allonlinenovel Chapter 195 Framed
Chapter 195 Framed
Considering Concubine Rou's health, Mu Xiaoqiao specifically instructed Nishang's carriage to slow down and avoid too much bumpiness, and to try to find an inn to rest every day.
In the past, they were used to sleeping in the open air and rarely stayed in inns. Sometimes they slept in the carriage, and sometimes they got off the carriage, made a fire, and slept on the floor for the night. But now they dared not do so with Concubine Rou. Concubine Rou was in delicate health, and they must not let her fall ill before reaching the destination.
Even so, the days of traveling made Concubine Rou and Xueying, who had never traveled far, miserable. They had traveled for many days to see Ruan Haoyu, and when they saw him, they felt relieved. Even though the carriage was moving slowly, on the third day, Concubine Rou still had a high fever and couldn't get out of bed.
What you fear will come true. Mu Xiaoqiao and Ruan Haoyu had to stop and stay in the inn. They asked a doctor to treat Concubine Rou's health.
But for some unknown reason, Concubine Rou's health was getting worse and worse. At first, she was just listless and had no appetite, but slowly, she began to become sleepy and comatose. Ruan Haoyu was extremely anxious, and Mu Xiaoqiao had been staying up all day these days, taking care of Concubine Rou together with Xueying. At the same time, she asked Nishang to find out where there were famous doctors nearby. Now all the doctors in this small town are helpless, and some even told them to prepare for their funeral.
Mu Xiaoqiao couldn't believe that a healthy person could become on the verge of death in just a few days. The doctors couldn't tell what disease Concubine Rou had. This was really too strange.
That morning, after Mu Xiaoqiao came to visit Concubine Rou again, Nishang came to report that she had received news that the most famous doctor in Sui State was Doctor Lu, the military doctor accompanying King Dingbei. Now King Dingbei's army was training in a canyon one day's distance from here. Nishang asked if she could ask King Dingbei for help and let Doctor Lu come to check on Concubine Rou's condition.
Mu Xiaoqiao was overjoyed when she heard this, and wanted to go and repair the book immediately. But then she thought that if she sent someone to bring the doctor back, it would take too much time. So she hurried to find Ruan Haoyu, told him the news, and explained her thoughts. She then took Concubine Rou with her and went on the road to find Doctor Lu.
Ruan Haoyu had no objection, but when he was leaving, Xueying objected. She cried and blocked Concubine Rou's bedside, saying, "Madam is so ill now, and the doctor has said that she should rest well. How can she still take a carriage to travel? Mu Xiaoqiao, what are you thinking? Do you want to kill Madam?"
Mu Xiaoqiao frowned and said, "Xueying, what are you talking about? I just want Madam to get better soon."
"You are talking nonsense. You are clearly hoping that the Madam will die soon so that you won't be delayed in seducing the young master. Yesterday morning, I saw you adding something to the Madam's medicine. Tell me, is it you who caused the Madam to become so ill?"
Ruan Haoyu frowned when he heard Xueying say this, and Mu Xiaoqiao opened her eyes wide in surprise, "Xueying, what are you talking about?"
Xueying cried even harder. She saw Ruan Haoyu's face change, and thought her words had worked. She knelt down in front of Ruan Haoyu, kowtowed, and cried, "Sir, I know that my words are insignificant, and I also know how important Mu Xiaoqiao is in your heart, but this is what I saw with my own eyes. Mu Xiaoqiao wanted to murder Madam, and Madam treated me with great kindness. Even if I risk my life, I will protect Madam from being harmed by the villain. Sir, please believe me. Madam's illness this time is so strange, it must be caused by this lowly maid. She must have poisoned Madam."
Poison!
Mu Xiaoqiao and Ruan Haoyu exchanged a glance and understood what was going on. Mu Xiaoqiao whispered something to Nichang, who followed his orders and left. Ruan Haoyu slowly squatted down and said coldly, "Xueying, you said you saw with your own eyes that Mu Xiaoqiao poisoned your mother?"
Xueying nodded heavily, "Yes, I saw it with my own eyes."
"When did you see it? Tell me in detail how she poisoned him and how you saw it?"
Ruan Haoyu's voice was emotionless. Xueying didn't dare to move, so she lowered her head and said, "It was yesterday morning..."
