Dingbei Hou's doctor brother

Chapter 158 Argument

"Your Majesty," Lu Ziqing said urgently, "I have been caring for Concubine Chun's pregnancy. I am very familiar with her body and the pregnancy. It is impossible for her to have a miscarriage after eating a small amount of hawthorn. There is something unusual going on. Please allow me to investigate."

"Your Majesty, what Imperial Physician Lu said is true." Chi Musheng added, "According to the pulse diagnosis, there is something strange about the Empress's miscarriage this time, Your Majesty."

"What's so strange?" Wan Shulan asked, "If it's your fault that the Imperial Hospital failed to do its job, then the Emperor is being lenient by not pursuing you. As the Imperial Physician in question, Lu Ziqing must bear primary responsibility. Are you trying to shirk responsibility with this statement?"

Lu Ziqing said, "I have absolutely no intention of shirking responsibility. I simply want to find out the truth."

Wan Shulan looked at Emperor Shengzhi and reminded him, "Your Majesty, Concubine Chun needs to rest and recuperate now. If so many of us make a fuss here, it will disturb her peace and affect her recovery."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Doctor Wang followed up, "Your Majesty is weak at the moment, so it's not appropriate for her to make a scene."

Emperor Shengzhi stood up with a dark face and said, "Hurry up and get Concubine Chun some medicine. Everyone else can go. Lu Ziqing will be taken to the prison."

After he finished speaking, he went into the inner room. Just as Lu Ziqing was about to speak, Gou Dongxi and Doctor Wang responded in unison.

"The minister obeys the order."

"Since there's something fishy going on, let's find out before we leave."

Everyone present looked outside the hall following the sound. The concubines immediately stood up, including Emperor Shengzhi, who walked out a few steps and saluted collectively.

"It's still dark and cold, why is Mother here?"

Emperor Shengzhi went to support the Empress Dowager as he spoke. She went to the inner room to see Concubine Chun. Concubine Chun stood up with tears in her eyes and was about to salute, but the Empress Dowager stopped her. Caiping stayed by her side.

After comforting her, the Queen Mother went to sit in the outer room again, and the Queen handed the hand warmer in her hand to her to hold.

"It's freezing cold, mother, there's no need to come over, we are here."

The Queen Mother, wearing a cloak, glanced at the people in the room and said, "I came here today to find out how my grandson died. I must find out who was taking care of Concubine Chun's baby today."

Lu Ziqing knelt behind him and responded, "Your Majesty, it is your humble servant."

The Queen Mother looked over and said, "Look up."

Lu Ziqing raised his head. The Queen Mother looked at him for a moment and said, "Just now I heard you say that there was something strange going on. What is this strange thing? Please find out."

Lu Ziqing took the order and asked Caiping to bring all the medicine and food used by Concubine Chun into the house. Before they knew it, daybreak had begun.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Lu Ziqing carefully looked through the medicine residue and checked the food, but after a while he found nothing.

He then asked Caiping, "How much porridge did the Queen eat tonight?"

Caiping said, "I ate half a bowl and threw the rest away."

Lu Ziqing thought for a moment and said, "Bring the porridge that was poured out."

The white light gradually came on the window, and light snow could be vaguely seen falling outside. When Caiping entered the house, there were still small snowflakes stuck on her head.

She placed the small wooden barrel at the door. There was not much red porridge left in the barrel. Lu Ziqing walked over, stirred it with a wooden spoon, and scooped some into the bowl.

He sniffed it, then shook the bowl back and forth to look at it. From the bottom of the bowl, a few red particles half the size of peanuts shook out. At first glance, he thought they were wolfberries or peanuts.

Then he took it in his hand and tried to chase it away, but it seemed that he couldn't get it away. At this moment, he frowned.

Lu Ziqing faced everyone's gaze and walked up to the emperor to give instructions.

"Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, and Empress Dowager, I have found out."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the room looked at each other in confusion. The Queen Mother asked, "What is it?"

Lu Ziqing placed the red particles on the white diagnostic towel and said, "The reason why Concubine Chun had a miscarriage was because of this substance, Xuejie."

