Donglin took a deep breath, wishing to swallow down the bear paw on the table!
He felt so amused at the thought of the little maid’s shocked look while holding the gold ingot rewarded by His Royal Highness.
“Your Royal Highness, what about us testing the bear paw soup and the roasted bear paw?”
“Yes, Your Royal Highness, let us see if it’s poisonous.” They wondered how Miss Su had cooked the bear paws, which smelled so good!
Hardly had Donglin and Zuoqiu finished speaking when Xia Houmo gave them a stern look.
“No, you may retreat.”
Donglin and others reluctantly retreated while watching the bear paw on the table.
“Do you think His Royal Highness will eat it?” Having been with Xia Houmo for many years, they knew that Xia Houmo wouldn’t eat anything casually.
“This is hard to say. It smells so good after all.”
Zuowei punched Zuoqiu. “Do you think His Royal Highness is like you…”
In the room, Xia Houmo had already opened the hamper and the pot; instantly, the whole room was filled with the aroma.
Yueru was afraid of it getting cold and wrapped it with a quilt before leaving. The temperature was just right at this time.
Xia Houmo picked up a piece of roasted bear paw meat with his chopsticks and chewed it in his mouth.
The bear paw was crispy outside and tender inside; coupled with spices and sauce, it was delicious indeed.
Then he drank a bowl of soup, which was surprisingly tasty. Unconsciously, he had eaten everything up.
He gargled with some tea with a subtle smile on his lips.
He didn’t expect the girl to have such kind of surprising cooking skills.
“Donglin.”
Donglin, who was guarding outside, pushed the door open and entered in. Seeing the empty pot and hamper, he was stunned.
His Royal Highness always liked a light diet, but he had actually eaten up a whole bear paw!
Donglin was stupefied in his heart but appeared to be extremely serious.
“What can I help you, Your Royal Highness?”
“Send the sheep in the mansion to Su Mansion.”
“What?” Donglin was totally confused.
“As my gift of gratitude.”
Donglin instantly understood Xia Houmo’s intention.
After receiving a pair of bear paws, Miss Su sent a whole bear paw back; and now if he sent a sheep to her, she might return half of it as well!
Half a sheep was definitely too much for His Royal Highness to finish!
Thinking so, Donglin couldn’t wait to send the sheep to Su Mansion immediately.
“Yes, I’ll deliver it tomorrow.”
“Ok.”
Su Muge hiccuped after enjoying the dinner in Peachblossom Courtyard in satisfaction, but she would never expect her cooking skills to have been coveted from now on.
After a satisfactory meal, Su Muge leaned on the couch and stroked her stomach.
“Mother, please feed Wenmo more these days; don’t let him drink the nanny’s milk.”
Hearing this, Zhao turned a little serious.
“Is there something wrong with her?”
“Her milk tastes a little bit different from yours. Just in case, you shall feed him more. But for the time being, don’t make Fang suspicious. Just let her squeeze out the milk at night, and then we’ll dump it.”
In the afternoon, she had studied the milk of the two and found that Fang’s milk had a faint sour taste. After that, she fed the two bowls of milk to two mice respectively to see if there were any different reactions.
“Okay, I got it.”
After returning from the hunting party, their life seemed to have returned to the previous tranquility.
Su Muge kept entering the palace from time to time to detoxify the Emperor. Because Xia Houyin was grounded and Concubine Qin was not in the palace, she hadn’t encountered any trouble.
One day, Su Muge entered the palace again to treat Xia Hourui.
“Miss Su, you are here. His Majesty is already waiting inside.”
“Thank you, Eunuch Yi.” Su Muge walked into the hall, and Xia Hourui who was standing with his back to the door turned around.
As Su Muge was to salute, Xia Hourui waved his hand. “Well, no need to be over-courteous. I don’t think you are sincere every time you salute.”
“…” How did you know!
“I dare not.”
Xia Hourui smiled at her. “You are not a humble girl.”
“I feel a bit dizzy for the past two days. Come and see me.”
“Yes.”
Su Muge went up to check Xia Hourui’s pulse and found his Qi of liver and kidney even weaker than before, like the aggravated symptom of poisoning.
“Besides feeling dizzy these days, do you have any other discomfort, Your Majesty?”
“As before, I felt lethargic.” Xia Hourui said.
Su Muge frowned.
Xia Hourui’s diet and rest were all following her requirements, and Eunuch Yi had also controlled every step strictly. The problem should be something else.
Seeing Xia Hourui’s sleepy look, Eunuch Yi stepped forward and whispered, “Your Majesty, would you like to take a rest?”
Xia Hourui opened his eyes and stood up.
“No, let’s take a walk in the yard.” After talking, he looked at Su Muge. “Come and take a walk with me.”
Su Muge couldn’t figure it out for the time being and thought it good to refresh her mind outside, so she stood up.
“Yes.”
There was a medium-sized yard outside Xia Hourui’s chamber, which was full of fresh flowers and trees all year round.
Xia Hourui walked in the yard with his hands on his back, and Su Muge followed him in one step.
