Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 340 Medicine

Phoenix Palace.

Xingyu led Meng Shu to the side hall, where a layer of medicinal scent lingered under the vermilion corridor.

"Please wait here a moment, Your Majesty," Xingyu said softly. "By His Majesty's grace, the Lady of the Marquis has come to Fengyi Palace today to visit the Empress, and is currently speaking with Her Majesty the Empress." (The Lady of the Marquis here refers to the Lady of Weibei, the Empress's stepmother, Lady Jiang.)

Meng Shu sat down in the rosewood armchair and asked, "Has Consort Mei not arrived yet?" Today, she was supposed to be attending to Consort Mei together.

"Consort Mei sent word that she is currently accompanying the Empress Dowager to admire the flowers and will arrive later." Just as Xingyu finished speaking, a palace maid entered carrying a gilded tea tray. She stepped forward to take it and personally placed the teacup beside Meng Shu.

"This servant still needs to go to the outer room to oversee the preparation of the medicine. Please have some tea first, Your Highness."

After Xingyu left, Donggua immediately stood on tiptoe and looked around. The bronze lion-shaped incense burner at the corner of the hall was emitting blue smoke, which mixed with the smell of medicine wafting from next door, making people's temples throb.

Donggua took out a handkerchief to cover his nose and whispered, "Didn't the imperial physician say that Her Majesty the Empress's illness was not serious? Why does the medicine smell so strong?"

Meng Shu suddenly grabbed her wrist: "It's precisely because you're sensitive to smells that ordinary people wouldn't notice anything when they smell this medicine. Donggua, try to smell it carefully, maybe you can tell which medicines are in it?"

Donggua walked to the window, focused his mind, and quickly counted on his fingers, saying, "There are Atractylodes macrocephala, Poria cocos, Paeonia lactiflora, Ligusticum chuanxiong... these have a milder taste, and there are Cuscuta chinensis, Leonurus japonicus, Angelica sinensis... I don't know about the others."

Meng Shu's expression hardened slightly.

Every day at Chenshi (7-9 AM), Physician He would come to take the Empress's pulse. Meng Shu came twice, once in the morning and once in the evening. However, the smell of the medicine she detected on both occasions was slightly different, which aroused her suspicion.

Hearing Donggua rattle off a list of medicines, she knew, though ignorant of medicine, that the imperial physician's prescription shouldn't contain dodder seed or motherwort. These blood-activating herbs together resembled a folk remedy like the Five-Seed Progeny Pill, though these were generally for men...

"However, besides the taste of the herbs themselves, there is also a very faint fragrance."

Donggua pointed to the incense burner in the corner of the hall, "This incense burner is filled with agarwood, but it is also mixed with other spices. I can't smell exactly which ones for the time being, but I can confirm that I never had this kind of smell when I was in the mansion with Aunt Lu and the Sixth Miss."

Meng Shu stepped forward, hesitated for a moment, and then lifted the lid of the incense burner. Dong Gua leaned closer to examine it, but didn't dare stir the ash. After a moment, he shook his head: "I can't see anything. It just looks like sandalwood powder."

Footsteps faintly came from outside. The moment Meng Shu closed the incense burner lid, she caught a glimpse of a few reddish-brown spots peeking out from the inside of the lid. She didn't have time to think about it and quickly returned to her seat.

With a soft rustling of the beaded curtain, Consort Mei gracefully entered. Today, she wore a crimson brocade palace dress, with gold-embroidered plum blossoms on the hem of her skirt peeking out as she walked, making her appear much more vibrant.

Meng Shu rose and bowed according to the rules, but Consort Mei ignored her and sat down, glancing at her lightly. "Consort Meng arrived early. It seems that after leaving Consort Chun's side, she is eager to get close to the Empress again."

Meng Shu calmly straightened up and gracefully sat back down in the armchair.

“It is not that I arrived early, but that Your Majesty arrived too late. However, His Majesty has always been kind to Your Majesty’s frail health, and Your Majesty is also under the care of the Empress Dowager. If Your Majesty is unwilling to attend to your illness, I believe Your Majesty the Empress will not blame you.”

Consort Mei, who had been preparing to use her position to put pressure on others, retorted upon hearing this, "Don't talk nonsense. When did I ever say I didn't want to serve the sick?"

Meng Shu suddenly twitched her nostrils slightly, pressed her slender fingers against her temples and whispered, "Why is the smell of medicine so strong today? It's giving me a headache."

