Princess and the General

The One Behind the Poisoning (Part One)

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“Your Majesty, Marquis Gu’s Manor sent someone to deliver some news.
Lord Marquis fell ill and will be staying home to recover and is requesting a day off from Your Majesty.”

Emperor Ning was partially laying on the bed, the bright-yellow canopy of his bed hung to the side and contrasted with his pale-white face.

Imperial Consort Xian sat next to the bed and held a small white bowl in her hands.
She was feeding Emperor Ning his medicine.
Hearing Eunuch Gao report this, her hand stopped moving.

Emperor Ning sat up straight, “What illness is it? Is it serious?”

Eunuch Gao said: “Imperial physician Sun said that some pathogen entered his body, which caused a cough.
It isn’t anything serious.
It’s just that Lord Marquis is no longer young and needs to stay home to recover.”

Emperor Ning let out a sigh, “It really is a coincidence for the two of us.
Even getting sick, we get sick at the same time.
A few days ago, HuaiJiang came into the palace to see how We were doing, and he even advised Us to go out and get some exercise when We have spare time.
He usually spends a good amount of time each day training, yet hasn’t he also fallen ill?”

After saying this, he gave Eunuch Gao an order, “Go and have some of the thousand-year ginseng that just arrived at the palace delivered to Marquis Gu’s Manor.
Advise Marquis Gu on Our behalf to recover fully before returning to court.
There’s no need to rush.
Recently, ShuBai has been able to take responsibility for some tasks and will not be negligent.”

“Yes.”

Eunuch Gao complied and slowly retreated from the bed chamber.

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Imperial Consort Xian used the small spoon to ladle some medicine from the bowl, “Your Majesty, take your medicine first.
The efficacy will be reduced if it gets cold.”

Emperor Ning suddenly remembered something and simply took the bowl and downed it in one gulp.

Putting down the bowl, he had a bitter expression, and Imperial Consort Xian hastily brought him a piece of preserved fruit.
Emperor Ning placed it in his mouth and felt a little better.

“We heard people say that medicine isn’t as bitter if it’s downed in one gulp, but why is it that We still find it extremely bitter?”

He lazily shifted his posture and crossed his arms in front of his chest, “Beloved consort, say, aren’t We getting old?”

Imperial Consort Xian smiled and said: “Your Majesty isn’t getting old.
Rather, Your Majesty is getting younger and younger, even finding the medicine bitter like a little kid!”

It was clear that Emperor Ning had not been comforted by these words, “We are old.
Even HuaiJiang is getting old.
If it’s not him getting old, when had he ever requested a day off because of a minor cold? As people get old, even the smallest problems can have major effects.
Just like this time with Us, never recovering from this minor cold…”

Imperial Consort Xian subconsciously averted her gaze then placed the bowl of medicine that he had just drank on a platter that Mu Jin was holding.

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Mu Jin glanced at Imperial Consort Xian then bowed and retreated from the bed chamber.

…

The matter of Gu HuaiJiang being poisoned was not made public, and imperial physician Sun just acted as if things were as he originally believed.

In secret, this matter was handed to Yu Fu to handle.

“Yu Fu, can you treat this poison?”

Gu ShuBai and Gu JiuGe were supposed to be investigating the truth behind Yin JiYao’s birth mother, but who knew that Gu HuaiJiang would suddenly be poisoned.
How could they still have the mind to investigate?

Gu HuaiJiang lay face down in bed with his top off.
A number of silver needles were stuck in his back.

Yu Fu shook her head, “All I can do is hold it off for now.
I will only be able to begin planning once I have figured out what poison this is.
In this world, there are so exceedingly few poisons that I do not know.
This was most likely the work of Kun WuShang.”

Kun WuShang?

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Gu JiuGe said: “These past few days, I have had Steward Qi investigate all of the servants working in the manor, especially those working in the kitchen.
All of the food that father has consumed has been investigated, but the source of the poison has not been found.
Kun WuShang left Eastern Ling a long time ago.
How could he possibly manage to do this?”

Yu Fu looked at Gu ShuBai, “Eldest brother, do you remember the last words that he said in his letter? I think that the thing that he mentioned was poisoning the head general.”

Gu ShuBai said: “Based on poison, there’s likely nobody in Eastern Ling who could compare with you.
There would only be Kun WuShang and the other disciples from Immortals Valley who would be familiar with your circumstances and which poisons you don’t know about.”

For example, the poison that had been provided to Yin Shuo.
Although Yu Fu did not know it, she was able to treat it.

But the poison used this time…

Yu Fu checked the time then started pulling out the silver needles from Gu HuaiJiang’s back.
The ones near his neck were dark at the tip.

The further down the body she went, the lighter the needles were.
The ones nearest his hip were completely normal.

Qi Zhou stepped forward and helped Gu HuaiJiang put his shirt on.

“Lord Marquis, how do you feel?”

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Gu HuaiJiang concentrated and thought for a bit, “My throat feels much better, as it’s no longer as dry as before.
I no longer feel an uncontrollable urge to cough.
The acupuncture that Yu Fu has performed for me these past few days seems to have been effective.”

Yu Fu said: “Head general, lift your head.”

Gu HuaiJiang lifted his head, and everyone looked at his throat.
The patch of light purple was still there.

Yu Fu had a grave expression, “It’s just treating the symptoms, not the source cause.
If the medicine to treat the poison is not found, the poison will slowly spread and will eventually reach a point where it can no longer be controlled.
Second brother, you must think of a way to find the source of the poison.
It’s not just limited to the food that head general eats.
It could also be something that he touched or smelled.”

Qi Zhou heard this and hastily said: “The servants working in the manor have all been working here for a long time.
The younger servants are also the children of the older servants, so there shouldn’t be any problems with them.”

Gu ShuBai said: “Steward Qi, Yu Fu isn’t suspecting the manor’s servants.
It’s just that something as serious as father being poisoned is something that must be investigated carefully.
This is especially true of those nearest to father, as they have the most opportunities to poison father.
I ask Steward Qi to investigate carefully.”

Qi Zhou obediently complied, but Yu Fu suddenly looked at him.

She suddenly remembered someone.