Another day passed, but the city gate remained closed. Unaware of the situation both inside and outside the city, the three of them were extremely anxious. They thought that this time, the faction of the Second Prince might finally stage a comeback.
At present, no matter how they looked at it, the three of them were closely related to the Crown Prince. If the Second Prince's faction came to power, none of them would end up well.
Shen Yuning's eyes were dejected. After stammering for a long time, she said, "I only hope that the Xue family won't be implicated because of me."
The Xue family would be fine. Even if the Second Prince ascended the throne, it was impossible for him to eliminate all the court officials. His main targets would be those in the Crown Prince's faction, and the Xue family, which didn't take sides, wouldn't be the first to be targeted.
Thinking of this, only Zidu was left. As a member of the Zhu family, he would surely not have a good outcome.
Wan Yan tried to find some humor in the difficult situation and quietly asked about the gossip he had heard, "Young Master Zidu, are you really the illegitimate son of the Heir of the Zhu family? Is your mother really that goddess with great strength?"
Zidu relaxed a bit and shook his head faintly, "Of course not."
Wan Yan quickly asked, "People outside spread such wild rumors. What's your real identity?"
Zidu looked at Wan Yan in front of him, who was staring at him curiously with wide - open eyes and pricked up ears. He couldn't help but chuckle, "Mr. Wan, we've met and clashed before."
Wan Yan was confused. He thought that he had met countless people during his years of traveling around. Maybe Young Master Zidu was one of them? But Young Master Zidu had such extraordinary bearing. Even without seeing his true face, he must be someone unforgettable. If he had clashed with him before, how could he not remember?
Shen Yuning blushed a little. What Zidu meant was that when he was Xuanzhi before, he had met Wan Yan. But at that time, Mr. Wan was a scheming man. He tried to have improper intentions towards her in the name of some Nine - Heaven Fairy. It wasn't a good impression after all.
But Wan Yan didn't know. He still stared at the young man in front of him eagerly. He went through all the imposing men in his memory one by one, but still had no impression.
Maybe to ease the atmosphere or out of hatred for bullying his sister in the past, Zidu tightened his lips and was about to sneer.
Just then, Wan Yan's servant rushed in and bowed, "Sir, the Sixth Young Master has brought the divine doctor here."
All the sneers on Zidu's lips faded. He immediately stood up and followed Wan Yan to greet them. Looking at Mr. Wan's back at this moment, it was clearly the same person, but he just remembered a saying that a man who mends his ways is worthy of forgiveness, so there was no need to haggle with him.
The divine doctor came in a hurry. Originally, Wan Yan's intention was to let him go wash up and rest first. But the divine doctor shook his head and directly asked where the patient was. He wanted to check on the patient first.
Zidu and Wan Yan looked at each other, then explained the current situation. They didn't say that the seriously ill person was the Crown Prince, only that it was an elder brother of his who was seriously ill and couldn't be cured.
The divine doctor frowned and stroked his beard. After a long time, he asked, "Is it your elder brother? Not a boy under twenty?"
Zidu was slightly startled and quickly asked, "Why does the divine doctor ask this?"
However, the divine doctor held the prescription and didn't answer. After thinking for a while, he asked again, "Do you have the complete prescription?"
Zidu nodded. The prescription originally written by the doctor had already been destroyed by him, but every word of the prescription was engraved in his heart. He immediately took a pen and paper and carefully wrote out the prescription.
The divine doctor took a look and slapped his thigh hard, saying, "This is the prescription! This is the one! Let me ask you, how old is your elder brother? How did he get poisoned?"
Zidu stammered in reply, "My elder brother... is just thirty."
Then he reacted, "Does the divine doctor mean that this is poisoning rather than an illness?"
The divine doctor nodded, "Yes. This kind of poison is refined from a kind of poisonous grass in the Western Regions. Now this kind of poisonous grass in the Western Regions has been completely eradicated and is nowhere to be seen. I only saw this kind of poisonous grass when I was young and traveling with my master." This poison is cold and has a long onset period. From the time of taking the poison to the onset of the disease, it takes more than a year. And the symptoms of the onset are like tuberculosis, so it is easy to misdiagnose."
Zidu seemed to have had an idea for a long time. He clenched his fist and asked softly, "The divine doctor hasn't seen my elder brother. How can you be so sure?"
The divine doctor sighed deeply, "Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't dare to be so sure without seeing the patient. But there are probably only a few people in the Great Zhou who know about this poison. My master and uncle have both passed away. But the little guy left by my uncle, although he is not very old, also has some knowledge about this poison. This prescription of yours clearly shows that it was written by my junior brother. He probably knew that your elder brother was not ill but poisoned. But people follow the crowd, and he is timid. He didn't dare to say it directly. He only dared to ask you to find these medicinal materials in the name of treating the illness."
Shen Yuning stood aside, looking a little dazed. Did this divine doctor mean that His Highness the Crown Prince had been poisoned for many years but had been treated as having tuberculosis for so many years?
Zidu also thought of this and asked, "My elder brother has been poisoned. How could he have survived for so many years?"
The divine doctor shook his head, "I think there should be a master behind your elder brother to help him recuperate. Once poisoned by this kind of poison, there is no cure. Even with these few medicinal materials, it can only prolong a person's life, not completely eliminate the poison. He has been poisoned for nineteen years and is still alive. It's really a miracle."
