Chapter 147: Poisoned

Seeing that Qiao Qingyun had truly produced the evidence, the old woman panicked for a moment.

Noticing the surrounding crowd pointing fingers at her, she threw another tantrum, "No! I don't care! What are you all accusing me of! No! Today you must become my son's wife!"

It was not entirely the old woman's unilateral decision. From the very beginning, when the man first laid eyes on Qiao Qingyun, he had harbored improper intentions toward her.

The man was named Zhen Lei. It was not as though he had never pursued other maidens in the past, but because those women despised his humble background, no one was ever willing to marry him.

Later, after Zhen Lei's older brother was conscripted into the military and sent back a sum of silver, their financial situation eased considerably.

Many young women began to flock to their household, yet who would have expected Zhen Lei to start turning his nose up at them and becoming overly picky.

The matter dragged on until the present day, when he laid eyes on Qiao Qingyun and revealed his intentions to the old woman.

With only this single son left, how could the old woman not pull out all the stops to help him?

Realizing that underhanded tactics were failing, she now resorted to blatant bullying.

"Damn her! Princess! Allow your subordinate to kill her!"

Zhong Shi suddenly drew the sword from his waist, pointing it at the old woman before him, and spoke with fierce hostility.

Startled, the old woman scrambled to her feet in a flurry and pointed at Zhong Shi, cursing, "Who do you think you are, daring to kill me! My son died in the military service! You have no right!"

"If this princess says he has the right, then he has the right."

Qiao Qingyun sneered as she looked down at the old woman, raising her voice to shout, "On the very day your eldest son died, you actually forced your daughter-in-law to remarry your youngest son—and she was heavily pregnant at the time! Just what kind of cold-blooded, heartless wretch could ever conceive of such a thing!"

"And now, you even dare to commit insubordination and attempt to crush me with public opinion? Consider yourself utterly unlucky to have crossed paths with this princess today!"

With a wave of Qiao Qingyun's hand, Zhong Shi immediately stepped forward, grabbed the old woman by the arm, and pinned her forcefully to the ground.

Still refusing to give up, the old woman shrieked at the top of her lungs!

"You're practicing lynching!"

"You dared to insult a Princess and coerce her into marriage, which constitutes treason and insubordination. Those who violate the law shall be beheaded!"

Zhong Shi let out a furious roar, completely frightening the old woman out of her wits.

She hadn't heard clearly just moments ago, but who could have imagined that Qiao Qingyun was actually a Princess.

At this realization, the old woman raised her head, staring timidly at Qiao Qingyun, while many of the surrounding townsfolk continued to point at her with expressions that clearly said she deserved it.

In an instant, her heart turned ice-cold.

So everyone else had known Qiao Qingyun's true identity, and only she had been left in the dark like a fool.

"Zhong Shi, have the Magistrate handle this matter. As for that Zhen Lei upstairs, since I've already collected his money, I won't kick him out just yet; let him leave once his treatment is complete."

"Understood."

Zhong Shi acknowledged the command and immediately escorted the old woman away to the Magistrate's office.

"Well done!"

Someone among the crowd started the chant, and soon the townspeople began cheering and shouting praises to Qiao Qingyun for a job well done!

The woman smiled and bowed in apology to everyone, "Apologies for causing a disturbance for you all today. If any of you ever need Qiao Qingyun's help, you are welcome to come to the medical hall at any time."

"Oh! Thank you, living Bodhisattva!"

"Indeed, the living Bodhisattva is truly miraculous."

Downstairs the commotion may have been, but Zhen Lei upstairs was not entirely unaware of the noise—though he had only heard the shouting and shouting, failing to catch what his mother had actually said.

After a short while, Qiao Qingyun went upstairs, pushed the door open, and entered Zhen Lei's room.

"How are you feeling now? Is it painful? Any discomfort? Do you feel nauseous?"

While Xu Lu and Chun Cheng were taking care of Aiqing, Qiao Qingyun rotated shifts to check on him.

Upon seeing Qiao Qingyun, Zhen Lei's eyes practically glued themselves to her. Smiling, he said, "My mother must have already spoken with you, right? Although I'm not sure if you're good enough for me, I've taken a fancy to you. Don't worry, I will treat you well."

"Hmph..."

Qiao Qingyun let out a cold laugh, never expecting such words to come from Zhen Lei's mouth.

"I have no idea what you're rambling about. Rest here for the next few days, and once your health improves, get out of here."

With that, Qiao Qingyun turned to leave, but Zhen Lei panicked at the sight and hurriedly cried out, "Wait! Didn't my mother tell you?"

"I forgot to mention, your mother has been sent to the Magistrate's office. If I were you, I'd lie down and obediently receive treatment—you might still have a chance to see your mother one last time."

"What?!"

Zhen Lei's face drained of color in utter shock as he shook his head with wide eyes, "Impossible, my brother just died in the military..."

"So what if he did? Let me warn you one last time: do not harbor thoughts you shouldn't have, or the consequences will be more than you can bear."

Having said her piece, Qiao Qingyun closed the door behind her, leaving Zhen Lei sitting in a daze on the bed.

The more he thought about it, the deeper his hatred for Aiqing grew in his heart!

If not for Aiqing, he would never have ended up in this state!

"Princess."

While Qiao Qingyun was busy reorganizing various medicinal prescriptions, Zhong Shi strode back into the room and cupped his fists in salute to her.

"Thank you for your hard work. Sit down and rest for a while."

Without lifting her head, the woman continued flipping through the documents. Zhong Shi nodded, obediently seating himself to the side, his gaze following her every movement.

"What did the Magistrate say? How will they be dealt with?"

"Insubordination and falsely accusing a Princess. Beheading in public at noon seven days from now."

"Mm."

Qiao Qingyun gave a faint response, continuing her busywork without looking up.

Time ticked away second by second, and just as she finally finished the tasks at hand and raised her head, she noticed rosy clouds illuminating the sky outside.

"Have I been busy for this long?"

Perhaps because she had not ventured outside the palace walls in a long time, such breathtaking sunset clouds were something one could never witness within the palace confines.

Inside, apart from the square patch of sky, everything else was uniformly identical, as though carved from the very same mold.

Zhong Shi walked forward and reached out to steady Qiao Qingyun's arm, having worried constantly over the past few days lest she overexert herself.

Therefore, he guarded her every waking moment.

"Indeed. Your injuries have not yet fully healed, Princess; how can you handle such high-intensity patient care?"

The tenderness in the man's eyes was unmistakable, and his hands trembled slightly as he held Qiao Qingyun's wrists, terrified of accidentally causing her harm.

"It's fine. With no one hunting us down right now, we don't have to scurry around hiding everywhere; we can slip out of the palace to look around whenever we please, which is rather leisurely."

"Princess, please rest now. You've been working tirelessly all day, not to mention running into such an unpleasant ordeal."

"Very well."

Just as he finally coaxed Qiao Qingyun back to her chambers to rest, the next second...

"Hurry! Physician! Physician, save us quickly!"

"Hmm?"

Zhong Shi's expression darkened.

Damn it, why is there another emergency?

Noticing that the frantic young servant running toward them was dressed in the attire of the Qinyin Pavilion and recalling Master Jieli, Qiao Qingyun's interest was piqued. "What happened?"

The servant wiped the sweat from his brow and, after catching his breath, blurted out, "One of the zither masters at our Qinyin Pavilion has been poisoned!"