Chapter 286: Change Of View
“Consort Li, I know you’re feeling very uncomfortable right now, but you must answer me!”
“Are you experiencing a faster heartbeat, itchy throat and tongue, weakness, dizziness, and blurred vision right now?” Consort Li held back her discomfort and nodded slightly.
“Then, Consort Li, what did you eat this morning and afternoon?”
“Yi Nan, you speak!” Grandma Zong said.
Yi Nan carefully recalled: “Consort Li ate noodles in the morning, with side dishes of garlic sprouts, Zisu leaves, jujubes, and small seafood.”
“For lunch, black rice, Hu Bing, beef and mutton!”
“In the afternoon, she only drank a little pumpkin millet porridge, because Consort Li had no appetite and ate very little, almost negligible!”
Although she said so much, they didn’t see exactly what dishes she picked and ate.
Li Xi’er lowered her head in thought, now she had to figure out exactly what was wrong with her!
Grandma Zong: “Is there anything wrong?”
Imperial Physician Hu felt that the food wasn’t a big issue; in his judgment, the main reason was eating too much stinky fruit.
“Then, does Consort Li have a habit of drinking alcohol or taking supplements?” If it was just seafood, it wouldn’t be this severe.
“Consort Li does have a habit of drinking alcohol, plum wine, but it’s usually fine. She also often drinks bird’s nest, but only a little before bed at night.”
“When did she drink the plum wine today?”
“This morning!”
Li Xi’er remembered that when Consort Li was talking to her in the morning, she faintly smelled a bit of wine aroma, and she thought it was the smell released from the ripe durian!
“Can you bring that plum wine for me to see?”
Yi Nan looked at Grandma Zong, and Grandma Zong nodded to her.
Looking at Li Xi’er suspiciously,
“You still say this poison wasn’t administered by you; how would you know so much pharmacology knowledge for no reason?”
“Grandma Zong, my father is a barefoot traveling doctor; surely you’ve heard about it?”
Grandma Zong choked, “Hmph! If you can’t figure it out, I’ll settle the score with you then!”
Li Xi’er ignored her threat. When Yi Nan brought out the plum wine, she poured a little into a cup and tasted it.
This was no ordinary plum wine; its alcohol content was comparable to baijiu!
“Yi Nan, did Consort Li drink on an empty stomach?”
“Yes, Yi Nan reminded Consort Li about this too, but she didn’t take it seriously, saying she had always done it this way and a little was fine!”
“Imperial Physician Hu, have you noticed anything?”
Imperial Physician Hu watched her drink, heard Yi Nan’s answer, and was thinking; he was pondering the relationship between the wine and durian.
“Could it be that there’s something wrong with this wine?”
“No, the wine is good wine. Imperial Physician Hu, according to the properties of the wine, it is cooling! Drinking a moderate amount can clear heat and detoxify, relax tendons and activate blood, but…”
“But stinky fruit is heating; could it be that they clash?” Imperial Physician Hu was enlightened by her!
“Yes, I think that’s one of the reasons. Plus, Consort Li ate seafood and beef and mutton, then a large amount of stinky fruit. Seafood is cooling, beef and mutton is heating; this alternation of cold and hot in the intestines and stomach causes clashing!”
“Then her red rash…”
“This is an allergy to some ingredient. The allergy plus the fire reaction, combined with the clashing, led to nosebleeds, body rash, swelling, nausea, and vomiting. Consort Li is likely allergic to one of the ingredients in the seafood!”
“Yes, Young Woman Xi’er makes a good point. Consort Li’s body rash is hives, which is a form of allergic reaction! Not poisoning!”
He hadn’t dared to confirm earlier and had naturally assumed she ate stinky fruit again, only asking about that. Elderly people already have weak stomachs prone to indigestion!
But how could indigestion produce symptoms similar to poisoning? Could it be that stinky fruit naturally contains toxins that weren’t discovered before?
It turned out Consort Li had eaten other clashing foods; it was his mistake!
“Seafood allergy? Could it be shrimp?” Yi Nan murmured softly.
“Consort Li had no appetite today. Yi Nan remembered she only ate a few shrimp tails.”
The root cause of the problem was found; this matter could now be handed over to Imperial Physician Hu.
Stopping the itch and reducing swelling was the priority: apply anti-allergy ointment externally, take anti-allergy medicine internally, and medicine beneficial to the intestines!
Li Xi’er thought about it; allergy to shrimp seafood was essentially an allergy to foreign proteins. “Grandma Zong, Consort Li must avoid shrimp, crab, shellfish, snails, and such seafood in the future to prevent another allergy!”
“Also, after eating stinky fruit, don’t drink alcohol immediately, or eat beef and mutton, milk, shrimp, and such; eating them together with stinky fruit will cause clashing and poisoning reactions!”
“Good, got it!”
So that’s how it was; this had wronged her. Grandma Zong now felt a bit embarrassed.
Grandma Zong: “That…”
Li Xi’er knew she was embarrassed and waved her sleeve:
“No matter, Grandma Zong. Earlier you were just worried about Consort Li and too anxious. Consort Li is truly fortunate to have someone like you serving her!”
“Then Consort Li, rest well and recuperate. Don’t worry; take the medicine properly and you’ll be fine in a couple of days. Grandma Zong, since we’ve found the reason, I’ll return to Zui Yue Pavilion. If there’s any issue, you can have Yi Nan come notify me!”
“…”
Imperial Physician Hu was actually a bit curious about her; how did she know which foods clashed with stinky fruit?
He silently noted down all those clashing ingredients she mentioned; this was medical knowledge worth remembering.
He opened his mouth but found it hard to speak; earlier he hadn’t diagnosed the cause—it was his medical knowledge that was limited and ignorant, nearly letting her take the blame.
Zisu and Honglian were relieved to see Li Xi’er safely return to Zui Yue Pavilion.
“Master, is Consort Li okay?”
“Yes, we found the reason. It was an allergy to shrimp tails. With the medicine prescribed by Imperial Physician Hu, she should be better in a couple of days!”
“That’s good; it really scared this maid!” Zisu patted her chest.
Thinking of the unfinished pizza, Li Xi’er took the two young maids with flour on their faces back to the kitchen to bake pizza.
After baking the pizza, Bu Wei was nowhere to be seen. When she returned, he was gone; probably went to find Feng Qingcheng since Consort Li was ill.
She changed her clothes and dressed as before, then took the cooled durian pizza and durian pastry alone to her godmother’s house.
She arrived at the alley where she had sent her godmother last time, knocked on the door, but after a while no one opened it. There was a crack in the gate; looking inside, she saw no one. “Godmother, godmother, are you home?”
She called twice, but still no answer. She felt slightly strange; why was the door open if she wasn’t home?
She gently pushed open the door and walked into the yard, seeing a rope in the center of the yard with clothes hanging to dry. She touched them; they weren’t dry yet, probably just washed not long ago.
Inside the yard, the ground was swept very clean. Against the wall, there were some small vegetables planted: garlic sprouts, scallions, chili pepper seedlings, and such. Her godmother was a diligent person!
But she wasn’t visible outside, and the house door was wide open too. She called a few times and stepped inside, immediately sensing something wrong!
The room was in chaos! Ahead, a woman was lying motionless on the ground, alive or dead!
“Godmother!” Li Xi’er cried out urgently, rushed over to support the person on the ground. “Godmother, wake up! What happened to you? Wake up!”
Li Xi’er called a few times, pinched her philtrum, gently patted her cheek which was a bit hot. “Godmother, what happened to you?”
The woman slowly came to, looking at the young man before her with exhausted eyes, somewhat dazed!
Suddenly remembering something, with a trace of delight she grasped her wrist: “Xiao Xi! You’ve come to see godmother!”
