bayedsolid Chapter 985 Waist
Chapter 985 Waist
. Shen Weiwan squatted down to pick up the book, and suddenly noticed a flash of black behind the column. She didn't look up, but just put the ink-stained paper away separately, and said to the maid: "Please tell the talented lady that the licorice in the imperial pharmacy is almost used up. If she still wants to drink the tranquilizing soup, remember to have someone send it to her tomorrow." She knew that Shen Qingyao had been suffering from insomnia recently and had to drink the soup with licorice every night. The housekeeper saw the ink-stained pages and was about to get angry, but saw the imperial physician Li rushing in: "The queen is not feeling well, and she wants Shen Gengyi to take her pulse." The nanny's words were stuck in her throat, and she looked at Shen Weiwan and left with the imperial physician Li, her face ashen. The queen's bedroom was filled with a strong smell of medicine. As soon as Shen Weiwan took her wrist pulse, she felt that the pulse under her finger was weak - a sign of long-term use of cold medicines. She was about to speak, but saw the queen suddenly cover her heart and cough, and a trace of black blood flowed from the corner of her mouth. "Quick! Call the imperial physician!" The eunuchs were in a mess. Shen Weiwan looked at the medicine bowl beside the Empress's pillow. Among the remaining medicine residue inside, one ingredient was an overdose of cinnabar. When the Empress was diagnosed with chronic poisoning, Shen Qingyao was the first to kneel before Xiao Che: "Your Majesty, Sister Weiwan came to the Empress's palace yesterday!" Xiao Che looked at Shen Weiwan, kneeling on the ground, her sleeves still stained with medicine residue: "What did you do yesterday?" "I changed the charcoal fire in the Empress's medicine furnace," she replied calmly. "I also helped to clean up the medicine box. The Empress was there at the time." The Empress's face changed slightly: "You are talking nonsense!" "I am not talking nonsense." Shen Weiwan looked up. "The Empress's handkerchief fell next to the medicine box, and it was stained with almond powder - the Empress's medicine contains ground almonds." Xiao Che looked at the Empress's maid, who suddenly collapsed to the ground. It turned out that the Empress, resentful of the Empress's suppression of her, had almond powder mixed into the medicine. Unexpectedly, the Empress was allergic to almonds. She intended to make her sick, but she nearly killed her. After the incident, Xiao Che summoned Shen Weiwan to the Imperial Garden. She was squatting by the flowerbed, digging out a poisoned rose—the root of this rose was the source of the poison used in the Empress's chambers. "Did you know this all along?" Xiao Che stood behind her. "Rose roots are strong, so they're hard to detect when mixed with medicine." She still clutched the flower root in her hand. "I saw it in the waste materials of the Imperial Pharmacy a few days ago." He looked at the dirt between her fingernails and suddenly said, "My study needs someone to grind ink." The day Shen Weiwan moved into the side hall of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Shen Qingyao sent a box of snacks. She opened it and found a lotus cake sprinkled with almond powder. The maid turned pale with fear, but she picked up a piece and sniffed it, "Tell the talented lady how kind she is, but I've been avoiding meat lately." The snack was given to the maid in the laundry department. That night, Shen Qingyao was found to have mixed croton powder into the lotus cake. Although she was not severely punished, she was confined to her room for three months. There was always a pot of asparagus fern in Xiao Che's study, which was raised by Shen Weiwan. When he was reviewing memorials, she would sit beside him, grinding ink, and occasionally talking about some medicinal herbs - which chrysanthemum can improve eyesight, which mint can refresh the mind. "You seem to be afraid of nothing." Xiao Che put down his red brush and watched her prune the dead branches of the asparagus fern. "There are many things to be afraid of." She threw the cut dead branches into the charcoal basin, "I'm afraid of prescribing the wrong medicine, I'm afraid of remembering the wrong time, and I'm even more afraid..." She paused, "I'm afraid of betraying Your Majesty's trust." He suddenly held her hand, and there were small wounds on her fingertips left by pruning the branches. "That day in the fish pond, you knew it was Shen Qingyao who framed you, why