Ink Burns

Chapter 265 Qinghui (Part 2)

understand?

Understand what?
Seeing the knowing look on Wu Dajian's face, and then glancing at his beloved disciple's knowing yet cryptic expression, Lin Yuanzheng's mind went completely blank: What? What? What is it now?
Confused and bewildered, Lin Yuanzheng bid farewell to Eunuch Wu and entered Qinghui Palace. Still in a daze, he lifted the curtain and placed his hand on the wrist of a pale-faced woman curled up on the warm couch.

The pulse is fast and thin, like a stream rushing out of a narrow, steep mountain.

It's blood loss.

The woman was losing blood in an orderly and premeditated manner, almost as if she had accidentally taken a blood-circulating drug. Although the bleeding was not much, the blood flow was concentrated and pulled downwards, causing blood to flow from her lower body, which was quite alarming.

What's the reason?
Lin Yuanzheng moved his fingertips slightly in confusion, intending to perceive the pulse more clearly.

The blood of women is considered unlucky.

Even though they were all women, Empress Dowager Fang, Consort Qiao, and a group of concubines from the previous dynasty all avoided the bloodshed, sitting or standing behind the curtains, keeping their distance.

From a distance, Empress Dowager Fang's voice sounded urgent and deep: "How is she? Is Madam Xue alright?"

Lin Yuanzheng hesitated, unsure how to reply: "Your pulse seems a bit strange. Could it be a serious illness? Or perhaps you ate something wrong?"
Lin Yuanzheng looked up at Madam Xue's face, which was deathly pale, but her lips still had a fair color.

It's probably because you ate too much of something.

Young women love to take supplements haphazardly. They might suck on two ginseng slices in the morning, eat some donkey-hide gelatin at noon, and chew two cordyceps at night. If Li Tianwang (a famous Chinese martial arts master) came, they could punch him twice. The consequence of such supplementation is that they are prone to metrorrhagia during their period.

Lin, the Imperial Physician, was a straightforward and honest man. Having spent most of his life as a diligent junior physician, he hadn't witnessed much of the intrigue and scheming within the imperial harem. The most intriguing plot he could think of was that young women had taken too many tonics—Lin opened his mouth, ready to reply, "Report—"

As soon as the word left his lips, a pair of round, watery deer eyes instantly appeared before his eyes.

"Let me try it!" Little Deer mouthed in an exaggeratedly cute way.

Before Lin Yuanzheng could react, he reached out and grabbed Shan Yue's wrist. The moment his fingertips touched Shan Yue's cool skin, the adorable little deer cried out in alarm, "Reporting to the Empress Dowager, Madam Xue, Madam Xue has miscarried!"

Lin Yuanzheng was completely dumbfounded: ?
Miscarriage?

What kind of miscarriage?
Judging from her pulse, how could Madam Xue be pregnant?!
That incompetent scoundrel! He's caused a terrible disaster!

Lin Yuan was in a hurry to apologize, but when he turned his head, he saw that dog blinking its round eyes at him, smiling innocently with its eyebrows forming crescent moons, almost wagging its tail in a fawning manner.

and many more.

Lin Yuanzheng, who had been honest and upright for most of his life, seemed to have suddenly become enlightened in a flash!

Turning to look out the window, I thought of Wu Min from just now;

Looking at that scoundrel, I recalled the saying, "We must give young people a chance," and also, "If the diagnosis is wrong, someone will take responsibility!"
What a misdiagnosis!

It's all a setup!

He's a bastard who lures people into a trap!
With a "whoosh" sound.

The light-blocking beaded curtain was suddenly pulled open!

Empress Dowager Fang's compassionate and serene face instantly appeared behind the curtain, her voice trembling slightly: "What did you say? Miscarriage?"

Lin Yuanzheng shuddered, his knees shaking as if he were rolling dice. He forced a smile, and with a burst of wisdom that shone through him in his first encounter with a conspiracy, he tentatively asked, "Your Majesty, are you aware that Madam Xue is pregnant?"

"Of course I know," Empress Dowager Fang said, a hint of reluctance showing on her compassionate, round face. "Who in the entire capital doesn't know? Madam Xue is the most virtuous of all. Back then, to protect Lord Xue's reputation for filial piety, she almost went into miscarriage at the ancestral hall of Grand Tutor Xue's second wife."

The tense breath Lin Yuanzheng exhaled, and he relaxed a bit: now that everyone knew, things were much easier, saving him the trouble of fabricating a diagnosis out of thin air. "Before Consort Qiao summoned Lady Liu to the palace for her portrait, did she not check if she was unwell?" Consort Zhen's voice was shrill behind the beaded curtain, as if she had found a knife to stab Consort Qiao: "She's pregnant, and you're making her paint day and night—what's the rush? Is it because the late Emperor's mausoleum is about to be sealed, and we need to send our portraits in quickly?"

