Xie Yushu saw through the trick and felt relieved. Seeing that the little palace maid was still staring at her, she ate a few more bites of cherry meat and drank some osmanthus wine from time to time.
The young palace maid couldn't immediately tell whether Xie Yushu knew about the trickery in the dishes, so she couldn't help but remind Xie Yushu again.
"Princess, the cherry meat is a bit cold! Why don't you try this osmanthus shark fin soup? It's so fresh and tender, and the ladies of the palaces always love to order it!"
"Really! The peony blossoms on you smell nice too! But they're not quite right for making cherry meat. If you add vermicelli juice, it'll not only be tasteless, it could be deadly!"
You agree, right?
"Princess, I...I don't understand what you're saying! If you have no further instructions, this servant will take her leave!"
"I have orders!"
"Nanxing, take these two dishes and this palace maid to the Imperial Hospital and inform someone that the Empress might not be clean at this palace banquet!"
After Xie Yushu finished speaking, Nanxing immediately stepped forward, put the two plates of food into the food box, and with one hand carrying the food and the other hand carrying the little palace maid, retreated.
Xie Yushu's position was already quite prominent, so even if she tried to keep it low-key, those above could see it clearly. The Emperor frowned in confusion, and the Empress immediately instructed her personal maid, Daimao.
"Go and see what's going on?"
The hawksbill turtle responded and immediately chased after Nanxing.
The singing and dancing continued, and the departure of a few people did not attract much attention. The Empress Dowager said softly.
"In the harem, I usually turn a blind eye to minor disturbances, but if they escalate to the point of affecting outsiders and disgrace the Great Qi, I will not let them off lightly!"
"Rest assured, Mother, if anything truly happens, your daughter-in-law will punish the perpetrator severely!"
Consort Chu was seated directly below the Empress, so she naturally overheard the conversation between the Empress Dowager and the Empress. However, she was confident that the little palace maid was a long way off from her and there was no way she could trace her back to her. As for Xie Yushu, she wouldn't be leaving unscathed today.
Xie Yushu naturally saw that Daimao, who was beside the Empress, had chased after Nanxing. She raised her cup to Consort Chu from afar and drank it down in one gulp.
The deliberate provocation was also to test Consort Chu's reaction.
Consort Chu maintained her smile and returned the cup with a cheerful tone, as if everything was irrelevant to her.
Xie Yushu immediately understood; it seemed this wasn't over yet! Let's see if you're more skilled or I'm more experienced!
With a clear understanding of the situation, Xie Yushu relaxed and ate and drank as she pleased. Whether it was an envoy coming up to perform sword dances, paint paintings, or wrestle, she watched with great interest.
Consort Chu sneered disdainfully as she watched Xie Yushu eating and drinking.
"See? We won't see such a great performance again!"
Sure enough, a short while later, a young eunuch rushed over and said to Xie Yushu...
"Princess, my lord is suddenly feeling unwell. Please come and see him!"
When Xie Yushu took a look, she realized that he was one of Xuan Yuanche's attendants. Although he was not a close attendant, Xie Yushu had seen him twice before.
Looking back, sure enough, Xuan Yuanche was no longer in his seat.
"lead the way!
Tell me what symptoms your prince is experiencing!
When Xie Yushu heard that Xuan Yuanche had fallen ill, she quickly got up and followed him, asking about his condition as they walked.
"My lord suddenly experienced shortness of breath, but he has already taken medicine. We servants are still worried, and since the lord is not allowed to disturb the Empress Dowager, we can only ask you to come and take another look."
The two walked and talked as they left the banquet hall. Xie Yushu was worried about Xuan Yuanche's condition, so she hurried along with the little eunuch. Suddenly, another little eunuch came towards them with his head down and walking quickly. Xie Yushu instinctively sensed something was wrong and stopped.
The young eunuch ran up to Xie Yushu and suddenly threw a handful of powder at her. Fortunately, Xie Yushu noticed in advance and was prepared. She held her breath when the eunuch raised his hand and took a few quick steps to get out of the area covered by the unknown powder.
The young eunuch was clearly surprised by Xie Yushu's agility, and the one who had led the way earlier also turned around.
The two exchanged a glance and then surrounded Xie Yushu from the front and back.
"Since you've found out, then we're sorry. We were just following orders. If you die, the culprits will be held accountable, so don't come looking for us!"
Xie Yushu didn't wait for the two to finish their nonsense and kicked the one closest to her.
The man hurriedly dodged to the side, and Xie Yushu lunged forward, delivering a powerful whip kick to his neck. At the same time, the man who had been dawdling behind her, seeing that things were going wrong, also caught up and thrust his dagger directly at Xie Yushu's neck.
After Xie Yushu bent over and did a backflip to dodge, she kicked the other person directly in front of the dagger. The two of them were piled on top of each other like a human pyramid, and the dagger pierced into the man's shoulder armor.
Xie Yushu didn't wait for the two to get up. She went straight forward and kicked each of them unconscious on the back of the neck, then clapped her hands and left.
Regardless, one of these two people is indeed one of Xuan Yuanche's people, and she has to go and find out if Xuan Yuanche is alright.
Meanwhile, after Xie Yushu left her seat, Xiao Yi, who had been watching her closely, soon put down his wine glass and chased after her. Chu Mingzhu, who had been keeping an eye on Xiao Yi, saw him chasing after Xie Yushu and followed along with her personal maid, Tao Hong.
Consort Chu had long been wary of Xiao Yi and had arranged for people to lure him away whenever they saw him, so as not to let him cause any trouble.
So as soon as Xiao Yi left the banquet hall, he was led to another path.
Unaware of the situation, Chu Mingzhu went straight after Xie Yushu.
Despite her best efforts to prevent this, Consort Chu couldn't guard against Chu Mingzhu's actions. Seeing Chu Mingzhu leave, she was terrified that Chu Mingzhu would cause trouble. Even if Chu Mingzhu didn't cause any trouble, she would be caught up in the situation and wouldn't be able to extricate herself. In her anxiety, she could only order her maid, Yuanyang, to go and find Chu Mingzhu and bring her back.
The Imperial Garden was truly vast, with its intricate network of paths and all the surrounding pavilions and waterside terraces looking quite similar. Xie Yushu was unfamiliar with the area and couldn't quite find her way out in a short time.
Chu Mingzhu, who had been chasing after them, saw two eunuchs lying unconscious there, and only Xie Yushu was nearby. She immediately concluded that Xie Yushu had killed them. Fearing that Xie Yushu had escaped, she immediately ordered Taohong to report to the Empress, while she herself jogged after Xie Yushu.
"Xie Yushu, how dare you kill someone in the palace! Your good days are over!"
I've already sent Tao Hong to inform the Empress. You can expect to be thrown into prison!
Xie Yushu was standing on an arched bridge. Since she couldn't find Xuan Yuanche anytime soon, she decided to stop looking. She was just being overly concerned; if it were really that urgent, Xuan Yuanche's guards would have already flown over with him to find her. Seeing Chu Mingzhu stopping her, she chuckled.
"Which eye of yours saw me kill someone? I could say you killed that person!"
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