examine thoroughly. Although she doesn’t look very personable, she does have some skills.”

By then, Bai Ruozhu had already withdrawn her hand, thinking that the Princess really knew how to compliment someone.