The Poisonous Consort, the Regent's Beloved

The woman stammered, "I... I was just thinking about my husband all morning, and I was heartbroken. I only wanted to get an explanation from you. How could I have had time to report to the authorities?"

"Oh? In that case, I've already reported it to the authorities for you. We'll just wait here for the coroner to come and examine the body, and give Renhetang justice."

After Su Fuying finished speaking, she turned her head and exchanged a glance with Gu Qibai. The man understood and immediately gave the order.

"what?"

When the woman heard that she had reported the incident to the authorities, she felt a little flustered, but when she remembered that the man had told her that he would protect her, she felt a little more at ease.

"I just heard that your family is very poor and that you couldn't afford the consultation fee yesterday. Did Dr. Gu pay half of it for you?" Su Fuying asked the woman.

Hearing this, the woman thought she was trying to appeal to the woman's emotions, and a smug look appeared on her face. She thought to herself: Humph! She's afraid that when the officials come, they'll find out that the snake venom wasn't completely removed.

So he pretended to be pitiful and said, "Yes, our family is really struggling. Yesterday we just couldn't afford to pay the consultation fee, but luckily Dr. Gu helped us pay half of it."

Then her tone shifted, becoming more ruthless, "But don't think that a few taels of silver can buy my husband's life."

"Since we have no money and our family is poor, what is this?"

Su Fuying grabbed the woman's hand and yanked it hard. The woman's sleeve slipped down, revealing a gleaming gold bracelet on her wrist, which almost blinded everyone in the sunlight.

"Wow!"

The onlookers were in an uproar. "My God, such a big gold bracelet! My husband probably couldn't afford it in his entire life."

"Yes, I have two sons in my family. The four of us probably couldn't earn that much in a lifetime."

"No way, I know them. They're my neighbors across the hall. There's only one man in their house who does all the work, yet they're so rich. Why are they pretending to be poor?"

"Yes, they're so rich. Yesterday, they even had Dr. Gu pay for their expenses."

……

Hearing the chatter, the woman felt a little panicked. She quickly pulled her hand back, lowered her sleeve, and hurriedly covered the bracelet.

But everyone had already seen it, and someone said, "Judging from her appearance, this money probably came from an illegitimate source."

"Exactly, exactly. Dressed in such shabby clothes, yet wearing such expensive jewelry, it really makes one suspicious."

The woman's face turned pale, and she lowered her head, not daring to look at the people around her.

"This bracelet looks very valuable, I wonder if it's real," someone asked curiously.

“It should be real, it looks heavy and the color is just right,” another person replied.

"How could she have something so valuable? Did she steal it from someone else?" someone questioned.

“It’s possible, otherwise how could an ordinary peasant woman have such a valuable item?” the others chimed in.

As the woman listened to these words, she became increasingly nervous. She wanted to explain, but she didn't know how to begin.

Su Fuying noticed an old woman with an ugly face standing in the crowd. She had a mean look on her face, but when she saw the bracelet on the woman's wrist, her face showed a greedy expression.

"Hmph," Su Fuying smirked and continued, "You said your man died last night, so where did that thing on your neck come from?"

Su Fuying hadn't seen it at first, but as she got closer and looked down, she saw the red marks on the woman's chest. Although she had never eaten pork, she had seen pigs run before.

Is there a gold necklace around her neck?

Everyone craned their necks to see what was going on.

The woman touched her neck and realized that she had moved too much and the cloth around her neck was gone.

Her face turned deathly pale, and she quickly reached for the tattered blue cloth on the ground, trying to wrap it around her neck.

However, Su Fuying quickly stretched out a foot and firmly stepped on the blue tattered cloth, stopping her movement.

Su Fuying looked down at her, his eyes flashing with mockery and indifference. He said softly, "Did your husband have the strength to spend the night with you when he was dying yesterday?"

These words struck the woman's heart like a bolt of lightning. She felt the red welts on her neck grow even hotter, as if they were about to burst into flames. Her eyes became panicked and helpless, and she dared not meet Su Fuying's gaze.

At this moment, the surrounding crowd began to whisper, their voices gradually growing louder and sharper. Someone exclaimed, "My God, this woman probably went out for a tryst last night!"

Another person chimed in, "Yes, could it be that she conspired with her lover to kill her husband, then made Renhetang pay compensation so they could elope together?"

......

Human imagination is limitless; give them just a pretext and they can come up with anything.

Hearing the increasingly offensive words, the old woman in the crowd finally couldn't hold back anymore. She rushed forward and grabbed the woman's hair, saying, "You slut, how dare you use my son's life to pave the way for your adulterer! I'll strip you naked today and show everyone what kind of person you are!"

At this moment, the woman had long forgotten the man's instructions and was only thinking about how her son had died for no reason.

As the two struggled, the woman's clothes slipped off her shoulders, revealing the red marks from her chest to her neck, and the surrounding gossip became increasingly unrestrained.

Gu Qibai consciously turned his head to the side, and a noisy voice came from behind the crowd: "It's a government office matter, everyone make way."

Upon hearing that government officials had arrived, the crowd spontaneously made way for them.

Upon approaching and seeing the mess on the ground, a man who appeared to be the leader frowned. "Men, separate them. What kind of behavior is this in broad daylight?"

Soon, the two were forcibly pulled apart and sat on opposite sides, each crying.

"what happened."

Upon hearing the constable's question, the shopkeeper, who had remained silent until now, stepped forward and said, "Sir, I am the shopkeeper of Renhetang. I would like to trouble you to handle this matter personally."

The man glanced at the shopkeeper, then looked at Gu Qibai behind him, his expression softening slightly. "Doctor Gu."

"Master Chen."

After a few pleasantries, they got down to business. Gu Qibai calmly recounted the events, and the woman on the ground immediately panicked. She scrambled to her feet and lunged at Gu Qibai, yelling, "You heartless bastard! My husband died because of the medicine you prescribed! You have to give us an explanation!"

Gu Qibai dodged the woman's attack and said coldly, "Your man's illness is not serious to begin with, the snake venom is mild, and the medicine I prescribed is all appropriate for the symptoms, there is absolutely no problem."

The woman, however, persisted, crying and shouting, "Impossible! It must be your poor medical skills that killed my husband! You must pay with your life!"

Gu Qibai frowned slightly, feeling a little impatient, but he tried his best to remain calm. "Madam, please calm down. I can guarantee that there is nothing wrong with my prescription. If you don't believe me, you can have other doctors verify it."

At this moment, Lord Chen spoke up: "Alright, stop arguing! Since that's the case, take this medicine to another doctor to see if there's a problem. If the patient's death was indeed caused by the medicine, then Doctor Gu will naturally be punished accordingly. But if there's no problem, you'll have to compensate Doctor Gu for the damage to his reputation."

Gu Qibai nodded in agreement, confident in his medical skills. The woman could only temporarily cease her commotion and await the outcome.

She pulled up her clothes and got up from the ground. "Sir, don't listen to his nonsense. He didn't cure my man at all yesterday. The snake venom flared up after he got back, and he died suddenly this morning."

Su Fuying said, "We'll know the truth once the coroner examines the body."

The man in the lead waved his hand, and a middle-aged man dressed as a coroner stepped forward with a box to examine the items.

After waiting for about half an hour, the coroner finally stood up, and everyone held their breath, waiting for the result.

"Sir, this man did not die from snake venom, but was poisoned with arsenic."