Chapter 20 - Did You Think You Caught Me in a Death Trap?

After Chu Junyi made the request, doctor Chen immediately agreed. He took out silver needles from the medicine box carried by the servant behind him and stuck them in Nurse Zhou’s several acupoints.

In no time, Nurse Zhou opened her eyes all of a sudden.

Madam Zhao’s heart shivered and her mind raced rapidly. She could never, ever let Nurse Zhou tell the truth! She coldly glanced at Liang Yu, who was standing beside her dumbfounded. Cursing “Useless dolt!” in her heart, she had no choice but to say something as a hint to Liang Yu. “Thank God. Liang Yu, what are you in a daze? Didn’t you see your mother has woken up? Have a good look at her and see if she’s well.”

Liang Yu saw the killing intent in Madam Zhao’s eyes and suddenly realized what to do next. He climbed forward and howled loudly. “Mother, you have finally woken up. Who is so vicious to throw you into the pond? She definitely wanted to kill you. Don’t worry. The master and madam will surely give us justice.”

At first, Nurse Zhou didn’t realize what had happened. When she heard Liang Yu’s cry, she woke up abruptly. Horrified, she looked at the first lady, whose eyes were full of hatred. Then she tried to speak in a hoarse voice. “Ma’am… you…”

Liang Yu’s heart beat wildly. If she spoke out the truth, their family would be destroyed. Thinking of this, Liang Yu gritted his teeth. He stepped forward to block Nurse Zhou’s sight, and while bending down to help her up, he slashed at Nurse Zhou’s throat with the right side of his right palm.

Nurse Zhou froze with a cough and glared at Liang Yu with bloodshot eyes. She couldn’t believe her own son would do this to her.

“Mom, speak slowly. Don’t worry.” Liang Yu was sweating all over his head. He knelt on the ground and kept shivering, not knowing whether he was nervous or afraid.

Nurse Zhou couldn’t make any sound at this time. She just glared at him with her bulging eyes, gasping with her mouth opened.

Liang Yu’s movements were extremely fast, and no one saw what he did to Nurse Zhou because his back blocked people’s sight.

Chen Yun frowned. He squinted and was about to say something, but Chu Junyi interrupted. “That’s weird. After we finally found a human witness, she was now unable to speak.”

Shen Ninghua changed color. It was clear that Chen Yun found out something wrong, but he said nothing because of Chu Junyi’s words. This didn’t fit in with the image of Chen Yun, who was the upright director of the Academy of Imperial Physicians. The relationship between the two seemed to be special. Somehow Shen Ninghua had this feeling that Chen Yun was obedient to Chu Junyi.

It was rather weird that Nurse Zhou suddenly became speechless. But it didn’t matter. As long as Shen Dong suspected Madam Zhao, she always had opportunities to make them unhappy.

The first lady was relieved, and her face finally carried a relaxed expression. “It’s a pity that she can’t speak. But it’s good that she’s still alive. The question now is why she was thrown into the lake?”

Madam Su who was nearby laughed. “Cousin, your words are reasonable. It really was strange that so many accidents happened when we were attending the banquet. The nurse was still alive when she was thrown into the lake. I guess she wasn’t in the water for long. We have searched Ninghua’s yard and didn’t find any problem. Just as we were about to search other yards, this happened…” Madam Su did not finish her sentence, but everyone understood her meaning. It was clear that someone was trying to bury the corpse of Nurse Zhou in order to destroy all traces of the crime.

Shen Dong’s face became gloomy at Madam Su’s words and he cast a fierce glance at her. Even if the situation was exactly like what she had described, she shouldn’t have said it so clearly. However, Madam Su was the wife of his brother after all, and he couldn’t yell at her. He could only look at the first lady with discontent and doubt in his eyes.

Madam Zhao was extremely annoyed, but she couldn’t show her anger. She just held Shen Linghan in her arms and wept. “Master, it’s all because of my poor management. I let such a big accident happen in the back yard. I’m really ashamed. I’ll investigate this matter clearly and then I will ask for your punishment.”

