Yu Yi rushed to where Tinghe was confined, first injecting her with antibiotics to prevent wound infection, then woke her up.
Tinghe was startled to see Yu Yi, thinking she had come to settle accounts for the young lord. Barely able to move due to the pain in her buttocks and legs, she was about to scream when Yu Yi covered her mouth, whispering, “Don’t yell. I’m not here to settle scores. I’m here to remind you of a few things.”
Tinghe didn’t believe her but couldn’t make a sound. Yu Yi continued, “Do you think you’ll survive by following the Marquise’s instructions? You were originally her servant. After the young lord’s horse incident, everyone would have suspected the Marquise, but you insisted it was Wen Yiniang. Now that Wen Yiniang is dead, you’re no longer useful to the Marquise.”
Tinghe stared wide-eyed, unable to believe what she was hearing.
Yu Yi said in a low voice: “You’ll know if it’s true tonight.” After saying this, she left the room and returned to the small kitchen of Xing He Yuan to make chicken soup for Yan Mingxu.
That night, Tinghe lay on a pile of grass, unable to sleep due to her painful injuries, and in her drowsiness, she half-believed and half-doubted the matter. Suddenly, she heard the creaking of the door, and then saw Chun Rou sneaking in from outside, looking as if she was afraid of being seen. Tinghe couldn’t help but believe Yu Yi’s words a bit more.
Chun Rou was holding a water jug and a small bowl.
She asked Ting He if she was in severe pain and offered a few words of comfort. Then she poured a bowl of water and brought it to Ting He’s mouth.
Ting He watched Chun Rou approach with an unusual nervous expression. If she truly cared about her, why would she come in the middle of the night with only a jug of plain water? Ting He tightly closed her lips, unwilling to drink.
Chun Rou, initially nervous, continued to persuade: “Ting He, you’re badly injured, and no one has taken care of you for half a day. You must be thirsty. We’re like sisters, let me take care of you. Have some water.”
Seeing Chun Rou insist on making her drink, Ting He became even more convinced of Xun Qin’s words. She kept her mouth closed and desperately turned her head to avoid the water bowl. Chun Rou tried several times but couldn’t make her drink, and water spilled from the bowl.
Chun Rou noticed something was wrong when Ting He refused to drink. She saw that Ting He’s gaze was filled with fear and hatred. Seeing only half the water left in the bowl, Chun Rou became anxious. She pressed down on Ting He, pinched her nose to force her mouth open, and simultaneously poured the water into her mouth.
Ting He coughed and tried to spit out the water while struggling desperately.
However, due to her severe injuries, she couldn’t use much strength. With great difficulty, she pushed Chun Rou away but had already swallowed a significant amount of water.
Chun Rou left in a panic with the empty bowl.
In that moment, Ting He felt abdominal pain. She cried out several times, “It hurts! Help!” But as a prisoner, even her cries for help would be dismissed as pain from her wounds, and no one would immediately come to check.
Yu Yi, wearing a dark robe, waited in a hidden spot outside the room. After Chun Rou left, she covered her face, leaving only her eyes visible, and entered the room. Using a voice changer, she commanded: “First, spit out the poison!”
Ting He, not caring who had entered, heard this and treated it like a lifeline, urgently spitting water on the ground. Yu Yi helplessly said: “Use your fingers to trigger your gag reflex.”
Ting He vomited on the ground but still felt increasing abdominal pain. She pressed her lower abdomen, calling out in fear: “Help, help, my stomach hurts so much!”
Yu Yi took out an antidote and a sedative to give her. The antidote was administered in this era to help her recover after some rest.
Under the sedative’s effect, Ting He fell into a deep sleep.
Yu Yi carried Ting He and left the Prince’s residence.
Early the next morning, Tong Shi woke up and asked Chun Rou, learning that the poisoning was successful. She then waited for news of Ting He’s death but instead heard about her escape. She glared fiercely at Chun Rou and asked through gritted teeth: “Chun Rou, what exactly happened?”
Chun Rou trembled: “Princess, I don’t know. I clearly poured all the medicine down.”
“After giving her the medicine, did you stay there and wait for the poison to take effect?”
Chun Rou didn’t dare to lie, whispering: “No, after pouring the medicine and hearing her cry out in pain, I… I left.”
Tong Shi angrily twisted Chun Rou’s arm, scolding: “Stupid! You should have waited until the poison took effect before leaving!”
Chun Rou knelt down crying: “I was wrong. I’ve never seen anyone die before. I was just scared…”
Tong Shi was furious, pulling out her golden hairpin and stabbing Chun Rou several times before stopping. Sitting back on the bed, she began to suspect that someone from Xing He Yuan might be involved, as Ting He would certainly hate her now and could use this opportunity to retaliate.
She ordered Chun Rou to carefully search Ting He’s confinement place for any clues, but apart from a puddle of vomit, the dilapidated room revealed nothing unusual.
In the following days, Tong Shi frequently visited Xing He Yuan to “check on” Yan Mingxu but found no evidence. She bribed a low-ranking maidservant from Xing He Yuan, but the servant rarely entered the main house and mostly did miscellaneous chores. Tong Shi couldn’t extract any useful information, so she gave her a silver coin and asked her to pay attention to any unusual occurrences and, if possible, to try to enter Yan Mingxu’s bedroom.
Yu Yi had been monitoring the movements in Ru Yi Yuan. She reminded Yi Yin and several other loyal maidservants to keep a close eye on this servant. When the servant returned, she indeed seemed particularly interested in the bedroom, which confirmed Yu Yi’s warning. As a result, the servant never got a chance to enter the bedroom.
And so, after more than ten days, Yan Mingxu safely waited for the return of Prince Yan Bo.
Yan Bo heard on his way back that Yan Mingxu had a high fever and was in a coma. After entering the mansion, he went directly to his son’s bedroom. Walking to the bedside with a stern face, he looked at the child lying on the bed.
However, he saw that although Yan Mingxu was lying on the bed with a pale face tinged with redness, looking unusual, his eyes were bright and clear, staring directly at him, not appearing to be in a delirious state.
He furrowed his sword-like eyebrows and turned back to ask, “Xunqin, what’s going on with Mingxu?”
Yu Yi softly replied, “Reporting to the Duke, the young master is ‘ill’, but he recovered a few days ago.”
The Duke caught the emphasis on her word and raised an eyebrow, “Oh? What do you mean?”
Yu Yi looked at the Duke, who was accompanied by two guards, and seemed hesitant. Yan Bo understood her hesitation was due to concerns about information leaking, but he knew the guards by his side were carefully selected and absolutely loyal. He said in a deep voice, “Speak freely.”
“Yes.” Yu Yi nodded and recounted in detail the incident when Tong’s wife took Yan Mingxu horseback riding. She then continued, “After returning, the young master developed a fever. The medical officer said it was a common cold, but after taking medicine for several days, not only did he not improve, his condition worsened. He remained drowsy and could barely eat. So we servants took the liberty…”
Yan Bo saw her pause and urged, “Speak!”
Yu Yi whispered, “We servants boldly stopped the medication privately.”
Yan Bo showed some anger but knew there was more to the story, so he said, “Continue.”
“
“Unexpectedly, after stopping the medication, the young master began to recover day by day.”
