Chapter 29: Acting

“Is uncontrollable diarrhea considered an unusual symptom?”

“Of course it is!”

After examining the ewe and the three fine horses from the Liang Family, the physician became even more certain of his diagnosis. “That explains it clearly! These horses and the sheep must have mistakenly eaten a type of wild fruit known as pigeon fruit.”

Pigeon fruit was not uncommon in the mountainous areas around Liangzhou. Its sweet and sour taste made it a popular find among the mountain folk who lacked regular food—many would gather it either for personal consumption or to give as a treat to their children. Since mountain villagers were usually deprived of meat, unless one had a particularly weak digestive system, eating pigeon fruit on its own rarely caused any adverse effects.

The problem, however, lay in the fact that the young master of the Liang Family was no undernourished mountain child…

Just in the past half day alone, he had consumed a good amount of goat milk and chicken meat.

Pigeon fruit should never be eaten together with such foods. The resulting reaction matched perfectly with the young master’s symptoms—labored breathing and a body covered in red rashes.

As Madam Liang listened, her expression grew darker by the moment. There was a high chance this incident was tied to the Feng Family. If not for the fact that her youngest son was still not out of danger, she would have already torn that damned Feng lot to pieces.

Suppressing the fury in her chest, Madam Liang politely asked the physician, “In your expert opinion, how should the poison in my son’s body be cured?”

If this poison were to be examined by a physician in the Capital who only treated noble households, they might not necessarily have a solution. However, the physician at the town clinic regularly sees mountain folk and has encountered children suffering from relentless diarrhea after mistakenly eating pigeon fruit.

Although the symptoms in the Liang Family’s young master were more severe, the treatment remained the same.

“This poison is actually not difficult to resolve. A few doses of herbal decoction to clear heat and detoxify should be sufficient. But the most important thing isn’t the medicine—it’s the aftercare. For the next half month, the young master must follow a light diet and completely avoid any rich or greasy food. As long as that’s maintained, he’ll recover gradually.”

After a pause, the physician lowered his voice and added, “It would be best if he could rest quietly for a day or two before enduring the jolts of travel.”

Madam Liang took careful note of every word. After paying the consultation fee, she politely saw the physician off.

He had arrived on horseback escorted by a constable, but would now have to return to town on foot.

Fortunately, the distance to the town wasn’t far, and with the silver ingots from the Liang Family tucked securely on his person, the physician left with ample reward for his journey.

Once the physician was gone and Lord Liang was instructed to negotiate with the court officer about getting medicine from the county and arranging their stay, Madam Liang finally had the time to turn her fury on the Feng Family.

With a group of servants behind her, she marched over with an imposing air.

Seeing Madam Liang exude such murderous energy, her eyes brimming with venom, Old Madam Feng shuddered involuntarily.

Just moments ago, she had already been grilled and scolded thoroughly by her son, and now fully understood the weight of the consequences.

Even though Old Madam Feng hated the Liang family to the core, if she wanted to protect her own family’s lives, she had no choice but to follow her son’s advice and stubbornly deny everything they had done.

But before she could even open her mouth to defend herself, Madam Liang waved her hand sharply, ordering the guards beside her to seize her grandson.

Immediately afterward, a Liang family maid approached with the pot of goat milk porridge.

Madam Liang gave a cold order, “Force this porridge down his throat!”

Old Madam Feng’s eyes widened in shock. She scrambled to her feet, but Lord Feng swiftly grabbed her arm, giving her a sharp look that silently told her to keep her mouth shut.

Two Liang family guards held down the Feng family’s young boy, prying his mouth open.

The maid stepped forward and poured the remaining goat milk porridge into the boy’s mouth.

The porridge was sweet and fragrant—even cold, it wasn’t unpleasant to drink. But being force-fed like that was far from comfortable. The young boy nearly choked, coughing violently several times before he could breathe normally again.

The other Feng family children stood frozen, wide-eyed in shock.

They didn’t understand why their grandmother had knocked over the goat milk porridge earlier, nor could they make sense of why Madam Liang had ordered her guards to restrain their younger brother and force-feed him the same porridge.

But they were so intimidated by the Liang family’s overwhelming presence that, even though no one held them down, they dared not move a muscle and stood stock-still in place.

Only after every last drop of porridge had been poured into the boy’s mouth did Madam Liang signal for her men to release him.

By then, Old Madam Feng’s legs had gone weak. Her body trembled uncontrollably, and if Lord Feng hadn’t held her up firmly by the arm, she likely would’ve collapsed to the floor on the spot.

“Madam Liang, what is the meaning of this?” Lord Feng’s face bore a mix of confusion and just the right touch of indignation.

“My nephew may be a bit unruly on most days, but he’s never offended Madam Liang, has he?”

“Hah,” Madam Liang sneered coldly. “It was merely offering him a bowl of goat milk porridge. Lord Feng, why the fuss?” She gestured toward the now-empty pot. “Didn’t your little one also want a taste earlier?”

“If Madam Liang has something to say, I suggest speaking plainly,” Lord Feng said with a stern face. “What happened to your young master—we all saw it with our own eyes. I also caught some of what the physician said. Does Madam Liang suspect our Feng family because of the porridge?”

Her eyes, now frosted with disdain, settled on Lord Feng without a trace of warmth.

But he continued speaking steadily, not rushing and not backing down. “I admit, I did harbor resentment because of what happened at Mount Yueheng. But I also understand your esteemed household bears no fault for that. The real blame lies with those vicious mountain bandits. If Madam Liang suspects we plotted revenge because of that, and that we targeted your young master… well, that would be a grave injustice indeed.”

Off to the side, Wei Yunlan watched coldly, a touch of admiration flickering in her eyes. This Lord Feng truly had a heart with seven apertures and a silver tongue to match—clever and smooth.

Even the head of the famed Huangli Troupe in the capital wouldn’t act as well as this man!

Madam Liang, who moments ago had been boiling with rage, found her fury tempered, her eyes now clouded with doubt thanks to just a few well-placed remarks from Lord Feng.

“Madam Liang is free to investigate as she sees fit,” Lord Feng continued calmly. “Although my mother did knock over the goat milk porridge today, she also gave the children some boiled goat milk yesterday. If merely spilling a pot today is enough to pin the crime of poisoning on our Feng family, then such judgment may be a bit hasty, don’t you think?”

Then his tone subtly shifted, “Moreover, our Feng household neither keeps livestock nor had any contact with your horses or goats. If someone truly planned to harm your young master, and you focus all your anger on us, wouldn’t that only serve to let the real culprit escape—and give them more chances to act again?”

What a sly move—diverting suspicion eastward like shifting blame on a whim.

To the discerning eye, only two families had visited the stables yesterday: the Liang family themselves… and the Wei family.

And now this Lord Feng was clearly trying to dump the proverbial chamber pot on their heads.

If Wei Yunlan hadn’t taken precautions yesterday, she might’ve found herself in real trouble today.

Just as Madam Liang’s eyes began drifting toward the Wei family’s direction, Wei Yunlan stepped forward decisively.

“Ningshuang,” she said, “bring the herbs Madam Feng gave us yesterday.”

She then held up the familiar bamboo basket. “These are the herbs you personally delivered yesterday, are they not?”

Madam Feng’s eyes, full of caution, locked onto the basket as Wei Yunlan approached. One glance down—and her caution melted into alarm and confusion.

Inside, lying neatly, were the exact two kinds of herbs she’d exchanged for goat milk the day before!

T-These herbs were supposed to have been fed to the mule already… how—how are they here?!