"Consort Zhen is being insolent!" Consort Qiao rebuked Consort Zhen first, then defended herself: "I summoned her to the palace knowing she was pregnant, but it has been more than three months, and she has never seen the imperial physician or a doctor—I have never heard that Lady Liu is in poor health!"

"I spoke frankly and righteously, and there was nothing presumptuous about it!" Consort Zhen gloated: "Now look what's happened, Madam Xue is lying in the palace bleeding from exhaustion, and she's even lost her baby. Who in the whole capital doesn't know what kind of person Lord Xue Xiao is?"

Consort Zhen gave a cold "heh heh" twice: "Now that Lord Xue has taken over the Xishan camp, it's the perfect time to use him. In my opinion, we old widows dressed in black, gray, and white should hurry up and hide at Hanshan Temple—to avoid incurring Lord Xue's wrath!"

Seeing that Consort Zhen was about to pin the blame for Lady Liu's miscarriage firmly on her head, Lady Qiao was both furious and anxious: she wasn't afraid of that mad dog, Xue Xiao! Although her family had fallen on hard times, she still had Prince Rong to rely on, and even though Prince Rong was still young, "Qingfeng" would protect her. However, this situation had developed in a way she hadn't expected, leaving her speechless and in a very passive position!

Why should she put up with this?!
She just wanted to paint a couple of pictures while she was still young and her looks hadn't faded completely. She wasn't going to take the blame for that lowly Liu!

Consort Qiao raised her hand, her fingertip nearly slapping Consort Zhen across the face. She then reversed direction mid-air, her slender finger pointing directly at the trembling imperial physician's nose: "Tell me! Why did she miscarry!"

Even if we take a step back, if the fetus is healthy, the pregnant woman won't miscarry even if she's really tired!

Originally, her family didn't have the money to hire so many maids and servants. Her only two mothers even carried scalding hot bath water for her while they were pregnant when she gave birth!

The flames of war have now reached Lin Yuanzheng's nose.

Yes.

Why did you miscarry?
She wasn't pregnant at all, so how could she have miscarried?
Lin Yuanzheng's gaze shifted uncertainly to the scoundrel He Shuiguang behind him. He muttered to himself, sounding distressed, "Yes, Madam Xue has never shown any signs of miscarriage. How could she suddenly have a miscarriage?"

The only one to enter behind the beaded curtain, Empress Dowager Fang, sat sideways on the edge of the warm couch, her head slightly lowered so her eyes were obscured, but she exuded an aura of peace and compassion: "Amitabha, if Lady Liu truly suffered a miscarriage due to overwork, then she must acknowledge her mistake. Our royal family owes Lord Xue a great debt, and we must promptly invite Lord Xue to the palace to discuss with the Emperor how to best resolve this matter—"

As Empress Dowager Fang was speaking, a young doctor with a burlap turban wrapped around his head behind Lin Yuanzheng lowered his head and timidly replied, "Your Majesty, the pulse examination of Madam Xue just now showed that she is currently in a state of opening the orifices and clearing the obstructions, and promoting blood circulation. If she had not recently taken a strong abortifacient, given Madam Xue's physical condition, she should not have miscarried so suddenly."

Consort Qiao seized upon a clue to clear her name: "You mean someone gave her abortifacients?"

The young doctor shrugged and dared not reply.

If she wasn't overworked, then it has nothing to do with her.

"Then investigate!" Consort Qiao straightened up again, tilting her delicate chin imperiously. "She's been staying in the palace these past few days. Investigate who drugged her, starting with those around her!"

Consort Qiao turned to Empress Dowager Fang with a smile: "Sister just said that this matter must be resolved well and that Lord Xue must be given an explanation—then let's give him one! Look at this palace, almost everyone has been cleared out, what kind of monsters and demons are left!"

Consort Qiao made the final decision.

The investigation began with those around Shan Yue. All the bags brought into the palace had to be inspected, and outsiders were not allowed to bring in any medicine. Since those around her were not a problem, the investigation then turned to the food and water she consumed. Shan Yue had been staying in the outer hall of Qinghui Palace for several days, and the records of her comings and goings were clean and there were no suspicious points.

The things at the entrance are the easiest to check, yet nothing can be found.

For two hours, people came and went in and out of Qinghui Palace. Huang Zhi, the maid Shan Yue had brought into the palace, knelt before the bed, sobbing—but to no avail.

Empress Dowager Fang, like a serene Maitreya Buddha, sat beside the unconscious Shan Yue with her eyes lowered, but her gaze inexplicably fell on the corner of a rose-red sachet peeking out from Shan Yue's collar.

"Sometimes, miscarriage doesn't necessarily require drinking bitter medicine, right?"

Empress Dowager Fang spoke softly, reaching out to pull out the sachet and bringing it to her nose to sniff.

A refreshing minty scent conceals a warm, soft, slightly fishy animal odor.

Empress Dowager Fang tore open the sachet, and the mixed herbs scattered on the table beside the couch, with a patch of brownish fine powder underneath.

Things at home are almost back to normal~ I'll resume regular updates starting today.