"Consort Jing's miscarriage was caused by chronic poisoning."
Chen Ji's words were like a stone tossed into a still pond, sending countless splashes flying.
Even the gray smoke from the incense stick burning in the copper censer on the tea table, which had risen straight toward the ceiling, suddenly swirled into a tangled mass.
Nanny Chunrong stepped forward. "Are you certain? Speak! Who administered the poison?"
Bedding rustled behind the screen. Consort Jing seemed to have pushed herself upright on the bed.
The four brawny servants beside Chen Ji loosened their grips without realizing it and stopped tugging him so roughly.
Everyone was waiting for his answer.
Behind the screen, Consort Jing asked in puzzlement, "Are you certain someone poisoned me?"
Chen Ji did not answer. He merely took his time straightening his disheveled clothes and calmly asked, "Apart from Consort Jing, has anyone else in Evening Star Court felt unwell?"
Nanny Chunrong shook her head. "No. The daily activities of everyone in the estate are recorded, even those of the maids. If anyone feels unwell, they are absolutely forbidden from entering Evening Star Court, lest they pass the illness on to the unborn child."
After thinking for a moment, Chen Ji turned toward the screen. "My lady, may I search your room for clues?"
"How dare you," Nanny Xitang, standing beside Consort Yun, said angrily. "How can a man from outside the inner residence rummage through Consort Jing's room? What kind of conduct is that..."
Consort Jing cut her off. "Let him search if he wishes. If he can truly find the culprit who killed my child, what harm is there in letting him look through a few things? Chunhua, please take this young physician from the clinic outside first. Chunrong, put my clothes in order and help me dress and groom myself, then invite him back in to search."
Chunhua led Chen Ji downstairs and asked anxiously in a low voice, "Did someone really poison her?"
Under the night sky, Chen Ji stood beside the fishpond in Evening Star Court, watching the koi drift in and out of sight in the dark water. He did not answer, but remained lost in thought.
A little while later, Nanny Chunrong called him back upstairs.
Consort Jing was now sitting in a chair with a red cloak draped over her shoulders. She was in her thirties, and her hair had not been put up, but was simply tied behind her with a ribbon.
Pale-faced, she stared at Chen Ji. "I was just thinking about what you said about long-term poisoning. Could someone have tampered with the incense...?"
"No." Chen Ji shook his head. "The incense smoke drifts everywhere. If someone had tampered with it, Nanny Chunrong should have felt unwell too. So the person who administered the poison must have used something only you use, my lady, and something you use every day at that."
Seeing how certain he was, everyone fell silent and let him search.
The minutes and seconds ticked by until Chen Ji picked up a box of rouge.
"My lady, have you used this rouge when applying your makeup recently?" He examined the box in his hand. It was inlaid with white mother-of-pearl in the shape of a butterfly, as exquisite as a work of art.
Consort Jing shook her head. "I stopped using such things after I became pregnant."
Chen Ji set down the rouge box and swept his gaze over the objects one by one, but still could not find a clue.
Gradually, a fine layer of sweat beaded on his forehead.
Where is it? Where on earth is it?
After an unknown length of time, Consort Jing finally lost patience. "I thought you had the whole plan in mind, but it turns out you were only trying to mystify us. Never mind. I suppose you only made such a boast because you were afraid. You needn't fear being beaten to death. Just drag him out and give him ten strokes of the rod."
Consort Yun, who had been sitting upright the whole time, also lost interest and slowly rose. "I'm tired. Let's go back and rest."
"Wait." Chen Ji suddenly picked up a blue cup.
The cup was as blue as seawater, with a streak of green curling around it like ethereal clouds and mist. It was so beautiful it seemed not to belong to the mortal world.
Consort Jing sat up straight and asked in puzzlement, "Is there something wrong with that cup?"
Chen Ji asked seriously, "My lady, is there a metallic taste in your mouth that won't go away even when you rinse it?"
Consort Jing was startled. "How did you know?"
Chen Ji finally let out a long breath. "It's lead poisoning."
Nanny Chunrong was puzzled. "What does that mean? I've never heard of it."
"I mean this cup is poisonous."
Lead poisoning was unfamiliar to the people of this era, but Chen Ji was not unfamiliar with it at all.
This cup was technically known as a lead-barium glass cup, a kind of vessel that appeared when glassmaking had only just emerged in ancient times. Its beauty seemed to transcend the entire era, and it was beloved by nobles.
But though the cup was beautiful, it concealed poison. An adult might have to use it for years before problems appeared, but the amount of poison was already fatal to a fetus.
Consort Jing pondered. "This cup was..."
Chen Ji hurriedly said, "My lady, the source of the poison has been found. As for where the cup came from, that has nothing to do with me. May I return now? I have offended you greatly tonight. Please forgive me."
Consort Jing was silent for a moment. "Go. You will be generously rewarded another day."
