Chapter 18: Princess Consort’s Incredible Acting (1)
The effect of the wrong medicine showed up almost at once. Rong Shuyan’s pale skin quickly turned red, and he couldn’t help scratching it lightly.
"Is it supposed to be like this?" Rong Shuyan asked with a slight frown, looking at Lin Xueyi as if he were trying to act angry. "Princess Consort, I don’t think a proper medicine should make my skin itch this much."
Lin Xueyi, on the other hand, widened her eyes because she hadn’t expected Rong Shuyan’s skin to turn that red.
She felt bad for him and even guilty, for putting him through this, but she forced herself to stay calm. She had already come this far, and if she wanted to expose Gu Yao, she couldn’t let her emotions ruin the plan now.
"O-Oh, Your Highness, t-this... this isn’t supposed to happen!" Lin Xueyi stammered, trying to sound panicked. But she wasn’t acting anymore. She was truly scared that Rong Shuyan’s skin might actually be badly damaged.
Lin Xueyi quickly turned to Gu Yao, her eyes wide with panic. "Physician Gu!" she cried. "How could this happen? I used the herbs you gave me, and I followed your instructions exactly. But... but why has His Highness’s skin turned so red?"
The fear in her voice and the panic on her face looked so real that no one around them suspected she already knew what was happening.
Gu Yao, on the other hand, went pale the moment she heard the accusation. Her heart skipped a beat, but she forced herself to stay calm and keep a composed expression.
"Your Highness... are... are you sure you followed the steps I taught you to make the medicine?" Gu Yao asked, forcing herself to stay calm.
Since the Princess Consort had already pushed the blame onto her, Gu Yao knew there was no point in denying it anymore. If she wanted to protect herself, the only choice left was to throw the blame back at Lin Xueyi.
But before she could say anything else, Lin Xueyi spoke first. "Of course I followed every step you taught me, Physician Gu!" she said without hesitation. "You even told me this medicine was so simple that even a donkey could make it."
She paused for a moment before her eyes suddenly widened. "The only reason this medicine could fail is if I used the wrong herbs." She gasped in disbelief. "Physician Gu... did you give me the wrong herbs? How could that happen?"
Before Gu Yao could even open her mouth, Lin Xueyi added another accusation. "Physician Gu... could it be... could it be that you deliberately gave me the wrong herbs so the medicine I made would hurt His Highness?!"
The corner of Gu Yao’s eye twitched as she stood there speechless. She couldn’t understand how Lin Xueyi had managed to come up with such a ridiculous story in her head.
"Your Highness, how could you accuse me of such a thing?!" Gu Yao finally lost her composure.
She quickly turned to Rong Shuyan and defended herself. "Your Highness, the Princess Consort is having a severe delusion right now! I never gave her any instructions on how to make the medicine!"
Lin Xueyi was about to respond, but Rong Shuyan spoke before she could. "Physician Gu, making a mistake is one thing, but lying is another," he said calmly. "Just a moment ago, you openly admitted that you taught my wife how to make the medicine. Now you’re suddenly saying you never did?"
Lin Xueyi gasped inwardly. [Yanyan just called me his wife?! Does that mean he isn’t angry with me?!]
[But how could he not be angry? I’m basically ruining his skin!]
On the other side, Gu Yao suddenly turned pale. She opened her mouth several times, struggling to find the right words.
"T-That... that was only my first reaction," she stammered. "The Princess Consort suddenly accused me of something I never did, so I spoke without thinking."
"Physician Gu, how can you say you never gave me any advice on making the medicine?" Lin Xueyi asked softly.
Her expression quickly turned sad, and tears slowly gathered in her eyes. She gently patted her chest while wiping away her crocodile tears.
"I even thought you were so kind because you offered to gather the herbs for me," she continued, her voice trembling. "Oh... this is all my fault! I should have checked the herbs more carefully!"
She lowered herself to her knees in front of Rong Shuyan. "Your Highness, please punish this consort instead!"
But inside her head, she was desperately thinking the exact opposite. [No, no, no! Please don’t punish me! Yanyan, you already called me your wife, so you have to take responsibility by not punishing me!]
"No, Your Highness!" Mei Lu suddenly dropped to her knees beside Lin Xueyi, catching her completely by surprise. "The Princess Consort is telling the truth! Physician Gu was the one who picked the herbs and handed them to the Princess Consort!"
Lin Xueyi blinked in surprise because she hadn’t expected Mei Lu to step forward like this.
It was rare for a servant to risk so much for the sake of their master.
After all, if a servant chose the wrong side, the punishment they received could be even harsher than their master’s.
Mei Lu might not know whether Gu Yao had taught Lin Xueyi how to make the medicine or not, but she did know that Physician Gu had given the medicinal herbs to the Princess Consort.
[But she knows I asked her to bring me the mice yesterday, doesn’t she?] Lin Xueyi wondered inwardly. [Shouldn’t she have realized that I wanted to perform an experiment on the mice?]
Unless... Mei Lu wasn’t familiar with the idea of experimenting on mice, so she simply thought Lin Xueyi wanted to keep them as pets.
[Now I have to find two more healthy white mice to replace the other two!] Lin Xueyi complained inwardly. [How am I supposed to catch two mice by myself?!]
Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to worry about that any longer.
"You dirty servant!" Gu Yao suddenly snapped. "Why are you interfering in your master’s affairs?!"
She quickly turned to Rong Shuyan, her face filled with anger and grievance. "Your Highness, she’s lying just like her master!"