I woke up as the Villainous Empress

173 Poison? (I)

“Master Jiang Tai, did you find anything from your investigation?” Zheng Liang asked while serving a cup of tea to Master Jiang. Although Master Jiang Tai felt burdensome and insisted on pouring the tea for himself.

However, Zheng Liang denied him and served him the tea himself.

Today he has invited Master Jiang Tai to his study room at the dragon pavilion to discuss the investigation that he has allotted him to do so. It’s been a week since he had allotted him this huge responsibility, he needs to know if he found out any answer to the question or not.

At this moment, there aren’t many people in the palace whom he can trust completely and share his burdens with them without any suspicions. That is why he had asked Master Jiang to take complete charge of His Majesty’s treatment, from brewing his medicines to feeding him the medicines on time and taking care of his acupuncture sessions himself.

When it comes to His Majesty’s protection, he cannot bear to take any risks. Because of this reason, he banned everyone from visiting His Majesty and made sure that no item from outside could enter the chamber.

It’s been a week since Yang Ning sent Master Jiang the incense and natural oil given by Empress Yang Lingxin to check about its properties and find out if it is the main reason behind His Majesty’s worsening health condition. Until he finds out what was the cause of His Majesty’s worsening condition, he cannot trust anyone when it comes to His Majesty’s well-being.

In the past week, no one visited His Majesty’s chamber other than Master Jiang Tai, not even the assistant physician who was taking care of His Majesty under the guidance of Master Jiang nor Empress Yang Lingxin.

Though the other people tried to meet His Majesty and raised several questions in front of him, however, all those appeals went to deaf ears. Because he will not allow anyone to visit His Majesty until he finds an answer to his question.

*Knock, Knock*

.....

Just when Master Jiang Tai was about to respond to Zheng Liang’s curious question, they heard a knock on the door.

Zheng Liang looked up and his lips curled up in a smile to see the person standing at the door and said, “Come inside. You have come at the right time. Would you like to have a cup of tea as well?” 𝘧𝐫𝑒𝗲𝑤ℯ𝚋𝐧૦𝘃𝒆l. c𝚘𝓂

Yang Ning was surprised to see Zheng Liang in the company of Master Jiang Tai. She cleared her throat hesitantly before walking towards Zheng Liang’s working desk and shook her head in response and said, “No, thank you. I already had a cup of tea with some snacks.”

She stood next to Zheng Liang’s working desk and greeted Master Jiang with a polite nod before turning to Zheng Liang. ” I heard that His Highness called for me. Is there something that you need me for?” She asked politely.

Zheng Liang nodded and pulled a chair for her so that she could sit next to him, “Please take a seat here. I called for you because I believed that you would also like to know the results of the investigation as well.”

Yang Ning was surprised by Zheng Liang’s words as she wasn’t expecting him to call for her when Master Jiang would be revealing the results of the investigation. She thought that he was still suspicious of her and her actions, however, looks like he has now started to trust her as well.

She pursed her lips to control herself from smiling like a fool and cleared her throat before saying, “Ah, Yes. Are the results of the investigation already confirmed?” She asked curiously.

Since it was such a big matter and related to the reputation of the Empress, they cannot take things lightly. Otherwise, all of their plans will backfire to them.

“We were going to discuss the same.” Zheng Liang answered her question before turning to Master Jiang, ” So Master Jiang, what are the results of the investigation? Did you find out the cause behind His Majesty’s condition already?” He asked.

Master Jiang Tai smiled to see how naturally Zheng Liang asked Yang Ning to join them for a discussion. He had heard that their marriage is simply political marriage to form an alliance between the two families.

However, seeing the way Zheng Liang was treating Yang Ning and doesn’t hesitate to discuss the matters related to the Yang Family and the Empress in front of her, it is clear that he doesn’t doubt her sincerity anymore.

Otherwise, why would he ask her to join them for the discussion about this confidential matter? He even asked Gu Lan to not stand in front of the study room but to stand away from the corridor to give them some privacy yet he called Yang Ning to come inside the room and find out the results of the investigation together.

___

Master Jiang took a sip of the tea that Zheng Liang offered him and glanced at Yang Ning before answering his question, “Although it took a long time for me to confirm the suspicions I had, I have finally managed to figure out the cause of His Majesty’s worsening condition and why any kind of treatment wasn’t working on him earlier.”

“What was the reason then?” Zheng Liang’s jaw stiffened as he asked impatiently. Before they could not even find out the cause of His Majesty’s condition and because of this, no treatment was working on him.

However, if Master Jiang managed to find out the cause of the worsening condition of His Majesty, wouldn’t it be easier to treat His Majesty sooner?

Master Jiang pursed his lips and hesitantly responded, “It was because….His Majesty was given a kind of poison that works on a human body slowly and steadily. It was a slow poison that works slowly but can be lethal to one’s life.”

Zheng Liang’s expression darkened upon hearing Master Jiang’s words and clenched his fists tightly. Poison? Who dared to poison His Majesty under his strict surveillance?

“Poison? But didn’t you say before that you did not find any traces of poison in His Majesty’s blood?” Zheng Liang asked.

Master Jiang nodded and lowered his head in embarrassment before saying, “Yes. However, after what Princess Yang Ning said the last time, I tried to look at other possibilities and found out about a slow poison that does not show its traces in one’s blood.”

“That is why it is more lethal and dangerous. If consumed regularly, it can be proven to be lethal and take one’s life without leaving any traces behind. That is why His Majesty was showing all the symptoms of being poisoned but we cannot find any traces of poison in his blood.” He explained.

“Is there poison like that? I never heard about it before.” Zheng Liang frowned as he could not figure out that there is a slow poison that leaves no traces of poisoning behind.

“Yes, there is. However, this kind of poison cannot be found in the Zheng Empire. Instead, it has to be bought from a far-away kingdom and is not available in the capital. Because of this reason, we could not find out the cause of His Majesty’s condition easily.” Master Jiang revealed it to him.

While Zheng Liang was flustered by this sudden revelation, Yang Ning who was silently listening to Master Jiang’s explanation until now, finally spoke up, “If you find out that His Majesty was being poisoned, you must have also found out in what way His Majesty was given the poison.”

“Was it because of the incense stick that I sent you last time?” She glanced at Zheng Liang before cautiously bringing up this question to the table.