Chapter 698: The Smell is Off

Xie Qiao was very worried when she heard that. She first comforted Xie Xi, then she thanked Young Lady Yan profusely.

Coincidentally, Young Lady Yan’s father…

Was the imperial court’s imperial censor who loved to complain about the Crown Prince and the Xie family.

Young Lady Yan was also very scared. “Young Lady Xie, you don’t have to thank me. Just now, Young Lady Fang didn’t see it from behind. If she had seen it first, her reaction would definitely have been faster than mine… These creatures are the most difficult to guard against. Now that the weather is hot, it’s even more difficult to avoid them.”

Xie Qiao frowned slightly.

That was right. When the weather was hot, these rich young ladies would usually bring fragrance sachets with them when they went out. They would put some medicinal herbs in them for the fragrance, as well as for the purpose of avoiding these insects.

Even their clothes were smothered with some insect-repellent spices.

A spider suddenly appeared…

Either someone was scheming, or her silly sister’s luck was probably terrible.

It was hard to tell one’s luck. For instance, for some people, if they were lucky, they could find silver just by walking around. However, if one was unlucky, they would choke even when they drank water.

“I still have to thank you. This spider…” Xie Qiao glanced at the spider on the ground. It was so scary that no one dared to look at it again. Xie Qiao did not believe that it was not poisonous. “This spider should be poisonous. Young Lady Yan saved my sister. I will remember this favor and repay you in the future.”

Young Lady Yan was embarrassed.

Her father always said that bandits were bandits and officials were officials. He said that Xie Niushan was reckless and he always did not get along with the Xie family.

He also said that the Crown Prince was crippled. No matter how capable he was, they would not allow a crippled person to ascend the throne. Therefore, he often targeted the Crown Prince.

Hence, her father was often punished by the Emperor for his salary.

Her father’s salary was even forfeited after five years.

Therefore, logically speaking, she should not have any good feelings toward the Crown Prince and Young Lady Xie. However, when she saw Young Lady Xie today, she was truly astounded.

The reason why she was able to save Xie Xi in time was mainly because Xie Xi was adorable. She even wanted to go up and talk to Young Lady Xie, so… she took a few more glances.

She did not expect to have saved her.

The flowers and plants in the palace were all taken care of by the gardeners. Since there was a flower feast today, they naturally had to do pest control. Now that something like this had happened, the gardeners in the Imperial Household Department would probably be punished as well.

Xie Qiao suddenly reached out to touch the soil and sniffed it.

“The smell is off.” Xie Qiao’s voice was indifferent.

“Call the gardeners over,” Zhao Xuanjing said directly.

Everyone looked at each other in confusion.

However, the gardeners were waiting nearby for the convenience of taking care of the flowers and plants. Now that the Crown Prince had summoned them, they all knelt down.

There were seven or eight gardeners.

However, Xie Qiao stared at two of them.

Those two…

There were ghouls on their bodies, and those ghouls looked very scary. Their hair was messy, and their faces were mostly sickly. Their eyes were dark red. They were lingering. They seemed to want to bite the two gardeners to death.

“The rest of you, go back to the hall,” Zhao Xuanjing said.

With that said, all of the young ladies left obediently, feeling a little uneasy.

‘This Young Lady Xie… Could it be that she wants to punish the gardeners severely because her sister was almost bitten by a spider?’ Some people secretly guessed.

If that was the case, it would be too much. Although the gardeners were somewhat negligent, it was normal for there to be bugs in the plants.

Xie Qiao suddenly pointed at two of the gardeners and said, “You two stay here. The rest can go on with your day.”