Chapter 1004 The Suspicious Reason
“Her Highness…” The imperial physician put down his hand and frowned. “What was wrong with her just now?”
Infanta Yuan’an and Zhao Xiran were waiting inside the room while the rest were sitting outside. It was very quiet all around. Many Madams lowered their heads but strained their ears to catch what was happening inside.
“My Lady is fine, but…” Speaking of this, Yujie suddenly looked stunned and panicked as if she had thought of something, her eyes wide with horror.
“But what was wrong?” The imperial physician asked, a little anxiously. He couldn’t find anything unusual at the moment, but Princess Chen couldn’t faint for no reason.
“When the Madam of Marquis Xing made trouble, my Lady had been reciting the sutra. It seemed that she was trying hard to suppress something. Later on… Later…” Yujie stammered. “Then, after Infanta Yuan’an and Madams left, my Lady suddenly stood up in a rage and then pa.s.sed out.”
“Her Highness is in a rage? Conduct disorder?” The imperial physician immediately concluded.
“Yes. My Lady has always been gentle and never lost her temper. She is used to speaking in a mild tone. Previously, she seemed to have held back something. Later, she threw the wooden fish away as if she could no longer control the rage in her heart. But everything was perfectly well before that. What happened to her?”
Yujie nodded repeatedly, her eyes in panic. She freaked out completely.
The Madams sitting outside looked at each other and saw the panic in each other’s eyes. “They were in the mourning hall. Was there anything evil offending Princess Chen?”
Some quick-witted people pointed to Madam Jiang, who sat aside blankly and behaved much more differently than before.
A few madams were familiar with Madam Jiang in the past. In their memory, she was definitely not like this. Never would she bark out the orders to make the servants get tea and snacks in a mourning hall, which was quite disrespectful to the deceased. In addition, she even slandered Princess Chen.
The situation was getting more and more bizarre. “Have they been possessed?”
Thinking of this, the few Madams couldn’t help s.h.i.+vering, and their eyes twinkled with fear. These creepy things scared them, who liked wors.h.i.+ping Buddha and had superst.i.tious beliefs.
However, the imperial physician did not believe this. His eyes flickered as he thought of another possibility. Being an imperial physician in the Palace, he had seen many sinister schemes and was bound to think of it in a more practical way.
“When did Princess Chen behave abnormally?” the imperial physician asked, his face severe.
“When we entered the mansion, our Lady was fine, but later… Later, when we came to the courtyard where the memorial ritual was held…” Yujie answered while thinking as if she was trying hard to recall what had happened. “I think our Lady was fine when she knelt to recite scriptures. Later, when I went to serve Madam Jiang, I noticed she didn’t look right!”
“I wanted to go and check on her, but Madam Jiang was making a mess of it, so I couldn’t leave and had to calm her down first! When Infanta Yuan’an and Eldest Young Madam took Madam Jiang away, I finally had time to return to my Lady. She looked terrible and seemed to suppress something painfully. After that, she lost control!”
“Madam Jiang was still making a fuss at that time?” The imperial physician was sharp enough to grasp the main point and his heart skipped a beat.
As an imperial physician, he certainly did not want to be involved in any conspiracy. But now that he was part of it, he had to try his best to unravel the mystery. Otherwise, he might take the blame.
“It seemed that Madam Jiang had directed all her energies to create a disturbance today. She had accused Princess Chen of being rude to her. A moment ago, she was trying to frame Princess Chen. In particular, she placed a chair and a large table at the door of the mourning hall, sitting there to drink tea and eat snacks. She even ordered Princess Chen’s maid to serve her!” Infanta Yuan’an interrupted.
“How could she do such a thing?” It sounded incredible to the imperial physician. How stupid Madam Jiang was to act like that! However, he would never have guessed that Madam Jiang, who thought she had this matter well in hand, did all of this on purpose and made deliberate attempts to provoke Shao Wanru.
However, in the eyes of the imperial physician, she must have become crazy to apply these schemes.
“So, Madam Jiang is crazy, isn’t she?”
“Princess Chen was fine before. Even when she arrived at the mourning hall, she looked okay. So, who had approached her?” A glimmer came into the imperial physician’s eyes.
“Many people were in the mourning hall, and there were more coming and going. We’ve arranged many people there, so investigating this case may not be easy!” Zhao Xiran frowned and interrupted.
“Eldest Young Madam, when our Lady came in, the only outsider who was close to her was the Madam of Marquis Xing. She had been sitting right beside our Lady for a long time while our Lady was kneeling on the ground. Then she moved to the door to make a scene. No other servants got close to our Lady during this period!” Yujie reported.
Both those Madams sitting outside and the imperial physician inside widened their eyes in shock. “The Marquis Xing’s Mansion is truly insane, and so is Madam Jiang, the Madam of Marquis Xing!”
Princess Chen, n.o.ble with exalted status, was kneeling, but Madam Jiang was sitting comfortably. Even if she was the elder of Princess Chen, her disrespectful deeds humiliated the royal family.
Many Madams stole a sideways glance at Madam Jiang, who appeared to be a little strange: she frowned and reacted slowly. Was it because she lived a very ascetic life in the Yuhui Nunnery for too long a time, or because she was simply out of her mind?
