"Mother Zhou pulled her along and said."
"Testing drugs now is too conspicuous. A person and a rabbit have already died. If something else dies next, it will attract attention."
If more people notice it, the news is more likely to leak.
“If there really is a problem with this medicine, His Majesty must be waiting for news in the capital right now, keeping a close eye on our group and the entire Yao family.”
"If we suddenly send someone back to the capital, he will definitely worry that we have discovered something. Perhaps the person carrying the medicine will be stopped by him before he even sees the master, and then the master will be in danger!"
"So... don't say anything now, don't say anything at all. After Miss arrives safely at her fiefdom and marries the Prince, let Ding Shou go to see him in person under the pretext of Miss's homecoming and tell him in person!"
Ding Shou was a steward in the Yao family. He was in his thirties, reliable and steady. Yao Yuzhi gave him as part of her dowry to Yao Youqing, asking him to find suitable shops for Yao Youqing after arriving in the fiefdom of the Prince of Qin, so that she could have some success every year and live a better life.
Right now, he's escorting the dowry with a few other servants and a group of Jingyuan soldiers, so he's not here. He'll tell him about this when they meet up at the fiefdom another day, and let him personally bring the news back to the master.
Writing letters is not an option; they're too easily intercepted. The only safe course of action is to keep things to yourself and wait until you've met the master in person before speaking.
Qiongyu understood what she meant and nodded vigorously.
The two discussed the matter but kept it a secret from each other, including Yao Youqing, and followed the King of Qin's army to the Lingnan region.
The fiefdom of the King of Qin was Shangchuan Commandery, but in reality, the entire Shuozhou and even the surrounding Lingnan area were now under his control. The people in the surrounding area only knew the King of Qin and not the imperial court, which was why the imperial court had always been very wary of the King of Qin.
Of all the brothers of the late emperor, he demoted or eliminated one after another for various reasons, but the Prince of Qin was like an iron plate, and he could not get rid of him no matter what he tried.
After entering the Lingnan region, the group traveled for another four or five days before reaching Shangchuan. Hucheng in Shangchuan was where the Prince's Mansion was located. Since Yao Youqing had not yet married Wei Hong, it was inconvenient for her to stay directly in the Prince's Mansion. So she stayed in a courtyard that had been arranged in advance, waiting to go to the Prince's Mansion with Wei Hong on the day of their wedding.
Wei Hong had other business to attend to and did not enter Hu City. She asked Cui Hao to take her there, while she went directly to the military camp.
The Jingyuan Army was strictly disciplined, and orders were obeyed without question. On the way, he told Guo Sheng and the young general to go and receive their punishment when they returned. The two of them went on their own as soon as they returned, without needing to be reminded.
But to everyone's surprise, Wei Hong also went.
He doesn't need to personally supervise when his subordinates are punished. The punished person wouldn't dare not go, and the executioner would never dare to show favoritism. In fact, he has no need to watch over them at all.
Just as everyone was puzzled and didn't understand why he had come along, after Guo Sheng and the other man finished their punishment, he took off his shirt and knelt naked at the place where he had been punished, just like the two men before, and said, "I was also at fault this time, so be beaten."
The executioner was terrified; he held the whip but dared not actually strike.
Guo Sheng was startled and knelt down, saying, "Your Highness, this was all my own decision. What does it have to do with you? Why should you be punished?"
“That’s right, Your Highness!” The young general also knelt down. “You were completely unaware of the situation from beginning to end, so what wrong have you done? If it’s for that maid’s life, I’ll just pay with my own!”
He was about to actually slit his throat with a knife when he was stopped by his quick-thinking comrade beside him.
Wei Hong glanced at them and said, "Take them away."
Immediately, someone pulled them aside, preventing them from getting any closer.
Wei Hong withdrew his gaze and looked ahead: "You acted on your own initiative and failed to report the truth. Your mistakes deserve punishment. My lax governance led to the loss of life, and I deserve punishment as well."
After saying that, he shouted, "Attack!"
The person in charge of punishments was startled and instinctively swung his whip, but he hesitated and his strength was inevitably less than intended.
Wei Hong suddenly turned around: "Didn't you eat? Let's start over!"
The Jingyuan Army's punishment was not much, just three lashes, but each lash drew blood.
Not counting that first lash, he received six more lashes, completing double the punishment, before finally putting his clothes back on and going to handle the long-pending official business.
Guo Sheng looked at the bloodstains on the whip, then at his departing figure, and gritted his teeth.
Cui Hao arrived quickly after settling Yao Youqing in, and patted Guo Sheng on the shoulder upon hearing about the incident.
"The prince knows your temper. A few lashes are nothing to you. You'll forget about it as soon as you recover and can make things difficult for Miss Yao again next time."
"Only if he is punished along with you will you remember and avoid doing unnecessary things."
Guo Sheng understood some of it, but his expression was indignant.
"Miss Yao is Yao Yuzhi's daughter! Why is Your Highness protecting her!"
Cui Hao sighed: "The prince isn't protecting her, he just doesn't want to owe her anything. You've followed the prince for many years, don't you understand his temperament? Although he doesn't like Miss Yao, he would never deliberately mistreat her because of Lord Yao. At most, he would treat her like a stranger and not have any contact with her."
"What you're doing... isn't helping the prince, it's making things worse for him."
Upon hearing this, Guo Sheng lowered his eyes, clenched his fists, and said nothing more.
...
In the capital, a cold wind carrying a drizzle hit people's faces, making the pedestrians on the street even more hurried, hunching their necks and tucking their hands in their pockets, either looking for shelter from the rain or quickening their pace toward their destinations.
Wei Chi, inside the palace, felt no chill at all. At this time of year, he was only wearing a single garment in his room. The charcoal fire, which had been burning continuously since the beginning of winter, kept the room warm and cozy without emitting any smoke.
He leaned against a soft couch reading a book. Apart from the occasional sound of pages turning, there was no other sound in the room. The eunuch in the corner was like a stone statue, only coming to life when he needed tea.
The silence continued until someone announced from outside the door that Liu Fu, a eunuch from the Directorate of Ceremonial, requested an audience.
Liu Fu was a close associate of the late emperor and should have been secretly executed like everyone else, but Wei Chi spared his life.
Wei Chi did not look away from the book, but simply nodded to indicate that he could come in. Only then did the eunuch, who was as quiet as a stone statue, open the door.
Liu Fu had clearly just come from the rain. Although he was carrying an umbrella, his shoulders and the hem of his clothes were still a little wet, and the color of those parts of his clothes was slightly darker than the rest.
He lowered his eyes and walked into the room, just as he had done before the late emperor, keeping his eyes straight ahead and saying softly, "Your Majesty, Miss Yao arrived safely in Shangchuan half a month ago."
Wei Chi paused in his book flipping, finally looking up: "What did you say? You arrived safely?"
Chapter 10 Secret Message
Imperial Physician Song Yi stood in the hall with his hands hanging down, not daring to move, a thin layer of sweat seeping from his forehead but he dared not wipe it away.
He wasn't supposed to be on duty today and was resting at home when he was suddenly summoned to the palace, and he immediately sensed something was wrong.
Upon learning that Miss Yao had safely arrived at the Qin King's fiefdom, he immediately understood why Wei Chi had come to see him. Before even entering the palace, he was already covered in a cold sweat and his steps were unsteady.
Wei Chi had already sat up from the soft couch, wearing an outer robe, and his voice was unreadable.
"Didn't you say that medicine was absolutely safe?"
Song Yi hurriedly replied, "Yes, Your Majesty, I guarantee that the medicine is absolutely safe! As long as Miss Yao takes it, she will surely die within seven or eight days at most."
Wei Chi nodded and had someone bring up a pill.
"In that case, give it a try and see if it really works."
Upon hearing this, Song Yi trembled and knelt down with a thud, almost falling to the ground: "Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me!"
Before he could finish speaking, a teacup shattered in front of him with a loud crash.
"Didn't you say there were no problems? Then tell me why she arrived at Shangchuan alive! Tell me! Why is she still alive!"
The emperor, who had just appeared calm and gentle, suddenly flew into a rage, veins bulging on his forehead, his face contorted like a wild beast ready to devour its prey.
Song Yi's face was scratched by shards of porcelain, but he didn't care. He lay on the ground, trembling like a leaf.
"The medicine is fine, the medicine is fine! Perhaps... perhaps Miss Yao didn't take the medicine at all!"
At this point, you absolutely cannot say that there is a problem with your medicine, otherwise he will surely die.
Besides, he was convinced that his medicine would never be wrong, so the problem must lie with Miss Yao!
