Madam Xiao Qin didn't expect Su Yuanyuan to come up with such an idea.
Deliver the medicine on time? Well... it wasn't entirely unfeasible.
Madam Xiao Qin lowered her eyelids, masking the fleeting calculation in her eyes. Those few doses of medicine were reaching their final stage. As long as Qin Wanrong took them for three more days, she was bound to succumb to the poison. If Qin Wanrong died in the Qin Mansion, although Madam Xiao Qin was confident that she could prevent Qin Hao from discovering the truth, there were still risks.
If only Qin Wanrong could die in the Prince Qing's Mansion...
Even if it was discovered that she had died from poisoning, it would have nothing to do with Madam Xiao Qin. Perhaps she could even use this to extort a handsome sum of money.
Putting on a reluctant look on her face, Madam Xiao Qin finally agreed. "Since this is what Wanrong desires, I, as her mother, shouldn't dampen her spirits and make her sad."
"I was worried that today's medicine might be delayed when I came here just now, so I specially had someone bring it. Tonight, I'll also have someone deliver the medicine before the appointed time, and the same will go for the following days. I'd like to ask the princess and the princess consort to take good care of her. I'll be counting on you two to look after Wanrong these few days."
As she spoke, the maid beside Qin Wanrong stepped forward, carrying a food box.
Su Yuanyuan's gaze fell on the food box in the maid's hand, a glint of coldness evident in her eyes. Qin Wanrong, on the other hand, felt all the hairs on her body stand on end.
Madam Xiao Qin stepped forward, taking Qin Wanrong's almost ice - cold hands in hers and patting them gently.
"While you're in the Prince Qing's Mansion these few days, you must listen to the princess consort and not cause any trouble. Do you understand?"
Madam Xiao Qin smiled like a kind and loving mother, but that smile seemed terrifying in the eyes of the young girls.
Leaving Qin Wanrong's maid in the Prince Qing's Mansion to attend to her, Madam Xiao Qin turned around and left with the others. Madam Mo sat steadily on the chair, showing no intention of getting up to see her off. She merely said with a smile,
"Take care on your way, Madam Qin."
After Madam Xiao Qin left, Zhang Yingxue and Zhuo Shu planned to leave as well.
Since the maid left by Madam Xiao Qin was still around, they didn't dare to say much. They simply exchanged a knowing look with Su Yuanyuan and Qin Wanrong, and then left the Prince Qing's Mansion with their maids.
Madam Mo got up lazily with the help of a maid. She said to Su Yuanyuan and Qin Wanrong, "Alright, you two can play on your own. I'm tired. I'm going back to my room to rest."
Qin Wanrong bit her lower lip gently and silently thanked Madam Mo in her heart.
If Madam Mo hadn't been here to oversee the situation, Madam Xiao Qin probably wouldn't have agreed so easily to let her stay. She wondered if her own mother, if she were still alive, would be like the princess consort.
Qin Wanrong watched Madam Mo's retreating figure and, before she knew it, was lost in thought.
Suddenly, someone grabbed her hand. Looking up, she saw Su Yuanyuan's bright smile. "Sister Wanrong, I'm tired too. Let's go back to our room and rest."
Su Yuanyuan led Qin Wanrong towards Mingzhu Courtyard. The maid carrying the food box followed closely behind. Just as they were about to step into the courtyard gate of Mingzhu Courtyard, a shadow pounced on the maid and started barking wildly.
"Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!"
The maid was startled by the sudden appearance of Hei Feng and almost dropped the food box in her hand. But when she steadied herself, she found that she was blocked outside the courtyard gate of Mingzhu Courtyard and couldn't even enter. Meanwhile, Su Yuanyuan had already pulled Qin Wanrong to the door of the room.
"Princess, Miss..." The maid called out anxiously, "The medicine!"
Only then did Su Yuanyuan seem to suddenly remember about the medicine. She turned around and looked at the maid with a smile. "Xialu, go and get Miss Qin's medicine."
