Proud Feather

Chapter 125 The Pharmacy
Consort Tian has been experiencing both discomfort and comfort lately.

What's worse, her health is so poor that the child in her womb seems like a demon, trying to absorb her dwindling life force. She vomits violently every day, and to keep going, she can only force herself to eat and take medicine, enduring unbearable suffering.

The good news is that she's finally back to being in charge in the palace. The Emperor visits her from time to time, and Consort Xian doesn't dare utter a sound. The princesses... the princesses have all run away! Moreover, everyone knows that her son will be incredibly powerful, and even if she doesn't become empress, her status will be no different from that of the empress.

After vomiting again after breakfast, Consort Tian rinsed her mouth and sighed to Caizhi, "Back then, Her Majesty the Empress fell ill after childbirth and vomited every time she drank her medicine. She visibly lost weight, and it broke my heart to see her like that. I never imagined that I would experience the same thing so many years later. Her Majesty suffered so much back then!"

Caizhi advised, "How can you think like that? To be frank, the Empress's long illness was a bad thing, but your pregnancy with the little prince and the anticipation of new life is a good thing. They are not the same thing."

Consort Tian was not genuinely complaining. After Caizhi's words, she smiled and said, "Yes, yes, you're right. For the sake of the little prince, I must persevere."

She managed to eat half a steamed bun, and this time she finally stopped vomiting. So, while drinking water, she asked, "Is His Majesty attending court today? When will he come?"

Caizhi joked, "You seem to be becoming more and more inseparable from His Majesty these days. This servant will send someone to inquire right away."

"You silly girl, your mouth is getting more and more wicked!" Consort Tian scolded playfully, but secretly she felt a sweet warmth in her heart. "Go on your way!"

Before long, the palace servant who had gone to investigate returned.

"Your Majesty, His Majesty did not attend court today. He went to Jinshui Garden, saying he would accompany the princess hunting to relax."

Consort Tian's smile froze: "The princess is back? When did this happen?"

"In the morning, I went straight to Funing Palace. I heard that I cried, and His Majesty shed tears with me. After breakfast, I said I would go to Jinshui Garden..."

Consort Tian didn't say anything more; that feeling of nausea rose up again.

Caizhi hurriedly picked up the spittoon: "Your Majesty..."

“Ugh…” Consort Tian vomited not only all the food and medicine she had eaten that morning, but also bile.

Her eyes were filled with stars, tears streamed down her face, and she inexplicably thought of the Empress from back then.

……

With the princess's return to the palace, it seemed as if the past had come to an end.

The emperor seemed intent on making amends to his daughter, showering Chu Ling with even more affection. Good things from his private treasury flowed into the Nanming Palace like water, and he would often make time to play with his daughter.

Sometimes they would go hunting, sometimes they would go boating on the lake, and they would bring along the Crown Princess and the little prince. Even the Consort Xian joined them a few times, and there was laughter and joy everywhere.

Of course, the Emperor also cared about Consort Shu, having the imperial physicians check her pulse daily and visiting her whenever he had free time. It was just that Princess Xin was pregnant and unable to enter the palace to accompany her.

The shadow of the crown prince's early death gradually dissipated, and peace and joy filled the palace.
-
In the poorest area of ​​the city, the alleys are crisscrossed and the houses are small and simple. An inconspicuous pharmacy is located here.

The lack of renowned doctors and the limited selection of medicinal herbs did not hinder its thriving business. Most poor people could not afford the famous, high-end pharmacies and could only buy cheap medicines from these small pharmacies when they fell ill.

In the evening, a customer wearing a straw hat entered the pharmacy and knocked on the counter: "Boss."

"Is it an injury or an illness? What are the symptoms? How much medicine do you need?" The shopkeeper bombarded him with questions, his accent a bit odd.

"I don't want to see a doctor or get medicine; I want to find someone." The customer placed a dagger on the counter.

The pharmacy owner was startled and turned to run away.

But he was quickly cornered when a man wearing the same straw hat came out from the inner room.

The pharmacy owner looked left and right, then smiled apologetically, "Please don't joke around, gentlemen. This is just a small pharmacy, nothing of value..." "Don't be nervous, boss, it's a good thing," said the customer in front, "We're not robbing you, we're just inviting you to be our guest."

The shopkeeper became even more frightened and begged for mercy: "Sir, I'm just a commoner trying to make a living. I know a little about medicine. I haven't offended either of you, have I?"

"We told you it's a good thing, why don't you believe us?" The two of them blocked his way from the front and back. "Alright, either go by yourself or let us do it, hurry up and choose!"

The owner, who runs a pharmacy in this kind of place, naturally knows what it means to be pragmatic, and quickly agreed: "Please wait a moment, gentlemen, while I close the door."

……

Upon receiving the message, Chu Ling sent someone to Fu Ning Palace to inform them that she had caught a very large fish that day and wanted to send it to her maternal grandmother as an addition to her meal.

The emperor agreed, telling her to keep the old lady company and return the next day if it got too late.

So Chu Ling packed up and went to the Duke of Anguo's mansion.

“Princess.” Jiang Shijun had been waiting there for a while.

"How is it? Have you found the person?" Chu Ling sat down, looking quite tired.

She used to be happy playing, but lately she's realized that when she's unhappy, even playing is a burden.

"We found it, and we got the information out of them."

Chu Ling's eyes lit up.

As she expected, once the case was closed, all the relevant witnesses were silenced. Jinghui, Fang Wu, Manager Cai of Wenxianju, and even Manager Xu of Xianlelou could not be found.

With Wei Qi taken away, all of her leads were cut off, leaving her helpless.

Fortunately, Lin Wenyu had given the pharmacy owner this clue before he died, which she secretly passed on to Jiang Shijun. This was their only remaining hope; if they couldn't find a new direction, they would have to give up on overturning the case.

Jiang Shijun did not disappoint her expectations.

"This person comes from the southern border and belongs to a different tribe than Jinghui. It's quite a coincidence that he went back to his hometown last year and brought back a lot of medicinal herbs, including some of the ones in Jinghui's prescription."

"These medicinal herbs were rarely used by doctors in the capital, so he had been keeping them. Until a month ago, someone suddenly bought them."

Chu Ling asked, "I remember when the Dali Temple first discovered the poison's ingredients, they searched the entire city for those herbs, but they couldn't find him?"

Jiang Shijun replied, "His case was investigated by the Ministry of Justice."

Chu Ling understood. Lin Wenyu kept it a secret but told someone else, who then bought the medicinal herbs.

However, this raises some questions.

“Jinghui was arrested a month ago, so why are they still buying medicinal herbs?”

According to her thinking, if medicinal herbs are found elsewhere, they should be used to confuse people and prevent them from finding the source of the poison. What kind of thinking is it to buy the medicinal herbs?

“It should be used to prepare medicine,” Jiang Shijun replied. “The pharmacy owner said he wanted to tell the other party how to process these medicinal materials, but the other party didn’t need it.”

"Prepare medicine!" Chu Ling's expression darkened. "My elder brother is already dead, what are they preparing medicine for? To give it to others?"

Jiang Shijun nodded, his gaze meaningful: "I'm afraid so."