Jiang Changning had no idea about the Zheng family's affairs. At the moment, she was asking her maid to pick osmanthus flowers to make osmanthus cake, osmanthus crisps, osmanthus jam and osmanthus candy for her.
All the dozens of osmanthus trees in Prince Jin's Mansion were destroyed by her.
Yan Yinyao even tried to join in the fun, "Cousin, how about we make osmanthus wine?"
Jiang Changning nudged her with his belly, "Bad girl, how can I drink like this?"
Yan Yinyao laughed, "It takes time to brew wine. By the time it's brewed, your child will be born, so why can't you drink it?"
Jiang Changning hesitated for a moment and whispered, "I want to breastfeed the baby."
Yan Yinyao was shocked. "Cousin, if my aunt knew about this, she would definitely not agree to it."
"I told you, you can't go to Mother and tell her the truth."
"We have a wet nurse, why do you have to feed the child yourself?" Yan Yinyao didn't understand why she had to work so hard.
"Cousin, do you know why children raised roughly by poor families are healthier than those raised carefully by rich families? Do they rarely get sick before six months old?" Jiang Changning asked.
"Why?"
"That's because the child ate colostrum. Medical books say that colostrum is comparable to Ganoderma lucidum and ginseng, and is most suitable for newborn babies. Babies who eat colostrum are healthy, but the wet nurses hired by wealthy families no longer have colostrum."
"Colostrum is so good! Why didn't the doctors tell me about it? If I had known, I would have fed Mi'er colostrum too. By the way, cousin, which medical book are you reading?"
If you get to the bottom of it, it's not cute anymore.
But this is not difficult for Jiang Changning, "Essentials of the Teachings of the Young."
Yan Yinyao had never heard of it, but she believed it and said, "This book is worth reading."
"I don't remember whether the book was placed in the courtyard where I got married, or whether I brought it into the palace. If you want to see it, I'll ask Xiulan and the others to help you find it."
"You don't have to look for it specially. Wait until you dry the books."
Jiang Changning raised her eyebrows. She knew this would happen. She smiled and said, "Okay."
At this time, Xiulan brought in some osmanthus cake.
The faint fragrance of osmanthus spread along with the rising hot air.
Madam Cui made two kinds of osmanthus cakes. One was the white jade osmanthus cake, with the milky white cake dotted with light yellow osmanthus flowers.
The other is the crystal osmanthus cake, which is made of glutinous rice flour. It is transparent and you can see the osmanthus flowers inside.
Osmanthus cake can also be made with candied osmanthus, but Jiang Changning always feels that it tastes better when made with fresh osmanthus.
For Jiang Changning, osmanthus cake is a seasonal pastry.
In the eyes of other people, eating osmanthus cake in August is also appropriate.
But no one expected that someone would vomit blood after eating two pieces of osmanthus cake.
The person vomiting blood was Xu Lifang, the youngest daughter of the Tongzhi of Jingzhao Prefecture, and Zhou Duxin's engaged wife who had not yet married.
"Miss!" The maid was horrified. The blood Xu Lifang vomited was not bright red, but had a hint of black. Even though she was ignorant, she knew that it seemed like poisoning.
"Someone, come quickly, go and invite the madam." another maid also shouted.
Xu's mother came quickly. Xu Lifang was already unconscious. She ordered the servants, "Call the doctor, go and call the doctor." She cried and rushed to her daughter, "Fang'er, Fang'er, what happened to you?"
When the doctor arrived, he examined Xu Lifang's pulse and asked, "The girl from your house is poisoned. What did she eat before she was poisoned?"
"I ate osmanthus cake." replied the maid.
"Bring the osmanthus cake here and let me take a look. Only when I know what the poison is can I prescribe the right medicine for the disease." said the doctor.
However, in the chaos, the pastries on the table had long disappeared.
The thing that can make people vomit blood like this is arsenic.
The doctor prescribed a remedy for the arsenic: indigo root and mint juice.
After the medicine was poured in, Xu Lifang still did not wake up. Xu's father came back at this time and asked about the situation. "Someone deliberately poisoned the cakes."
Xu's father made an immediate decision and had someone report the matter to the authorities.
The official's family was poisoned at home, which made the governor of Jingzhao take it very seriously.
This matter spread, and Shu Fei also heard the news when she left the house, but after returning home, she did not tell Jiang Changning.
Jiang Changning accidentally heard the maids talking about this and found out that Xu Lifang had been poisoned and had been in a coma ever since.
Although she had never met Xu Lifang, she knew that Zhou and Xu were engaged. She also asked Miao to give a set of jewelry to Xu Lifang to show her approval of her as a wet nurse.
Hearing that Xu Lifang was poisoned, he quickly asked Su Fei about the situation, "What is the current situation of the Xu family? Has the murderer been caught?"
Seeing that Jiang Changning already knew about this, Shu Fei had no choice but to tell him the truth, "Miss Xu hasn't woken up yet, the Xu family has reported the matter to the police, but the murderer has not been caught yet.
"The cakes were bought at Fuchunlou, and Fuchunlou refused to admit that there was poison in the cakes."
"The one who bought the cakes was Miss Xu's maid. She brought the cakes back and sent them to the inner courtyard."
Xu Lifang was a girl who was kept in seclusion. She went out only a few times and had no enemies outside. The girls who were friends with her were not so bold as to poison others.
However, the authorities still investigated and confirmed that these girls were innocent.
After a thorough investigation, no suspicious persons were found, making it seem like an unsolved case.
That day, Xu Lifang suddenly woke up, but she could not speak. She just looked at her parents, brothers and sister-in-law and cried.
"Fang'er, Fang'er." Mother Xu realized that her daughter was having a moment of resurgence, and her heart ached. "My poor Fang'er."
"The Zhou family's mourning period is about to begin, how could such a thing happen?" Mrs. Xu got along well with her sister-in-law, and she felt very distressed when she saw her dying sister-in-law.
Xu Lifang shed more tears. Her wedding dress was almost embroidered and she was looking forward to the Zhou family coming to propose marriage. She would be happy to marry Zhou Sange, but now she was going to die.
A maid came in and said, "Master, Madam, Master Zhou San is here."
"Hurry, please invite him in." Xu's mother said hurriedly.
Zhou Duxin was out of town, and it was Zhou Chengxin who learned that Xu Lifang had been poisoned, so he sent someone to tell her to come back quickly.
"Did you hear that, sister? Zhou Duxin is here. Take your medicine well and you will get better." Brother Xu said.
Xu Lifang curled the corners of her mouth, she knew she would not get better.
"Fang'er." Zhou Duxin walked in quickly and rushed directly to the bedside.
Xu Lifang looked at him and opened her mouth.
Zhou Duxin held her hand, "Fang'er, Fang'er."
"Brother Zhou San, I'm sorry. Fang'er can only marry you in the next life." Xu Lifang used up all her strength, but her voice was inaudible.
As soon as she finished speaking, she closed her eyes, breathed no more, and passed away.
"Fang'er! Fang'er!" When Xu's mother saw that her daughter was gone, she shouted twice and then fainted.
There was another flurry of activity. Zhou Duxin stayed by Xu Lifang's side and said, "Fang'er, I will get to the bottom of this matter. I will definitely find the murderer and give you justice."
I felt like I was poisoned, vomiting and having diarrhea, it was really frustrating.
(End of this chapter)