Chapter 208 - 206: As If Meeting Family (First Update)

Chapter 208: Chapter 206: As If Meeting Family (First Update)

Poisoned?!

With that word, the situation suddenly became more complex and serious.

Madam Cen couldn’t hold it anymore, her lips trembled slightly, her eyes full of shock and panic.

Zhao Jingming was extremely anxious, not understanding why his usually open-minded mother suddenly became so stubborn, gritting his teeth and said, "Mom, if it’s poisoning, Dad’s situation is even more dangerous. Since Miss Xu is here, why won’t you let her treat Dad!"

Zhao Shao Hua, who hadn’t spoken since earlier, seemed to have made up his mind, and said, "Aunt, I know what you are worried about. I don’t know what Doctor Xu was like before, but... I trust my own feelings. Doctor Xu, whom I’ve been with during this time, is definitely a doctor worthy of trust!"

A man who had been squatting beside Lord Liang and looked about seventy to eighty percent similar to Zhao Jingming raised his head at this moment and said, "Mom, Dad’s condition does indeed resemble someone I’ve seen before who was poisoned."

Xu Jing had seen him when she first came to the Zhao family; he is Zhao Jingming’s biological brother, the current Heir of Duke Liang—Zhao Jingxuan.

Madam Cen bit her teeth hard, finally took a step back, and said, "It’s my rudeness, then... I’m troubling Doctor Xu."

Saving lives was urgent, Xu Jing didn’t have the mind to guess Madam Cen’s thoughts, under the expectant eyes of Zhao Jingming and Zhao Shao Hua, she quickly stepped forward, took Lord Liang’s hand to take his pulse, and asked Zhao Jingxuan in front of her, "Does Lord Liang have any chronic illnesses?"

Zhao Jingxuan immediately said, "No, Dad has always been robust and exercises with the soldiers in the army every morning, rarely even having minor ailments."

Xu Jing asked again, "When did Lord Liang say he felt nauseous? What did he do or eat before that? How long after saying he was nauseous did he become like this?"

This series of questions from Xu Jing made Zhao Jingxuan pause and think for a while, then answered, "Dad came back from the barracks around 3:00 PM. After returning, he went back to his room. I’m not sure what he ate. About half an hour later, Dad came out from the room to the front yard. I was already receiving guests in the front yard then. At first, Dad was fine, but soon after, his face changed, and he told me he felt a bit nauseous. Then, about half an hour later, Dad suddenly collapsed."

It was just after 5 p.m. now, meaning it took about forty minutes for Lord Liang to go from feeling unwell to collapsing.

Xu Jing said in a deep voice, "Lord Liang must have been poisoned. Judging by his symptoms, it should be Gelsemium poison, commonly known as the Poisonous Plant. If I’m not mistaken, Lord Liang was poisoned within an hour. After being poisoned with Gelsemium, symptoms of nausea and vomiting appear within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, and the poison acts within about half an hour.

In this situation, we must quickly get Lord Liang to expel the toxins from his body. I’ll prescribe a formula now, and you should immediately get someone to fetch and prepare the medication—this is a formula with a purgative effect. Before that, the heir can press the root of Lord Liang’s tongue with chopsticks to induce vomiting—the more he vomits, the better. If he can’t vomit, you can let Lord Liang drink some lard."

Zhao Jingxuan was taken aback, but he had seen many poisoned soldiers in the army and knew that although Doctor Xu’s method was crude, it was indeed effective. He immediately said, "I understand. Jingming, you must immediately send someone to get the medicine according to Doctor Xu’s prescription."

After Xu Jing quickly finished writing the prescription, she looked at Zhao Shao Hua and said, "Young Madam Zhao, after inducing vomiting, Lord Liang will lose a lot of body fluids. Send someone to the kitchen to mix some salt with warm boiled water—about one or two ounces of salt to four pounds of water—and feed it to Lord Liang in small amounts. Also, check if there is fresh sheep’s blood, duck’s blood, or goose blood in the kitchen, and bring two large bowls."

Fresh sheep’s blood, duck’s blood, or goose blood has a certain detoxifying effect on the Poisonous Plant.

