Chapter 850: Chapter 847: Antidote

Duke Chong’s poison had been active for three days, and he had been gritting his teeth to endure it. He actively sought out Marquis Dongxiang, and the prison guard hurriedly reported to the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice.

The Vice Minister rushed over, but Duke Chong ignored him.

The Vice Minister felt slighted.

The prison guard rode hard through the rain to reach Dongxiang Marquis Mansion.

When Marquis Dongxiang heard that Duke Chong had relented, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He donned a raincoat and hurried to the Ministry of Justice.

Duke Chong’s face was contorted with pain.

Marquis Dongxiang looked at him and said, “Are you finally willing to hand over the antidote?”

Duke Chong stretched out his hand, “Give me the antidote first!”

Marquis Dongxiang made a slight movement with his hand.

Uncle Lin fished out a medicine bottle from his bosom and tossed it to Duke Chong.

People were like fish on the chopping block; he was the knife.

There was no fear of Duke Chong reneging after giving him the antidote. At worst, they could just poison him again.

They had plenty of poison.

This time he had been played, but next time the pain would be much worse.

Duke Chong took the bottle, quickly poured the medicine into his mouth.

The faintly fragrant medicine rolled down his throat, and before long, the pain throughout his body started to dissipate.

It was a feeling of immense relief.

After three days of pain, he had almost forgotten what this feeling was like.

Marquis Dongxiang said blandly, “I do not have time to waste on you.”

His calm and indifferent tone caused Duke Chong to grit his teeth in anger.

He climbed up from the ground, his eyes like crawling venomous snakes, ready to attack at any moment.

He looked at Marquis Dongxiang and suddenly laughed loudly, “Actually, I already told you where the antidote is; you just didn’t realize it!”

Marquis Dongxiang’s pupils shrank suddenly.

He shot Duke Chong a cold glance and turned to leave.

The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice followed him, bewildered.

Did Marquis Dongxiang understand Duke Chong’s words?

Why did he not understand anything at all?

Outside the Ministry of Justice Prison, Marquis Dongxiang looked at the Vice Minister and said, “Gather the people and follow me to Prince Qi Mansion.”

The Vice Minister only then realized.

By now, night was falling, and Marquis Dongxiang and the Vice Minister set off for Prince Qi Mansion.

Fortunately, the weather was favorable, and the rain had stopped.

However, as it was getting late, the commotion at the Ministry of Justice had caused quite a stir, leaving people frightened and restless.

Prince Qi’s wife, Mo Chengxian, and several other people had all been imprisoned, leaving Prince Qi Mansion deserted. The Empress Dowager had sent trusted aides to guard Prince Qi Mansion, to prevent any unscrupulous people from taking advantage of the lack of people there and causing trouble.

The people at Prince Qi Mansion were in the middle of dinner when they learned that Marquis Dongxiang had led people to surround Prince Qi Mansion, almost causing them to choke in fear.

They stepped forward to block them, but were pushed aside by the Prison Guards of the Ministry of Justice.

“Go in and search,” the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice ordered.

The government officials dispersed in all directions, searching Prince Qi Mansion.

After searching around, they still could not find the antidote.

The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice looked at Marquis Dongxiang, “Did you get played by Duke Chong?”

“After three days of suffering, he doesn’t have the courage to play tricks on me now,” Marquis Dongxiang said.

Duke Chong planned to frame Prince Qi with the guilt of poisoning Old Duke Chong.

They would certainly be able to find the antidote at Prince Qi Mansion, which would cement his frame-up against Prince Qi.

Unexpectedly, Duke Chong was so ruthless, throwing the blame on Prince Qi to clear himself of the crime of patricide.

The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice instructed the officials to continue searching.

Marquis Dongxiang personally went to Prince Qi’s study.

Previously, when Duke Chong and his men surrounded Prince Qi Mansion, even if it was for show, they had searched it once.

There surely wouldn’t be any antidote in those places.

Where could conceal something in a way that was not easily noticed?

Marquis Dongxiang swept the room with a glance, even having Uncle Lin check the roof beams.

A government official flipped through a book.

A piece of paper fell out.

