Chapter 42: Swapping the Beams and Pillars

Zhuhua returned empty-handed.

"Miss, the medicinal dregs have been buried in the flower bed for composting."

"Where is it? Take me there." Su Yunqing turned to look at Dr. Liu. "Dr. Liu, would you mind coming along to help identify it?"

Zhuhua pushed aside the flower vines, used her hands to dig open the newly filled soil, and scooped up the medicinal dregs piece by piece, placing them into a small bamboo basket she had brought along.

She searched meticulously to ensure nothing was left behind.

Once she had gathered all the dregs, Su Yunqing bent down, picked up the bamboo basket, and handed it to Dr. Liu.

"Dr. Liu, please take a look. Are there any toxic ingredients mixed in here?"

Dr. Liu held the bamboo basket in one hand while picking up the dregs with the other. He examined them closely before bringing them to his nose one by one to sniff.

"There is no problem. These are all the medicines I prescribed, and there are no suspicious smells."

"How can that be?" Su Yunqing stared intently at the bamboo basket, completely baffled.

From behind her came a leisurely voice: "You must have been cheated by some wandering charlatan. What dragon's saliva herb? It's utter nonsense."

It was Cheng Cong.

Su Yunqing gritted her teeth, lowered her gaze to see his feet right behind her, and the China rose blooming beside his shoe.

Unaware of what was coming, Cheng Cong kept rambling, "My eldest brother is truly unlucky. I actually thought this stuff could cure him, ah..."

Su Yunqing shifted her heel backward, quietly exerted a vicious force to step heavily on the tip of his toe, and instantly pulled her foot back. Yelping in pain, Cheng Cong stumbled backward and collapsed straight into the lush, thorn-covered China rose bush.

Su Yunqing tilted her head and glanced at him. "What is the matter with the Third Young Master?"

She instructed Zhuhua, "Zhuhua, hurry and help the Third Young Master up. How can he be so clumsy? Such a grown man and he still can't stand steadily."

Cheng Cong grimaced in agony, tears nearly welling up in his eyes.

"You, you..."

Not giving him a chance to say much more, Su Yunqing looked at his valet. "Take the Third Young Master back first. Once matters here are sorted out, we can have Dr. Liu tend to his injuries."

The valet and Zhuhua hoisted Cheng Cong up. Rubbing his backside, Cheng Cong was dragged away limping.

As they reached the doorway, he turned back to glare viciously at Su Yunqing, but she remained completely unbothered and turned a blind eye.

She returned her gaze to the medicinal dregs in the basket.

Every single herb was correct, and because they were all commonly used medicines, Dr. Liu's judgment was practically foolproof.

Commonly used?

The other ingredients were common, but the dragon's saliva herb was not.

Dr. Liu was unfamiliar with the dragon's saliva herb, so the problem had to lie within that specific ingredient.

Su Yunqing searched through the basket. To maximize its medicinal effect, the dragon's saliva herb had been sliced into small pieces before being decocted.

She took out her handkerchief, laid it flat on the courtyard's stone table, and fished out every single piece of the dragon's saliva herb from the dregs, placing them meticulously onto the fabric without missing a single inch.

"Alright, Dr. Liu, could you please take another look? Is there anything wrong with this dragon's saliva herb?"

Dr. Liu poked at the pieces with his finger for a moment. "The little beads at the root are gone, and there don't seem to be any serrated edges on the leaves."

He picked a piece up and sniffed it for a while. "This? This is snake orchid. The eldest young master's poisoning is related to this."

"Snake orchid?" Su Yunqing admitted she had never heard of it.

"Yes," Dr. Liu said. "This snake orchid is odorless, yet toxic, which is why I didn't notice any abnormalities during my initial check."

"Is it serious? The poison?" Su Yunqing asked.

Dr. Liu replied, "There is no major danger, and it won't be life-threatening. It will merely cause nausea and vomiting; once he throws it up, he will be fine."

Su Yunqing fell into deep thought. "So someone switched the ingredients, and their goal wasn't to take the eldest young master's life."

"That can be said."

Then what was the culprit's motive? Su Yunqing summoned both the maid who decocted the medicine and the elderly servant on duty in the kitchen.

