Chapter 79 The Witchcraft of the Straw Man with Needles

Pan Yueqing didn't expect that all her worries were in vain.

The Zou brothers, who had been so arrogant just now, turned out to be so timid when facing Qi Sian and Su Ruoqing. Zou Youyi, who had been full of arrogance before, was hit on the horse's leg by Qi Sian with a mallet. Losing his balance, he fell to the ground. Qi Sian turned his back to everyone and pretended to dismount in a flurry. When he reached out with one hand to touch Zou Youyi's hand as if to pull him up, he patted Zou Youyi's shoulder meaningfully and whispered, "This is for you."

"You really are petty," Su Ruoqing watched Qi Sian's act. He smoothly hit the last ball into the hole. After the official announced the result, he slowly stretched out his hands to take the white jade Buddha head and handed it to Qi Sian. He also patted Qi Sian's shoulder and raised his head to bow in the direction of the Empress Dowager.

Pan Yueqing watched them quickly end the polo match. Then, seeing Su Ruoqing coming towards her, she consciously stood up and reached out to untie the sleeve ropes for Su Ruoqing, who had turned his back. Unexpectedly, after Qi Sian presented the Buddha head, he quickly stood in front of Pan Yueqing. He turned back and gave Pan Yueqing a faint look, "I trouble Miss Yue with this."

"You have so many maids by your side. If not, your fiancée and your own sister are both here. Why do you have to trouble my sister?" Su Ruoqing rolled his eyes, lowered his voice, and pushed Qi Sian aside. He stood between Pan Yueqing and Qi Sian, facing Qi Sian's displeased gaze without showing any sign of giving in. "What? Do you want to fight?"

"Ruoqing, be rude," Madame Zhao said calmly. Unexpectedly, Qi Sian looked at the Empress Dowager in surprise, "Empress Dowager, your grandson has worked so hard in this match. Can't I even have someone to untie my sleeve ropes?"

"This is my sister," Su Ruoqing pulled Pan Yueqing over and raised his eyes to meet Princess Shang'an, who was sitting beside them. "Your sister is over there!"

Qi Wanxi was a bit confused. She raised her eyes, pointed at herself, and reluctantly stood up. She reached out to untie the sleeve ropes for Qi Sian, who had his hands raised. She was a bit annoyed and patted Qi Sian on the back, "You can untie it with your hands behind your back! So delicate!" Qi Sian just smiled and didn't say anything. Qi Wanxi's gaze met the Empress Dowager, who was holding the white jade Buddha head with both hands. She raised her eyebrows slightly and asked the Empress Dowager, "Why do you value this white jade Buddha head so much? Although it's an ancient item, but..."

Before Qi Wanxi could finish her question, Lai Changya beside her slowly said, "Because this Buddha head is hollow. And inside it is hidden the eyebrow bone relic."

The eyebrow bone relic! Pan Yueqing instinctively raised her eyes to look at the Buddha head. The Empress Dowager had someone bring a glazed lantern. Facing the light, they could indeed see that the place between the eyebrows of the Buddha head was not as crystal clear as white jade, but there was a round white object. From the way the Empress Dowager let out a sigh of relief, Pan Yueqing knew that this should be the extremely rare eyebrow bone relic.

"Heaven bless the Northern Qi," the Empress Dowager finally let out a long sigh after looking at it. She had someone put away the Buddha head and ordered to remold the Buddha statue. Pan Yueqing swallowed slightly and her gaze swept towards the grandstand where the King of Dongzhu was not far away. The King of Dongzhu's fat body was covered by layers of curtains, and his expression could not be seen at all.

After sitting down and drinking some water, Su Ruoqing stood up and apologized to the Empress Dowager and Madame Zhao, saying that he wanted to take Pan Yueqing for a walk around. The Empress Dowager smiled at the two of them and waved her hand to indicate that they could go. Unexpectedly, Qi Sian also proposed to leave for a while the next moment.

Pan Yueqing turned around and looked at Qi Sian, who was standing three steps behind her. She frowned slightly and was about to speak, but Su Ruoqing shook his head slightly. When the three of them reached the lake, Su Ruoqing stopped and turned around. With his arms crossed, he looked at the other person leisurely and slowly said, "I've already investigated the matter of Shangbei Fang. The King of Dongzhu and Prince Fu are in cahoots and are trying to use others to bring down Prime Minister Pan. I have to say, Your Highness Third Prince, this move of yours is really a bad one."

"I just wanted to give it a try. I didn't expect it to cause such a stir," Qi Sian let out a long sigh. He didn't seem to feel much guilty and said to Pan Yueqing and Su Ruoqing, "Now, either Prime Minister Pan tells the truth about the salt tax and brings down Prince Fu together... But telling the truth won't work either. You know, the reason why he has such great favor from the Emperor today is that he told the Emperor a lie that the Emperor liked to hear. Changing his story now would be deceiving the Emperor."

"It's no use talking more. Let's go back," Pan Yueqing noticed that there had been an extremely sharp gaze behind her, constantly fixed on them. She had a bad premonition in her heart and said urgently.

Qi Sian met Su Ruoqing's somewhat helpless expression. He spread his hands and had to follow Pan Yueqing back. On the prize platform, there happened to be only a simple-looking wooden box left, and the embroidered robe with the pattern of the Twenty-four Filial Exemplars and golden silk double pockets that Pan Yueqing had embroidered. In the second-to-last round, since the prize was a girl's embroidery work, there should have been no much competition.

Lai Changya sat upright. The Empress Dowager turned her head to look at her and said with a kind smile, "Changya, that embroidery work looks just like yours. It's neat and beautiful, no less than that of a skilled embroiderer."

Pan Yueqing happened to hear this sentence when she came. She originally thought that according to Lai Changya's arrogance, she would clarify that it wasn't her embroidery. But unexpectedly, among the compliments from the people around her, Lai Changya slightly lowered her head, looking as if she had acquiesced. Pan Miaoqian finally finished whispering with Yao Zhen and came forward to fawn on Lai Changya, "Miss Lai's embroidery skills are really amazing. I'm afraid there are few people in the capital who can compare with you."

Pan Yueqing sneered at the people on the stage. After the Empress Dowager's praise, there were quite a few people fawning on her. Just as the official beat the drum, Yao Zhen took the embroidery work and the next moment, he walked quickly and presented it to the Empress Dowager, "Empress Dowager, since you praised this embroidery work so much, I present this embroidery work to you!"

Just as the Empress Dowager was about to reach out to take the robe with a satisfied expression, a small thing rolled out from the robe. It was a very simply packaged straw man, with many needles inserted into it. The Empress Dowager let out a scream in fright at this sudden change and fainted!

Lai Changya stood up with a scream. The main grandstand was immediately in chaos. Only Madame Zhao had a calm expression, even with a gloomy look as she swept her gaze over everyone present. She knew that when the Empress Dowager was in charge of the inner palace in her early years, she had a miscarriage due to being frightened by the witchcraft of the straw man with needles. After that, it was difficult for her to get pregnant again, so she adopted the current Emperor.

Pan Miaoqian's cry was the sharpest. She almost collapsed weakly on the ground, pointing at the straw man that had fallen to the ground and turned over. She was so scared that her soul seemed to have left her body, "That... That is... That is my birth date..."

She raised her eyes to look at Lai Changya, who had wide eyes and was already at a loss. She let out a howl, "We have no grudges against each other... Why are you trying to harm me like this?!"