Xialu replied with an "Yes" and stepped forward to take the food box, but the maid refused to let go.
"Princess, Madam has given specific instructions for this maid to take care of Miss personally and remind her to take the medicine on time."
Su Yuanyuan said innocently, "But in the Prince Qing's Mansion, it's me who has the final say, not Madam Qin."
With just this one sentence, Su Yuanyuan silenced the maid, and Xialu successfully took the food box from her. Although Xialu didn't know what Su Yuanyuan was planning, she always followed Su Yuanyuan's lead. She said with a smile,
"Sister, you can rest assured. All the maids in the Prince Qing's Mansion are top - notch. We will never neglect Miss Qin."
Xialu carried the food box into Su Yuanyuan's room. After dismissing the others and when only Su Yuanyuan and Qin Wanrong were left in the room, both of them turned their gazes towards the bowl of pitch - black medicine soup in the food box.
[The medicine soup is poisoned.] Without Su Yuanyuan having to ask, Xiao Ba volunteered the information.
Su Yuanyuan's eyes turned cold. Madam Xiao Qin was so insistent on having Qin Wanrong go back to the Qin Mansion to take the medicine. As expected, the poison was in the medicine soup.
[But the dosage is not large. Ordinary methods may not be able to detect it.] Xiao Ba said.
Su Yuanyuan thought to herself, [We'll know once we try.]
Taking out a silver needle, Su Yuanyuan inserted it into the medicine soup in front of Qin Wanrong. After a while, she took it out. The silver needle remained as good as new. Qin Wanrong was taken aback when she saw Su Yuanyuan's action. She said,
"There's no poison. Could it be that we've wrongly accused her?"
"Sister Wanrong, don't be hasty. The silver needle can't detect the poison because the dosage is not enough to cause a change in the silver needle. We have another way to prove that it's poisoned."
By this time, the maid was no longer outside Mingzhu Courtyard. Su Yuanyuan called Xialu over and whispered a few words in her ear. Xialu then left to do what Su Yuanyuan had told her.
Back in the room, Su Yuanyuan said to Qin Wanrong, "We have fifteen days. We have plenty of time to gather evidence. Now, it's time to detoxify you, Sister Wanrong."
Hearing that Su Yuanyuan was about to start the detoxification process, Qin Wanrong's expression turned solemn. "Sister Yuanbao, I'll leave everything to you."
Su Yuanyuan had a maid prepare hot water and boil another portion of medicine soup according to the prescription. She took out the set of silver needles that Xiao Ba had given her and began to administer acupuncture to Qin Wanrong.
Only Chunxiao was allowed into the room to assist. With Chunxiao's help, Qin Wanrong took off her clothes.
Su Yuanyuan mixed the medicinal powder she had taken from Xiao Ba's storeroom into a medicinal liquid. After dipping the silver needles into the liquid, she inserted them into Qin Wanrong's major acupoints using various techniques, such as flicking, rotating, and throwing.
Some of the acupoints were in the front, like Tiantu, Xuanji, and Tanzhong, while others were in the back, like Dazhui, Taodao, and Shenzhu. This was to guide the qi and blood to bypass the internal organs and circulate throughout the body, and then descend to the Yongquan acupoint on the sole of the foot, again and again.
At first, Qin Wanrong felt as if her body had fallen into an ice cave. But soon, a warm current rose from her abdomen and gradually spread throughout her body. When the warm current reached the soles of her feet, she felt a sudden jolt, and a tickling sensation rose in her throat. The next moment, she vomited a mouthful of black and stinky blood.
Su Yuanyuan immediately removed the silver needles from her body. Then, a more astonishing scene occurred. As the silver needles were taken out, black blood oozed out from the acupoints where they had been inserted, a sight that was truly shocking.
The silver needles in Su Yuanyuan's hand also changed from a shiny silver - white to a dark blue - black color.