Consort Mei was also feeling a bit stifled. Upon hearing this, her eyes flickered slightly, and she instructed Liuli to open the window.

Liuli responded and went to the window. She had just opened half of the window when her expression suddenly changed, as if she had seen something. Donggua was about to go forward to check when Xingyu led the palace servants in.

The group then proceeded to the sleeping quarters. As they passed under the corridor and got closer to the room where the medicine was being prepared, the tightness in their chests intensified, and they could faintly smell blood.

Meng Shu noticed that Liu Li looked absent-minded and stopped to ask, "Has the Imperial Hospital changed the prescription for Her Majesty?"

Xingyu lowered her head and replied respectfully, "Your Majesty, the prescription has not been changed. Her Majesty the Empress felt much better after taking the medicine and just spoke with Lady Hou for a while, which is why you two have been waiting for so long."

As the group entered the main hall, they happened to see Granny Gui seeing Madam Jiang off. Behind Madam Jiang followed a woman dressed as a nanny, short in stature and with a somewhat rough face, who did not seem to be from the capital.

Madame Chiang bid farewell according to the proper etiquette, and was then escorted out of the palace by Granny Gui.

Inside the bedchamber, the Empress leaned against the bed, her complexion much rosier than in the previous few days.

"I feel really bad that my two younger sisters have been coming to Fengyi Palace to take care of me every day. Doctor He came to check my pulse this morning and said that I would be fully recovered after taking another dose of medicine."

Consort Mei said, "The day of His Majesty's return to the capital is only a few days away. The Empress's illness has also improved, which relieves His Majesty of worry."

The Empress smiled slightly upon hearing this and said, "It turns out there's nothing seriously wrong, Xingyu."

Xingyu, who was standing to the side, immediately stepped forward with two carved sandalwood boxes.

"You two sisters have worked hard these past few days," the Empress said gently. "This is some deer placenta cream that was just delivered from the manor. It's excellent for nourishing the skin. Please take some back with you."

Liuli and Donggua stepped forward to receive the gifts. A palace maid brought over embroidered stools, and Consort Mei and Meng Shu sat down in front of the bed.

While Consort Mei and the Empress were talking, Meng Shu subtly observed the layout of the hall, which was no different from the previous two times she had come. The incense burner under the window, which resembled a lion statue, seemed to be burning the same sandalwood as the one in the side hall.

She turned her head slightly to look at Donggua behind her, who shook his head almost imperceptibly, indicating that there was nothing unusual about the incense in the bedroom.

"Consort Meng looks a little pale, is she feeling unwell?"

The Empress turned her phoenix eyes slightly, her voice filled with concern, "You serve the Emperor the most these days, so you should take care of your health."

Consort Mei covered her lips with a handkerchief and scoffed, "Consort Meng stayed in the side hall for a long time, so she was probably affected by the smell of medicine. Her Majesty the Empress's bedchamber is clean and refreshing, with no trace of medicine in it."

Upon hearing this, the Empress's face darkened, and she rebuked Xingyu: "After serving me for so many years, you've become increasingly ungrateful. Who gave you permission to place the two consorts near the pharmacy?"

Xingyu hurriedly knelt down and begged for forgiveness: "This servant deserves to die. It was because this servant did not think things through for a moment. I beg Your Majesty to punish me!"

Seeing the Empress's sudden urgency, Consort Mei couldn't help but overthink things.

Meng Shu said gently, "Your Majesty, please calm down. It's just a small matter, why get angry? Miss Xingyu has been busy preparing medicine and soup for Your Majesty these past two days, and it pains me to see her like this."

She was also deeply concerned about the Empress's health, and had been constantly tending to the medicine stove these past two days, not daring to slack off.

Consort Mei curled her lips into a mocking smile. "Consort Meng is always considerate of her servants. I suppose she often feels a sense of shared suffering?"

"I have long heard that the Duke of Qing's mansion is renowned throughout the capital for its kindness and generosity towards its servants, and the eldest daughter of the mansion is especially kind-hearted. Consort Mei has inherited this family tradition; surely she has always cherished a compassionate heart?"

Consort Mei opened her mouth, but then decided not to say anything more.

After spending about half an hour at Fengyi Palace, Xingyu led the way again when everyone left, this time deliberately avoiding the Medicine House.

Meng Shu seemed oblivious, and after returning to Bilangxuan, she went straight to the study to look for medical books.

Meanwhile, Consort Mei returned to Wutong Pavilion and called Liuli aside to ask, "Tell me, what exactly did you see just now?"