Another official didn’t notice it and was about to step on it.

Marquis Dongxiang quickly moved to hook his foot under the official’s foot, preventing him from stepping on the paper.

The official hurriedly moved to the side.

Marquis Dongxiang bent down to pick up the paper.

It turned out to be a prescription.

Marquis Dongxiang handed the prescription to Uncle Lin, “Take it to Jinjim.”

Marquis Dongxiang wasn’t certain whether this prescription was the antidote.

This was the only item related to medicine they found at Prince Qi Mansion.

All the other medicine had been taken away when Duke Chong previously searched Prince Qi Mansion.

Agarwood Pavilion, the backyard.

After a whole day of rain, Su Jin spent the day in the bamboo house.

The environment in the backyard was serene, and the backyard after the rain had a kind of spiritual beauty.

Su Jin had nothing to do, so she watched the rain from the bamboo house, or else concocted pills to pass the time.

After having dinner, she busied herself for a while longer and then prepared to rest.

Bi Zhu came running over, “Heir’s wife, Steward Lin from Dongxiang Marquis Mansion is here to see you.”

“Why would Uncle Lin come to see you this late at night?” Xingxing said worriedly.

“Please invite him over,” Su Jin said.

Afraid something serious had happened, Su Jin walked towards the front courtyard and met Uncle Lin halfway.

Manager Li personally escorted Uncle Lin over.

“What happened?” Su Jin asked.

“The Marquis led people to search Prince Qi Mansion and found a prescription. He’s asking if it’s the antidote,” Uncle Lin said, handing over the prescription.

Su Jin took the prescription, as Manager Li held up the lantern.

After a quick glance, Su Jin nodded, “It should be the antidote.”

“I’ll prepare the antidote and go to the Marquis Mansion tomorrow morning.”

Steward Lin felt somewhat reassured.

Even Manager Li was happy for Old Duke Chong.

Old Duke Chong was not like Duke Chong; he was honest, brave, and battle-hardened, and to have ended up poisoned and bedridden was truly lamentable.

Being able to detoxify and restore his health was a blessing from the Heavens, favoring the good.

Uncle Lin was eager to report this good news to Marquis Dongxiang and Su Chong, and hurriedly bid farewell.

Su Jin turned back to the bamboo house to gather the materials for the antidote.

This task took her until the latter half of the night.

No one advised her to rest first; detoxifying Old Duke Chong was far more important than sleep.

Missing a night’s sleep wasn’t life-threatening.

When the antidote was finally ready, Su Jin was so tired her eyelids were drooping.

She returned and, after a quick wash, went to bed.

At dawn the next day, Xingxing shook her awake.

By the time people usually had breakfast, Su Jin was already on her way back to Dongxiang Marquis Mansion.

Though the antidote was ready, Su Jin didn’t dare to administer it to Old Duke Chong rashly.

Once again, she expelled some poisoned blood, mixed it with the antidote, and only after testing the blood with a silver needle to confirm it was non-toxic did Su Jin feel confident to let Old Duke Chong take it.

Su Chong looked at Su Jin and asked, “Will Grandfather’s poison be cured once he takes the antidote?”

Su Jin looked at Old Duke Chong and said, “Old Duke has been poisoned for too long; the poison has invaded his organs and even his bone marrow. It won’t be cleared with one dose.”

“He needs to take a little bit each day, for at least seven days, to fully eliminate the toxins from his body.”

As long as the poison could be eliminated, spending a few more days was not a big deal.

Old Duke Chong’s eyes flickered with emotion.

He never thought he’d see the day when his poison would be cured.

The Duchess of Chong choked up, for this day had been long awaited.

After Su Chong was taken away by Marquis Dongxiang, if it hadn’t been for Old Duke Chong encouraging her, protecting her all these years, she wouldn’t have held on until now.

The news of Old Duke Chong’s antidote reached the palace.

The Emperor was both delighted and furious.

Because the prescription was found at Prince Qi Mansion, the evidence pointed directly at Prince Qi.

The Emperor ordered the arrest of Prince Qi.

Soon, Prince Qi’s arrest warrant was posted throughout the streets.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep