Farmhouse Green Plum

Chapter 631 Poisoning

Although we were on a ship, the meals on the official ship were very good. Before even entering the door, we could smell the delicious food.

On the stove, the cook was stirring a pot of fish soup with a long-handled copper spoon. As the milky white soup rolled around, the pale yellow fish meat appeared from time to time. It was as tender as solidified fat, and the delicious aroma went straight into people's noses. Just smelling it made people drool.

"You two arrived at an inopportune time. This soup needs to simmer for another quarter of an hour." The cook didn't even look up from her copper spoon as she continued to stir slowly in the pot. "If you're hungry, try some of the freshly steamed lotus cakes first."

Song Ying looked at the lotus pastry and found it delicate but could not satisfy his craving. As he was hesitating, he heard footsteps behind him.

Looking back, Zhu'er was standing at the door, holding a red lacquer food box. Her almond-shaped eyes raised slightly, "Are you two here waiting for the whitebait soup too?"

Without waiting for an answer, she stepped forward, placed the food box on the table, and said, "It's a pity that this pot was prepared for our wife."

Song Ying's appetite was whetted by the delicious aroma, so he smiled and said, "So you guys ordered it! It smells so good. Sister, there's half a pot of soup, enough for four or five people. Could you give us some?"

As she spoke, she pulled out an embroidered coin bag from her sleeve. "We are willing to pay the market price and will not embarrass you, sister."

Zhu Er raised her eyebrows. "Young lady, you are a connoisseur of goods. However, this silverfish was shipped from Tianjin this morning by express horse. One catty costs one ounce and two cents of silver."

So expensive!

Song Ying was surprised, but he was craving for it, and Gui also wanted to try it, so he ignored the subtle hint in Zhu'er's words and continued, "No wonder it's so delicious. If you don't mind, these three taels of silver will be a thank you gift. I only ask that you give us two small bowls to try."

As he said this, he handed over a piece of silver.

Unexpectedly, Zhu'er still refused: "That won't do. Our wife has a poor appetite during pregnancy and she relies on this delicious taste."

"So that's how it is." Song Ying felt very regretful. No matter how greedy she was, she couldn't compete with a pregnant woman for food.

Half a minute later, Zhu'er left with the whitebait soup. The cook apologized and said, "I'll make you another portion."

Song Ying's eyes lit up and she nodded, "Thank you, Auntie."

The fish soup takes some time to cook, so Song Ying and Yuan Qing took the plate of lotus crisps and a few other side dishes to eat first to fill their stomachs.

Outside, the sun was shining brightly, dyeing the entire canal golden. The canal boats broke through the water, creating layers of golden ripples that spread on both sides of the boats and gradually melted into the mist in the distance.

Time passed, and no one knew how much time had passed. Just as the two were eating and enjoying the scenery, they suddenly heard a crisp "click" sound coming from the direction of the women's cabin, like the sound of a porcelain bowl falling to the ground.

Song Ying and the other two thought it was just an ordinary broken bowl or plate. They glanced at it and then paid no attention to it, continuing their chat.

Who would have thought that the next step would be a flurry of footsteps, mixed with the maid's crying voice: "Madam! Madam, what's wrong with you? Someone come quickly——"

Then it became even noisier, with the voices of maids and old women mixing together in chaos.

In the women's cabin, the maid Yanqiu supported the pregnant lady and said anxiously, "Quick, go inform the master! Find a doctor immediately!"

The woman she was supporting held her neck with her hands and tried to exert force, but could only make vague "ho ho" sounds.

The maids and servants in the room, who were in a mess, all ran out. Zhu'er ran a few steps and then stopped, turning around and said anxiously, "But we are on the boat, where can we find a doctor?"

"Go find the captain and ask her to find a solution!" Yanqiu tried her best to remain calm. Seeing Zhu'er panicking and trying to run out again, he hurriedly called out to her, "Don't run away so quickly. Come over and lend a hand. Help Madam lie down first!"

Zhu'er slapped her head in annoyance, then hurried over and helped her help the lady lean on the couch.

The old woman who rushed out was experienced. She divided two people into two groups, one to inform her master and the other to find the captain of the boat.

"Captain, is there a doctor on board? Our wife ate half a bowl of fish soup and suddenly her lips and tongue went numb, and now all the color has gone out of her face!"

The captain's face suddenly changed. "This is puffer fish poisoning! What kind of fish soup are you eating? No, Mrs. Chen is an old man on the boat, how could she not know which parts of puffer fish are not edible?"

When the old woman who delivered the message heard this, her face turned pale and her voice became shrill, "Poisoned! Our wife is still pregnant!"

She grabbed the captain's arm and urged, "Go find a doctor!"

The captain was about to ask where the doctor came from when he remembered Song Ying and said hurriedly, "That's Miss Song! She's Doctor Lin's apprentice!"

"Miss Song?" The old woman was stunned. "But the girl who lives in the women's cabin?"

"Yes, yes, it's her!" The captain nodded repeatedly.

"I just saw her go out, and she hasn't come back yet." The old woman muttered anxiously, and shouted at the top of her voice: "Miss Song! Miss Song——"

Song Ying was used to being called "Doctor". When he heard the name "Miss Song", he was slow to react.

He hurried out and waved to the yelling woman, "I'm here."

The old woman ran over as if she had seen a savior, and her skinny fingers gripped Song Ying's wrist like a pair of pliers, with such force that it almost cut into the flesh.

"Miss Song, help! Our wife might have been poisoned by pufferfish!"

She was about to drag Song Ying to the women's cabin, but someone held her wrist. Yuan Qing said in a deep voice, "Let her go first."

The old woman was stunned for a moment, then looked up and saw Song Ying grimacing in pain.

She realized her loss of composure and hurriedly let go of her hand. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I was so anxious that I didn't know how to control my strength. But our wife is still more than eight months pregnant. If something goes wrong..."

She didn't dare to say the rest.

Song Ying's eyes darkened. He turned his wrist calmly and said calmly, "Don't worry, let's talk while we walk."

The old woman was infected by his calmness and said anxiously as she led the way, "Our mistress had just eaten half a bowl of fish soup when her tongue suddenly became stiff and she couldn't even hold the teacup..."

Yuan Qing quickly followed, his eyes falling on the purple fingerprints gradually appearing on Song Ying's wrist, and his eyes darkened.

He pursed his lips and said, "Your silver needle is in my room. I'll go get it."

Song Ying shook his head. "If it's pufferfish poison, then you can't use silver needles. It will only make the poison worse."

They soon arrived at the women's cabin, but Yuan Qing did not go in. She just waited at the door.

When Song Ying entered the cabin, the first thing that caught his eye was the rosewood couch placed by the window.

A couch covered with an apricot-yellow brocade mattress was covered. A pregnant woman, perhaps in her early twenties, was half-leaning on a gold-embroidered pillow. Her face was as pale as paper, and a fine layer of cold sweat oozed from her forehead, but it still couldn't hide her beautiful features.

She had an oval face, willow-shaped eyebrows, almond eyes, and a beautiful nose. Although her lips were pale and colorless due to the poisoning, her original cherry shape could still be seen.