“I’ll take a walk in the yard whenever I feel sleepy, and then I’ll be much more energetic.”
Xia Hourui’s words did make sense; sedentary people were prone to get hypoxia in the brain which would lead to sleepiness, but the premise was that he must be a healthy person.
Xia Hourui walked to the fish pond and stopped.
Eunuch Yi immediately handed the fish food to him.
Xia Hourui grabbed some fish food and threw it into the water, and all the fish in the water gathered around for food.
“The fish are quite lively.”
After a glance at them, Su Muge shifted her sight to the flowers beside the fish pond.
She had seen this cluster of flowers last time, but it didn’t seem to bloom such deep purple flowers as now.
Su Muge had seen purple flowers, but this cluster of purple flowers were a little … too bright.
“Your Majesty, these flowers are so beautiful.”
Xia Hourui threw all the fish food in his hands into the water and wiped his hands with a handkerchief.
“Look, in the entire yard, flowers in this pile of soil bloom the brightest.”
Su Muge joked, “Your Majesty, you mean the soil in this area is most nourishing for flowers? No matter what kinds of flowers are planted here, they’ll bloom more beautifully than other flowers?”
“Yes, the gardener will transplant any flowers that are dying in the yard to this area, and they will revive within a few days.”
Su Muge squatted down out of curiosity, took a handful of soil and sniffed it. Sure enough, she sensed a faint smell of medicine.
This soil was nourished with medicine.
Seeing Su Muge’s unusual behavior, Xia Hourui put on a stern look. “Why? Is there any problem with this soil?”
Su Muge kept her countenance and hid the soil in her hand into her sleeve.
“I’m not good at planting flowers. How can I know if there is a problem with this soil?”
“Your Majesty, let’s go back to the palace.”
After walking for a while, Xia Hourui felt much better. “OK.”
Back in the chamber, Xia Hourui dropped his gaze on Su Muge.
“Now, can you tell me the truth?”
“Your Majesty, I discovered a faint smell of medicine in the soil. The root cause of your poisoning hasn’t been found yet, so I want to see if there is any problem with the soil.”
She could detoxify Xia Hourui, but if she couldn’t find the root cause of his poisoning, Xia Hourui would be trapped in the vicious circle of poisoning and detoxification.
“OK.”
Su Muge opened her medical kit, put the soil into the porcelain dish, and poured the reagent into it to test its toxicity.
In a while, the black medicine in the porcelain plate gradually turned into a bright green liquid. There was something wrong with the soil indeed!
Then she poured the medicine for Xia Hourui in, and the color of the mixed liquid did become much lighter.
So, the soil must be the root cause of Xia Hourui’s poisoning!
“Your Majesty, the soil is poisonous, and it is the same poison as the poison in your body. This is probably the root cause of your poisoning.
“Bang!”
Xia Hourui patted the dragon table, which was shaking fiercely. Su Muge lowered her head; she had done what she should have done and had nothing to do with how Xia Hourui would dispose of those who poisoned him.
“Your Majesty, don’t be angry.” Eunuch Yi knelt while trembling.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure that the soil is associated with Your Majesty’s poisoning.”
“Eunuch Yi, do you know what to do?”
“Yes, I see. I’ll do it right now.”
“Investigate this matter secretly. Only a few people can enter my chamber after all.”
“Yes, yes.”
Xia Hourui turned to Su Muge. “Su Muge, I give you one more month to detoxify me. Can you do it?”
One month was just the needed time to expel the remaining poison in Xia Hourui’s body.
“I’ll do my best.”
Since the poison in Xia Hourui’s body had aggravated, Su Muge could only adopt acupuncture to expel his poison again.
When she left the palace, it was already afternoon.
A little maid led Su Muge out of the palace. Having had nothing for lunch, she was extremely hungry at the moment.
“I heard that King Dingxi was to come back.”
“King Dingxi? Without the imperial edict of His Majesty, he couldn’t return to the capital!”
“I heard that the previous Emperor had said that he could come back when the Emperor’s mother celebrated her birthday. This year is just her 60th birthday!”
Two palace people were whispering secretly in the darkness, but their conversation had been heard by Su Muge.
King Dingxi was going back to the capital!
Su Muge didn’t return to Su Mansion but went to the West City Street.
The small yard rented by Cheng Ran was in the alley on this street.
The alley was quite remote, so there was not even one figure along her way. She walked to the last house in the alley and heard children talking inside.
Before Su Muge stopped to knock at the door, someone opened it from inside.
“Miss?” It was Cheng Ran. Seeing Su Muge standing outside, he was surprised.
Su Muge smiled. “Well, I happen to be free and come to have a look.”
Cheng Ran stepped aside to let Su Muge in.
As soon as Su Muge entered, the children in the courtyard looked towards her curiously.
“Come here. This is the eldest Miss.”
The children obediently stepped forward and saluted Su Muge. Cheng Ran must have taught them before.
“Miss, pay my respects to you.”
“No need to be over-courteous. Get up.”
Su Muge noticed a little girl standing at the end was staring at Cheng Ran with a pleading look.
“What’s up?”
