Chapter 122: Was That Going Too Far?

Page (1/3)

“Master, how is he?”

Tan Qingjiu’s gaze fell upon the faintly trembling eyelashes, and the corners of her lips curved upward. She merely turned her head and said, “Tan Yunge did indeed poison Zijiao.”

“What?” Qingdai deliberately lowered her voice, yet could not conceal the astonishment in it. “Although Tan Yunge is not Young Master Zijiao’s birth mother, she raised him by her side from the time he was little. Six years—that is a long time. Even if he was not her own flesh and blood, surely six years of raising him should have given her some affection for him, shouldn’t it?”

“Besides, although Young Master Zijiao has a somewhat fiery temper, he is still a child at heart—innocent and kind by nature. How could she… not feel even the slightest affection for him after all these years?”

Tan Qingjiu pressed her lips together. “Tan Yunge took Zijiao from me because she had been married to the heir for two years without conceiving a child. She desperately needed a child to secure her position, so that she could sit firmly as the heir’s consort.”

“In the end, it was all for power and status. Zijiao was nothing more than a tool she used to consolidate her position.”

“In the heir’s residence, Zijiao had nurses to teach him and maids to wait upon him. I doubt Tan Yunge ever personally took charge of his upbringing or education. She never endured ten months of pregnancy, never suffered the agony of childbirth, and never raised or taught him herself. Where would her affection for Zijiao have come from?”

“Look at what happened. When Prince Duan took Zijiao to Prince Duan’s residence, the first thing she worried about was that after spending too much time with me there, Zijiao might acknowledge me as his birth mother. Once she no longer had the child as her support, she feared that Prince Ding’s residence and the heir of Prince Ding would cast her aside.”

Qingdai nodded, but could not help sighing softly. “Young Master Zijiao is truly pitiful.”

“Then, Master, is the poison in Young Master Zijiao’s body serious? Can you cure him?”

Tan Qingjiu nodded before continuing, “Tan Yunge must have poisoned Zijiao after I returned to the capital and she saw me.”

“She probably knew by then that I possessed medical skills, so she must have gone to some trouble. The poison she chose is rather obscure.”

“She did it precisely because she did not want me to have any chance of curing him.”

Qingdai’s eyes widened, and her voice suddenly rose. “How could she be so vicious? Then Young Master Zijiao—”

“Shh!” Tan Qingjiu hurriedly raised a finger to her lips and glanced quickly at the person on the bed.

The figure on the bed was rigid from head to toe, while his eyelashes trembled more and more violently.

The corners of Tan Qingjiu’s lips lifted. “Don’t worry. Although Tan Yunge did go to considerable lengths and chose a very rare poison, she overlooked one thing.”

“She probably thought that I had only been missing for six years. No matter how impressive the medical skills rumored outside might be, they could never truly have reached a miraculous, near-saintly level.”

“Unfortunately for her, my medical skills are far beyond what she imagined.”

Page (1/3)

Page (2/3)

“Perhaps no one else has ever heard of this poison, but to me, it is child’s play.”

“Child’s play?” Qingdai looked utterly bewildered.

Tan Qingjiu smiled. “Don’t worry. I can cure this poison.”

Recalling the eyelashes that had trembled incessantly on the bed moments ago, the amusement in Tan Qingjiu’s eyes deepened. “However, treating this poison is somewhat troublesome.”

Tan Qingjiu let out a quiet sigh. “Zijiao will have to cooperate fully. But now, as for Zijiao…”

“He may not be willing to cooperate.”

“Is curing it really that troublesome?” Genuine confusion filled Qingdai’s eyes.

Tan Qingjiu nodded. “Every day, half an hour after taking his medicine, he must jog for half an hour.”

“What kind of method is that for curing poison?”

Tan Qingjiu lowered her eyes and smiled faintly. “It is not difficult to understand. He does not necessarily have to run; he can do something else instead. The purpose is simply to make the poisoned person sweat, allowing the toxins to leave the body through perspiration.”

“Ah…” Qingdai finally understood and nodded. “So that is how it works.”

“Yes, but Zijiao… You saw his attitude today. He is still deeply resistant to me.”

Tan Qingjiu gave a bitter laugh. “I know. He was separated from me for six years, and Tan Yunge is the heir’s consort, while I am merely an ordinary physician. I cannot give him the life he wants or provide him with wealth and glory. It is only natural that he would look down on me.”

“But I did not want to be separated from him for so long, either. Six years ago, Tan Yunge drove me almost to the brink of death. After giving birth to Zijiao, I had exhausted every ounce of my strength. She snatched him away from me and kicked me aside. I was in so much pain that I could scarcely crawl.”

“My head struck a rock, and I fainted at once. I must have stopped breathing for a time and fallen into a state resembling death. Tan Yunge and Matron Li thought I was dead, so they threw me into the burial grounds for the unclaimed dead and left me to fend for myself.”

“Later, I regained consciousness and encountered a passing carriage. I hurriedly begged for help, but the people inside saw me covered in blood and all alone. Not only did they refuse to save me, they even ordered the coachman to drive the carriage over me…”

“I had already exhausted the last of my strength by then and fell into a complete faint.”

“If someone had not eventually rescued me that time, I doubt I would be here today.”

Tan Qingjiu gave a bitter laugh. “But Zijiao does not know. Tan Yunge raised him from childhood, and he knows nothing of what she did to me back then. I do not blame him for refusing to acknowledge me.”

Page (2/3)

Page (3/3)

Tan Qingjiu sighed. “But the poison must be cured. I will think of something tomorrow and see whether I can coax him into running a little so that he can work up a sweat.”

Tan Qingjiu left the room where Shen Zijiao was staying with Qingdai. Only then did the person lying on the bed spring upright.

Shen Zijiao stared fixedly at the doorway, his expression showing the faintest trace of emotion.

Because of everything that had happened during the day, he had already been having trouble sleeping. In fact, he had never fallen asleep at all; he had merely kept his eyes closed and pretended to sleep.

He had noticed Tan Qingjiu the moment she entered earlier.

But he truly had not known how to face her, so he had simply pretended to be asleep, wanting to see what she intended to do.

He had never expected to hear all of this.

Shen Zijiao turned over on the bed. Had Tan Qingjiu been telling the truth?

She probably had.

Tan Qingjiu should not have known that he was awake.

So his mother really had treated Tan Qingjiu that way all those years ago?

Shen Zijiao clenched his teeth, his thoughts growing more and more chaotic.

He had never imagined that the woman he had called Mother for six years was not actually his mother.

Not only was she not his mother, she was the person who had harmed his birth mother and taken him away from her.

Tan Qingjiu really had suffered terribly back then.

And before this, he had treated Tan Qingjiu so cruelly…

Shen Zijiao clenched his teeth again. Had he gone too far?