“Where is the Madam of Marquis Xing? May I check up on her?” the imperial physician stood up and asked.
“She is in the outer room!” said Infanta Yuan’an.
“Please don’t worry. There’s nothing wrong with my mother!” Zhao Xiran refused with a smile.
They spoke almost at the same time. After they finished speaking, they looked at each other and smiled as if they were still close friends like old times.
Infanta Yuan’an was the first to stand up. She flicked her sleeves and stretched out her hand to guide him. “Imperial physician, come with me to see the Madam of Marquis Xing. I also feel she is not right!”
After that, she ignored Zhao Xiran and turned to walk out. Likewise, the imperial physician also turned a blind eye to Zhao Xiran and followed Infanta Yuan’an out.
Both of them used to be well-known n.o.ble ladies in the capital city, and Infanta Yuan’an’s status was just slightly higher than Zhao Xiran’s. In terms of power, Ruiping Great Elder Princess’s Mansion was more powerful than the Minister Zhao’s Mansion. But this time, it was different. Even if Infanta Yuan’an was not married, she would soon become Princess Zhou. In the future, she was very like to be the Empress.
Compared with her, Zhao Xiran was markedly inferior. After all, her husband was not even an heir of a duke. How could the imperial physician care about her opinions?
Zhao Xiran, facing such a sharp contrast, violently twisted the handkerchief in her hand with an angry glint in her eyes. She could hardly control herself. Nevertheless, she regained her composure quickly. While rubbing the handkerchief, she turned her head to look at Shao Wanru on the bed, for she might be the only person who could notice her lapse.
The curtain at the head of the bed dropped, so she couldn’t see what was inside. With her back to her, Yujie picked up Shao Wanru’s hand and moved it into the curtain. Seeing her hand limp and flaccid, Zhao Xiran knew Shao Wanru was still unconscious.
She felt relieved and said, “Yujie, take good care of Princess Chen. I have to go and see how it is going outside!”
“Eldest Young Madam, please do as you like!” Yujie turned around and bowed to Zhao Xiran respectfully. She stood in front of Shao Wanru’s bed with a nervous look. After all, she had a great responsibility when Shao Wanru fainted because she was her personal princ.i.p.al maid.
Zhao Xiran found nothing unusual and turned to leave.
Behind the curtain, Shao Wanru was very composedly looking at Zhao Xiran when she walked out. Most notably, she saw a sachet hanging on her belt and smelled its light scent, which could help ease people’s minds. If Zhao Xiran hadn’t suddenly gotten up and overreacted, the light smell couldn’t have come out from her abruptly.
With the fragrance on her and the delicate smell of the medicine in the room, no one could notice the particular scent.
However, Shao Wanru was sensitive to the smell of medicine and paid special attention to Zhao Xiran, who had completely lost her marbles for a second because of Infanta Yuan’an.
Because of this string of coincidences, Shao Wanru got close to the truth, the corners of her mouth lifting silently. Things were exactly what she had thought: Madam Jiang had…
“Madam, please stretch out your hand!” Outside, the imperial physician looked at Madam Jiang and instructed.
“I’m fine. I don’t need to see a doctor!” Madam Jiang seemed to have come to her senses at this time. She shook her head and took back her hand with a gloomy face.
The imperial physician felt awkward but didn’t withdraw his hand poised in midair. “Madam, you’d better let me check on you!”
“Madam Jiang, please let him do it. You know what, Princess Chen might have been plotted against!” Infanta Yuan’an said. Well, this charge sounded severe. If Madam Jiang didn’t allow the imperial physician to examine her, she would lay herself open to suspicion.
Madam Jiang frowned and was about to argue, but Zhao Xiran’s voice came. “Mother, please let the imperial physician check you out. You happen to feel a little uncomfortable. I wanted to go to the Palace not long ago and invited an imperial physician over to deal with your illness. Imperial physicians must be much better than those ordinary doctors who treated you before!”
Zhao Xiran walked to Madam Jiang after coming out from the inside and said softly.
Madam Jiang looked at her with a frown and slowly stretched out her hand. Zhao Xiran personally helped her put her hand on the pillow that was used for feeling the pulse and put a handkerchief on her wrist.
The imperial physician put his hand on her wrist and started to feel her pulse with a grave look.
After a while, he put down his hand and looked up to observe Madam Jiang’s face, which looked unhealthy at first glance. Her skin stretched taut over her high cheekbones, and her eyes appeared gloomy.
“What kind of medicine is she taking?”
“She has been sick since she was in the Jingxin Monastery. She came back just in time, so we invited several doctors to check up on her. Under their instructions, she took some medicine. Is there anything wrong with the medicine?” Zhao Xiran also frowned and asked the imperial physician uneasily in a low voice.
The imperial physician’s suspicious gaze fell on Madam Jiang, and he sniffed and drew in a faint scent through his nose.
There was a strong smell of incense and medicine on Madam Jiang. If the imperial physician didn’t get suspicious beforehand, he wouldn’t catch the whiff of something peculiar. He sized Madam Jiang up, and his eyes fell on the handkerchief in her hand.
“Madam Jiang, could I take a look at your handkerchief?”