Chapter 199
Steward Liu was so infuriated by Zheng Qiaoshu's words he could have died on the spot.
He simply couldn't understand what he had done to make this cousin-by-marriage think he wanted to kill the Dowager Princess Consort.
"Young lady, the Dowager Princess Consort is Steward Liu's master. How could Steward Liu possibly harm her?" Li Tianyou also felt that Zheng Qiaoshu was truly being unreasonable.
If his daughter were to marry into the Prince of An's mansion, with this so-called cousin-by-marriage around...
Li Tianyou thought, perhaps it would be better for them to live at the Li family residence instead.
After all, the Li family could certainly afford to support Xu Heming.
"Of course you'd speak for him; you're accomplices!" Zheng Qiaoshu was frantic inside, hoping desperately that the old woman wouldn't wake up.
It would be best if she died.
Otherwise, she hadn't even completed the task her master had assigned her!
And where had that Nanny Luo disappeared to?
She still wanted that warrant!
Li Tianyou's expression now darkened as well. He had come with good intentions to check on the Dowager Princess Consort, and now he was being labeled a murderer?
"What are you all standing around for? Hurry up and take these three culprits away!" Seeing the guards standing by with no intention to act, Zheng Qiaoshu scolded them impatiently.
"If we're talking about culprits, I suspect it might be you! Otherwise, why have you been constantly stopping Steward Liu from saving her?" Li Tianyou stared fixedly at Zheng Qiaoshu as he spoke.
After all, Zheng Qiaoshu's actions were highly suspicious.
"I am her own niece! What good would it do me if something happened to my aunt? The culprits are you vile people. I saw it with my own eyes—you fed poison into my aunt's mouth." Zheng Qiaoshu was momentarily stunned, but then spoke with feigned conviction.
The guards looked at each other, unsure for a moment whether they should make an arrest.
"Steward Liu..." A guard looked helplessly at Steward Liu nearby.
"Hmph!" Steward Liu was seething. Since when did the Prince of An's mansion allow a cousin-by-marriage to take charge?
These spineless fools were actually asking him?
As if he would tell them to arrest himself!
"What are all of you crowding around for?" Nanny Luo came running over, pulling the mansion's physician along with her. Seeing people both inside and out, she scolded with displeasure.
"Nanny, you're finally back." Xiuhong, seeing Nanny Luo return, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Otherwise, she was truly afraid the young mistress would have her thrown into the dungeon.
She didn't dare imagine what would await her then.
"Doctor, please examine the Dowager Princess Consort quickly. See what's wrong with her." Nanny Luo couldn't bother with anything else now, urgently pulling the physician to the Dowager Princess Consort's bedside.
The physician dared not delay. Although Nanny Luo had dragged him all the way here at a run, now, seeing the Dowager Princess Consort's condition, he didn't dare utter a single complaint.
If anything happened to the Dowager Princess Consort, he certainly wouldn't fare well either.
"All of you, step back." The physician, seeing the crowd surrounding them, quickly said.
"You, wait outside." Nanny Luo, seeing the guards, frowned and instructed.
Steward Liu and Li Tianyou also quickly stepped aside, anxiously waiting for the physician to diagnose the Dowager Princess Consort's condition.
Xiuhong stood nervously behind Nanny Luo, not daring to speak.
Only Zheng Qiaoshu stood by the bedside with a look of dissatisfaction.
Her gaze at the Dowager Princess Consort on the bed was complex.
She cursed inwardly: This old crone, did she not put enough poison in the pastries? Otherwise, why didn't it kill her immediately?
After all, the Prince of An and Li Zhiwei hadn't left the capital yet, and she herself hadn't managed to get to the treasury.
She hadn't accomplished a single task her master had assigned.
Thinking of this, Zheng Qiaoshu's gaze toward the Dowager Princess Consort turned somewhat sinister.
Xiuhong accidentally caught a glimpse and was so frightened she tightly clutched Nanny Luo's sleeve, thinking to herself how terrifying this young mistress was.
Nanny Luo's attention was completely fixed on the Dowager Princess Consort on the bed and the physician, with no mind to spare for anything else.
"Doctor Zhang, what exactly is wrong with the Dowager Princess Consort?" After waiting a long time without hearing Doctor Zhang speak, Nanny Luo couldn't wait any longer and asked urgently.
Doctor Zhang reached out again to lift the Dowager Princess Consort's eyelids.
Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he noticed the wounds around the Dowager Princess Consort's mouth.
"What did the Dowager Princess Consort eat today?" Doctor Zhang asked, frowning.
Zheng Qiaoshu, who had originally been somewhat composed, grew nervous upon hearing this and glanced at the pastries on the table.
Noticing there were still two pieces left, she quietly walked to the table while no one was paying attention and hid the two pastries in her sleeve.
"The Dowager Princess Consort had little appetite today. She drank a bowl of porridge in the morning and had a few pieces of pastry." Nanny Luo thought for a moment and replied.
"Doctor Zhang, please tell us, what exactly is wrong with the Dowager Princess Consort?" Since Doctor Zhang hadn't stated the Dowager Princess Consort's condition, Nanny Luo felt her heart was suspended in mid-air.
"The Dowager Princess Consort has been poisoned." The reason Doctor Zhang hadn't spoken earlier was simply because he hadn't immediately identified the poison, but its toxicity was extremely potent.
"What? How could the Dowager Princess Consort be poisoned?" Nanny Luo was shocked. She spent all day with the Dowager Princess Consort, and besides, the Dowager Princess Consort hadn't eaten much today.
"It was them! When I first came in, I saw them feeding something into my aunt's mouth." Zheng Qiaoshu pointed accusingly at Steward Liu and Li Tianyou, speaking with feigned outrage.
"Young Mistress, you must not speak carelessly. When we entered, the Dowager Princess Consort was already unconscious. I was feeding her Doctor Zhang's specially made All-Purpose Antidote Pill." Steward Liu looked at Zheng Qiaoshu with a sneer. He refused to believe Doctor Zhang wouldn't recognize the antidote he himself had formulated.
"That's correct. Fortunately, Steward Liu fed the All-Purpose Antidote Pill in time, otherwise, the Dowager Princess Consort's life would have been in grave danger." Doctor Zhang nodded in agreement.
However, those wounds at the corner of the Dowager Princess Consort's mouth...
Thinking of this, Doctor Zhang glanced at Steward Liu, thinking to himself that this old fellow was too heavy-handed. Feeding medicine was one thing, but why be so rough about it?
Hearing this, Zheng Qiaoshu frowned, thinking to herself: How is that old woman so lucky, to actually be saved?
Damn that Steward Liu, always ruining her plans!
"Doctor Zhang, why hasn't the Dowager Princess Consort woken up yet then?" Nanny Luo, upon hearing this, looked again at the still-unconscious Dowager Princess Consort and asked worriedly.
"Although the Dowager Princess Consort's poison has been counteracted, the poison itself was ferocious. The Dowager Princess Consort is advanced in years and cannot withstand such turmoil, alas!" Doctor Zhang sighed, wondering who on earth would administer such a vicious poison to the Dowager Princess Consort.
"Investigate this!" Nanny Luo said angrily.
Xu Xiangren returned to the rented courtyard where the Xu family was staying, fuming with rage.
Hearing the noise, Niu-shi quickly came out to greet him, smiling as she asked, "Master, is it done? Did Official Li agree? When is he coming?"
As she spoke, Niu-shi looked around.
"Master, why didn't Master Li return with you? Is he coming later?" Not seeing Li Tianyou's figure, Niu-shi asked again.