Shen Linghan looked up with tears in her eyes and said, “Father, mother has been trying her best to manage the back yard. Who knows why there’s poisoned wine in the front yard, and then there’s Nurse Zhou’s accident. She was too busy to handle so many things at the same time. Please forgive her.” As she said these words, she glanced at Baili Jinze, Chu Junyi and other people. Although it was a quick glimpse, it was full of beg and self-reproach, arousing great pity.

Baili Jinze said. “Master Shen, since Nurse Zhou can’t speak, we can take time and investigate her case later. Miss Linghan accidentally fell into the water. I think she must be frightened. Don’t be too harsh on her.”

Madam Su wiped her lips with a handkerchief. “The Fifth Prince was right. Linghan, I just heard that someone pushed you into the water? This is a very serious matter. We can’t let people easily murder the daughter of our Shen family.”

Shen Linghan lowered her head slightly, and her face became paler and more transparent. “I was too scared and got confused. No one should have pushed me into the pond. After all, only my sister was standing beside me. At that time… I must get the wrong feeling.” As she said these words, she looked at Shen Ninghua, pursed her lips and looked as if she was tolerating some injustice done to her.

Shen Linghan was clearly making a retreat in order to attack. By saying that she got the wrong feeling, she made Shen Ninghua a suspect. Shen Ninghua sneered in her heart, but her face was full of grievances. She looked up and explained to Shen Dong, “Father, I was standing next to sister, but I was three or four steps away from her. I might not be strong enough to push a person the size of my sister into the pond.”

Chu Junyi swayed his fan and went to examine the place where Shen Linghan fell into the pond. He smiled and kicked a string of prayer beads out with his tiptoe. “These prayer beads are really smooth. I almost fell down too.”

Shen Dong’s face darkened. Of course he understood Chu Junyi’s meaning. He was a little disappointed with Shen Linghan. This daughter had always been intelligent. Why did she keep doing stupid things today? Even if she wanted to slander someone, she had to find a good excuse. Besides, even he also noticed that Shen Ninghua was far away from her when she fell into the pond, and that Shen Ninghua could not have pushed her down.

Shen Linghan gritted her teeth and felt that the eyesights of the people around her were all like hands slapping on her face. She longed to find a crack in the ground to hide herself. Falling into the pond had startled her. When she recovered, her first thought was to fabricate a charge against Shen Ninghua. However, she didn’t have time to think about the details. As a result, her accusation was totally unconvincing. She glimpsed Shen Ninghua who was standing by her, and became more and more resentful. If it wasn’t for this bitch, how would she be so disgraced?

“Sister, I was so frightened that I almost misunderstood you. You won’t be angry with me, will you?”

Seeing that Shen Linghan’s eyes were full of self-reproach and innocence, Shen Ninghua shook her head slightly. She walked over and bent down to help Shen Linghan up who looked at her in surprise. Then she said intimately. “Sister, how can I blame you? I have just been back home and long to stay on familiar terms with you. Even though many misunderstandings have occurred today, I’m sure we will not be at loggerheads with each other. Don’t worry.” Since you want to fake innocence, I’ll play with you.

Shen Linghan’s face froze for a second and immediately returned to normal. “Then I’m relieved. Don’t worry, sister. We will find out the truth about the poison in the wine. I believe you are a kind girl.” Even if she got away with all these successfully, she couldn’t get away with the poisonous wine!

Hearing this, Shen Dong frowned and greeted Chen Yun, “Doctor Chen, would you please go to the front yard to help us check the wine?”

Chen Yun nodded. He took a look at Nurse Zhou on the ground whose breath was gradually fading, and turned to walk forward with Shen Dong and other people.

All the things in the main hall remained unchanged and Chen Yun went directly to the table. He took a wine cup in his hand, and as he smelled it carefully, he could not help frowning.

Shen Dong asked, “Doctor Chen, did you find anything wrong?”