Zhao Shao Hua immediately nodded and said, "Okay, I’ll send someone right away."

The fact that Lord Liang could be poisoned in the mansion suggests that there could be a villain mixed into Duke Liang Mansion, so Xu Jing did not directly ask the servants to prepare the necessary items but told Zhao Jingxuan and others.

They also knew that not everyone could be trusted at the moment, and they would intentionally filter when sending people to handle things.

At this moment, a tall and slender man who seemed to be in his twenties suddenly said, "I remember, after the Lord returned, he didn’t eat anything; he only drank the cold tea on the small table in the room when he went back."

With the urgent situation earlier, everyone was anxious about how to save Lord Liang. At this moment, seeing Xu Jing methodically arranging rescue matters, some people’s hearts finally settled down, and they also had the mind to think about other things.

After saying that, Qingyi, who had been following Madam Cen, also said, "Indeed, at that time, after returning to the room, the Lord was very angry about Vice General Sun’s matter and drank two large cups of cold tea. It was only because Madam stopped him that he didn’t continue drinking. Shen Jie, who had been with the Lord, said the Lord didn’t eat anything else, so there shouldn’t be any mistake—the problem should be with those two cups of tea!"

Madam Cen’s face was tense, and she said sternly, "Immediately send someone to bring the tea from the small hall in my room and check if there is poison in it!"

After saying that, she looked at her eldest son, who was trying hard to induce vomiting for Lord Liang, and said, "Once Lord Liang’s condition improves, take him back to the room for treatment. Thank you, Doctor Xu... for taking care of Lord Liang. No one is allowed to tell the old lady about Lord Liang’s matter. If she asks, say that the Lord is busy with affairs at the barracks and can’t come back for a while!"

"Yes!"

Fortunately, it wasn’t too late now, with about half an hour left until the formal banquet. Although this has happened, today is the old lady’s birthday banquet, and almost all the guests have arrived, so it can’t be canceled just like that.

Therefore, Madam Cen asked Zhao Jingxuan and Mrs. Kang to entertain the other Zhao Family members outside, and after the situation with Lord Liang stabilized a bit, she followed them back to the yard.

With Xu Jing’s rescue, Lord Liang’s condition improved a lot. Later, other doctors also arrived to help Xu Jing take care of Lord Liang, allowing her to relax a little.

Fortunately, Lord Liang had always been healthy, and with timely rescue, it shouldn’t be a serious problem with good rest.

As Xu Jing finally found some leisure and wanted to go outside for a breath of fresh air, she saw four people kneeling neatly in Madam Cen and Lord Liang’s yard, with Madam Cen sitting in front of them, coldly sweeping them with her eyes, and saying: "I drank the tea in the room when I went back at noon, and there was nothing wrong with it at that time, which means the poison was added after noon. After noon, only you four have entered the room of Lord Liang and me, which means the culprit can only be among you. Speak! Who on earth had the guts to poison Lord Liang!"

When Madam Cen said the last sentence, she slapped the armrest of the chair heavily, a pressure of threatened urgency thus sweeping towards everyone present.

And the four people kneeling on the ground were, in order, Qingyun, who stayed in the yard today, Lord Liang’s long-term follower, Shen Jie, and two men Xu Jing didn’t recognize, but judging by their attire, they should be guards of the mansion.

Xiao Yi happened to be there as well, and seeing Xu Jing coming out, he naturally walked to her side. Seeing her gaze linger on those two guards, he whispered, "That’s Chen Sheng on the left, and Feng Zhao on the right, the guards responsible for guarding Madam Cen and Lord Liang’s courtyard gate."

Xu Jing looked up at Xiao Yi beside her, and seeing him gave her an inexplicable sense of comfort as if she saw a family member and couldn’t help but smile at him.

Xiao Yi’s hands clasped behind his back tightened immediately.

After Madam Cen’s questioning, the four people kneeling immediately shouted their grievances loudly. Feng Zhao, who seemed more astute, suddenly said, "Madam, this afternoon, it wasn’t just the four of us who entered your and Lord Liang’s room! Vice General Sun suddenly barged in this afternoon; Chen Sheng and I only followed into the room because we were afraid Vice General Sun would cause trouble!"