Su Xiaoqi's heart gave a start, she wondered if she had made a mistake in taking the pulse.
She dared not make a sound, and using Bao Ge'er's hand, she wanted to take it again.
But Bao Ge'er paid no attention. He was eager to take Su Xiaoqi to the children's playground in the east cross courtyard, and had no mood to take pulses.
Su Xiaoqi failed to hold him and he quickly ran ahead.
He kept waving to her from ahead, "Sister Xiaoqi, hurry up, let's go play."
Su Xiaoqi had no choice but to greet the Grand Princess and turn to follow.
The east cross courtyard was not too far from the main courtyard.
They reached it in a quarter of an hour.
Seeing the brightly colored children's playground, Bao Ge'er shouted with joy and rushed over.
In just a few breaths, he had slid down from the highest point of the castle several times.
Su Xiaoqi looked at him playing so happily, and thought of the problem with his pulse, she sighed.
Forget it, it was a chronic condition anyway, and taking his pulse a little earlier or later would not have any significant impact.
Seeing Bao Ge'er playing so energetically, Princess Huian looked envious, clearly wanting to play.
"Princess, you go too," Su Xiaoqi called out to her with a smile.
"I, I, I'm a girl, wouldn't it be bad like this?" Princess Huian looked at her skirt, thinking that if someone saw her playing like this, would people gossip behind her back.
Would it affect the reputation of the Grand Princess's manor.
Su Xiaoqi smiled, beckoned Xu Mama, and asked her to make arrangements.
"Dan Kou, Mo Dai, go down and prepare some tea and fruit snacks for the masters."
The two close maids by Princess Huian's side bowed in unison and left.
Xu Mama nodded with satisfaction and then turned to a plain-looking young maid, saying, "Hua Dian, you go down too, I'll serve here."
Hua Dian was startled and whispered, "Mama, His Highness had ordered that the Princess cannot be left alone."
This was a strict rule set by the Grand Princess after Princess Huian had an incident, when she replaced her people.
No matter where they were, if only one person was left by Huian's side, she could never leave, otherwise she would be dealt with by the disciplinary mama.
"That's true, alas, Madam Shen, look..." Xu Mama spread her hands, indicating that these were the Grand Princess's orders, and it was also for the Princess's protection.
"It's alright, let's play," Su Xiaoqi said, pulling Princess Huian's hand and leading her into the children's playground, which was enclosed by wooden railings.
This children's playground could not be compared to those colorful and varied playgrounds of modern times.
But for this era, it was already top-notch.
And all the wood used was the best oak.
Because it was set up outdoors, the quality of the material was not the top priority; it was mainly about the quality of the wood.
Oak could well meet these standards.
It grew slowly, its wood was heavy and exceptionally hard.
It was resistant to water and corrosion, and its performance was stable. Using it to build outdoor play facilities, its safety performance was very reassuring.
Walking up the steps, Su Xiaoqi jumped lightly. The entire high platform was very stable.
"Hurry up, come on." Bao Ge'er was so happy he was almost beside himself.
One moment he would slide down a small slide, the next moment he would dive into a long caterpillar slide, and then suddenly pop out and slide down with a "swoosh."
Su Xiaoqi watched him, and a sense of fun arose. She played with them for more than half an hour.
It wasn't until Bao Ge'er was tired and sat down to rest that Su Xiaoqi found an opportunity to take his pulse.
Su Xiaoqi's hand rested on his wrist for a long time. She was very careful to avoid mistakes.
Even the Grand Princess did not notice when she arrived.
Until she heard her voice, "Xiaoqi, what's wrong with Bao Ge'er?"
As the Grand Princess asked this, her heart was tightly suspended, afraid that something had happened to Bao Ge'er.
"Replying to Your Highness, Bao Ge'er's body is very good, nothing is wrong. I just thought he kept sneezing, so I thought it was because of the constant strong sun lately and he might have caught a cold from heat."
"What is this 'cold from heat'?" the Grand Princess was confused.
"It means that when the weather is too hot, you can appropriately reduce the amount of clothing you wear, without wearing too much. Once you get heatstroke, it is even harder to treat than a cold from chilling."
The Grand Princess didn't understand these things, but after listening, she felt it made sense.
Bao Ge'er was still young, and his body was full of youthful fire.
The maids and nurses taking care of him were afraid of him catching a cold, so they always chased after him to add clothes.
So every time she saw him, he was covered in sweat.
As they spoke, the few of them returned to the main courtyard. Su Xiaoqi looked at the Grand Princess, wanting to say something but stopping.
The Grand Princess understood and sent away all the maids and nurses around her, leaving only Xu Mama to accompany them.
Seeing that there were no outsiders, Su Xiaoqi said to the Grand Princess with a serious face:
"Your Highness, where did the incense in your small Buddhist hall come from, are there any unlit ones?"
The Grand Princess thought for a moment and answered Su Xiaoqi's questions.
There were still quite a few incenses, which were obtained from Gan Quan Temple and were said to have been blessed.
When lit, they could calm the mind and refresh the brain, which was very good for a person's spirit.
"Is there something wrong with that incense?" The Grand Princess mentioned the incense to Su Xiaoqi and then asked her eagerly, "Is there something wrong with this incense?"
"I'm not sure. I need time." Su Xiaoqi asked the Grand Princess for a box of unlit incense and opened it to look.
The incense was grayish-brown, appearing no different from ordinary sandalwood.
It was bent and placed in a paper packet. When smelled, it was ordinary sandalwood.
But Su Xiaoqi had already clearly taken Bao Ge'er's pulse, and he was poisoned.
It was just very slight, and it was a chronic poison.
Combined with Bao Ge'er's sneezing when he smelled this scent before, Su Xiaoqi believed that the root cause was here.
Because the Grand Princess had a grand retinue in her life, most of the food and drinks that people consumed were not easily accessible to ordinary people, let alone tampered with.
But this incense was hard to say.
Looking at the Grand Princess's devout appearance when serving Buddha, she would certainly not suspect that this blessed and gilded sandalwood could become a weapon in the hands of those who wanted to harm her.
Whether she believed it or not, the Grand Princess was shocked.
Especially the news that Bao Ge'er was poisoned.
Her heart was filled with anxiety, and for a moment she did not know what to do, looking at Su Xiaoqi.
Almost treating her as a life-saving straw.
"Xiaoqi, what should we do about this?"
Su Xiaoqi said, "We need to investigate first."
"Alright, investigate. Investigate now. Whether this matter is true or false, investigate it thoroughly. I want to see who dares to oppose me and makes repeated attempts on my Bao Ge'er."
The Grand Princess was truly enraged.
She was the noblest woman in the entire Daliang Dynasty, except for the Empress and the Empress Dowager in the palace.
She was the beloved princess held in the palm of the current Emperor's hand.
Were these people crazy, one by one, one, two, three, four times they attacked her.
"Your Highness, we need to investigate, but we cannot investigate it ostentatiously.
Otherwise, those who are hiding in the dark will surely flee like they did the last two times after hearing the news," Su Xiaoqi advised.
Previously, when the Grand Princess was poisoned and Bao Ge'er was assassinated, the Grand Princess had also sent people to investigate.
But apart from capturing that old and ungrateful mama, they found nothing else.
She knew that someone wanted to harm her, but she just couldn't find any effective clues.
It was like having a fishbone in her throat, she knew it was in her throat and she had to endure it, but she just couldn't get it out.
The feeling of having a lump in her throat, anyone who experiences it knows!