Su Xiaoqi's words plunged the Grand Princess into thought, and she remained silent for a long time.
Knowing that the Grand Princess had something on her mind, she didn't disturb her, simply cradling a cup of tea and staring blankly at the medicinal herbs in the box.
After a long while, the Grand Princess asked, "Have the toxins in my body been completely cleared?"
Su Xiaoqi then felt her pulse and replied, "Your Highness has been taking your medicine well these past few days, so the toxins are no longer an issue."
"What about Bao Ge'er..." the Grand Princess inquired.
Su Xiaoqi quickly smiled, "Bao Ge'er is young, and his body's metabolism is strong; he has long been fine.
Moreover, when I arrived just now, I held Bao Ge'er's hand and also checked his pulse. He is indeed fine."
As Su Xiaoqi spoke, she suddenly remembered something, "That's right, speaking of poisoning, I recall seeing a prescription in the medical text that Dr. Lu gave me before.
If these medicinal herbs were given to Your Highness, who was poisoned earlier, I'm afraid your body would not be able to withstand it."
At most, she would die within half a year, in a condition where no illness could be diagnosed.
This was how the Grand Princess in her previous life had passed away silently.
The once vibrant Grand Princess's manor was thrown into chaos by the驸马 (fù mǎ - imperial son-in-law) and his concubines and mistresses.
Later, loyal servants around the Grand Princess managed to enter the palace and report these matters to Emperor Xingzhao. Enraged, he reclaimed the Grand Princess's manor, punished the驸马 and his associates, and brought Bao Ge'er and Princess Huian back to the palace to be raised.
This was the only way to somewhat appease the Grand Princess's spirit.
However, due to those events, Emperor Xingzhao was greatly angered. Coupled with his deteriorating health, he soon passed away.
Upon hearing that her beloved son was unharmed, the Grand Princess was relieved and began to speak about the origin of these medicinal herbs.
"I never realized that I had so many 'hidden dragons and crouching tigers' around me; each of them is so capable."
It turned out that these medicinal herbs were prescribed by the imperial physician who had been treating her.
He was clever enough to avoid suspicion by not dispensing the medicine himself, asking her to send someone to another pharmacy to fetch it.
Yet, she hadn't expected to be almost harmed by his scheme, which was truly tragic.
The Grand Princess was furious, and Su Xiaoqi quickly comforted her, "You had good intentions, and Your Highness's heart is pure. How could you have imagined such wicked intentions?
By the way, Your Highness, do you know who is responsible?"
The Grand Princess was merely lamenting her misfortune. The main priority now was to resolve the problem.
The Grand Princess nodded, stating that she had prepared two contingency plans for today.
The first was that if these medicinal herbs were indeed fine, she would pretend nothing had happened.
She would invite that imperial physician to visit the manor and catch up with Bao Ge'er and Princess Huian.
She could also let go of those troublesome concubines.
The second contingency plan was that if the medicinal herbs were found to be problematic, then things would get serious.
Su Xiaoqi asked curiously, "Your Highness, didn't you say last time that you were going to clean house? Was it not done?"
Su Xiaoqi had initially thought this matter had been resolved long ago and was surprised that the Grand Princess had delayed it until now.
"At first, I only replaced the people serving me, Bao Ge'er, and Princess Huian, but those scoundrels were blocked by the驸马..." the Grand Princess said with hatred in her eyes.
She had initially thought that making a scene would be enough to teach them a lesson.
She hadn't expected them to try again so soon.
This was clearly a sign that they intended to leave no escape for themselves.
The affairs of the Grand Princess's manor had been deliberately kept quiet, so there was no news in the public.
She had only heard rumors from Du Yiyi.
However, as it wasn't through official channels, she feared it might not be accurate.
Furthermore, she had visited the Grand Princess's manor less frequently during this period, and the Grand Princess had not entrusted her children to her care as before.
This was why she had assumed the Grand Princess had already dealt with the matter.
"Your Highness, the way these people used medicine is so sophisticated; they likely have someone powerful guiding them. They must not be spared," Su Xiaoqi said with some sympathy for the Grand Princess.
Although she didn't say it out loud, she still had some feelings for Liu Junsheng, the駙马.
After all, one should consider the face of the monk for the Buddha's sake; he was, in any case, the father of her children.
The Grand Princess, who loved her children dearly, naturally did not want their relationship with their father to become too estranged.
This was why she had endured the previous incidents.
This time, however, Su Xiaoqi did not wish for her to endure any longer, hence her unsolicited advice.
Some people do evil perhaps because they haven't thought things through or acted impulsively in anger.
But some people do evil because they are inherently wicked; no matter how others treat them, they will persist in doing evil.
This was the case with those people in the Grand Princess's manor.
The Grand Princess raised her phoenix eyes slightly, looking at Su Xiaoqi with surprise.
In her impression, Su Xiaoqi had always been gentle, amiable, and understanding, usually advising kindness and rarely proactively urging her not to spare someone as she did now.
The Grand Princess nodded, her resolve strengthened. She announced loudly, "Summon Jia Yixue."
Hearing the surname, Su Xiaoqi's temples throbbed.
Upon seeing Jia Yixue, her brow furrowed deeply.
Looking at this person, dressed in fine silk, with a plump face and eyes narrowed into slits, she felt he was utterly unreliable.
The Grand Princess sat regally at the head of the table and asked coldly, "Speak, who instructed you to prescribe this medicine?"
Jia Yixue had been invited by the Grand Princess today. The servants had used the excuse that the Grand Princess was ill again.
He had been thinking that his medicine must have taken effect.
He was contemplating prescribing another formula to make her health deteriorate even faster.
He had just ground the ink and finished writing the prescription when he was brought here before it could even dry.
His heart trembled, and he feigned innocence, "Your Highness, I do not understand what you mean."
Seeing his stubbornness, the Grand Princess directly ordered, "Slap his face."
As Madam Xu clapped her hands, two burly women entered from outside. Rolling up their sleeves, they aimed at Jia Yixue and began to slap him repeatedly.
Su Xiaoqi listened to the crisp sounds of the slaps and watched Jia Yixue's face swell visibly.
With one "slap," a tooth flew out.
Moments later, a mouthful of bloody foam flew out.
Interspersed were Jia Yixue's muffled pleas for mercy.
"Spare my life, Your Highness, spare my life..." Jia Yixue's speech was slurred as several of his teeth had fallen out.
The Grand Princess motioned for the women to stop and said calmly, "Good, then you can properly tell me about this prescription."
"No, no, the prescription is fine, I prescribed it, and anyone who sees it would say there's no problem..." Jia Yixue said confidently.
The problem with the prescription he prescribed was not that the prescription itself was flawed.
It was that certain herbs, when mixed or if the wrong herb was dispensed, would create a counteracting effect.
But who would know if he didn't say it?
Jia Yixue had already observed the situation upon his arrival.
In the reception hall, besides the Grand Princess, there was a young woman who, he suspected, understood nothing.
The Grand Princess was angered by his self-righteousness and couldn't help but cough.
Madam Xu quickly handed her a cup of hot tea.
Su Xiaoqi said, "Your Highness, since he claims his prescription is fine, and you still have the medicine here, why not have someone prepare a dose for him to drink?"
Jia Yixue was startled and finally noticed the red sandalwood box placed on the high table.
Good heavens, a box full of medicinal herbs.
Upon closer inspection, they were all the herbs from the prescription he had written.
Even the ones he had intentionally mismatched were included.
When such medicinal herbs were brewed into a single dose and consumed, a normal person would fall ill.
A sick person drinking it would lose half their life, become bedridden, and never recover.