Smiling Under Lanter Chapter 188 - 89: Child’s Worry4

Chapter 188: Chapter 89: Child’s Worry_4

ng Xiyang was annoyed. "Your Highness may not know, but I do want to interfere, yet Pei Yunshu is now extrely cautious with her food and consumption. There’s no chance to act. Moreover, she is the daughter of Lord Zhao Ning, so if anything goes wrong, I’m afraid it won’t end well." She looked tentatively at her cousin, "Perhaps, Your Highness could show Xiyang a clear path?"

Her cousin also needed the support of her family in the palace. Should Prince Wen favor her, Prince Wen’s Mansion would stand by her side, and for her cousin, it would also be a powerful aid.

Her cousin did not speak, her gaze circling ng Xiyang’s face as if to assess whether she was worth the risk.

ng Xiyang’s heart was in turmoil until she heard her cousin laugh softly.

Her cousin said, "There is a clear path indeed, but it depends on whether you dare to take it."

Her cousin handed ng Xiyang a packet of dicine.

Her brocade gown’s hem brushed over the plush carpet in the hall, with the embroidered jewels reflecting light like shattered sunlight, her tone as pleasant as a spring breeze.

"This dicine is called ’Child’s Sorrow’. It was originally a forbidden drug in the palace."

"When the previous emperor was alive, a concubine was discovered using this poison to plot against an heir, and thereafter it was banned in the palace."

"The drug has no color or taste, and easily dissolves in paint. If a pregnant woman ingests it, at first there will be no reaction, but gradually, she will feel feverish, her complexion will darken, and after a few months, swelling will appear around her neck and shoulders. Eventually, there might be signs of abdominal pain and bleeding. Even so, the baby in the womb remains unhard. Should a doctor examine her, they would only believe the symptoms to be normal signs of pregnancy. Taking drugs to stabilize the pregnancy will only allow the poison to penetrate deeper. When the full ten months pass and a stillbirth occurs, the mother will be safe and sound."

"The poison does not harm the mother, only the baby, hence the na ’Child’s Sorrow.’"

ng Xiyang looked at the dicine packet before her, suddenly retracting her hand as if stung.

Her cousin saw her movent and smiled indifferently: "Child’s Sorrow is now nearly extinct. However, thanks to my acquaintance with soone from the Imperial Pharmacy, I learned of this secret."

"I wouldn’t dare to use this drug in the palace, but you could give it a try."

She whispered in ng Xiyang’s ear, "The outco of Commandery Prince Xuan’s most favored concubine’s pregnancy was due to using this dicine—she gave birth to a stillborn."

Upon hearing the last statent, ng Xiyang’s heart skipped a beat.

She knew about Commandery Prince Xuan’s favored concubine, who played the zither well and was deeply cherished by him. She beca pregnant not long after entering his residence, and Commandery Prince Xuan took great care in nourishing her. Yet at the ti of delivery, the child was born lifeless.

After this incident, the concubine was so stricken that she fell ill and soon faded away. The ladies in the capital all said she was unfortunate, little did they guess she had been poisoned.

Thinking of Commandery Prince Xuan’s virtuous and gentle wife, ng Xiyang couldn’t help shivering.

She knew that due to his fondness for his concubine, every ti she had the slightest headache or fever during her pregnancy, Commandery Prince Xuan would have her summon a dical officer. Even the doctor from the dical Officer Institute failed to detect any signs, and after her death, it was simply concluded that the pregnancy had been unhealthy.

If Pei Yunshu were given this dicine, she could be killed noiselessly, along with the wicked seed inside her.

ng Xiyang couldn’t help but be tempted.

So she accepted her cousin’s "kindness."

After all, directly taking Pei Yunshu’s life might be a bit too obvious. However, if Pei Yunshu lived and even stayed safely until her delivery day, and the baby born had no breath, then no one else could be blad.

