CHAPTER 421: CHAPTER 421: INSTIGATION

Qihao Hall.

The family banquet was halfway through when Su Jin was already full.

This is the result of no idle chatter, jokes, just mindfully eating in silence.

Unable to eat more, yet not wanting to put down her chopsticks, Su Jin took a bite here and there.

Over there, Xie Jingchen was pouring himself a drink.

Just when he poured it halfway, the wine glass was empty.

The maid swiftly came up and said, "Young Master, I will refill your wine."

The young maid took the wine pot and withdrew.

After a while, the young maid returned.

She poured wine for Xie Jingchen.

Then poured wine for Xie Jingchuan.

Xie Jingchen caught a glimpse of the maid pressing down the wine pot.

He curled his lips into a cold smile.

Xie Jingchuan raised his glass to Xie Jingchen, saying, "Brother, another toast."

Xie Jingchen raised his glass.

And drank all in one go.

Xie Jingchuan slightly smirked, raised his head, and finished his wine.

But just as the wine was going down, before the maid could take the wine pot away, Xie Jingchen was poisoned.

His lips turned purple, he spat out a mouthful of black blood, and then fainted.

The incident happened so suddenly, everyone was stunned.

Su Jin hurriedly stood up.

Along with her, Lady Chi also stood.

However, Su Jin quickly walked over to Xie Jingchen’s side, while she did not.

She took two steps, then stopped in her tracks.

Su Jin shook Xie Jingchen, shouting, "Husband, husband!"

"Quickly, call the Imperial Physician!" Princess Nanzhang urged anxiously.

"Let’s support the Young Master back first."

Two maids came over to help Xie Jingchen.

One of the maids was Xingxing.

Xingxing helped support Xie Jingchen while keeping an eye on the maid.

She noticed the maid sneakily taking the wine pot.

Xingxing held herself back, and only when the maid turned around did she shout, "Why are you stealing that wine pot?!"

Her voice was loud.

It drew everyone’s attention.

Xie Jingchen’s frequent fainting spells from poisoning had made everyone get used to it, so it wasn’t surprising.

But the maid stealing the wine pot was odd.

Especially since it happened when Xie Jingchen was poisoned.

The poison in Xie Jingchen was stable, it wouldn’t just flare up without reason.

He was just sitting there drinking, neither angry nor fighting.

Manager Li was standing by waiting.

Duke Zhen gave a sidelong glance.

Manager Li walked towards the maid.

He reached out for the wine pot, but not only did the maid refuse to give it, she retreated step by step.

Princess Nanzhang’s face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

This useless creature! Is she trying to kill her?!

Manager Li couldn’t stand the maid’s hesitation, he reached out and snatched the wine pot.

Having seen a lot, Manager Li quickly figured out the trick of the wine pot.

His expression changed.

He looked up at Duke Zhen and said, "Duke, this is a Mother and Child Pot."

He handed the wine pot to Duke Zhen.

Duke Zhen was standing right next to Xie Jingchen.

Duke Zhen took the wine pot and poured it onto the ground.

Initially, there was no poison.

After pressing the switch and pouring again, the wine corroded the bluestone floor.

It was apparent that it was highly toxic.

Duke Zhen’s face was cold enough to freeze someone.

Old Master Xie looked over at the maid.

The ice-cold gaze frightened the maid to her knees with a thud.

Su Jin walked over to the maid and said, "Who ordered you to poison?!"

The maid turned pale and was silent.

"Take her out for a beating!" The Old Madam said coldly.

"Beat her until she confesses!"

Two old women came over to drag the maid away.

How could Su Jin let them take the maid away?

This young maid was thin and small; a few blows and she’d be dead, and the matter of the poisoning would be unresolved, wouldn’t it?

"Make sure you don’t kill her before getting any answers," Su Jin said.

Old Master Xie, being a wise man, immediately understood the implication behind Su Jin’s words.

In terms of interrogation, Old Master Xie is a Great General; he surely has some methods.

He glanced at Manager Li, "Take the maid away."

