The Splendid Brocade of the Painting Physician – Chapter 49

Chapter 49: This Painting is the Evidence

This scream of pain immediately made everyone think again. Princess Yunyin, despite her heartache and resentment, didn’t dare to delay. She quickly ordered Nurse Wei to invite a physician.

Li Mi, who had almost been dragged out of the Elegant Poetry Pavilion, simply shook off Cui Heng and returned, hiding among the crowd.

Cui Heng was helpless. Seeing this situation, he knew that with Princess Yunyin’s arrogant and vicious temperament, she would definitely not let it go. If no one came to take charge, this Young Lady might really not be able to leave this Elegant Poetry Pavilion today.

Thinking of this, Cui Heng quickened his pace and ran out of the building without looking back.

“Young Master, why are you in such a hurry?” The accompanying servant couldn’t help but ask.

“Go to the government office, find the Prefect of Jiankang, quickly!” Cui Heng only replied with one sentence and then rushed out of the Apricot Blossom and Misty Rain Tower.

Seeing Cui Heng leave, the man in black who had been hidden outside the Elegant Poetry Pavilion also looked over with curiosity and suspicion.

“Prince of the Commandery, that seems to be Cui Third Young Master of the Boling Cui Clan. This time, coming to Jiankang, the Prince of the Commandery is here on the Emperor’s order, but this Cui Third Young Master and Li Twelfth Young Master are not…”

“They came here to attend the Pure Conversation Gathering at the invitation of Xu Ling, the Minister Xu, who is the head of the Southern Dynasty scholars. During the reign of the previous Emperor Xiaowen, there was a policy of promoting the integration of Han Chinese and Northern Barbarians. Cultural exchanges and discussions between the North and the South are also good things. There’s nothing strange about it.”

“Oh, Prince of the Commandery, this subordinate understands. But that Young Lady now… won’t anything happen to her?”

The young guard suddenly changed the subject, his heart filled with worry. After all, that Young Lady was the God of Wealth who helped him win five thousand taels of silver. He didn’t want his God of Wealth to just vanish like this.

“Let’s see first. If the time is right, then invite Minister Xu.”

“Ah?”

✿✿✿

Princess Yunyin turned and rushed into the Dream Journey Pavilion. It was unknown what she said to Xiao Yun and the others. When she came out again, although the anger on her face had subsided, the coldness in her eyes was even more intense.

“All of you, come out! Tell me, what did this girl do here today?”

Following Princess Yunyin’s loud shout, Lu Sheng, Fourth Young Master Zhu, Fifth Young Master Kong, and a total of seven other Young Masters came out together. Although they were now fully dressed, the scratches on their faces and bodies, as well as the languidness that was clearly the aftermath of indulgence, were enough to make people imagine what had happened just now.

“No way? Could it really be what I think?” Someone couldn’t help but mutter.

Seeing the appearance of these debauched young masters from aristocratic families coming out one after another, Xiao Xian and Tenth Young Lady Xiao felt a surge of extreme indignation in their hearts.

“It was this Young Lady… oh right, this lowly servant girl, this lowly servant girl wanted to seduce us, so she drugged us and Eighth Young Master Xiao, causing us to suffer such harm!” The first to speak was Fourth Young Master Zhu. After his eyes darted around for a moment, he suddenly said righteously.

Ha! Another scene of reversing right and wrong, talking nonsense!

This situation was exactly the same as when Eldest Sister was falsely accused!

Xiao Xian couldn’t help but clench his hands, his slender fingers even starting to spasm.

“Fourth Young Master Zhu, you need evidence to speak. May I ask, when did I drug you? What drug did I use? Where was the drug placed? And how did I seduce you?” Xiao Jinyu questioned one by one.

Fourth Young Master Zhu panicked, his mind going blank. He looked left and right at Lu Sheng and Fifth Young Master Kong, and then said, “Do I need to say where the drug was placed? Wasn’t it in the wine? You, a young lady, instead of staying in your boudoir, came here to drink with us. If you didn’t want to seduce us, what else did you want to do?”

“Haha…” Xiao Jinyu suddenly burst into laughter. “Fourth Young Master Zhu thinks too highly of himself. Even if I, Xiao Jinyu, were blind, I wouldn’t look at you vulgar and immoral people!”

“You—”

“Moreover, you don’t even know when you were drugged or what drug you were given, yet you can confidently claim that I drugged the wine. So, may I ask, who brought this wine? Who gave it to you to drink?”