didn't you defend yourself?" "Because Your Majesty wanted to see my reaction." Shen Weiwan said softly, "Your Majesty wanted to see it too, right?" Xiao Che smiled. It was the first time she saw him smile. The candlelight danced in his eyes like falling stars. After the summer, the Empress Dowager's birthday was approaching. Each palace was preparing gifts. After her confinement was lifted, Shen Qingyao was particularly attentive, personally embroidering a picture of a hundred years of longevity. Shen Weiwan, however, had only prepared a box of pills—made from lotus seeds, lilies, and poria cocos, supposed to soothe the mind and nourish the heart. On the day of the birthday banquet, as Shen Qingyao presented the picture of a hundred years of longevity, she suddenly covered her face and sobbed, "When I embroidered this picture, I kept feeling dizzy. I'm afraid I've been bewitched." She looked at Shen Weiwan and said, "The other day, when I went to the Imperial Pharmacy, Sister Weiwan gave me a box of tranquilizing pills." The Imperial Hospital immediately inspected the pills and found cinnabar inside. Shen Qingyao cried even harder, "How could my sister do this to me!" Shen Weiwan stood in the hall, looking at the box of pills—she had indeed made them, but the wax seal had been tampered with. She suddenly looked at Xiao Che and said, "Your Majesty, I added mulberry bark to my pills, which turns green when exposed to vinegar." Xiao Che had someone bring vinegar and drip it on the pills. The pills remained unchanged. "This isn't my medicine," Shen Weiwan said in a clear voice. "My medicine also contains pine pollen, which will produce a yellow foam when it comes into contact with water." Tests confirmed that the pills had been switched. Unable to withstand the interrogation, Shen Qingyao's maid confessed that her master had bribed the servants in the imperial pharmacy to switch the medicine. The empress dowager sighed, looking at Shen Qingyao's pale face. "Send her to Jing'an Temple. The ancient Buddhas and the green lamps may help temper your character." When Shen Weiwan returned to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, she found Xiao Che staring blankly at the pot of asparagus fern. She walked over and noticed a leaf had turned yellow. "She deserved a better future," Xiao Che said softly. "In this palace, those with bad intentions won't get far." Shen Weiwan cut off the yellow leaves. "Just like this asparagus fern, its roots are rotten, no amount of watering will help." He suddenly hugged her from behind, his chin resting on the top of her head. "Wanwan, as long as I'm here, no one can harm you again." By the time the snow fell again that winter, Shen Weiwan had been conferred the title of Concubine Wan. She stood on the corridor of Changchun Palace, watching the newly arrived beauties line up to pay their respects, and suddenly thought of herself when she first entered the palace. "Your Majesty, His Majesty is waiting for you in the warm room." The maid reported softly. Silver charcoal was burning in the warm room, and it was even warmer than when they first met. Xiao Che was looking at a painting that she had painted - a snowy scene in the imperial garden. There were two small figures in the corner, just like the day they first met. "You should write a title for this painting." Xiao Che held her hand and asked her to hold the pen. The tip of the pen fell on the blank space, and she wrote the word "An". He added a "Ning" next to it, and together they read "An Ning". The snow was still falling outside the window, and the vermilion palace walls were dyed white. Shen Weiwan leaned on Xiao Che's shoulder, listening to his heartbeat, and suddenly understood what her mother said - patience is a good medicine, but trust and sincerity are the warming and nourishing soup that can cure all diseases. Within the palace walls, calculations never stop, but as long as there is this little warmth around, even the deepest winter can turn into spring. Just like that pot of asparagus fern, as long as the roots are still there, new leaves will always emerge, and over the years, it will slowly grow into the desired shape. He kept saying, "It's better than the ones in Suzhou Embroidery Workshop!" "I want to rent a shop." Shen Zhiyi plucked up the courage to say, "Does Mr. Gu have any connections?" Gu Yunzhou pondered for a moment and said, "There is an empty shop next to Jufulou. The monthly rent is 300 wen. If you buy it, I will ask the kitchen to leave a small door for you.