Concubine Xi then stood up.
Su Wan'er continued, "Well, tell me. What did you come here for to relieve the empress's worries?"
Being questioned by Su Wan'er, Concubine Xi quickly replied, "Yes, Your Majesty. I had my servants prepare some special gifts from our Jin Kingdom yesterday. I intended to present them to the Holy Maiden of the Southern Border Empire today."
As she spoke, she waved her hand, signaling the maids who had come with her and were standing outside to enter.
After the maids came in, they placed the gifts in their hands on the stone table. In an instant, Long Xiaojiu and the snacks were blocked from sight.
This made Long Xiaojiu, who had been on high alert, look even more displeased.
She secretly reached into her pocket with her hand.
The atmosphere in the yard grew a bit oppressive.
Seeing that Long Xiaojiu seemed about to take action, Su Wan'er quickly pressed down on her hand.
Long Xiaojiu turned to look at Su Wan'er, and Su Wan'er just silently shook her head at her.
Come on, Concubine Xi was the favorite niece of the empress dowager and her favorite concubine. If something happened to her, who knew what decision the empress dowager would make? What if she wanted to execute Long Xiaojiu?
Although Su Wan'er thought there was a high probability that the empress dowager wouldn't blame Long Xiaojiu because of Concubine Xi. After all, compared to Concubine Xi, the empress dowager should care more about her own son, right?
However, for the sake of safety and the overall situation, she thought it better not to let Long Xiaojiu take action.
Seeing that Su Wan'er didn't agree to her taking action, Long Xiaojiu was silent for a while. Then she silently took out a packet of powder from her pocket.
This packet of powder was a poison she had developed herself. As long as one got contaminated with it, red rashes would appear all over the body, causing unbearable pain and itchiness. However, it wouldn't cause any other harm to people.
So, rather than calling this packet of powder a poison, it was more like a prankish medicine.
Since this uncle in front of her didn't let her take action against this woman, then she'd just play a prank on her.
Although Su Wan'er saw Long Xiaojiu take out the powder, he knew that Long Xiaojiu was a person who knew her limits. After he had stopped her, the thing she took out would definitely not be something that could harm people.
Concubine Xi didn't notice their interaction. At this moment, she was concentrating on opening the gift box.
The first gift she gave to Long Xiaojiu was a red agate bracelet carved with vivid auspicious beasts. It was obviously a very valuable item.
"Come, Holy Maiden. This is my first gift for you, the red agate bracelet with auspicious beasts. Take a look. Do you like it?" As she spoke, she placed the gift box in front of Long Xiaojiu.
Long Xiaojiu frowned. Suddenly, she raised her hand and said to Concubine Mei, "Xiaojiu likes it very much. Could auntie please help me put it on?"
Concubine Xi originally wanted to refuse. She was the noble Concubine Xi! Although she was not as high - ranking as the imperial concubine and the empress, she was still someone others flattered. How dare this little bitch ask her to put on the bracelet for her?
Su Wan'er knew that Long Xiaojiu was going to poison Concubine Xi. Seeing Concubine Xi's reluctant expression, she added fuel to the fire.
"Since it's a meeting gift, putting it on for the recipient personally can show your sincerity, right, Concubine Xi?"
Since the emperor had spoken, Concubine Xi couldn't refuse. She could only reply respectfully, "Your Majesty is right."
She picked up the bracelet herself and reached out to put it on Long Xiaojiu.
However, as soon as her hand touched Long Xiaojiu's, Long Xiaojiu suddenly let out a scream and then covered her left hand that had been touched by Concubine Xi in pain.
"What's wrong?" Su Wan'er looked at her with concern.
Although he didn't believe it, he couldn't rule out the possibility that Concubine Xi might act impulsively against Long Xiaojiu.
Long Xiaojiu looked at Concubine Xi aggrievedly, "Auntie, if you don't like me, just say so. Why did you attack me?"
Concubine Xi was even more aggrieved, and a bit confused, "I, I didn't do anything."
Long Xiaojiu showed her left hand. First, she showed it to Su Wan'er, "Uncle, look. My hand was fine just now. After she touched it, it's bleeding. Moreover, the area around the wound is blue - purple. It's obvious that someone has poisoned me."
"No, no, I didn't. How could I poison the Holy Maiden of the Southern Border?" Concubine Xi panicked and quickly defended herself.
Before Su Wan'er could speak, Long Xiaojiu said first, "Whether you poisoned me or not, we'll know if we check if you're hiding any poison on you." As she spoke, she turned to look at Su Wan'er, "Uncle, what do you think?"
Su Wan'er glanced at Concubine Xi and then nodded, "Servants."
Fang Xi came in and bowed respectfully to Su Wan'er, "Your servant pays respects to Your Majesty. I wonder what Your Majesty's orders are?"
Su Wan'er ordered Fang Xi to find some old nannies to search Concubine Xi to see if she was hiding any poison on her.
After a long time, the nannies brought Concubine Xi back. Along with them came a paper packet and a hairpin.
"Your Majesty, no poison was found on Concubine Xi, but this paper packet and a hairpin were discovered," the nanny reported.
Su Wan'er turned to Fang Xi and said, "Summon the imperial physician."
Fang Xi agreed and then went out to find the imperial physician.
The imperial physician carefully examined the powder in the paper packet. After a long time, he said to Su Wan'er, "Your Majesty, this medicine is a kind of toxin that will seep into the human body as long as it comes into contact with blood. It will cause death within a day."
Su Wan'er turned to look at Long Xiaojiu, "It seems... you're completely fine?"
"Humph, of course it's because I'm immune to all poisons. If I weren't immune to all poisons, I would have been killed by her long ago," Long Xiaojiu said.
Before Concubine Xi could even open her mouth to speak, Long Xiaojiu said again, "I never thought that you Central Plains people could be so vicious. You actually wanted to secretly poison me. Tell me, what's your real purpose?"
Concubine Xi was really speechless now. She opened her mouth several times but finally could only kneel in front of Su Wan'er and kept pleading for forgiveness.
Considering that she was the empress dowager's favorite concubine, Su Wan'er only issued a house - arrest order, ordering her to reflect on herself in her own palace.
After all, this incident was a scheme by Long Xiaojiu, so Su Wan'er couldn't punish her too severely.
After driving Concubine Xi back, Long Xiaojiu didn't continue to pester. She just asked for a few more plates of pastries and that was it.
The news here was also passed to the ears of the empress dowager and Concubine Mei.
Concubine Xi herself sent the news to the empress dowager, while Concubine Mei learned about it from the news brought back by Cui Si.
"Hahaha." Hearing that Concubine Xi had suffered a setback, Concubine Mei laughed so hard that she couldn't straighten up. She had guessed correctly. The Holy Maiden of the Southern Border was not so easy to deal with!