Manager Li took the maid away and lashed her with a salt-covered whip.

A few lashes in, and the maid couldn’t bear the pain anymore.

Then—

She confessed that it was Princess Nanzhang.

Princess Nanzhang was angry, saying, "Poisoning the Young Master is already a capital crime, and you dare frame me?!"

The Old Madam frowned tightly, glanced at Princess Nanzhang.

She looked at Su Jin and said, "First help Chenchen back and let the Imperial Physician detoxify."

Is she afraid she’ll hold onto Princess Nanzhang and not let go?

This play has just begun.

Compared to pressing the maid, certainly detoxifying Xie Jingchen is more important.

The Hidden Guard came over to support Xie Jingchen out, with Su Jin and Xingxing following closely behind.

Returning to the Agarwood Pavilion, after waiting for about the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, Doctor Zhao arrived.

After taking Xie Jingchen’s pulse, Doctor Zhao uttered nine words—

"Without the antidote, it’s a nine-life death."

Duke Zhen and Old Master Xie both cared deeply for Xie Jingchen.

If they knew how important the antidote was to Xie Jingchen, they would surely have made every effort to find out who was behind the maid’s actions.

Instead of Princess Nanzhang adamantly denying her involvement, ending things unresolved.

To poison Xie Jingchen time and time again, without giving Princess Nanzhang a harsh lesson, there’s bound to be a next time.

But what Su Jin and Xie Jingchen didn’t expect was that this news reached Qihao Hall, and upon hearing it, Duke Zhen coughed incessantly.

After a bout of severe coughing, Duke Zhen fainted.

Doctor Zhao, having written a prescription and prepared to leave, was hastily summoned by a servant to treat Duke Zhen.

Seeing Duke Zhen’s wound, Doctor Zhao was alarmed and on edge.

Young Master Xie’s poisoning was fake, but Duke Zhen’s condition is truly dire.

Duke Zhen’s shoulder wound had become ulcerated.

The wound was a shocking sight.

It must be due to the lack of timely medical treatment after getting injured, worsened by the stifling weather.

Doctor Zhao quickly helped Duke Zhen clean the wound, then bandaged it.

The Old Madam asked Doctor Zhao if he could heal Duke Zhen’s wound.

Doctor Zhao did not respond.

The Old Madam’s heart sank to the bottom.

She looked at Old Master Xie, her eyes red, and said, "Duke’s injuries are so serious, he should have returned to the Capital early for treatment; for the sake of waiting for Marquis Dongxiang, he delayed outside by a hundred miles for three whole days, and you allowed him?!"

"The glory can all be ceded to the Flying Tiger Army."

"But is he to lose his life too?!" The Old Madam’s voice carried resentment.

Old Master Xie was also worried about Duke Zhen’s injuries.

But as he asked more questions, he became increasingly anxious.

He expressed his concerns repeatedly, "Father has been ill for half a month already," Old Master Xie said.

"When we were stationed outside the Capital City, we sought an Imperial Physician."

Doctor Zhao, after treating Duke Zhen’s wound and applying needles, managed to wake him up.

Duke Zhen was not that concerned about his injury; having walked on the edge of death on the battlefield countless times and seen so many soldiers’ wounds, he knew.

But Doctor Zhao, looking at Duke Zhen’s injuries, his heart was in his mouth.

Young Master Xie’s poisoning was fake, but for Duke Zhen, it was truly a matter of life and death.

Manager Li entered with a pale expression and said, "The maid is dead."

Old Master Xie’s eyes tightened, "How did she die?"

"The maid seemed to have been poisoned," Manager Li was uncertain.

Duke Zhen looked at him.

Doctor Zhao checked and said, "The maid indeed died from poisoning, and the poison took half an hour to take effect."

So, before the maid poisoned Xie Jingchen, she had already taken poison herself.

Xie Jingchen "succumbed" too quickly, the maid wasn’t dead yet, the wine pot wasn’t hidden, the evidence was conclusive, and there was nowhere to hide.