"Dragon's blood?" the emperor asked, "What is this?"

"Your Majesty," Lu Ziqing said, "Dragon's blood is a traditional Chinese medicine that has the effects of promoting blood circulation, removing blood stasis, promoting tissue regeneration, and healing sores. It is very cold in nature and can easily cause miscarriage if taken by pregnant women. Concubine Chun's porridge contains dragon's blood powder, and these small particles have not been dissolved."

Emperor Shengzhi's expression suddenly changed. Without even looking outside the door, he angrily asked, "Who is responsible for Concubine Chun's meals?"

Caiping immediately knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, it's Sang'er. I'll bring her here."

As soon as he finished speaking, someone came in at the door. A young eunuch grabbed the crying little palace maid and threw her in front of Emperor Shengzhi.

"Your Majesty, she is San'er."

Sang'er glanced at the people around her with a look of horror on her face, then tremblingly got up and knelt straight. Emperor Sheng Zhi looked down at her head.

"Tell me, why did you want to murder the royal heir?"

Sang'er's face turned pale with fear. "Your Majesty, this servant, this servant..."

"Don't be hesitant in front of the Emperor," the Queen said. "You little maid actually knew how to use snake blood. Who instructed you to do that? Tell the truth."

Sang'er's eyes flickered and he hesitated for a long time without saying anything. Emperor Sheng Zhi became angry.

"Come here, drag her out, strip her naked, and beat her until she speaks."

The concubines and the imperial physician were secretly surprised. The eunuch at the door heard the sound and came into the room. Before the eunuch could get close, Sang'er crawled inside crying and spoke in panic.

"I confess everything. Your Majesty, please spare my life."

The young eunuch then stepped aside, and Sang'er relaxed a little and confessed honestly.

"Your Majesty, this is none of my business. It was Master Gou who asked me to do it. I know nothing about it."

This immediately caused an uproar, and Gou Dongxi angrily scolded Sang'er.

"You, a little palace maid, are slandering an official in front of His Majesty. What are you thinking? Who ordered you to do that? If you are talking nonsense, your family will also be punished."

Lu Ziqing glanced at Gou Dongxi and turned his attention to Sang'er.

"This matter is of no small importance. You'd better tell me everything. Whether your family is convicted or not depends entirely on your words."

Son'er understood the meaning of this. She wiped away her tears and thought for a while.

"I didn't make any false accusations. It was Lord Gou who ordered me to do it. He also gave me the dragon's blood powder. There is also fifty taels of silver Lord Gou gave me under the bed in my room. The emperor will know if he orders someone to search."

Emperor Shengzhi did not give any order, but the eunuch standing aside went away on his own. When he came back, he was holding a bag of silver with exactly fifty taels in it.

"President Gou, what's your explanation?" Emperor Shengzhi asked angrily.

Gou Dongxi glanced at him indifferently and replied.

"Your Majesty, although Sang'er is a palace maid, it's not surprising that she has fifty taels. Treasures are often stolen from the palace. Perhaps this is the silver she got from selling the stolen items."

When Sang'er heard this, she panicked, "Your Majesty, I didn't lie. This is the silver that Lord Gou gave me a while ago."

She began to cry again. "My old mother was seriously ill and in urgent need of money, so Lord Gou approached me to make a deal. He gave me some red powder and told me to put it in Concubine Chun's porridge. He also specifically instructed me to put it only in the bowl and not in the porridge pot."

"This humble servant is ignorant and doesn't even know what a dragon's blood is. I just took the money and did what I was told. Your Majesty, every word this servant said is true."

When Lu Ziqing saw Gou Dongxi was about to speak, he immediately took the lead.

"Your Majesty, Dragon's Blood is a rare medicinal herb that was brought in as tribute from Southeast Asia and Persia. How could a mere palace maid like Sang'er recognize it?"

"If you're not a doctor, most ordinary people wouldn't know about this kind of thing. And only the imperial physicians in the palace can see it. Ordinary doctors may not have seen it."