Chapter 185: Chapter 89 The Anxiety of a Child_1
"You say the Princess Consort has been poisoned?"
In the sleeping quarters of Princess Wenjun, a maid named Qiong Ying’s complexion changed abruptly, "Impossible!"
Another maid, Fangzi, murmured, "The Princess Consort’s daily necessities have always been carefully examined by us. Fearing that others might tamper with them, we’ve never used spices, only scenting the room with flowers and fruits. As for the food, we share meals and accommodation with the Princess Consort, and neither Qiong Ying nor I have had any reactions. How could the Princess Consort be poisoned..."
Lu Tong remained silent.
Poison is not something that must be administered through spices or food; if someone is determined, it can be everywhere.
Looking at the dark marks on Pei Yunshu’s wrist, she observed, "It seems the Princess Consort has been poisoned for some time."
Struck as though by lightning, Pei Yunshu’s face drained of all color. She looked up at Lu Tong, her words unfocused, "Doctor Lu, this poison..."
"Until I figure out what kind of poison it is, I can’t detoxify the Princess Consort," Lu Tong said.
Pei Yunshu’s body trembled, and Fangzi hurriedly went to support her, speaking anxiously, "Doctor, my lady has been with child and seldom leaves her room. There were no signs beforehand, and moreover, medical officers visit every few days and have not found any problems. How could she have been poisoned?"
Lu Tong pondered for a moment before asking, "When did the Princess Consort first show symptoms such as swelling at the back of the neck, fever with excessive sweating, darkening of the skin, and signs of abdominal bloating and itching? How far back can you trace these symptoms?"
After some thought, Pei Yunshu replied softly, "About two months ago."
"In the past two months, has the Princess Consort been anywhere unusual?"
"No."
Lu Tong said, "The poison exhibited symptoms two months ago, yet the medical officers did not detect it. The symptoms all resemble those that could emerge in a pregnant woman in the later stages, which suggests the perpetrator was very cautious. It must have been a gradual accumulation of poison that the Princess Consort has been in contact with until it became apparent after a certain period."
She turned and looked at Fangzi, "Now tell me everything the Princess Consort does in her daily routine, in great detail, and do not omit anything."
Fearing, Fangzi recalled for a moment before saying, "The Princess Consort usually gets up around the hour of si, has breakfast, then wanders around the courtyard. In the hot days before, she dared not go out, so she would read or play the zither, do some embroidery during the daytime. As her pregnancy advanced, she became more sleepy, resting a while in the late afternoon, and she would go to sleep before Hai Hour at night..."
"We share three meals a day with the lady, and there’s also a small kitchen in the courtyard, so it’s impossible for someone to poison the food."
Lu Tong frowned slightly.
If Fangzi was certain no one could have tampered with the food, then there should be no problem there. Pei Yunshu’s routine seemed exceedingly simple, just like the layout of this bedchamber, which could be seen through at a glance.
Reading, playing the zither, doing embroidery...
Lu Tong took a couple of steps towards the outer room, her gaze falling on the ancient zither covered by a silver gauze. She paused for a moment, then stepped forward and lifted the gauze from the ancient zither.
The ancient zither exuded a deep, serene charm, like an old piece of quiet, cool wood. Lu Tong did not recognize the zither but reached out to gently brush her fingers across its surface.
Qiong Ying, who had just followed her out, saw this scene and said, "The medical officer said that listening to tranquil music could please the child in the womb, so the Princess Consort plays a tune or two every day." Seeing that Lu Tong made no move, she cautiously asked, "Is there something wrong with the zither?"
Lu Tong withdrew her hand, "No."
The ancient zither was very clean, with no toxic traces, and not just the zither—it appeared that the entire Princess Consort’s bedchamber was very clean. As her maids had said, to avoid trouble, not even an incense burner was placed, just some flowers and fruits to give off fragrance.
Lu Tong’s gaze swept over the furnishings in the room, and as it passed over a table, her vision suddenly paused.
Not far from the ancient zither, on a low table, there were a pair of small, exquisitely crafted clay figurines.
These clay figurines, vivid in color, were beautifully painted to depict children holding lotus pods, covered with red gauze and set in a green cage. The figurines were very lifelike, and the clothing on the figurines was decorated with pearls, gold, and jade pendants made of ivory, seeming to be of considerable value.
Lu Tong was taken aback for a moment—Molachu?
She knew of Molachu. During the Qixi Festival in the Liang Dynasty, vendors would sell such figurines on the streets to be offered to the Cowherd and Weaver Girl. They were used to pray for the birth of sons, for the blessing of many children.
While in Changwu County, she had seen these being sold during the Qixi Festival while out with her family, but the tiny figurines were expensive, so she could only look and not buy.
In Pei Yunshu’s otherwise simple and elegant room, this pair of bright and finely crafted figurines seemed out of place.
Lu Tong reached out, picked up one of the figurines, and lightly sniffed it beneath her nose, her brows suddenly jerking together.