Chapter 1464: Chapter 1440: Date Failure
Because she wanted to go see the peach blossoms with Bai Shan, the next day after giving acupuncture to the Prince in the palace, Manbao asked the Prince and Princess for a day’s leave, saying, "I need to travel far tomorrow, I’ll return to the palace the day after."
Now the Princess was already experiencing some pregnancy symptoms, but fortunately, it was not too severe—just drowsiness, a lack of energy, and an aversion to meat.
These days, Manbao had been entering the palace every day; the area around the Princess was kept clean and tidy, and her pregnancy was increasingly stable. With Manbao’s care, both mother and child were very healthy.
It was alright even if Manbao didn’t come into the palace for a day.
The Princess was not as anxious as before and nodded in agreement.
So, early the next morning, Bai Shan changed into a new outfit, tied up the hair he had washed last night, thought for a moment, then opened his box and took out a jade pendant to hang on his belt. After preparing everything, he went next door to invite Manbao.
Manbao also changed her hairstyle, put on new clothes, and deliberately changed the flower ornament in her hair.
Manbao opened the door, saw Bai Shan, and couldn’t help but smile, the two looked at each other dumbly through the doorway.
Bai Erlang led the resting Zhou Lixue and others, peering out of the study window at them, faces full of teasing noises.
Bai Shan heard the noise, turned his head to see them, secretly warned Bai Erlang with a look, then reached out to hold Manbao’s hand, "Let’s go, Daji has already prepared the car. How about we grab breakfast on the street?"
Manbao’s eyes lit up, nodding repeatedly.
Bai Shan treated her to dumplings, both were growing and had good appetites. Seeing her looking at the meat pie on the opposite stall, he went over to buy one, broke it open, and shared it.
Bai Shan also bought a packet of sugar-fried chestnuts, planning to eat them on the mountain.
As the two were holding hands ready to get in the car to Xuandu Temple, about a dozen riders quickly surrounded them, taking both Bai Shan and Manbao by surprise.
Bai Shan pulled Manbao behind him, and Daji, who had just finished his meat pie, immediately stood in front of them.
A person rode out and showed a badge, saying, "Doctor Zhou Junior, Lord Yin wants to see you, please come with us to the capital prefecture."
Manbao let out a sigh of relief and quietly said to Bai Shan, "There might be results in the overturned carriage case."
Bai Shan firmly held her hand, saying, "I’ll go with you."
The three were escorted by a troop of soldiers to the capital prefecture, seen by many along the way, and with them coming in quickly, probably anyone interested now knew.
As Manbao and Bai Shan exchanged glances, wondering why Yin Li made such a grandiose request, they suddenly heard Keke say, "I detected radioactive material, just nine hundred and fifty-eight meters ahead..."
Manbao: ...
She immediately turned her head to whisper in Bai Shan’s ear about this matter, then said, "Have we become bait?"
"No," Bai Shan was quite frustrated, thinking couldn’t they choose another day? He said, "It’s probably scaring the snake. Now we wait to see if the snake will be startled."
Arriving at the capital prefecture, Yin Li was not there, or if he was, he did not come out to meet them.
It was Lord Tang who met them.
Lord Tang looked at them with a smile, not at all surprised they came together, seeing their splendid clothes, then their shoes, he couldn’t help but smile, "What, planned a day out today?"
He said, "You were planning to see the peach blossoms at Xuandu Temple, weren’t you?"
Bai Shan pulled Manbao forward and asked, "Senior Brother Tang, why have you gone to such lengths to invite us here?"
"I didn’t invite you, I invited Manbao, but since you’re here, I won’t ask you to leave," Lord Tang laughed, "Come along then, I think you won’t have any chance to go out in the next day or two."
Bai Shan knew it.
Lord Tang led them to a room in the side courtyard, but did not let them in, instead taking them to look in from a window.
Bai Shan and Manbao curiously craned their necks to look in, only to see two people nervously sitting, with one lying on the bed.
They didn’t look good, those sitting looked haggard, with sunken eyes and sparse hair, and the one lying down had barely perceptible breathing.
Manbao, being a doctor, had good hearing, and this window wasn’t far from the bed, she could hear the other two’s breathing, but almost couldn’t hear the one lying down.
She couldn’t help but turn to look at Lord Tang.
Lord Tang didn’t speak, motioning them to keep looking.
The two inside had spotted them, but only glanced up before kneeling on the ground, trembling.
Bai Shan frowned.
Keke whispered in Manbao’s mind, "There is radioactive material on the table."
Manbao immediately looked at the table, seeing a box there, but it was closed, she couldn’t see what was inside.
Lord Tang, seeing Manbao had noticed the three inside, finally led her into the courtyard, moving a bit further from the room.
He said, "That gemstone was taken from their home, do you think their symptoms look like poisoning?"
Manbao in her mind asked Keke, "Are they poisoned?"
"If you call radioactive contamination poisoning, then yes."
Manbao then nodded to Lord Tang, affirming, "They are."
Lord Tang sighed, "The situation is very bad, those who went to investigate said the entire village was affected, and among the children born in the past two years, there is one with an extra hand, one with distorted features who didn’t survive ten days, and another baby girl who was drowned upon birth because her right foot was a lump without toes."
Manbao’s mouth fell open in shock.
Bai Shan was also alarmed, "That serious?"
Lord Tang nodded with a grave expression, "They didn’t know the cause, thinking it was divine punishment, many have left the village, but most cannot move, so they have taken to human sacrifices."
Manbao and Bai Shan held their breath, feeling uncomfortable.
Lord Tang was similarly troubled; after a pause, he said, "The stone’s toxicity is so potent? It can affect the entire village?"
Manbao nodded, based on what she knew, it could only get worse. She said, "Even if buried underground, it will contaminate the soil, slowly spreading, and rainwater passing through it will carry its poison."
"The poison flows through water and soil, crops and food may be contaminated," Manbao said, "If it is exposed and frequently handled or examined, it will be even more toxic."
After a pause, she said, "This thing shouldn’t exist in our world."
Lord Tang nodded, "Indeed, I inquired, it’s a fallen stone from the sky."
Lord Tang guided them back to the office, took a stack of documents from the desk and gave it to them, saying, "In the ninth year of the Great Zhen, a celestial stone fell in Gaochang Kingdom, seized by a Gaochang noble, who dispatched slaves to retrieve a piece from the crater, then had artisans carve day and night, ultimately fashioning a gemstone resembling a rooster."