Chapter 107: Chapter 107: Poisoning

“I never had the chance to meet with him,” Lin Qingqing said, “Recently, all eyes have been on our family, and I don’t dare to leave the mansion easily.”

“Today, I used the excuse of visiting the Marquis residence for New Year’s greetings to secretly meet with him.” Lin Qingqing continued, “Once I meet him, I’ll ask what really happened.”

“But…” Lin Qingqing hesitated for a moment, yet still didn’t speak out.

Xiao Fengxing actually instructed her to bury a powder that could make people cough incessantly in the soil of the two pots of flowers she delivered today.

Lin Qingqing didn’t know what it was made of, but Xiao Fengxing assured her that even a doctor wouldn’t be able to detect it, and not even the Imperial Physician would find out.

He said it was just an ordinary thing used as fertilizer, but no one knew that it could also make people cough endlessly.

And with prolonged exposure, a person’s health would gradually weaken.

To ensure that Xiao Fengxing wasn’t deceiving her, Lin Qingqing used the pretext of illness to invite a doctor into the mansion to inquire, showing the doctor this package of powder.

The doctor indeed couldn’t identify it, only saying it truly had no harm to people.

Lin Qingqing actually found it strange as well.

Clearly, Xiao Fengxing said this was something that could cause coughing, but she had kept the powder in her possession for a few days without coughing at all, not knowing what it really was.

But since it couldn’t be detected, Lin Qingqing mixed it into the soil in the flower pots.

The amount of powder wasn’t much, and after mixing with the soil, even if Xiao Chengyu was cautious enough to have a doctor examine it, nothing could be found.

After the Lin family left, Xiao Chengyu summoned the doctor.

The old lady, with a stern face, asked, “Is there something wrong with those two pots of flowers?”

“I don’t know, but it’s better to let the doctor check it out.” Xiao Chengyu said, “Besides, Lin Qingqing is involved with Xiao Fengxing.”

This remark reminded the old lady, “Yes, yes, quickly, call the doctor, let him take a good look.”

The doctor employed by the Marquis residence naturally had superb medical skills.

One couldn’t say the doctor was inferior to the Imperial Physician.

It’s just that the Imperial Physician typically attended to esteemed individuals, accustomed to caution, unlike the boldness Doctor Li of the Marquis residence had in using medicine.

Soon, Doctor Li hurried over.

The old lady quickly said, “Doctor Li, quickly take a good look at these two pots of flowers and bamboo, is there anything unusual?”

“Yes.” Doctor Li carefully examined for a long while, even using a small knife to scrape off some roots to sniff carefully.

He also turned over the soil, excavating some of it.

Then had someone boil a pot of water, pouring the excavated soil into the hot water.

Stimulated by the hot water, the smell of the soil became more intense.

“Cough!” Xiao Chengyu suddenly covered his mouth and started coughing, “Cough cough!”

“Marquis!” Fu Shinian hurriedly poured tea for Xiao Chengyu, gently patting his back, and turned to ask Doctor Li, “Is there something wrong with this soil?”

“The Marquis coughed after smelling the odor.” Fu Shinian said.

Doctor Li quickly had the hot water with soil taken out, “Perhaps the smell of the soil was too strong and irritated the Marquis’ breathing.”

Doctor Li examined the soil further, “There are no toxins in the soil, nothing that would conflict with the Marquis’ health.”

“Even so, remove them from the room.” The old lady instructed, “Have these two pots taken out.”

The old lady was very cautious, better safe than sorry.

“Yes.”

“Wait,” Fu Shinian stopped Ting Qin who was about to throw out the flowers.

“Is there paper, I’d like to take some soil,” Fu Shinian explained, “Not that I distrust Doctor Li, but this recent trip to Ganning made me aware that some things are uncommon here in Great Xi, some even not recorded in medical books.”

“I really don’t believe Lin Qingqing would drop by without cause, delivering these two pots of flowers and bamboo without a purpose.” Fu Shinian said, “After all, her visit today was really odd.”

“I speculated it might be to seize the chance to meet with the second young master Xiao.” Fu Shinian said, “But if it was only for that purpose, giving these wasn’t necessary.”

“Moreover, I utterly distrust second young master Xiao, who has relations with her.” Fu Shinian said.

“Your concern isn’t misplaced.” The old lady was also distrustful.

Fu Shinian gazed at the old lady, recalling the scene in his dream.

Not just Xiao Chengyu, even the old lady was poisoned.

Fu Shinian blinked, holding back the somewhat warm tears, saying, “My elder sister’s uncle Mr. Cheng often travels for business, to the Western Regions, to the Northern Desert, and to the grasslands. I’ve heard, those areas beyond the border have some medicinal materials not available in Great Xi.”

“Therefore, I wish to request my uncle from the Cheng family to take this soil along during his travels, hopefully finding some clues.”

“That might be too much trouble for Boss Cheng.” The old lady said.

Fu Shinian smiled and shook his head.

If Cheng Yuanshan could grow closer to the Marquis Changping’s residence due to this, he certainly wouldn’t mind the trouble.

Cheng Yuanshan most wanted to find a powerful protector now, to prevent the Cheng family from becoming a target as it grew wealthier.

“I’ll have someone send it to my uncle from the Cheng family.” Fu Shinian said.

“I will arrange for Jing Lai to deliver it.” Xiao Chengyu said.

When Cheng Yuanshan sees Jing Lai, he should know it’s related to him.

Fu Shinian wrote a letter, along with the packet of soil, and had Jing Lai deliver it to the Cheng Mansion.

At this moment, Shaoyao entered, “Marquis.”

“Speak, there’s no need to hide anything.” Xiao Chengyu said indifferently.

“Yes.” Shaoyao then reported, “After the Lin family came today, the Marquis had me keep an eye on the second young master’s side. It turned out Lin Qingqing came back shortly after the Lin family left, entering the residence from the back door, and is now at the second young master’s courtyard.”

The old lady sneered disdainfully, “I knew it, the Lin family’s visit was to create an opportunity for Lin Qingqing and Qinglan Residence to meet.”

“What do you plan to do?” The old lady asked Xiao Chengyu.

Xiao Chengyu looked at Fu Shinian instead, “Second Miss, what do you intend to do? If we capture them now, it’s still possible, we can catch them in their affair.”

“But there are too few people.” Fu Shinian said, “If only the people from the Marquis residence see it, for Xiao Fengxing to protect his reputation and Lin Qingqing’s, he certainly won’t allow it to spread.”

“If we deliberately arrange for word to spread, it would still just be rumors, not a severe blow to Lin Qingqing.” Fu Shinian said.

“Old lady, Marquis, last time during Ying Yue’s birthday, Auntie Liu and Xiao Fengxing conspired against my elder sister, attempting to let the guests at the banquet see my elder sister with…”

“Using this to coerce my sister into marrying Xiao Fengxing.” Fu Shinian said solemnly, “If they had succeeded, my sister, even if becoming the rightful wife, couldn’t have celebrated a grand wedding, would have entered the household quietly, and would be looked down on, unable to hold her head high against the rumors.”

“It wasn’t due to mere luck that my sister wasn’t schemed against last time; it was because the old lady was helping.” Fu Shinian bowed deeply to the old lady.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep