This palace comes back in this life, only to be Nian Shilan

Chapter 44: Bauhinia Seeds

Wen Shichu took the pulse for a long time before bowing to Concubine Hua and reporting.

"Replying to Concubine Hua, from what I have seen, Concubine Duan must have been poisoned."

When Concubine Hua heard the news, a fierce look flashed in her eyes.

Concubine Duan was also suspicious as she listened to this. Apart from Concubine Hua, she had no enemies with anyone in the palace. Who on earth wanted to harm her?

"Can you tell what kind of poison he was poisoned by?" Hua Fei's tone was icy and she didn't look drunk at all.

There are only two possibilities for Concubine Duan being poisoned. Someone recently saw her reconciling with Concubine Duan, became suspicious, and poisoned Concubine Duan, but this logic doesn't make sense.

Another possibility is that Concubine Duan had been poisoned a long time ago, but the amount of poison was so small that it could not be detected, just like the Huanyixiang that the Emperor gave himself.

Concubine Hua thought about how Concubine Duan had been sickly in her previous life, and her intuition told her that the second possibility was that Concubine Duan was poisoned. If that was true, then in her previous life, Concubine Hua had taken the blame for someone else.

Wen Shichu was actually also very confused. In the past three months, he had been taking care of Concubine Duan's health and prescribing the medicine himself. His young apprentice Wei Lin was responsible for preparing the medicine, and the maid Jixiang of Qixiang Palace was responsible for getting and decocting the medicine.

Could it be that someone tampered with the medicinal materials?

The only dowry for Yanqing Palace was Jixiang, and there was no need to doubt Jixiang's loyalty. The only person who handled the medicine was Wei Lin.

However, Wen Shichu believed in the character of his young disciple Wei Lin. After thinking for a while, Wen Shichu asked Concubine Hua: "Your Majesty, can you let me take a look at the medicine residue left by Concubine Duan today, as well as your meal today?"

Concubine Hua gave Jixiang a look. Jixiang was also a smart girl. After hearing what Wen Shichu said and receiving the look from Concubine Hua, she quickly ran out of the hall and went to the backyard to get the medicine residue.

There was no small kitchen in Yanqing Hall. According to palace rules, the leftovers would be collected by the eunuchs. Therefore, there was no leftover food from Concubine Duan in Yanqing Hall.

Jixiang could only tell Wen Shichu what Concubine Duan had eaten today based on his memory.

"Doctor Wen, my master usually has a poor appetite and can only eat rice porridge. Recently, Doctor Wen has been taking care of her. After she got better, she followed Doctor Wen's instructions and occasionally drank some fish soup and chicken soup to nourish her body. In addition, the blood swallows sent by Concubine Hua are eaten by her every day."

While listening to Jixiang's recollections, Wen Shichu was checking the medicinal residue and the medicine furnace.

The medicinal residues are indeed the medicines prescribed in the prescription, nothing more or nothing less.

The medicine furnace was also clean and there was no problem.

"But is there anything wrong?" Concubine Hua was listening on the side, afraid that the blood swallows she had given as a gift might have been tampered with, and she would be unable to defend herself.

"Is there any difference between what Concubine Duan eats today and what she eats normally?"

Wen Shichu thought about it and asked Jixiang again.

"No more." Jixiang thought for a moment, "Today is New Year's Eve. The imperial kitchen sent eel soup. The queen thought it was delicious, so she drank an extra bowl."

Jixiang racked his brains, but couldn't think of anything unusual.

"Your Majesty, I would like to check the bedroom of Concubine Duan to see if there is anything wrong."

Wen Shichu already had a 70% to 80% guess in his mind, and all he needed to do was find that thing before he could make a definitive conclusion.

"Zhou Ninghai, go light a few more candles. Songzhi, Jixiang, help Concubine Duan get up and dress."

Seeing that Wen Shichu was not panicking, Concubine Hua knew that he had already made up his mind and all she had to do was cooperate.

After a while, Jixiang and Songzhi helped Concubine Duan out. Concubine Duan had black hair like a waterfall and was wearing a silver-white cloak, which made her face look even paler.

Jixiang helped his master to sit down, and Concubine Hua followed Wen Shichu into the bedroom. Zhou Ninghai and Songzhi also added a few more candles in the bedroom to facilitate Wen Shichu's investigation.

After Wen Shichu checked all the furnishings and objects in the bedroom, his eyes fell on Concubine Duan's pillow.

Concubine Duan used a champagne-colored pillow with a swastika pattern, which was filled with dried buckwheat, cassia seeds and vitex seeds.

Wen Shichu cut the pillow with scissors, and the things inside the pillow poured out. Concubine Duan, who was sitting outside the hall, leaned on Jixiang to watch what was happening inside the hall.

Wen Shichu picked up a few buckwheat seeds and put them in front of his nose and smelled them carefully, and he understood.

"How is it?" Hua Fei asked, looking at Wen Shichu's expression.

"Your Majesty, Concubine Duan must have been poisoned by the Bauhinia flower."

Concubine Duan could clearly see and hear everything that happened in the palace from outside.

I have been using that pillow all the time, from the palace to the palace. If the pillow is poisonous, then I must have been poisoned in the palace.

When Concubine Hua heard Wen Shichu's conclusion, she did not say anything and just waited for Wen Shichu to explain in detail.

"Ordinary pillows are made with vitex seeds, but this pillow is filled with bauhinia seeds." Wen Shichu continued,

"Bauhinia and Vitex belong to the same family. Their seeds are similar and difficult for ordinary people to distinguish. Vitex has a soothing and calming effect. However, Bauhinia seeds should not be used by people with asthma. Moreover, I have observed that even buckwheat has been soaked in a high-concentration concentrate extracted from Bauhinia."

"People with lung coughs will have uncontrollable coughing after smelling Bauhinia pollen. Long-term inhalation will damage the brain and liver. The pain in Concubine Duan's abdomen should be a liver pain. And when I took Concubine Duan's pulse before, I found that she had suffered from lung disease for many years. I think it must be because she inhaled a lot of Bauhinia pollen."

"Concubine Duan has been using this pillow for a long time. Why did the poison only take effect today?" Concubine Hua expressed the question in Concubine Duan's mind.

"That's because Concubine Duan drank eel soup today. Eels are scaleless fish. Medical books record: 'All scaleless fish are poisonous and should be eaten less. Pregnant women who eat them will have difficulty giving birth and their children will be sick.'"

Wen Shichu, an imperial physician, actually spoke in a flowery manner like the sour scholar. Concubine Hua felt a headache when she heard all these words.

"Stop beating around the bush. It's already this late and you're still showing off your knowledge. Did Concubine Duan get poisoned because she ate eel?"

"Your Highness, yes, Bauhinia flowers added to fish soup can kill people if consumed. Fortunately, Your Highness only inhaled Bauhinia pollen and did not take any medicinal herbs like Bauhinia flowers, so you are coughing and wheezing and have severe pain in your liver and lungs." Wen Shichu wiped the sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his official uniform.

Wen Shichu was not in a hurry at first, but when he heard Hua Fei say that he was showing off his knowledge, he became anxious and broke out in a sweat.

Empress Hua is indeed brave, but Sister Huan is gentle. Sister Huan is always very patient when listening to her talk about pharmacopoeia knowledge.

"Is there an antidote for this poison?" Hua Fei rolled her eyes at Wen Shichu. Since it was not a deadly poison, Hua Fei felt relieved.

First detoxify, then find out who poisoned it, take it step by step.

"Yes, it can be cured. Fortunately, Concubine Duan did not eat much fish soup, and this pillow has been used for a long time, so the medicinal properties of the bauhinia flowers have faded. I will prescribe a detoxification prescription, and Concubine Duan will be cured in about seven days."

"Then Dr. Lao Wen will write the prescription."

Concubine Duan, who was listening outside, left the pillow and her coughing and wheezing seemed to have improved a little. When she thought about the pillow she had been using for all these years, her eyes dimmed a little.

Wen Shichu said that the medicinal properties of the bauhinia flowers in the pillow have now dissipated, but he has been using this pillow day and night for the past decade.

This pillow was given to me by that person when I was in the palace.