After questioning them one by one, both stubbornly insisted they had not seen anyone suspicious entering or leaving the kitchen.

Su Yunqing asked them, "Were you two away from the medicine for even a second during that hour of brewing?"

The two nodded firmly. The maid stated, "This concerned the eldest young master's life; how could we possibly be careless?"

The older servant added, "Indeed, the eldest young master has always treated people generously, and we all hope for his speedy recovery."

At that moment, Mother Jin hurried over. "Miss, has the cause been figured out? The mistress sent me to ask."

Su Yunqing said, "Almost, Mother Jin. Where in our courtyard can snake orchid be found?"

"Snake orchid?" Mother Jin recalled for a moment before suddenly raising her head. "Concubine Zhang loves raising orchids. Her courtyard has the most orchid flowers."

"Then could Mother Jin take me for a visit to Concubine Zhang's Linglong Pavilion?"

"Alright."

When the two arrived at Linglong Pavilion, Concubine Zhang was lounging lazily on a rattan chair in the courtyard, cracking melon seeds.

Several maids were loosening the soil in the flower beds throughout the courtyard, and the earth beneath every single plant had already been thoroughly turned over.

"Oh, Mother Jin has lowered herself to visit today. What brings you to my Linglong Pavilion?" Concubine Zhang continued cracking melon seeds, her voice languid.

Su Yunqing looked at the freshly turned flower beds across the courtyard, her heart sinking.

The evidence had been destroyed.

Just like the dragon's saliva herb, the roots of the orchids in the dregs were intricate and robust. Pulling them out of the soil would inevitably leave traces. She had originally hoped to find clues of uprooting, but under the current circumstances, that was impossible.

Mother Jin had never cared for her either, and she sneered, "Why is Concubine Zhang suddenly hoeing flowers today?"

Concubine Zhang said unhurriedly, "These flowers have been looking worse by the day, presumably because there are bugs beneath the roots. Turning the soil over now before the weather gets cold will freeze the pests to death."

She then cast a sidelong glance at Su Yunqing. "Why has the Third Young Miss come as well? Are you all here to watch me loosen the soil for my flowers?"

Su Yunqing smiled faintly. "I heard the Concubine raises many orchids in her courtyard, so I wanted to come and take a look."

The reason Concubine Zhang dared to be so arrogant was that Cheng Kang currently controlled all of the Cheng family's businesses single-handedly. Although Cheng Kang was raised under the official wife's name, Concubine Zhang remained his birth mother, a fact no one could ever change.

"What is there to see? If you like them, just dig up a few pots and take them. These orchids were gathered for me by the master from all over the place over the years. Knowing my sole affection for orchids, whenever he returned from a long journey, he would inevitably bring me new varieties. Hearing of any attractive flower, he would buy it for me regardless of the cost. It's just a pity that the master now..."

At this point, she tossed aside the melon seeds in her hand, pulled out a handkerchief, covered her face, and burst into tears.

"Wuwuwu..." It was a deeply sorrowful display.

Mother Jin said expressionlessly, "Since the orchids have been seen, Miss Su, let us leave."

Su Yunqing followed Mother Jin out of the courtyard gate with a trace of disappointment.

No evidence could be found here, and the kitchen staff insisted no outsiders had entered.

That left only one possibility: the two herbs had been swapped before they even entered the kitchen.

Su Yunqing had brought the medicine back herself and handed it directly to Madam Cheng, who then passed it to a maid to take to the kitchen for brewing. Therefore, the most suspicious person now was that very maid who delivered the medicine.

Upon returning to Cheng Ji's room, Cheng Ji had already been cleaned up thoroughly inside and out by Muxin. Madam Cheng sat by the bedside, gazing at Cheng Ji's pale face.

Cheng Ji kept trying to comfort her: "I'm fine. It was just a wave of nausea, and once I threw it up, I felt better. I don't feel any discomfort now, so Mother shouldn't worry."

Seeing Su Yunqing and Mother Jin enter, Madam Cheng asked with grief-stricken eyes, "Who on earth is trying to harm my Ji'er?"

Su Yunqing cast her gaze toward the young maid standing behind Madam Cheng.

Avoiding her gaze, the maid lowered her head and tightly clenched her hands around the hem of her garment.