Chapter 250 – Why go so far as to harm a baby? (1)
Fan Tianxiang had always worked in the Ministry of Justice, but unfortunately, he hadn’t left a good or bad impression on Ning Yuxuan until now. Now that he had solved this case, Ning Yuxuan presented a written request to the emperor to raise Fan Tianxiang’s rank to Assistant Minister of Justice.
All of the mysteries in the marquis’s inner court had come to the surface and was explained away by Qian Lianxue’s weak body being unable to get pregnant, so she had repeatedly harmed the pregnant women in the household. She had scared Wen Wan into miscarrying and caused Mu Shuiqing into miscarriage by having her drink the wrong medicine. As for Jinse, she had been behind her own miscarriage. No matter how you viewed the evidence, Qian Lianxue couldn’t have been the culprit for Jinse’s miscarriage.
Ji Man thought this conclusion was ridiculous. If a woman harmed other women just because she couldn’t have a child of her own, then she had to be mentally unstable. But, Qian Lianxue had clearly been a clever and ambitious woman. She wouldn’t have done something so senseless without a better reason.
It might be true that Qian Lianxue had done all of these things, but the motive behind her actions couldn’t have been such a simple one. However, Qian Lianxue had already died. Even if she said there was a hidden motive, there was no way to investigate the matter further.
Ji Man felt depressed. This was completely lacking the thrill of a satisfying revenge for the enmity she felt.
Her child… There were so many rambunctious babies in this household, but her child had disappeared without a trace. Her baby was like a stone that been thrown into the sea and would never be found again.—
Ji Man had been in low spirits for several days in a row. When Marquis Moyu came to Feiwan Courtyard to see her, he lightly asked, “What’s wrong?”
Ji Man despondently said, “I’m thinking about my child. I don’t even know if my baby was a boy or girl.”
Ning Yuxuan paused. He turned his head to the side and said to Dengxin, “Go and bring Xi-er over here for Madam to hold.”
Ji Man didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. This man’s ability at comforting someone was really too appalling. Xi-er wasn’t her child. Seeing him would only make her feel worse, okay?
Still, Xi-er seemed to have gained weight recently. After Xi-er had recovered from his fever, his immunity had become considerably better. He hadn’t gotten feverish again since that time Wen Wen had come over and caused a big commotion. Out of all the babies in this household, Xi-er was the most robust one. In comparison, Xia-shi‘s Haohao appeared as if he was slightly undernourished.
“My lord, Xia-shi is requesting to see you.”
Speak of the devil.
Recently, Xia-shi seemed to be suffering from one trouble or the other. Doctor Li had already gone to Cailian Courtyard several times. If it wasn’t Xia-shi falling sick, it was Haohao getting sick. It was rare for her to have the energy to pay the marquis a visit.
“Let her come in.”
Xi-er started crying, so Ji Man held him and walked back and forth as she coaxed him. As she was doing this, she saw Xia-shi staggering into the room.
Xia-shi‘s face was full of tears as she said, “My lord, Haohao has been poisoned!”
Ning Yuxuan’s immediate fierce movement in standing up shocked Ji Man.
Staring at Xia-shi, he asked, “What did you say?”
Looking slightly wronged, Xia-shi said in a small voice, “Haohao hasn’t been wiling to drink milk all day. This servant had a doctor check on him and discovered that Haohao has been poisoned. My lord, Madam, please go look.”
This was the first time that Ji Man saw such a panic-stricken expression on Marquis Moyu. He walked to her side and in one swift movement, took Xi-er from her and dropped him off with the wet nurse. Then, he pulled her along to Cailian Courtyard.
As they hastily walked to Cailian Courtyard, Ji Man looked at Ning Yuxuan and asked, “My lord, you really like Xia-shi a lot, huh?”
Marquis Moyu glared at her. He stuffily said, “If I didn’t, why would I bring her back?”
Look at this degree of worry he was showing over Xia-shi‘s child. He had even dumped Wen Wan’s child with the wet nurse without a second though. Ji Man stroked her chin. It seemed that the female lead’s greatest rival had appeared?
—
Haohao had truly been poisoned. The estate’s oldest doctor had come over to check on Haohao’s pulse. His beard was shaking as he said, “It’s a slow-acting poison. It won’t take his life immediately. But, as the poison accumulates over a long period of time, First Young Master’s body will be consumed by it.”
Standing by the side, Xia-shi was so angry that she was trembling, “Who would do such a evil thing? How could someone stoop so low as to harm a baby? So inhumane! If it wasn’t that Haohao normally doesn’t cry, and he’s been crying so much lately, I would have never noticed.”
Haohao was already old enough to be weaned off of milk. Although he still usually drank his mother’s milk, he also ate other foods as well. Ji Man ordered the servants to bring over the food that Haohao had been eating as well as the leftovers, but the doctor didn’t find any poison.
The two lower-ranked servant girls, Chunfeng and Muyu, whom were currently serving in Cailian Courtyard, had been her previous servants. Ji Man called them over and questioned them. They answered that no outsider had sent over any food. Everything had been prepared within the estate and checked over before it was fed to the young master.
Ning Yuxuan turned his head to look at Xia-shi and said, “Have you been drinking any medicine lately?”
Xia-shi froze for a moment. Her face was slightly red as she answered, “This servant had been eating some medicine used to nourish the body.”
“Where’s the pot used for preparing the herbal medicine?”
“It’s at the back of the courtyard… My lord, why do you want the pot?” Xia-shi asked in confusion.
Ji Man smacked her own head. How could she have been stupid? The food had been checked without a problem, but who think to check Xia-shi‘s milk?
“Chunfeng, go and bring that pot over here for the doctor to check.”
Chunfeng made a sound of assent, left the room, and brought back the pot.
After examining the medicinal dregs left in the pot, the old doctor preached, “There is indeed something wrong with this medicine for a nursing mother. When you’re feeding your child your milk, you can’t randomly take medicine or eat certain foods. Did young Li not explain this rationale to you?”
“Doctor Li was the one that gave me this medicine,” Xia-shi grumbled, “I need to keep my body health, so I asked him about it. He didn’t say that I couldn’t drink this medicine.”
Stunned, Ji Man looked at Haohao, who was lying on the bed and wailing from time to time. She frowned.
Ning Yuxuan didn’t say any extra words. He had the doctor prescribe the antidote. After Haohao had finished drinking the prepared medicine, he turned to Nie Sangyu and said, “Go back first. I have something I want to say to Xia-shi in private.”