Zidu reached out and grabbed the divine doctor's neck, pressing him on the table. Wan Yan and Shen Yuning were frightened and stepped forward, asking repeatedly what he was doing.
"Tell me, how do you know he has been poisoned for nineteen years? Do you know who he is?"
The divine doctor was choked and couldn't breathe. He was finally rescued by Wan Yan and Shen Yuning with great difficulty. After a long time to catch his breath, there was no sign of dissatisfaction on his face. He waved his hand at Zidu, "Why are you so impatient, boy? Besides my medical skills, I have nothing else. Don't look at my hands. I'm good at acupuncture and massage, but I can't even kill a chicken or pluck its feathers. How could I come to harm you?"
The tightness of Zidu's lips showed his suspicion.
The divine doctor took the tea poured by Shen Yuning and drank it. Then he waved his hand reassuringly, "Young people shouldn't be so hot - tempered. Come on, sit down. I'll tell you slowly."
Zidu glanced at him and sat opposite the divine doctor, asking, "Do you know who he is?"
The divine doctor shook his head, "I don't know who he is. I'm also curious. According to my calculation, the poisoned person should be an eighteen - or nineteen - year - old boy. How could it be a thirty - year - old adult man?"
Shen Yuning's heart skipped a beat. Zidu said he was twenty - two years old, but the real Xuanzhi was still two months away from nineteen. Could the divine doctor in front of him be talking about Zidu?
But if it was really Zidu, what was his relationship with the Crown Prince? Did the Crown Prince get poisoned because of Zidu?
Zidu pursed his lips for a long time and then said, "Do you mean that the person the poisoner wanted to harm at that time was the baby?"
The divine doctor sighed deeply, "To be honest, how could I know such secret things so clearly? The person who poisoned at that time was none other than my uncle. My master was used to living a carefree life, but my uncle was a person who pursued fame, fortune and power. For money and power, he lost his true self and did such evil things..."
Suddenly, he opened his eyes. In his excitement, he grabbed Zidu's hand, "So, before my junior brother discovered that your elder brother was poisoned, there had always been a master to help. Who on earth was that master?"
Zidu was stunned for a long time because of his rambling words. Thinking that the future was long and he didn't know what would happen, he might as well tell the truth.
So he whispered, "It was a woman, an ordinary female doctor."
The divine doctor nodded slowly, "If that woman is still alive, she should be in her sixties or seventies, right?"
"Yes, but she passed away three years ago, leaving behind some prescriptions. My elder brother was able to barely survive until now thanks to those prescriptions. Do you know that female doctor?"
Maybe there were too many complicated grudges in the previous life. The divine doctor thought for a long time and then nodded in response, "She was my aunt. After my uncle did that evil thing, my aunt handed her son to my master and said she was going to resolve the grievances left by my uncle. But at that time, my master didn't know how to cure this poison either. It wasn't until a few years ago that my master finally found the antidote and gave it to me and my junior brother, ordering us to enter the capital to find that noble person."
He stood up and murmured to himself for a long time. Then he clapped his hands and nodded, "Yes. Thinking about it this way, everything makes sense."
Zidu also stood up. Looking at his smiling face, he was a little dazed and more in a trance, "You said that the person who was supposed to be poisoned at that time was the baby? If the baby was poisoned, what would happen?"
The divine doctor hesitated for a moment and replied, "It's hard for an adult man to survive, let alone a baby. This poison was incurable at that time. Even now, the baby should not be able to survive."
Zidu's eyes were all red, "But since the one who was supposed to be poisoned was the baby, why... why did it end up on a teenage boy?"
The divine doctor had a vague answer in his mind. He reached out and patted Zidu on the shoulder, "I heard all about the things that happened that year from my master and slowly inferred them. I don't know the actual situation. And I remember my master said that the poisoned person was a pregnant woman, not a child. When I received the message from Mr. Wan by carrier pigeon, I thought there was a mistake. After thinking for a long time, I guessed that the baby was already born when my uncle poisoned..."
Zidu said dejectedly, his voice already choking, "But the pregnant woman died of difficult childbirth that year, but the baby in her womb was able to survive until now. Divine doctor, tell me why. Why is this?"
Shen Yuning looked at Zidu. How could she not understand that the pregnant woman in his mouth was his own mother, and the baby was himself.
The divine doctor opened his mouth. After thinking for a moment, he said, "This poison has less of an impact on women than on men. Most women who are poisoned will have cold wombs and be unable to conceive, but they don't have the symptoms of tuberculosis. However, there was a case of a pregnant woman being poisoned before. That woman was seven months pregnant. After being poisoned, she still managed to give birth to the baby. There was still some residual poison in the baby's body... My master said that it was the instinct of a mother. She instinctively absorbed most of the toxins herself and tried not to pass them on to the child. That woman... later died suddenly."
So Zidu's mother was the same as that woman. She absorbed the toxins herself, which led to difficult childbirth, but the child survived safely?
Zidu covered his face. He couldn't touch his face, only the silver mask. He angrily took off the mask and threw it on the ground. Then he covered his face and howled.
"Not only her, but also my elder brother. I don't know why the one who was supposed to be poisoned was my mother, but in the end, it became my elder brother. But clearly, the one who should have died was me, not them!"