Chapter 198
Upon hearing the maid's cry, Nanny Luo rushed into the inner chamber without a second thought.
She saw The Old Princess with her eyes tightly shut, her face a bluish-black, and a trace of blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.
"What happened?" Nanny Luo was shocked and frightened. Hadn't she only stepped away for a moment?
How could The Old Princess have taken a turn for the worse?
"This servant doesn't know either. I just suddenly saw The Old Princess vomit blood. No matter how I called to her, she wouldn't respond," the maid Xiuhong said, weeping.
"I'll go fetch the house physician." Nanny Luo was frantic with worry, even fearing that others might be too slow.
She charged out herself.
"What's going on?" Seeing Nanny Luo rush out in such haste, Liu Ming couldn't bother with anything else and dashed straight into the inner chamber.
There, he saw The Old Princess, lifeless.
"What happened?" Li Tianyou, seeing Steward Liu enter, followed him in.
He too was startled by the sight of The Old Princess.
"Steward Liu, this servant doesn't know. The Old Princess suddenly vomited blood. Nanny Luo has gone personally to fetch the house physician!" Xiuhong, her eyes red from crying, explained to the entering Liu Ming.
"Old Princess?" Liu Ming's heart clenched with fear. Disregarding all else, he walked to the bedside and called to her several times.
Unfortunately, The Old Princess remained with her eyes closed, offering no response whatsoever.
"This looks like poisoning to me," Li Tianyou frowned, looking at The Old Princess's increasingly cyanotic face and speaking with some uncertainty.
"What did The Old Princess eat today?" Liu Ming asked, while simultaneously pulling out the All-Purpose Antidote Pill from his robe—the one the Prince had entrusted him to keep.
Xiuhong was quick-witted. Seeing the pill Liu Ming produced, she hurriedly poured a cup of water and brought it over.
"The Old Princess hasn't had much today, only a few pastries sent over by the Young Miss," Xiuhong explained as she helped Liu Ming administer the medicine.
Upon hearing that Zheng Qiaoshu had sent the pastries, Liu Ming frowned deeply, yet he couldn't believe that Zheng Qiaoshu would harm The Old Princess.
However, he simply couldn't explain how, perfectly fine one moment, The Old Princess could have been poisoned?
The Old Princess was unconscious, making it impossible to get the medicine into her mouth, let alone have her swallow it.
"Steward Liu, what should we do? We can't get it in!" Xiuhong asked anxiously.
"Pry her mouth open," Li Tianyou said with a frown.
Otherwise, with the type of poison unknown,
delaying the antidote pill even a moment longer might be too late.
Hearing this, Liu Ming and Xiuhong exchanged a glance. This was a grave offense against The Old Princess.
"What are you waiting for? Every moment you delay increases the danger to your Old Princess!" Li Tianyou urged, seeing their hesitation.
Upon hearing this, Liu Ming directly pried open The Old Princess's mouth and stuffed the pill inside.
"Old Princess, please swallow it quickly," Xiuhong pleaded anxiously.
"What are you doing?" Zheng Qiaoshu, seeing Liu Ming and Xiuhong seemingly forcing something into The Old Princess's mouth, questioned them angrily.
Seeing Zheng Qiaoshu, Liu Ming's brow furrowed.
He had a bad feeling about this.
"Young Miss, The Old Princess seems to have been poisoned. This old servant is giving her the All-Purpose Antidote Pill," he explained, considering she was, after all, The Old Princess's niece.
"Poisoned?" Zheng Qiaoshu's heart leapt with secret joy, and she quickly stepped forward to check on The Old Princess.
Seeing The Old Princess with her eyes closed and complexion poor, she inwardly sighed in relief.
It seemed her medicine was indeed effective.
However, remembering Steward Liu mentioning the antidote pill, Zheng Qiaoshu immediately pointed at Xiuhong and said,
"You fool! You believe whatever others say? Who knows if that's poison or an antidote? Hurry up and get that pill out!" As she spoke, Zheng Qiaoshu moved to dig the pill out of The Old Princess's mouth.
If the old woman really took the antidote and recovered, all her efforts would be wasted!
Thinking this, Zheng Qiaoshu's actions became even quicker.
"Young Miss, what are you doing?" Xiuhong quickly blocked Zheng Qiaoshu's hand, feeling rather puzzled.
"Who's to say Aunt's condition isn't Steward Liu's doing? Whether what he just fed her was poison or an antidote is hard to say," Zheng Qiaoshu retorted, pointing an accusing finger at Liu Ming.
Liu Ming felt a surge of indignation stuck in his chest, unable to rise or fall.
Having served in the An Manor for many years, never had a master suspected him like this.
Poison The Old Princess?
How could he possibly commit such a vile act?
"Young lady, Steward Liu is a veteran of An Manor. How could he possibly do something as treacherous as harming his master?" Li Tianyou found this Young Miss utterly unreasonable.
Steward Liu was clearly trying to save The Old Princess, yet she insisted he was harming her?
"Young Miss, that's the special All-Purpose Antidote Pill from the Divine Physician, not poison," Xiuhong hastily added.
"Fine! So you're all in cahoots, are you? If anything happens to Aunt today, it will definitely be your doing!" Upon hearing this, Zheng Qiaoshu grew extremely anxious inside.
Yet, try as she might alone, she couldn't pry open The Old Princess's mouth, instead scratching and breaking the skin at the corner of her mouth.
"You madwoman! What are you doing?" Liu Ming could bear it no longer. He grabbed Zheng Qiaoshu and yanked her backward.
Remembering Xiuhong's earlier words that The Old Princess had only eaten the pastries sent by Zheng Qiaoshu, and combining that with her current actions, Liu Ming glared at Zheng Qiaoshu with a venomous look.
Could it be that she was the one who poisoned The Old Princess?
"Did you poison The Old Princess?" Liu Ming demanded, staring at Zheng Qiaoshu.
Hearing this, Xiuhong looked at Zheng Qiaoshu in disbelief.
"Don't you slander me! It was clearly you who forced poison into Aunt's mouth just now!" Zheng Qiaoshu first showed a flicker of panic, then immediately pointed at Liu Ming with righteous indignation.
Today, she was determined to pin this dirty water on Liu Ming.
"Earlier, when Steward Liu entered The Old Princess's chamber, he was with this official the whole time," Li Tianyou said, frowning.
"Hmph! The two of you are the culprits who harmed Aunt!" Zheng Qiaoshu accused, looking at both of them.
"And you!" Zheng Qiaoshu then pointed at Xiuhong beside them. "You're their accomplice too. I saw it clearly just now—it was you all forcing poison into Aunt's mouth. When my cousin returns, he certainly won't let you get away with this." Zheng Qiaoshu felt smug inside.
Now that the old woman was critically ill, surely her cousin couldn't still be enjoying himself in Li'an County, could he?
However, she swept a disappointed glance around the room. Why wasn't Nanny Luo here?
If Nanny Luo wasn't present, how was she supposed to get the token for the treasury?
"Young Miss, this servant did nothing. Moreover, Steward Liu and Lord Li were only trying to save The Old Princess," Xiuhong's expression was now also quite unpleasant.
The usually reasonable Young Miss, always so proper before The Old Princess—how could she slander people so effortlessly?
"Hmph, of course you wouldn't admit it. Wait until my cousin returns and see how he punishes you all! Guards! Hurry up and seize these murderers who harmed my Aunt!" As soon as Zheng Qiaoshu finished speaking, the guards outside the chamber looked at the people inside, somewhat bewildered.
How could they possibly have harmed The Old Princess?