"What time in the morning?" Ruan Haoyu pressed on.
"In the morning... around 3:45 am, I went to get water for Madam to wash, so I left for a while. When I came back, I saw Mu Xiaoqiao pouring a packet of powder into Madam's medicine and mixing it, and then feeding it to Madam. I was shocked at the time. Mu Xiaoqiao knows martial arts, so I didn't dare to confront her head-on. So I had to stay with Madam for the past two days to prevent her from poisoning her again."
Ruan Haoyu had already stood up and sat at the table. He took a sip of water and said calmly, "Then you must look carefully. What color is the powder? What kind of paper is it wrapped in?"
Mu Xiaoqiao leaned against the door, looking leisurely, not showing the slightest sign of panic. Even her previous worry and anxiety about Concubine Rou was gone. She watched Ruan Haoyu interrogating Xueying with interest.
Xueying answered quickly this time, "It's wrapped in oil paper, light yellow powder."
"What good will it do to Mu Xiaoqiao if she poisons her mother?" Ruan Haoyu asked casually.
Xueying said: "I don't know, but I think she is afraid that Madam will stop her from seducing the Master."
Mu Xiaoqiao chuckled, how stupid.
Xueying's legs were sore from kneeling. She was complaining in her heart, why didn't the young master get angry and arrest Mu Xiaoqiao as she imagined? Didn't he have any doubts when he heard that Mu Xiaoqiao was planning to murder Concubine Rou? And why didn't Mu Xiaoqiao say a word to defend herself? Thinking of this, she couldn't help but secretly look up at Mu Xiaoqiao, but she saw that she was looking at her with a smile, not in a hurry at all.
Xueying's move was originally intended to sow discord, and she didn't mean to drive Mu Xiaoqiao away right away. She had a backup plan, but she didn't expect that her first move didn't seem to work for some reason. Why wasn't the young master angry at all?
Just as he was thinking about it, Nichang came back from outside and handed Ruan Haoyu an oil paper bag. Ruan Haoyu took it and opened it, and there was light yellow powder inside.
"Is this the powder you're talking about?"
Xueying looked up and her expression changed. This was indeed what she had secretly placed in Mu Xiaoqiao's room, but she hadn't heard Ruan Haoyu order someone to search Mu Xiaoqiao's room yet, so how come the powder had already been found?
However, at this point, she could only nod her head and then asked cautiously, "Excuse me, sir, where did you find this medicine powder?"
Ruan Haoyu looked at Nishang, and Nishang replied honestly: "I found it in Commander Mu's room."
Xueying heaved a sigh of relief, but she saw Ruan Haoyu smiled dotingly at Mu Xiaoqiao, and then said, "Xiaoqiao, what do you want to do with her?"
Xueying opened her mouth in disbelief, and it took her a long while to find her voice, "Master, shouldn't you... punish her? Besides, Madam is still lying there, Master, you should ask her to hand over the antidote quickly, otherwise I'm afraid Madam..."
As she said this, she burst into tears again.
Mu Xiaoqiao shook her head and said leisurely, "I never thought you were such a good actor. I really underestimated you."
"Mu Xiaoqiao, what do you mean?"
"What do I mean? Shouldn't you know best? Hand over the antidote, otherwise, you will die an ugly death."
Nichang drew her sword and pressed it against Xueying's neck. Xueying turned pale with fear, but she still said stubbornly, "What did you say? Isn't the antidote with you? Sir, please save me."
Mu Xiaoqiao shook her head and said, "You really won't cry until you see the coffin. But it doesn't matter. I'll let you be a clear-headed ghost. Do you know why the young master doesn't believe you?"
Xueying gritted her teeth and asked, "Why?"
Mu Xiaoqiao stood up and looked down at her. His voice floated down from above her head. "First, yesterday morning, the young master was with me taking care of the lady. You know that I usually come to serve the lady medicine in the morning, so I deliberately hid out to create the illusion that I was here alone. But who knew that the young master came with me yesterday morning? And you know that I have kung fu. As long as you approach this room, I will know it. So you didn't come back at all, so naturally you didn't know that the young master was here yesterday, right?"
Xueying bit her lip all of a sudden. She never expected that Ruan Haoyu never came so early in the morning, but he actually came with Mu Xiaoqiao yesterday.