If Miss Yao doesn't take the medicine, what use is even the most effective medicine?
Thinking of this, Song Yi became even more certain, swallowed hard, and repeated, "Yes! Miss Yao must not have taken her medicine, otherwise... otherwise she would never have made it to Shangchuan!"
Wei Chi's face, flushed with anger, showed no improvement. He looked at him coldly and said, "Impossible. She gets dizzy and unwell after a short car ride. She rarely even goes to the outskirts of Beijing. This trip to Shangchuan is more than a thousand miles long. How could she possibly endure it!"
"Perhaps...perhaps Miss Yao took other medication?"
Song Yidao.
Wei Chi's gaze grew colder. He took two steps forward and leaned slightly down to look at him.
"You mean...they don't trust me, and instead of using the medicine I gave them, they're taking the medicine they prepared themselves?"
Song Yi's hair stood on end: "No, no, no, what I meant was... perhaps there was a military doctor among the Jingyuan army accompanying the Prince of Qin who examined Miss Yao's pulse and prescribed a more suitable medicine, so they didn't take the medicine Your Majesty gave them..."
Wei Chi remained silent for a moment, then straightened up. His expression was still cold and stern, but the murderous intent in his eyes had at least subsided somewhat.
The Yao family trusted him completely, and he was certain that they would never doubt the medicine he delivered personally.
Moreover, if Yao Youqing experiences dizziness or discomfort on the road, she will definitely choose the medicine he gives her first, because the medicine prepared by the imperial physicians in the palace is much better than that prepared by ordinary doctors, both in terms of prescription and ingredients. There is no reason to settle for inferior medicine.
But if it really was a military doctor from the Jingyuan Army who prescribed another medicine, they might not have used his.
After all, medication prescribed by a doctor based on an individual's constitution after taking their pulse is more appropriate than taking pre-prepared medication directly.
He turned and went back to the soft couch, sat down and said, "If there really is a military doctor among them, how do you know that the medicine you prepared won't be discovered to be problematic?"
What if Song Yi's medicine was discovered to be poisonous, which is why Yao Youqing didn't use it?
If Yao Youqing is already dead, then Wei Chi doesn't care if the medicine is discovered.
Since the medicine has already been taken out of the capital, who knows if it was switched along the way? He can take this opportunity to push it onto the Prince of Qin.
Compared to himself, Grand Tutor Yao must have believed more that the King of Qin killed his daughter.
Even if the servants of the Yao family were certain that the medicine had never been touched by anyone else, he was not afraid of Grand Tutor Yao's accusations.
When he rushed to the Yao family late at night, only a few of his close confidants and the Yao family knew about it.
In other words, apart from the Yao family, no one knew that he had given Yao Youqing a bottle of medicine.
If he doesn't admit it, who would dare to question him as emperor based solely on Yao Yuzhi's words?
But Yao Youqing is not dead now. If the medicine is discovered, Yao Yuzhi will definitely remain silent, but will begin to be wary of him. Then he will have gained nothing, failing to threaten the King of Qin with Yao Youqing's death and pushing away the Grand Tutor Yao, who was originally an asset to him.
Song Yi naturally understood this as well, and quickly said, "Your Majesty, rest assured, I have been practicing medicine for many years. I dare not say about other things, but it is no problem for me to tamper with medicine. It will not be easily discovered!"
"Besides, the medicine given to Miss Yao this time is not exactly poisonous. It's just that the dosage of two of the herbs was increased. If it weren't for a senior doctor with decades of experience and superb medical skills, there would be no way he could have noticed anything amiss."
"I have never heard of such a person around the King of Qin. Most of them are military doctors who can only treat sprains and bruises. They are not even considered doctors outside. They would never be able to see the difference in those pills."
Wei Chi sat on the couch and glanced at him: "It had better be that way, otherwise the pill I left behind can either be taken by you or given to your three-year-old great-grandson."
After saying that, he yelled, "Get out!"
Song Yi responded with a "yes" and scrambled away. Only after he had walked a long way from the palace did he dare to reach out and touch his face, pulling out a small shard that had been embedded in it.
After he left, Wei Chi sent someone to investigate Yao Youqing’s journey in detail, reporting everything they could find out, big or small.
Several days later, a detailed secret letter was delivered to his desk. Only then did he learn that the first person to experience motion sickness was Yao Youqing's maid. After the maid died, Yao Youqing also began to feel unwell.