✿✿✿

Xiao Jinyu’s repeated questions and piercing gaze made Fourth Young Master Zhu’s neck flush red with anxiety. He couldn’t answer this question, and he blurted out, “Oh right, you also said you would paint us an erotic painting. You said that, right?”

As soon as he said this, some people couldn’t help but laugh, while Lu Sheng turned his head away, unable to bear listening any longer.

“Yes! I did say that, and my painting is here—”

Unexpectedly, she admitted it. What was even more unexpected was that she instantly unfurled the seven-foot-long scroll in front of everyone, spreading it out on the ground.

For a while, many Young Masters curiously leaned forward to look, and Li Mi even pushed through the crowd, running to the closest position to the scroll. He saw that the entire scroll was like a garden in full bloom, with endless spring scenery captured within it. Especially where a few peach blossoms were dotted, it gave the scroll a finishing touch, making it full of spring and beautiful beyond compare!

“A garden full of spring, unable to be contained, a single red apricot, peeks over the wall!” The Young Masters read the poem on the scroll word by word, and exclaimed in surprise, “Young Lady, you painted this?”

“Yes, but please stand back, Young Masters, because the Wei Dan ink used on this scroll is what was truly drugged!”

As soon as Xiao Jinyu finished speaking, the few young masters from aristocratic families who had leaned close to the scroll quickly jumped back and hid to the side.

Li Mi, however, asked unhurriedly, “The Wei Dan ink was drugged? Who did it? This person is truly scheming and painstaking. What drug was used?”

“As all of you know, Wei Dan ink is made with pine soot, glue, pearl powder, musk, and other ingredients to achieve its warm feel, bright color, and refreshing fragrance. Precisely because of this, if you add deer antler, morinda root, desertliving cistanche, and cnidium seeds, it can make the ink emit a fragrance that can make people drowsy and their bodies feel hot…”

When Xiao Jinyu said this, Lu Sheng and the others seemed to have thought of something, their eyes widening in shock.

“So we…” Fifth Young Master Kong was about to say something, but immediately stopped when he saw Princess Yunyin’s gaze.

At this time, Xiao Jinyu continued, “Making people drowsy and their bodies feel hot is nothing, but if people inhale this fragrance and then consume a large amount of agarwood, it will make them lose their minds, increase their lust, and even have hallucinations…”

“So, once you inhale the fragrance of this Wei Dan ink and then enter a room filled with the scent of agarwood, it’s equivalent to being drugged with an aphrodisiac!” Li Mi said, as if suddenly enlightened.

At this time, Lu Sheng, Fourth Young Master Zhu, Fifth Young Master Kong, and the others finally understood completely, their expressions stunned and their faces ashen.

“So we were drugged at that time. I was wondering why…” Fourth Young Master Zhu suddenly realized, no longer caring about Princess Yunyin’s expression. He looked at Xiao Jinyu and said, “Then why weren’t you drugged? You were clearly the first to…”

“Fourth Young Master Zhu, stop talking nonsense here. I think you’re already deeply poisoned and delirious! Someone, please escort Fourth Young Master Zhu out of the Elegant Poetry Pavilion and let him go back to sober up!” At Princess Yunyin’s hint, Nurse Jiang suddenly shouted sharply.

Two Xiao Clan guards responded and stepped forward, each grabbing one of Fourth Young Master Zhu’s arms and dragging him out.

At this time, Fifth Young Master Kong was already afraid and remained silent.

“Since you know so clearly that the Wei Dan ink was drugged and, when combined with agarwood, can cause hallucinations and act as an aphrodisiac, how can you still deny that you were the one who drugged it?” Princess Yunyin asked sharply.

“Princess, you are mistaken. Just because I know where the drug was placed doesn’t mean I was the one who drugged it. Don’t you know that I am a physician?” Xiao Jinyu sneered. “From the moment your son, Xiao Yun, asked someone to invite me to this Elegant Poetry Pavilion, I knew he had ill intentions. From the moment he presented the Wei Dan ink, Zhang Zhi brush, Zuo Bo paper, rouge, and peach blossoms to me, I already smelled the scent in the Wei Dan ink and the rouge. I simply played along, painted a picture, and then asked the Young Masters to inscribe their names on my painting as proof.

This way, in the erotic painting that you, Princess, wanted to see, there is no longer me, only your son!”