"Is it Wushi San?" Xie Zhaozhao asked, noticing that there was no sediment in the tea.
"No, this is a powder made from ground fruit shells. If Madam eats that stuff, she will become addicted after a few times."
Will people die?
"It is extremely harmful to the body and will naturally lead to death. It is especially detrimental to the fetus in the womb, causing deformities and addiction."
Lu Feiyan was furious, extremely furious, and she was about to make her move!
Xie Zhaozhao pinched her palm with her fingertips.
He asked Yuanyuan to fetch a spare set of new clothes from the carriage, and only after changing his clothes did he go to the main hall.
As they walked, he said, "Feiyan, please check out the food for me later."
If the drugger wasn't caught red-handed, the matter couldn't be made public.
If they were only targeting her and the others didn't have it in their teacups, and she stood up to expose them, she might be counter-accused of making trouble and framing them, leaving her unable to defend herself.
Xie Zhaozhao came out of the latrine and happened to see Madam Xie the Second. The two shook hands and greeted each other.
"How is Grandmother? My sister-in-law didn't come today, did she?"
"The old lady is well. The princess is five months pregnant. The royal physician said it is twins. She is too heavy, so he informed His Majesty. Neither the mother nor the princess came to see the Empress Dowager off."
"Then I'll go see my sister-in-law in a couple of days," Xie Zhaozhao said with a smile. "Second Aunt, shall we sit together tonight?"
"Okay, I'll call your third aunt over too."
Xie Zhaozhao did not sit with the people from the Earl's Mansion, but with Madam Xie the Second and Madam Xie the Third, and no one said anything about it.
They're relatives, so it's not awkward for them to sit together.
The banquet was lavish. We didn't have a New Year's Eve dinner, nor did we celebrate the New Year. We're still not allowed to have any entertainment activities for the next year, so today's gathering is a rare treat.
Everyone ate quietly, while palace maids moved about and servants attended to their masters.
Yuanyuan arranges the vegetables, and Lu Feiyan reviews them.
No problem.
Lu Feiyan personally inspected each dish and served Xie Zhaozhao food and soup.
Snacks... Lu Feiyan carefully broke the snacks into small pieces, then suddenly stopped and glanced at Xie Zhaozhao.
Xie Zhaozhao watched her blink her big, round eyes, then subtly avoided touching the snack.
Actually, she barely touched the food on the table; she wasn't that hungry.
Madam Xie was unaware of the reason, but being from a prominent family, none of them were fools. They knew that food outside was unsafe, and no one would eat it carelessly. Therefore, she didn't touch the pastries either.
Before long, the palace banquet ended, the dishes were cleared away, and tea was served after the meal.
It's still ginseng tea.
Lu Feiyan walked up to her, glanced at her with her big, dark eyes, and picked up the rinsing bowl. Xie Zhaozhao knew that she couldn't drink this tea either.
She rinsed the ginseng tea in her mouth, pretending to gargle, and then spat it all into the bowl.
The Empress whispered something to Jin Ge, and Jin Ge then called over a palace maid to fill Xie Zhaozhao's teacup.
After Xie Zhaozhao gave a perfunctory thank you, she didn't even drink her tea. Lu Feiyan quickly made a move and threw something into her cup.
Xie Zhaozhao looked at it and saw a small, off-white ball about the size of a jujube.
The small ball quickly swelled in the water, and in a moment, it had absorbed all the water in the cup.
After the banquet, the women from each household left the palace and returned to their residences.
Lu Feiyan seized the opportunity to grab the ball and followed closely behind Xie Zhaozhao.
They remained silent the entire way.
Xie Zhaozhao finally relaxed after returning to the island in the middle of the lake.
Her face looked terrible. It was all because of her, because of her child!
She extended her wrist to Lu Feiyan, who said, "Madam, you're alright. I checked your pulse when I helped you back."
She lowered her head and whispered, "Madam, I'm sorry, I slipped someone a little bit of medicine when I came out just now."
Seeing her guilty conscience, Xie Zhaozhao simply asked, "Who did you poison?"
“The Queen and the Princess. I can’t stand it! That princess, she smells of fruit shell powder, and I saw her staring at you intently. She’s in cahoots with the Queen.”
Xie Zhaozhao knew they were in cahoots, so she didn't blame Lu Feiyan; instead, she was very grateful.
"What poison did you give them?" She was ruthless enough to kill enemies silently.
She just didn't want to implicate Lu Feiyan.
"It's not a particularly potent poison, but if it's not treated in time, the Empress might not be able to stand up again."
Lu Feiyan said awkwardly, "As for that princess, she will have hallucinations and crave that fruit shell powder like crazy."
They make their own poison and eat it themselves.
This can be considered an eye for an eye.
Xie Zhaozhao: ...Isn't this a powerful poison?
He was directly poisoned and crippled! He went insane from the poison!
Xie Zhaozhao said, "Don't go out in the courtyard for the next two days. If they can't find any poison, that's fine. But if they do find poison, I'm afraid they'll suspect you."
Lu Feiyan immediately patted her chest and said, "Don't worry, Madam, no one can detect the poison I used."
"Better safe than sorry. Yesterday when I went to the palace, Wei was forbidden from attending the Empress Dowager's funeral, which is why you didn't meet with Wei Jingzhong and Zhu Tou. Otherwise, you would have easily attracted Wei Jingzhong's attention."
Xie Zhaozhao was exhausted. She spoke with Lu Feiyan for a short while and then fell asleep.
She's sleeping well here, but things are quite lively in the palace.
After entertaining the ladies, the Empress was also exhausted.
The Empress Dowager's funeral lasted a whole month, and the Wei family kept having troubles, leaving her exhausted.
Jin Ge gently massaged her neck and shoulders and found that she was breathing evenly and had fallen asleep.
The next day at dawn, the Empress woke up and found that her feet were somewhat numb.
She curled her legs up and reached out to touch her feet.
Her toes felt a little numb. Pinching her toes, she asked Jingge, "Why do my feet feel a little numb?"
Jin Ge hurriedly helped her massage, but after massaging for a while, it didn't get better. Instead, the numb area got bigger and bigger, starting from her toes and spreading to the top of her foot.
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