Chapter 72

Chapter 72

In a flurry of chaos, a patch of snow tumbled from the eaves.

Feishuang’s eyes filled with concern. “She threw up all the medicine she just drank.”

Fei Xu immediately said, “Could there be something wrong with the medicine?”

Feishuang froze. “I personally went to the pharmacy to get it, and I watched the whole brewing process. No one else’s hands ever touched it.”

After vomiting, Concubine Li weakly leaned back against the bed, her face still just as pale.

She said weakly, “Go call for the estate physician.”

“Now that my pregnancy is out in the open, I can openly say I’m feeling unwell.”

Fei Xu quickly replied, “I’ll go right away.”

She thought that this time, there must be no mishaps, so she decided to call two physicians just to be safe.

As she left, Fei Xu overheard the junior maidservants outside whispering.

“What’s going on? Concubine Lu hasn’t even come, so why is the mistress still vomiting?”

“I heard it wasn’t Concubine Lu who harmed the mistress.”

“But the mistress doesn’t look like she’s having normal morning sickness either. She’s vomiting so badly—it reminds me of someone else…”

“Reminds you of who?” Fei Xu, her face cold, stepped in front of them and asked.

Startled, the two maids quickly bowed. “Greetings, Sister Fei Xu.”

Fei Xu only asked, “Just now, who did you say the mistress reminded you of?”

The maids exchanged a glance and said cautiously, “Of… of Consort Fang.”

Consort Fang?!

Fei Xu immediately thought of how Consort Fang had also vomited during her pregnancy, even to the point of spitting blood. The imperial physician had advised her that the child couldn’t be saved, but it was later discovered that she had been poisoned.

Fei Xu’s heart chilled with alarm and she immediately turned around.

After two steps, she turned back and said, “You two, if I catch you gossiping while on duty again, you can go home and lie around doing nothing!”

The maids quickly replied, “Yes.”

Returning to the bedchamber, Fei Xu hurried forward and took her mistress’s hand. “Mistress, I’m afraid we’ve all fallen into Concubine Han’s trap!”

Concubine Li looked at her in confusion.

Fei Xu briefly recounted what the two young maids had said.

Being clever, Concubine Li immediately sensed something wrong. “You mean, Concubine Lu didn’t harm me. She was just a decoy set up by Concubine Han.”

“There’s another reason for my unstable pregnancy?”

Fei Xu nodded. “Exactly!”

With a grave expression, Fei Xu said, “I’m afraid someone has tampered with our courtyard long ago.”

Feishuang’s face also turned pale.

Concubine Li’s body swayed, and the two maids immediately stepped forward to support her.

“It was my oversight.”

Concubine Li suddenly realized, “I was wondering—she’s the legitimate daughter of the Dingyuan General—how could she use such a vile and blatant method to harm someone?”

Fei Xu added, “No wonder Concubine Lu was so calm that day at Qingsong Courtyard.”

“She probably knew she wouldn’t be in trouble, so she wasn’t flustered at all.”

Concubine Li sighed. “Fei Xu, go to Qingsong Courtyard and fetch the Princess!”

“Feishuang, take some people and search the main hall, especially my bedchamber!”

The bedchamber was where Concubine Li spent the most time each day.

If that room had been tampered with, then Concubine Li was truly in danger.

The entire Qingzhu Courtyard sprang into action.

Before Fei Xu could fetch the estate physician, Feishuang had already found a suspicious scented pouch.

Feishuang’s face darkened. “This is an item the mistress brought back from the palace. It’s been locked in this chest.”

But someone had quietly swapped it.

When she checked the bedding and pillows on the bed, Feishuang paused.

She picked up the pillow and sniffed it. A fragrant scent filled her nose—the same cold plum fragrance that lingered on Concubine Li. Nothing seemed unusual.

But when she sniffed more carefully, a faint, rich aroma seeped through.

Feishuang warily pulled the item out.

By the time Nanny Li arrived with the estate physicians, an hour had passed.

Nanny Li said, “Lady Li, the Princess was worried something might have happened, so she sent me to check.”

Concubine Li forced a faint smile. “Sorry to trouble you, Nanny.”

“For Lady Li and the child she carries, how could I dare call it trouble?” Nanny Li said with a smile. “Two physicians, please examine Lady Li now.”

This time, it was Doctor Zhao and Doctor Luo who came.

Concubine Li trusted them and let both take her pulse in turn.

After a moment, both were lost in thought.

Doctor Zhao spoke first. “In just half a day, Lady Li’s pulse has weakened so much?”

He asked, puzzled, “Has Lady Li overexerted herself or come into contact with something harmful?”

Feishuang answered for her, “My mistress only went to the Princess’s courtyard with the old physician and then came back to rest.”

“I just brewed the medicine according to the old physician's prescription. The mistress drank it, and soon after, she threw it all up.”

Doctor Zhao stroked his beard, deep in thought. “That shouldn’t be possible?!”

Doctor Luo glanced at her and said calmly, "Lady Li, have you checked the items around you?"

Concubine Li and her two maids all stiffened.

Without beating around the bush, Concubine Li told Feishuang, "Go and show the two doctors what we just found."

Feishuang carried a tray with the scent pouch on it, and the maid behind her held a pillow.

Dr. Zhao examined the scent pouch and confirmed, "The scent pouch contains musk!"

Dr. Luo studied the pillow for a long time, and even had someone bring scissors to cut the pillow into pieces, making the others quite alarmed.

After a moment, Dr. Luo said, "Part of the buckwheat in this pillow was soaked in medicine, the same poison that Shufei Fang was afflicted with back then."

Concubine Li's and her two maids' faces turned pale.

Dr. Luo continued, "Fortunately, the poisoner was cautious and didn't use too much poison, or else Lady Li would have been in life-threatening danger."

Concubine Li's breath caught for a long moment.

Back then, Shufei Fang only smelled the poison through the window and ended up vomiting blood.

She slept on this pillow every day, inhaling it closely; perhaps she would die in her sleep one day without even knowing it.

Feishuang said with a pale face, "I made this pillow myself because I saw that you hadn't been sleeping well these past few days. How could it have been poisoned…"

Mama Li also said, "What cursed villain would do such a wicked, vile thing!"

"Please, Doctors, help us inspect Lady Li's entire room—there must not be any more treacherous items!"

The two doctors knew she was one of the Princess Consort's people and repeatedly bowed.