Consort Yun said softly and gently, "Fortunately, you found the source of the poison, little sister. Otherwise, it would have been dangerous to keep drinking from that cup. Oh, I remember your family sent it to you, didn't they? You even brought it out especially for Viscount Liu's wife to admire when you entertained guests at the spring sacrifice poetry gathering."
Consort Jing's expression changed slightly.
Amid the delicate atmosphere in Evening Star Court, Chen Ji did not dare say a word. He could only lower his head and discreetly look around out of the corner of his eye.
The black cat and the white cat were still fighting. More precisely, the black cat was being beaten from the east side to the west, then from the west side back to the east. The black cat was too small to fight back at all.
How miserable.
Even cats have it hard in a grand household...
Wait. Chen Ji did not know whether it was his imagination, but he kept feeling that the black cat glanced at his sleeve from time to time as it fled for its life.
Nanny Xitang whispered beside Consort Yun, "My lady, we should go and rest."
As she spoke, she picked up the white cat, ready to leave.
Chen Ji was speechless. So the white cat belonged to Consort Yun, and the black cat belonged to Consort Jing.
This white cat's mission seemed to be to come here and beat up the black cat.
"I won't disturb your rest any longer, little sister." Consort Yun rose composedly. "Try not to go out for the time being. Rest and recuperate."
Consort Jing was silent for a moment. "Thank you, elder sister."
Consort Yun turned with a smile and said to a young maid, "Xibing, go and see this... Your name is Chen Ji, isn't it?"
Chen Ji lowered his head. "Yes, Chen Ji."
"Go on, Xibing. See him back to the clinic."
By the time they left Evening Star Court, it was past midnight, a quarter of an hour into the chou hour.
The autumn wind blew against the sweat coating Chen Ji's back, making him feel cold at once. He followed close behind Xibing, afraid that if he fell behind, some fresh complication would arise.
Xibing wore a pale yellow ruqun, and her steps were as light as an oriole's. Yet the girl seemed to have been trained: when she walked, the dangling ornaments in her hair barely swayed.
The vast inner residence was still bustling with people coming and going. Servants bowed to Xibing whenever they saw her; her standing was quite high.
Unlike the downcast servants of Evening Star Court whose names began with "Chun," Xibing always returned their greetings with a beaming smile, evidently in a fine mood.
As they walked, Xibing suddenly asked, "Do you think the person who gave Consort Jing that cup did it deliberately?"
Chen Ji did not answer, nor did he dare answer the question. He only smiled, pretending he had not heard.
Seeing this, Xibing gave a snort. "Fine, keep it to yourself."
Before Chen Ji returned to the clinic, Xibing looked him over and said with a smile, "The people at Evening Star Court tore your clothes tonight. Tomorrow I'll go to the clothing bureau and have two outfits made for you! You'd better remember that my lady is the most generous person in this estate. There's no future in being an apprentice at a clinic. If you can win my lady's favor, you'll have a promising future."
Chen Ji thought for a moment. "I'm grateful for Consort Yun's kindness, but there's no need to have clothes made for me."
Xibing rolled her eyes in a charming manner. "Other people can't win my lady's favor even when they want to, but look at you, pushing it away. Stop refusing. When my lady rewards you with something, what right does a mere apprentice have to turn it down? I'm off!"
Xibing turned and left, while Chen Ji pushed open the door and entered the clinic.
The moment he closed the door, he leaned against it and felt a wave of exhaustion. Ever since he had come to this world, danger had not ceased for a moment, and he had to summon every ounce of his attention to deal with it.
"Master's six-line divination really does seem to be genuine," Chen Ji sighed. Whether anyone else believed in such things or not, he did now.
Tonight's divination had indeed foretold grave danger. One slight misstep, and he would have died without a place to be buried.
He absolutely could not enter the prince's estate again. He had to stay far away.
Dragging his weary body, Chen Ji slowly shuffled toward the rear courtyard.
Standing beside the apricot tree, he heard She Dengke and Liu Quxing snoring in the apprentices' sleeping quarters. His two fellow apprentices were sleeping soundly.
No one was waiting for him to return, and no one cared whether he died in Prince Jing's Estate.
There was no one in this world to help him. He had only himself.
As he was thinking, Chen Ji's whole body froze.
The icy current in his dantian, several times more powerful than it had been yesterday, was raging violently through his body. In the mere flick of a finger, Chen Ji felt his blood, muscles, and bones freeze solid.
Stone-Bearing Stake-Embracing Technique!
Struggling, Chen Ji assumed the Stone-Bearing Stake-Embracing Technique's stance where he stood in the courtyard to resist the icy current.
But the icy current did not retreat into his dantian as it had yesterday. It was merely suppressed, no longer quite so turbulent.
A warm current surged from behind his waist and struggled against the icy current bit by bit. Chen Ji could not move and could only maintain the Stone-Bearing Stance.
Exhaustion and cold intertwined, and his eyelids grew heavier and heavier. After a few breaths, he actually fell asleep in that strange posture, standing beside the apricot tree.
A crow landed atop the apricot tree and silently watched Chen Ji turn into a statue in the darkness.