Chen Yun shook his head. He went on to examine all the other wine cups on the table, and then looked at the wine jar taken by the servants. “Master Shen, what do you want me to find?”

Shen Dong’s eyebrows shivered. “To find if there is poison in the wine.”

“Master Shen, you are joking. The wine has a clear and lingering fragrance. The brewing materials are also very sophisticated. It’s good for the body if you drink a proper amount for a long time. Where does the poison come?”

Chu Junyi looked up at Chen Yun and saw him shaking his head slightly. He immediately looked at Shen Ninghua in surprise. Chen Yun had indicated that there was no poison in the wine! In order to protect himself, Chu Junyi learned some medical skills. The wine did contain arsenic, so he sent for Chen Yun and implicitly asked him to try to get Shen Ninghua out of the trap. He didn’t expect Shen Ninghua to have such a perfect plan. The arsenic in the wine was now gone. What magic power did the girl acquire when she was missing for more than half a year?

Shen Ninghua quietly raised her eyes, and a trace of coldness flashed. Zhao Yunxiang and Shen Linghan were really clever to make a set of interlocking plans. However, she was no longer that stupid Shen Ninghua.

She had returned with much hatred in her heart. She wouldn’t rest until she put them into hell one by one…

Madam Zhao and Shen Linghan thought their plans would surely be successful. But they didn’t know that poison was of least threat to her. If they dared to use arsenic, how come she could not quietly remove it? Shen Dong must have found something wrong. Now she would like to see how the mother and daughter were going to catch her in a death trap!

Shen Ninghua went straight to Shen Dong and said, “Father, I studied some medical books to brew the wine for you and grandmother and hoped it would help improve your health. I also collected the raw materials by myself. I sincerely thought that only when grandmother and you are healthy can the whole Shen family be peaceful.” She said these words with tears in her eyes. “However, I didn’t expect so many incidents. The poisoned wine issue not only concerned my innocence, but also jeopardized the Shen family. This wine was poisonous a moment ago, and now it is poisonless. Who knows the same thing will not happen with our meals?”

Shen Dong might not care about if it didn’t concern his own interest, but once his own safety was involved, he would certainly treat the issue seriously. She didn’t believe that Shen Dong was not suspicious of Zhao Yunxiang even now!

Madam Zhao’s face suddenly became livid, and cold sweat was all over her body. According to her plan, the poisoned wine and Nurse Zhou’s death would definitely catch Shen Ninghua in a death trap and that would be the end of the drama. But now the wine was not poisonous. Therefore, she was the root cause of the death of the servant who died after drinking the wine. Damn Shen Ninghua!

“Master, I am also puzzled about this. Doctor Qi, you have tested the wine. Did you find any problem?”

After hearing this, doctor Qi hurriedly went up to check the wine. He didn’t believe that his judgment was wrong. After studying the silver needle for quite a while, he frowned and said, “Doctor Chen, would you consider having a closer look? There is clearly arsenic in the wine. Why did you say that the wine was poisonless?”

Shen Ninghua raised her eyes and sneered. “Doctor Qi, you made an incorrect judgement. Now you are even suspecting doctor Chen. What makes you believe I added poison to the wine?”

Doctor Qi said angrily, “When something is poisonous, it’s odd to say it is poisonless. Poison is poisonous. Truth can’t be faked!”

Shen Ninghua’s voice became colder. “Faked? Doctor Chen has made a conclusion, but you don’t believe it. Do you have better medical skills than doctor Chen?”

Doctor Qi choked. Chen Yun was the most skillful doctor in the country and he was no rival to doctor Chen. But doctor Qi was annoyed that Shen Ninghua pointed it out in front of so many people. “Since you insist the wine is poisonless, show us the evidence. Otherwise, people may think you are arguing irrationally!”

Shen Ninghua’s eyes were as cold as snow. “If I can prove that the wine is poisonless, what will you do?”

“Then I will resign as the doctor of the Shen family!”

Shen Ninghua’s eyes flashed coldly. “OK, then I’ll prove it to you.”
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