Those occurrences of fever, headache, and itchy skin would all serve as evidence that Pei Yunshu’s pregnancy was never stable to begin with.

If Pei Yunshu could die of depression from this, all the better.

ng Xiyang snipped away two more clusters of dead leaves until she could find no further fault, then she put the scissors back into the basket. Suddenly, she rembered sothing and asked, "Has the dical officer seen Pei Yunshu?"

Pei Yunshu had been ill for more than an hour, and the dical officers from the dical Officer Institute should have arrived by now. As her cousin had said, every ti Pei Yunshu felt slightly unwell, the dical officer would co for a visit and simply say it was a common pregnancy symptom, advising Pei Yunshu not to worry and to just drink a few doses of pregnancy-stabilizing dicine.

In the beginning, ng Xiyang was sowhat anxious, afraid that the dical officers would detect sothing amiss, but as months passed and not a single person noticed anything wrong, ng Xiyang gradually let down her guard. Her cousin had not lied to her; this forbidden drug was indeed known to but a few.

The maid replied softly, "Doctor Wang just ca by, but he was turned away by Qiong Ying, who is close to the Princess Consort. She said the Princess Consort is feeling much better now and is resting. Doctor Wang left sowhat displeased."

ng Xiyang paused: "Pei Yunshu refused to see the dical officer?"

"Yes. It seems that Doctor Lu has already cald the Princess Consort down."

ng Xiyang’s expression showed her suspicion.

Ever since Pei Yunshu beca pregnant, she had been extrely careful with her food and daily routine, fearful of any harm to the child in her womb. Even when she went to the dical Officer Institute to request a dical officer, she would have different ones co to examine her, to prevent any of them from being bribed.

As for the midwife she hired, she had a good relationship with her maternal family, showing she had made thorough preparations.

Today, Pei Yunshu’s abdominal pain made her turn to the female doctor Lu Tong because the incident was sudden; even though Pei Yunshu was now out of danger, the dical officers from the dical Officer Institute were right at the doorstep. It was odd for Pei Yunshu to dismiss the dical officers and instead trust a midwife with no reputation, wasn’t it?

Perhaps because she felt like a thief with a guilty conscience, ng Xiyang couldn’t help but speculate about any abnormal behavior on the part of Pei Yunshu.

She pondered for a mont and then asked, "After that female doctor saw Pei Yunshu, did she do anything?"

The maid thought carefully and replied, "Doctor Lu first checked the Princess Consort’s condition, then said it was nothing serious and sent the maids to get so nearby dicine to calm the fetus."

It was just so pregnancy-stabilizing dicine, which didn’t seem problematic.

But... pregnancy-stabilizing dicine?

ng Xiyang’s face suddenly turned ugly.

There was plenty of pregnancy-stabilizing dicine in the mansion, and Pei Yunshu’s own kitchen had so, plus it was said that she had already drunk a bowl when she started feeling abdominal pain. Why would she go to the trouble of getting dicine from an external pharmacy?

Could it be... that female doctor had discovered sothing?

This thought barely crossed her mind before ng Xiyang imdiately shook her head. Impossible, she was just a small-ti doctor from a run-down clinic, who might not even fully recognize ordinary dicinal herbs, let alone a long-lost forbidden drug from the palace. Lu Tong couldn’t possibly be more capable than the dical officers from the dical Officer Institute.

But for so reason, she still felt a tinge of unease, as if sothing had slipped out of her control, developing uncontrollably in a direction she didn’t want to contemplate.

Lu Tong was still inside Pei Yunshu’s room without coming out, and right now, to avoid suspicion, ng Xiyang couldn’t go to Lu Tong directly. Moreover, all of this was baseless speculation, and she was probably overthinking it.

So...

ng Xiyang hesitated for a mont, then instructed the maids in the room, "Find soone to go to the pharmacy where Lu Tong’s maid had just gone, and ask what kind of dicine she just bought. Be quick!"