Chapter 407: Continuous Vomiting Blood, the Situation is Bad
Fortunately, the members accompanying the Du family were somewhat perceptive, quickly intercepting Du Fuling and counseling, "Miss, don’t act impulsively. Saving your brother is the priority right now."
Upon hearing this, Du Fuling slapped him then raised her hand for another slap, enraged, "You damn runt, do you think you can lecture me?"
Bai Zepei also couldn’t resist frowning and interjected, "Miss Du, don’t bother. If the food from the inn was the issue, we’d all be affected, not just Master Du alone."
Chiding herself, Du Fuling paused and reluctantly conceded, "Perhaps the poison was in his bowl of rice."
Bai Zepei sighed, likely worried about Miss Du’s reasoning skills and countered, "If the inn wanted to drug someone, they would’ve targeted everyone to rob us. But now that we’ve all left, and only Master Du is affected, it’s likely he got poisoned in Anyuan Town."
Bai Ruozhu approvingly nodded towards her brother, "You’re right, Brother. Master Du was already poisoned before, it just didn’t react until now. I believe the perpetrator planned this out, knowing he would be horse riding today in an attempt to orchestrate an unfortunate horse fall."
"Who would want to poison my third brother? Why wasn’t I poisoned when we share the same mansion?" Du Fuling asked defiantly.
"Do you think poison isn’t pricey? Why would someone waste it on you? Master Du, the son of the Du family, probably has more than just one or two people wanting to harm him, right?" Tired of arguing, Bai Ruozhu instructed the coachman and the servant, "Master Du didn’t have any visible injuries from the fall. So lift him into the horse carriage and return to the closest town. We must get rid of the poison in his system immediately."
They complied at once. The coachman steered the carriage back, then disembarked and carefully carried Du Zhongshu into the carriage.
Only then did Du Fuling notice her third brother’s skin had an underlying bluish tint. She felt a sudden surge of fear and asked Bai Ruozhu, "Can’t he withstand the trip back to Beiyu City for treatment? We know some reputable doctors there."
Bai Ruozhu suppressed the impulse to roll her eyes and remarked, "There’s not enough time. He’d succumb to the poison before we even reach Beiyu City. Besides, I don’t believe that an average doctor could diagnose this particular poison."
"Oh, and you can?" Du Fuling inquired suspiciously, acting as if Bai Ruozhu was the one who poisoned him.
Unable to stand by anymore, Bai Zepei chimed in, "My sister is highly skilled in medicine. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have invented toothpaste to sell with your family. Enough talk now, what would we do if the delay costs someone their life?"
Indeed, after Bai Zepei spoke, Du Fuling was much quieter. Bai Ruozhu and her group climbed back into their horse carriage, deciding to return to the inn where they had eaten earlier.
Even with a spacious horse carriage, adding one more person made it instantly cramped. Suddenly, the carriage jolted on the road, and Du Zhongshu who was lying there coughed violently, spitting out a little blood.
"Third brother, how are you feeling, don’t scare me," Seeing Du Zhongshu spitting out blood, Du Fuling started crying uncontrollably.
At this point, Du Zhongshu slowly opened his eyes, his weak voice asking, "What happened to me?"
"You’ve been poisoned, don’t speak anymore for now, I’m going to help you detoxify," answered Bai Ruozhu.
Even though Du Zhongshu had regained consciousness, his condition hadn’t improved. His face was turned pale and his lips were devoid of color, contrasting harshly with the blood smeared around his mouth which painted a ghastly picture. He felt pain all over, like something was burning in his chest, causing him to feel suffocated and aching.
However, upon hearing Bai Ruozhu’s claim that she would help him detoxify, he felt somewhat assured. He wasn’t entirely certain of how skilled Bai Ruozhu was in medicine, but he found a strange sense of trust in her words and decided to put everything else aside.
However, Du Fuling, obviously not reassured, wept and asked, "Why would my third brother be vomiting blood? Could there be any danger?"
"It’s the characteristic of this type of poison. It causes the poisoned individual to throw up blood as if they were internally injured. Plus, it is extremely challenging to spot this poison after the poisoned individual passes away. Owing to his horse riding today, it will likely be presumed as an unfortunate fall leading to death by internal injuries," Bai Ruozhu noticed Du Zhongshu’s confused gaze and patiently explained.
They soon returned to the inn, and the innkeeper, surprised by their return, hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Did any of you leave anything behind?"
"No, we would like to stay here temporarily. Could you help us with three rooms please?" Bai Zepei was the first to answer.
Du Fuling still held suspicions towards the innkeeper and stared at him intently, as if trying to discern any sinister plots. This made the innkeeper extremely uncomfortable, wondering if the young lady might be mentally disturbed.
The servant and coachman carried Du Zhongshu out of the wagon, with Bai Zepei assisting them. The innkeeper called for a waiter to help and anxiously asked, "Did the young master fall? Do you need us to get a doctor?"
"No need, we have our own doctor. We just need you to lend us some paper and a pen, so I can write a prescription for someone to collect the medicines," Bai Ruozhu replied.
They had brought paper and pen with them, but it was inconvenient to retrieve from their luggage, so borrowing one from the inn would be more expedient.
The innkeeper hurriedly fetched paper and a pen for Bai Ruozhu, who took them without ceremony and quickly wrote a prescription. Handing the note and a hundred-tael silver banknote to Du Zhongshu’s servant, she instructed him to quickly gather the medicine.
The servant felt somewhat uneasy, pushing back, "The young master gave me money. I don’t need yours, Miss Bai."
However, Bai Ruozhu forcefully handed him the banknote, "The prescription contains a large quantity of medicine. Bring this in case your money falls short."
Upon hearing this, the servant no longer declined. After asking the innkeeper for the pharmacy’s location, he hastily departed.
Bai Ruozhu then gave the innkeeper two taels of silver, instructing him to get a large wooden barrel for bathing and to deliver hot water to their rooms. Delighted by the generous payment for such minimal efforts, the innkeeper promptly asked the waiter to fulfill the order.
Soon, a wooden barrel was brought into the room, and Bai Ruozhu instructed the coachman to find four large stones and bring them into the room. She then asked the innkeeper to borrow a small stove.
Next, she directed the coachman to arrange the stones around the stove, cushion them with an iron plate, and set the large wooden barrel on top of it.
Everyone was busy inside the room, Bai Zepei was assisting, Du Zhongshu was lying on the bed, too weak to move, only watching the bustling activity. Du Fuling was sitting beside him, crying in distress.
"Third brother, you can’t let anything happen to you. Otherwise, how can I face our parents?" Du Fuling was undeniably shaken, as her third brother vomited blood three more times since being carried into the room.
Once Bai Ruozhu had everything arranged, she asked her brother to look after Dengdeng and took out her silver needles.
"What are you doing? Are you sure you know what you’re doing? Don’t make my brother worse!" Seeing the long silver needle in Bai Ruozhu’s hand, Du Fuling instantly stood in front of Du Zhongshu.
Bai Ruozhu glared at her irritably and coldly fired back, "Miss Du, please stop hindering me!"