Chapter 120: Voluntary Poisoning

"Chi Ting Song, Wen Zhilan..." Chi Zhongshan's eyes suddenly widened: "Chi Ting Song? That was the young servant who went along when Xinxin married out, and Wen Zhilan was her personal maid, later said to have been betrothed to someone." He grabbed Chi Nan Yi's arm, his eyes full of excitement: "That's right! That's right! It must be! They were the people at Xinxin's side, they had every opportunity to take you away. Child, I am your maternal grandfather, I am your maternal grandfather!"

Chi Nan Yi kept untangling this layer of relationships in her mind. So, her father and mother were servants beside her birth mother. When the General's Residence fell into chaos that year, they took her away. That female infant who was killed... could it be... that infant was her father and mother's own child, sacrificed to save her...

Chi Nan Yi's heart tightened, endless pain spreading through her body.

"Child, you..."

"Maternal grandfather."

"Ah!" Chi Zhongshan looked at her and could not help but laugh out loud, so loudly that even the Chi family members waiting outside heard it clearly.

"What is wrong with Grandfather?" Chi Shao yuan frowned: "Surely his body was cured, but his mind went bad instead..."

"Shut your mouth!" Chi Xianshi slapped him on the head: "What nonsense are you spouting?"

Inside the room, after Chi Nan Yi administered needles to the old man and gave him Spirit Spring Water and pills, Chi Zhongshan's body visibly improved.

"Heaven blessed my Chi Family, leaving a trace of bloodline for your father and mother, allowing these old bones of mine to see you again in my lifetime. Seeing you now is just like seeing your mother." Chi Zhongshan said with a smile: "I never expected you to have grown up this well."

"My father and mother... I mean my adoptive parents, after they took me away from the Situ Family, they sent me to the Left Minister's Residence. I don't know how they managed it, nor do I know why they did it."

"As for that, you will have to go back and ask them." Chi Zhongshan coughed a few times: "Since they were able to bring you out, they are loyal people and would never harm you."

"I know." Chi Nan Yi took out several pills and placed them under his pillow: "Maternal grandfather, these pills are all for detoxification."

"Detoxification?"

"The reason your body is like this is not due to old age. On the contrary, your body is very healthy. The reason you appear to be dying is because you have been poisoned. This poison is called Falling Moon, and it is extremely difficult to resolve. It hides within the body and is very hard to detect. It causes a person's body to rapidly deteriorate, and judging by the pulse alone, it looks like natural aging. This poison is on your body, and it is also on Second Cousin's body."

"What?" Chi Zhongshan said in shock: "You mean to say that Shao yuan has also been poisoned with the Falling Moon Poison?"

"That is correct." Chi Zhongshan frowned deeply, the expression in his eyes ever-changing.

Chi Nan Yi noticed that when she spoke of him being poisoned with this poison, her maternal grandfather did not seem surprised, only that he had not expected Chi Shao yuan to have this poison as well. Could it be that he had already known about the Falling Moon Poison?

"Child, are you certain the poison on Shao yuan's body is also Falling Moon?"

"That is correct."

"This is too much! Cough, cough, cough..." Chi Zhongshan could not stop coughing: "They bully people too much."

"Maternal grandfather, what exactly is going on?"

Chi Zhongshan caught his breath a few times and said in a low voice: "This Falling Moon Poison was something I voluntarily took back when we were still in Jingcheng."

"You took it voluntarily?"

"That is correct. Besides me, there were also the heads of several other noble families in Jingcheng. When the late emperor was still alive, to prevent the noble families' power from expanding, he summoned us family heads to the capital and forced us to consume poison, but promised that as long as we remained loyal, he would bestow antidotes every year. In those early years, antidotes were delivered every year, so our bodies suffered no great harm. But ever since the Situ Family met with disaster and the Chi Family left the capital, I no longer received any antidotes. Previously, I asked Divine Doctor Xiao to keep me alive with medicine, lingering on all these years. I had thought that I would not have many years left to live anyway, and when I died, so be it. I never expected that they would set their sights on the next generation." Chi Zhongshan said angrily: "This is too much!"

"Maternal grandfather, there is no need to be angry. The truth of the matter will be investigated sooner or later. Before then, you just focus on nursing your body back to health. The Situ Family, the Chi Family, what exactly happened back then, I will certainly get to the bottom of it."

"Good child, you are still so young..."

"Maternal grandfather, if I truly am a descendant of the Situ Family, and my clan was massacred overnight, so many lives lost, I bear a blood feud. If I do not investigate it clearly, I fear I will not be able to sleep peacefully in this life."

Chi Zhongshan heard her say this and nodded as well: "Good, since you wish to investigate, your maternal grandfather will help you. The Chi Family may not be what it once was, but it is not something just anyone can touch."

"Thank you, maternal grandfather." Chi Nan Yi glanced at the door and said softly: "Before the source of the poison on Second Cousin's body is investigated clearly, please, Grandfather, do not reveal my identity."

"Good, Grandfather understands."

When Chi Nan Yi walked out of the room, the Chi family members were all waiting at the door.

Chi Xianshi saw her come out and quickly stepped forward: "Divine Doctor, my father, he..."

"The old man is fine. After a few more needle treatments, he will recover fully."

"Wonderful! Wonderful!" Chi Xianshi said with a smile: "Thank you, Divine Doctor, thank you, Divine Doctor."

Chi Xingzhi patted Chi Shao yuan on the shoulder: "You have done a great deed this time."

The Chi Family was full of joy. Looking at the genuine smiles on their faces, it seemed no one was anxious about Chi Zhongshan's recovery.

"Oh, right." Chi Nan Yi said seriously: "There are certain foods that must not appear in the old man's diet. Almonds, eggs, beef, especially almonds, they clash with the antidote I have prescribed. If consumed, they will put his life in danger."

"Yes, yes, yes, we understand. Thank you, Divine Doctor, for telling us."

That night, a furtive figure appeared in the back kitchen.

The person walked to the water vat, looked around, took out a pouch of powder from his clothing, and was about to sprinkle it into the water vat.

Just then, the area around the kitchen instantly lit up.

Numerous servants held up torches, surrounding the kitchen tightly.

The person was startled and turned to flee, but several guards stepped forward and pinned him to the ground.

"Let me go! Let me go!" The man pinned to the ground struggled to stand up: "Let me go!"

Chi Shao yuan stepped forward and picked up the pouch on the ground. Inside was a packet of almond powder.

"Who are you? Why are you putting almond powder in the water vat?"

"Second Young Master, he is one of our Chi Family's stablehands."

"A stablehand?"

"Yes." The steward stepped forward and looked coldly at the stablehand: "This man worked as a stablehand for our Chi Family back when we were in Jingcheng. Later, he committed some offense and was sent away to a farmstead by the Old Family Head. This year, when several stablehands left the household, he was brought back. Who would have thought he bore a grudge against the Old Family Head. He truly does not know what is good for him."

The stablehand glared fiercely at Chi Shao yuan, looking as though he wanted to swallow him alive: "May every member of the Chi Family die a miserable death!"